Do Digital Information Technologies Help Unemployed Job Seekers Find a Job? Evidence from the Broadband Internet Expansion in Germany

Nicole Gürtzgen (), André Diegmann (geb. Nolte), Laura Pohlan and Gerard van den Berg
Additional contact information
Nicole Gürtzgen: Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Nicole Guertzgen ()

No 11555, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper studies effects of the introduction of a new digital mass medium on reemployment of unemployed job seekers. We combine data on high-speed (broadband) internet availability at the local level with individual register data on the unemployed in Germany. We address endogeneity by exploiting technological peculiarities in the network that affected the roll-out of high-speed internet. The results show that high-speed internet improves reemployment rates after the first months of the unemployment spell. This is confirmed by complementary analysis with individual survey data suggesting that online job search leads to additional formal job interviews after a few months in unemployment.

Keywords: search channels; matching technology; information frictions; online job search; unemployment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C26 H40 J64 K42 L96 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 62 pages
Date: 2018-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cse, nep-eur, nep-ict, nep-pay and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

Published - revised version published in: European Economic Review, 2021, 132, 103657

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Related works:
Journal Article: Do digital information technologies help unemployed job seekers find a job? Evidence from the broadband internet expansion in Germany (2021)
Working Paper: Do digital information technologies help unemployed job seekers find a job? Evidence from the broadband internet expansion in Germany (2018)
Working Paper: Do digital information technologies help unemployed job seekers find a job? Evidence from the broadband internet expansion in Germany (2018)
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