A field experiment on labor market speeddates for unemployed workers

Bas van der Klaauw; Lennart Ziegler

doi:10.3368/jhr.1021-11946R2

A field experiment on labor market speeddates for unemployed workers

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Abstract

We conduct a field experiment to evaluate labor market speeddates where unemployed workers meet temporary employment agencies. Participation in such events increases immediate job finding by six to seven percentage points. Afterwards employment effects diminish, suggesting that temporary employment has no long‐lasting effect on employment prospects. While the intervention is cost‐effective for the unemployment insurance (UI) administration, higher labor earnings of treated job seekers do not compensate for the decline in benefit payments. Survey evidence shows that speeddate participation increases job search motivation and reduces reservation wages. These findings concur with predictions of a model where job seekers update their labor market beliefs.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	259-288
Number of pages	30
Journal	Journal of Human Resources
Volume	60
Issue number	1
Early online date	1 Jan 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.1021-11946R2
Publication status	Published - Jan 2025

Funding

Bas van der Klaauw is a professor of economics at VU University Amsterdam and a research fellow at the Tinbergen Institute. Lennart Ziegler is an assistant professor of economics at the University of Vienna ([email protected]). The authors are grateful to Nynke de Groot for her support in organizing the field experiment. Moreover, they are indebted to David Card and seminar and conference participants in Berkeley, Amsterdam, Chicago, Berlin (ESPE 2016), Geneva (EEA 2016), Ghent (EALE 2016), and Rome (CEPR 2018), as well as two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions. The field experiment is registered under AEARCTR-0003866. Bas van der Klaauw acknowledges financial support from a Vici-grant from the Dutch Science Foundation (NWO). This paper uses nonpublic microdata from the Dutch Unemployment Insurance Administration (UWV), which under certain conditions are accessible for statistical and scientific use. The authors are willing to assist ([email protected]).

Funders	Funder number
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek

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https://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2022/06/01/jhr.1021-11946R2

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A field experiment on labor market speeddates for unemployed workers

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