Why Don't Jobseekers Search More ? Barriers and Returns to Search on a Job

Kate Vyborny, Robert Garlick, Nivedhitha Subramanian and Erica Field

No 11465, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: Understanding specific barriers to job search and returns to relaxing these barriers is important for economists and policymakers. An experiment that changed the default process for initiating job applications increased applications by 600 percent on a search platform in Pakistan. Perhaps surprisingly, the marginal treatment-induced applications have approximately constant rather than decreasing returns. These results are consistent with a directed search model in which some jobseekers miss some high-return vacancies due to the psychological costs of initiating applications. These findings show that small reductions in search costs can substantially improve search outcomes in environments with some relatively inactive jobseekers.

Date: 2026-09-23
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