Experimental Tests of Finite Horizon Job Search Models

本研究包括实验室实验来测试求职模型，以及现场实验数据的计量分析来测试实验室和现场求职行为的并行性。此外，实验数据将用于评价为处理与自然发生的就业市场有关的有限信息问题而开发的计量经济学技术。这些测试包括直接测试保留工资属性，使用一种新的实验设计，采用预先承诺和计量经济学技术，使用关于保留工资的有限或全部信息。实验还将考虑更复杂的搜索环境，包括变量搜索强度、完美和不完美工作召回以及未知工资分配的搜索模型的测试。对有限信息计量经济学技术的评价涉及将这些方法应用于实验室数据的子集，这些数据对应于在不受控制的市场中可观察到的变量。平行度的计量经济学测试将使用在自然发生的劳动力市场中进行的现场实验的结果，以提供关于实验室搜索行为和实际市场搜索行为的定性相似性的经验证据。这个项目是关于用实验方法测试失业工人求职行为的理论。检验这些理论的一个关键因素是，工人在接受一份现有工作时愿意接受的最低工资。这些理论将通过利用被试者对所收到的实际财务报价的反应的信息，在这种保留工资属性方面进行检验。这项研究将考察与劳动力市场相对应的环境中的行为，在这种环境中，个人对自己的工作机会前景没有完美的概念，或者他们能够改变自己寻找工作的强度。计量经济学技术已经发展到在工人决策问题的关键变量是不可观察的环境中分析劳动力市场数据。这些方法的有效性将通过确定应用这些技术所产生的推论是否与基于实验室实验提供的更完整的信息所做出的推论相矛盾来评估。这个项目很重要，因为实验室实验的结果可能会揭示导致失业的因素。

This research involves laboratory experiments to test job search models and econometric analysis of field experimental data to test parallelism of laboratory and field search behavior. In addition, experimental data will be used to evaluate econometric techniques that have been developed to cope with the limited information problems associated with naturally occurring-job markets. The tests include direct tests of the reservation wage property using a new experimental design with precommitment and econometric techniques that use either limited or full information on reservation wages. Experiments will also be conducted taking into account more complicated search environments which will include tests of models with variable search intensity, perfect and imperfect job recall, and search with unknown wage offer distributions. Evaluation of the limited information econometric techniques involves application of these methods to the subset of the laboratory data that corresponds to variables that are observable in uncontrolled markets. Econometric tests of parallelism will use results from field experiments conducted in the naturally-occurring labor market to provide empirical evidence about the qualitative similarity of laboratory search behavior and actual market search behavior. $$$ This project is concerned with testing theories about the job search behavior of unemployed workers using experimental methods. A key element in testing these theories is the minimum wage a worker is willing to accept in taking an available job. These theories will be tested in terms of this reservation wage property by exploiting information on the responses of subjects to actual financial offers received. The research will examine behavior in environments corresponding to labor markets in which individuals have imperfect notions about their job offer prospects, or in which they are able to vary the intensity in which they search for jobs. Econometric techniques have been developed to analyze labor market data in environments where key variables in the worker's decision problem are unobservable. The validity of these methods will be evaluated by determining whether the inferences generated from applying these techniques are contradicted by inferences made on the basis of the more complete information provided by laboratory experiments. This project is important because the results from the laboratory experiments may shed new light on the factors contributing to unemployment.