Do high-wage jobs attract more applicants? Directed search evidence from the online labor market

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

43 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Labor markets become more efficient in theory if job seekers direct their search. Using online job board data, we show that high-wage ads attract more applicants as in directed search models. Due to distinctive data features, we also estimate significant but milder directed search for hidden (or implicit) wages, suggesting that ad texts and requirements tacitly convey wage information. Since explicit-wage ads often target unskilled workers, other estimates in the literature ignoring hidden-wage ads may suffer from selection bias. Moreover, job ad requirements are aligned with their applicants’ traits, as predicted in directed search models with heterogeneity.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)715-746
Number of pages32
JournalJournal of Labor Economics
Volume37
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2019
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Industrial relations
  • Economics and Econometrics

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