Do Employers Use Unemployment as a Sorting Criterion When Hiring? Evidence from a Field Experiment

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Eriksson, Stefan; Rooth, Dan-Olof
• 署名单位: Uppsala University; Uppsala University; Linnaeus University; Lund University
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0002-8282
• DOI: 10.1257/aer.104.3.1014
• 发表日期: 2014
• 页码: 1014-1039
• 关键词: labor-market conditions; youth unemployment; job search; duration; DISCRIMINATION; dependence; earnings; stigma; MODEL; time

摘要

The stigma associated with long-term unemployment spells could create large inefficiencies in labor markets. While the existing literature points toward large stigma effects, it has proven difficult to estimate causal relationships. Using data from a field experiment, we find that long-term unemployment spells in the past do not matter for employers' hiring decisions, suggesting that subsequent work experience eliminates this negative signal. Nor do employers treat contemporary short-term unemployment spells differently, suggesting that they understand that worker/firm matching takes time. However, employers attach a negative value to contemporary unemployment spells lasting at least nine months, providing evidence of stigma effects.