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来研究信息流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，本研究研究了向雇主和求职者提供准确的劳动力市场信息是否会导致雇主做出更好的就业决策，从而增加招聘，以及准确的信息是否会鼓励工人在申请工作时如实反映自己的资格，并鼓励他们投资提高自己的技能。关于信息流对劳动力市场影响的研究要么只关注需求方（雇主），要么只关注供给方（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，它为信息流如何影响劳动力市场的运作提供了一个更完整的视角。除了对经济学文献和教育的贡献外，本研究项目的结果将指导改善劳动力市场运作、增加就业、人力资本形成、经济增长并最终减少贫困的政策。该研究项目还将有助于确立美国在高效劳动力市场方面的全球领导者地位。劳动力市场中的信息摩擦会导致企业和工人做出次优匹配决策，降低就业、产出和工资，同时增加代价高昂的人员流动。信息摩擦也可能导致员工进行不理想的人力资本投资。本研究将采用一系列随机对照试验来检验缓解信息摩擦是否能改变求职和招聘行为，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的基础上，该平台是利用先前NSF的支持开发的，可以生成丰富的、高频的劳动力供求数据。该项目将利用该平台研究申请人工作经历的实际审计和威胁审计对申请人报告过去工作经历、求职、人力资本投资、公司招聘决策的影响；公司与申请人匹配质量。利用审计来捕捉供给方和需求方对劳动力市场信息摩擦的反应，以及这些摩擦对人力资本形成的影响，是劳动力市场研究中的一项创新。本研究的结果将对理解信息流在劳动力市场有效运作中的作用的经济学文献做出重大贡献，并为改善劳动力市场运作的政策提供投入。研究结果可以增加人力资本投资，改善劳动力市场匹配，从而促进就业、工资、收入和经济增长。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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.