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Job Search Behavior Among the Employed and Non‐Employed
Author(s) -
Faberman R. Jason,
Mueller Andreas I.,
Şahin Ayşegül,
Topa Giorgio
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
econometrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 16.7
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1468-0262
pISSN - 0012-9682
DOI - 10.3982/ecta18582
Subject(s) - set (abstract data type) , business cycle , search theory , productivity , economics , field (mathematics) , computer science , labour economics , microeconomics , mathematics , pure mathematics , keynesian economics , macroeconomics , programming language
We develop a unique survey that focuses on the job search behavior of individuals regardless of their labor force status and field it annually starting in 2013. We use our survey to study the relationship between search effort and outcomes for the employed and non‐employed. Three important facts stand out: (1) on‐the‐job search is pervasive, and is more intense at the lower rungs of the job ladder; (2) the employed are at least three times more effective than the unemployed in job search; and (3) the employed receive better job offers than the unemployed. We set up a general equilibrium model of on‐the‐job search with endogenous search effort, calibrate it to fit our new facts, and find that the search effort of the employed is highly elastic. We show that search effort substantially amplifies labor market responses to productivity shocks over the business cycle.