American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Job Search and Hiring with Limited Information about Workseekers' Skills
American Economic Review
vol. 112,
no. 11, November 2022
(pp. 3547–83)
Abstract
We assess South African workseekers' skills and disseminate the assessment results to explore how limited information affects firm and workseeker behavior. Giving workseekers assessment results that they can credibly share with firms increases workseekers' employment and earnings and better aligns their skills, beliefs and search strategies. Giving workseekers assessment results that they cannot easily share with firms has similar effects on beliefs and search, but smaller effects on employment and earnings. Giving assessment results only to firms shifts interview decisions. These findings show that getting credible skill information to the right agents can improve outcomes in the labor market.Citation
Carranza, Eliana, Robert Garlick, Kate Orkin, and Neil Rankin. 2022. "Job Search and Hiring with Limited Information about Workseekers' Skills." American Economic Review, 112 (11): 3547–83. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20200961Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- J22 Time Allocation and Labor Supply
- J23 Labor Demand
- J24 Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
- J31 Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
- J41 Labor Contracts
- J64 Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
- O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration