Searching with Friends

Stefano Caria, Simon Franklin and Marc Witte

Journal of Labor Economics, 2023, vol. 41, issue 4, 887 - 922

Abstract: We study how active labor market policies affect the exchange of information and support among job seekers. Leveraging a unique social network survey in Ethiopia, we find that a randomized job search assistance intervention reduces information sharing and support between treated job seekers and their active job search partners. Because of lower job search support, untreated individuals search less and, suggestively, have worse employment outcomes. These results are consistent with a model of networks where unemployed individuals form job search partnerships to exploit the complementarities of job search.

Date: 2023
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Related works:
Working Paper: Searching with Friends (2020)
Working Paper: Searching with friends (2018)
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