A Labor Markets Research Agenda through a Job Search Platform

本研究将运用现代经济理论和实验方法，研究信息流动如何影响劳动力市场的运作，特别是在低收入社区。具体来说，本研究研究是否提供准确的劳动力市场信息，以雇主和求职者导致雇主做出更好的就业决策，从而增加招聘，以及是否准确的信息鼓励工人在申请工作时对他们的资格是真实的，并鼓励他们投资于提高自己的技能。 关于信息流动对劳动力市场的影响的研究要么只关注需求方（雇主），要么关注供给方（工人）。 这个创新的研究项目着眼于信息流如何影响劳动力市场上的雇主（需求）和供应商（求职者）。 因此，它提供了一个更完整的视图如何信息流影响劳动力市场的功能。除了对经济学文献和教育的贡献外，该研究项目的成果还将指导政策，以改善劳动力市场的运作，增加就业，人力资本形成，经济增长，并最终减少贫困。 该研究项目还将帮助美国成为高效劳动力市场的全球领导者。劳动力市场中的信息摩擦可能导致企业和工人做出次优匹配决策，降低就业率、产出和工资，同时增加昂贵的人员流动。 信息摩擦也可能导致工人做出次优的人力资本投资。本研究将利用一系列随机对照试验，检验缓解信息摩擦是否能改变求职和雇佣行为，改善企业与员工的匹配，并增加人力资本投资。该项目将建立在一个劳动力市场搜索和招聘平台上，该平台是利用NSF先前的支持开发的，可以生成关于劳动力供求的丰富、高频数据。该项目将利用该平台研究申请人工作经验的实际和威胁审计对申请人报告过去工作经验、求职和人力资本投资、公司招聘决定以及公司-申请人匹配质量的影响。利用审计来捕捉劳动力市场信息摩擦的供需双方反应以及这些摩擦对人力资本形成的影响是劳动力市场研究的一个创新。 这项研究的结果将大大有助于了解信息流在劳动力市场有效运作中的作用的经济学文献，并为改善劳动力市场运作的政策提供投入。 该研究的结果可以增加人力资本投资，改善劳动力市场的匹配，从而改善就业，工资，收入和经济增长。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This research will use modern economic theory and experimental methods to study how information flows affect the functioning of labor markets, especially in low income communities. Specifically, this research study whether providing accurate labor market information to both employers and job seekers leads employers to make better employment decisions and therefore increase hiring and whether the accurate information encourages workers to be truthful about their qualifications when applying for jobs as well as encourage them to invest in improving their skills. Research on the effects of information flows on labor markets have either focused on the demand side (employers) alone or on the supply side (the workers). This innovative research project looks at how information flows affect both the employer (demand) and the supplier (job seeker) in the labor market. It thus provides a more complete view of how information flows affect the functioning of labor markets. In addition to its contribution to the economics literature and education, the results of this research project will guide policies to improve the functioning of labor markets, increase employment, human capital formation, economic growth, and ultimately reduce poverty. This research project will also help establish the US as the global leader in efficient labor markets.Information frictions in labor markets can lead firms and workers to make suboptimal matching decisions, lower employment, output, and wages while increasing costly turnover. Information frictions can also lead workers to make suboptimal human capital investments. This research will use a series of RCTs to test if alleviating information frictions can change job search and hiring behavior, improve firm-worker matching, and increase human capital investment. The project will build on a labor market search and hiring platform that was developed using prior NSF support that generates rich, high-frequency data on labor supply and demand. This project will use the platform to study the effects of actual and threatened audits of applicants’ work experience on applicants’ reporting of past work experience, job search, and investment in human capital, firms' hiring decisions; and firm-applicant match quality. The use of audits to capture both supply and demand side responses to labor market information frictions as well as the effects of these frictions on human capital formation is an innovation in the study of labor markets. The results of this research will significantly contribute to the economics literature on understanding the role of information flows in efficient functioning of labor markets as well as provide inputs into policies to improve the functioning of labor markets. The results of this research could increase investment in human capital, improve matching in labor market, hence employment, wages, incomes, and economic growth.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.