A Caseworker Like Me - Does the Similarity between unemployed and Caseworker Increase Job Placements?

Stefanie Behncke (), Markus Frölich () and Michael Lechner

No 6784, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: This paper examines whether the chances of job placements improve if unemployed persons are counselled by caseworkers who belong to the same social group, defined by gender, age, education, and nationality. Based on an unusually informative dataset, which links Swiss unemployed to their caseworkers, we find positive employment effects of about 4 percentage points if caseworker and unemployed belong to the same social group. Coincidence in a single characteristic, e.g. same gender of caseworker and unemployed, does not lead to detectable effects on employment. These results, obtained by statistical matching methods, are confirmed by several robustness checks.

Keywords: age; gender; public employment services; Social identity; social interactions; unemployment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C31 J64 J68 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab
Date: 2008-04
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Working Paper: A Caseworker Like Me - Does The Similarity Between Unemployed And Caseworker Increase Job Placements? (2008)
Working Paper: A Caseworker Like Me: Does the Similarity between Unemployed and Caseworker Increase Job Placements? (2008)
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