Self-regulation training and job search input: A natural field experiment within an active labor market program

Eva M. Berger, Henning Hermes, Guenther Koenig, Felix Schmidt and Daniel Schunk

Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), 2022, vol. 98, issue C

Abstract: Evidence suggests that self-regulation abilities play an important role for the job finding success of unemployed persons. We conduct a randomized controlled trial embedded in an established labor market reactivation program to examine the effect of a self-regulation training on job search input of long-term unemployed participants. Our treatment involves teaching a self-regulation strategy based on mental contrasting with implementation intentions. We find that the treatment has a positive effect on the quality of application documents as well as on the probability of participants submitting their documents on time. However, we do not find a significant treatment effect on labor market reintegration. We discuss several reasons for this null finding and conduct further exploratory analyses to learn about heterogeneous treatment effects.

Keywords: Active labor market policy; Natural field experiment; Job search; Job application; Long-term unemployment; Self-control (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 J24 J64 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:soceco:v:98:y:2022:i:c:s2214804322000337

DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2022.101858

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