Information, reflection, and successful job search: A labor market policy experiment

Abstract

Jobseekers, especially young people with little experience on the job market, face several challenges. They need to know which jobs are suited for them, where to find them, how to apply, and they need resilience in the face of repeated rejections. Previous research has shown that receiving information and reflecting on how to search for a job enhance self-efficacy and search motivation, thereby reducing the duration of unemployment spells. Following up on these results, we conducted an experiment in cooperation with the Austrian Ministry of Social Affairs which combines an "information nudge" in the form of a short video-clip with what we call "reflection nudge" in the form of an online survey. We find that a treatment combining reflection and information reduces job search duration of young unemployed people with a low level of formal education. Considering the low costs of the intervention, efficiency is very high.

Self-efficacy en netwerkgedrag onder werkzoekenden: De rol van werkloosheidsstigma en het zoeken van hulpbronnen en uitdagingen

“…Dit geloof beïnvloedt welke acties mensen ondernemen, hoeveel moeite ze ervoor willen doen en hoe ze omgaan met obstakels en tegenslag (Bandura, 1977(Bandura, , 2009. Aangezien werkzoekenden zelf hun zoektocht naar werk moeten invullen en ze onderweg vrijwel zeker te maken krijgen met obstakels en tegenslag (Mühlböck et al, 2022), lijkt self-efficacy een relevant concept in de zoektocht naar werk en het is dan ook veelvuldig onderzocht. Zo heeft onderzoek aangetoond dat self-efficacy een positief effect heeft op de intentie om werk te zoeken (o.a.…”

Citizen reflection reduces support for default vaccination appointments. Evidence from G7 countries

“…Prior research suggests that offering such reflections can also improve the effects of nudges (Mühlböck et al, 2022;Banerjee et al, 2022;Keppeler et al, 2022). Building on studies testing the effects of nudges on vaccination uptake (Keppeler et al, 2022;Serra-Garcia and Szech, 2022;Tentori et al, 2022;Milkman et al, 2011Milkman et al, , 2021Milkman et al, , 2022Dai et al, 2021;Patel, 2021), we extend research on "nudge+" approaches to evaluate its effects at promoting booster vaccine uptake intentions during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”