Screening and Signaling Non-Cognitive Skills: Experimental Evidence from Uganda

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vittorio Bassi ◽  
Aisha Nansamba
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
Assortative Matching ◽  
High Ability ◽  
Young Workers ◽  
Job Seekers ◽  
Job Interviews ◽  
Credible Information

Abstract We study how employers and job-seekers respond to credible information on skills that are difficult to observe, and how this affects matching in the labor market. We experimentally vary whether certificates on workers’ non-cognitive skills are disclosed to both sides of the market during job interviews between young workers and small firms in Uganda. The certificates cause workers to increase their labor market expectations, while high-ability managers revise their assessments of the workers’ skills upwards. The reaction in terms of beliefs leads to an increase in positive assortative matching and to higher earnings for workers, conditional on employment.

scholarly journals The Value of Reference Letters: Experimental Evidence from South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 40-71
Author(s):  
Martin Abel ◽  
Rulof Burger ◽  
Patrizio Piraino
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Gender Equity ◽  
Job Seekers ◽  
Information Frictions ◽  
Job Interviews ◽  
Applicant Screening ◽  
And Gender

We show that reference letters from former employers alleviate information frictions in a low-skill labor market, improving applicant screening and gender equity. A resume audit study finds that using a reference letter in the application increases callbacks by 60 percent. Women drive the effect. Letters are effective because they provide valuable information about workers’ skills that employers use to select applicants of higher ability. A second experiment, which encourages job seekers to obtain and use a reference letter, finds consistent results. In particular, reference letters raise job interviews and employment for women. (JEL D83, J16, J24, J64, O12)

Who Gets Their First Job at a Large Firm? The Distinct Roles of Education and Skills

2021 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 465-469
Author(s):  
Jaime Arellano-Bover
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Older Workers ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Large Firm ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Young Workers ◽  
Large Firms ◽  
Formative Time ◽  
East And Southeast Asia ◽  
First Job

Young workers' early years in the labor market are a key and formative time. Using data from 31 countries, this article documents the selection of labor market entrants into large firms, which existing literature associates with propitious environments for young workers. The young and inexperienced are underrepresented at large firms compared to experienced and older workers. Entrants who do get their first job at large firms are positively selected in terms of education and cognitive skills. The patterns of large-firm selection (i.e., importance of education vs. skills) somewhat differ between Europe, East and Southeast Asia, and North America.

scholarly journals The Effect of Labor Market Conditions at Entry on Workers’ Long-Term Skills

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-45
Author(s):  
Jaime Arellano-Bover
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
Skill Development ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Market Conditions ◽  
Labor Market Conditions ◽  
Unemployment Rates ◽  
Using Data

Using data on adults’ cognitive skills from 19 countries, this paper shows that labor market conditions during the education-to-work transition impact workers’ long-term skill development. Workers who faced higher unemployment rates at ages 18-25 have lower skills at ages 36-59. Unemployment rates at ages 26-35 do not have such an effect. Skill inequality is affected: those with less educated parents experience most of the negative effects. Using German panel data on skills, I document a mechanism related to heterogeneous skill development across firms: young workers at large firms experience higher skill growth than those at small firms.

Congruence Between Leadership Gender and Organizational Claims Affects the Gender Composition of the Applicant Pool: Field Experimental Evidence

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mabel Abraham ◽  
Vanessa Burbano
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Gender Composition ◽  
Supply Side ◽  
Job Seekers ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Organization Level ◽  
General Preference ◽  
Identical Jobs

The extent to which men and women sort into different jobs and organizations—namely, gender differences in supply-side labor market processes—is a key determinant of workplace gender composition. This study draws on theories of congruence to uncover a unique organization-level driver of gender differences in job seekers’ behavior. We first argue and show that congruence between leadership gender and organizational claims is a key mechanism that drives job seekers’ interest. Specifically, many organizational claims are gender-typed, such that social claims activate the female stereotype, whereas business claims activate the male stereotype. Thus, whereas female-led organizations making social claims are gender-congruent, male-led firms making the same claims are gender-incongruent. Beyond demonstrating a general preference among job seekers for congruence, we also find that female job seekers are most interested in working for organizations that are simultaneously congruent and provide credible signals that they are fair and equitable employers. The congruence of leadership gender and organizational claims thus affects the gender composition of applicant pools for otherwise identical jobs.

Precarious Work and Young Workers in the United States

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arne L. Kalleberg
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
The United States ◽  
Young Workers ◽  
Severe Problem ◽  
Precarious Work ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
The Us ◽  
Training Opportunities ◽  
And Training

This chapter discusses how the growth of precarious work and the polarization of the US labor market have produced major problems for the employment experiences of young workers. A prominent indicator of young workers’ difficulties in the labor market has been the sharp increase in their unemployment rates since the Great Recession. Another, equally if not more severe, problem faced by young workers today is the relatively low quality of the jobs that they were able to get. Other problems include the exclusion of young workers from the labor market and from education and training opportunities; the inability to find jobs that utilize their education, training, and skills; and the inability to obtain jobs that provide them with an opportunity to get a foothold in a career that would lead to progressively better jobs and thus be able to construct career narratives.

Educational Downgrading: Adult Education and Downward Mobility

2021 ◽  
pp. 003804072098289
Author(s):  
Corey Moss-Pech ◽  
Steven H. Lopez ◽  
Laurie Michaels
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Adult Education ◽  
Educational Aspirations ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
The United States ◽  
Job Seekers ◽  
Downward Mobility ◽  
Precarious Labor ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
Returning To School

Scholarship on adult education throughout the life course focuses on the relationship between education and upward mobility. Scholars rarely examine how adults’ educational aspirations or trajectories are affected by downward mobility or an increasingly precarious labor market. Drawing on in-depth qualitative interviews with 21 job seekers in the post–Great Recession labor market in the United States, this article advances the concept of educational downgrading: returning to school in pursuit of a credential lower than the highest level of education one previously sought or attained. We explore three pathways to downgrading connected to downward mobility: occupational dead ends, career reversals, and educational inflation. In the process, we highlight how individuals adjust their practical educational aspirations as they navigate a contemporary economy in which careers are unstable and credentials are needed for many kinds of jobs across the occupational hierarchy.

scholarly journals Race and Networks in the Job Search Process

2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (6) ◽  
pp. 983-1012 ◽  
Author(s):  
David S. Pedulla ◽  
Devah Pager
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Racial Disparities ◽  
Job Search ◽  
Search Process ◽  
Job Seekers ◽  
Employment Opportunities ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Job Offers

Racial disparities persist throughout the employment process, with African Americans experiencing significant barriers compared to whites. This article advances the understanding of racial labor market stratification by bringing new theoretical insights and original data to bear on the ways social networks shape racial disparities in employment opportunities. We develop and articulate two pathways through which networks may perpetuate racial inequality in the labor market: network access and network returns. In the first case, African American job seekers may receive fewer job leads through their social networks than white job seekers, limiting their access to employment opportunities. In the second case, black and white job seekers may utilize their social networks at similar rates, but their networks may differ in effectiveness. Our data, with detailed information about both job applications and job offers, provide the unique ability to adjudicate between these processes. We find evidence that black and white job seekers utilize their networks at similar rates, but network-based methods are less likely to lead to job offers for African Americans. We then theoretically develop and empirically test two mechanisms that may explain these differential returns: network placement and network mobilization. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for scholarship on racial stratification and social networks in the job search process.

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