Job search methods and outcomes

Abstract

In this paper we investigate the process of job search, using a unique, large-scale data set for Portugal that allows us to assess the effect of job search methods on escape rates from unemployment and, in a new departure, the impact of job-finding methods used by the unemployed on earnings. In each case, the characteristics of workers receive careful attention. In addition, the effectiveness of the job search process is evaluated in terms of the periodicity of the resulting job match. Some emphasis is accorded the role of the public employment agency which, despite its frequency as a search vehicle, is found to have a low hit rate and to lead to low-paying jobs. Such jobs are also shorter lasting, only partly because they are more likely to be of a fixed-term nature. The policy backdrop is provided by the "employment chapter" of the Treaty of Amsterdam. Given our results, some concern naturally arises as to the capacity of the public employment agency to meet the targets set under European employment initiatives.

Job Search and (Re)employment: Taking the Time-varying Nature of Job-search Intensity into Consideration

“…First, in our study job-search intensity was conceptualized as a unitary construct. Since several studies have shown that success in job search depends on the selected search channel (e.g., Addison & Portugal, 2002;Weber & Mahringer, 2008), future research should focus only on particular job search behaviors, and their relationship with reemployment. Second, although we controlled for T1 unemployment, the dynamics of job search and its relationship with re-employment could be influenced by the fact that we included a large proportion of individuals who have been unemployed for a long time.…”

Education and skills mismatch in the Italian graduate labour market

“…To estimate the wage equation we use a grouped regression model and assume a parametric distribution (lognormal) for the error term. The assumption that the distribution of the error tem is lognormal has been widely adopted in estimating equations using censored wage data (see, for instance, Addison and Portugal, 2002). …”

Neighborhood quality and labor market outcomes: Evidence from quasi-random neighborhood assignment of immigrants

“…Widespread use of friends, relatives and acquaintances to search for jobs is a stylized fact (Rees, 1966;Granovetter, 1974Granovetter, , 1995Holzer, 1988;Blau and Robins, 1990;Montgomery, 1991;Gregg and Wadsworth, 1996;Topa, 2001;Addison and Portugal, 2002;Wahba and Zenou, 2005;Bentolila, Michelacci and Suárez, 2010;Pellizari, 2010).…”