Econometrica

Journal Of The Econometric Society

An International Society for the Advancement of Economic
Theory in its Relation to Statistics and Mathematics

Edited by: Guido W. Imbens • Print ISSN: 0012-9682 • Online ISSN: 1468-0262

Econometrica: Jul, 2022, Volume 90, Issue 4

Job Search Behavior among the Employed and Non-Employed

https://doi.org/10.3982/ECTA18582
p. 1743-1779

R. Jason Faberman, Andreas I. Mueller, Ayşegül Şahin, Giorgio Topa

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.


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Supplemental Material

Supplement to "Job Search Behavior among the Employed and Non-Employed"

R. Jason Faberman, Andreas I. Mueller, Ayşegül Şahin, and Giorgio Topa

This zip file contains the replication files for the manuscript.  It also contains an additional web appendix that contains information not found in the manuscript.

Supplement to "Job Search Behavior among the Employed and Non-Employed"

R. Jason Faberman, Andreas I. Mueller, Ayşegül Şahin, and Giorgio Topa

This online appendix contains material not found within the manuscript.