IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/scandj/v108y2006i3p373-396.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Competition between Employed and Unemployed Job Applicants: Swedish Evidence

Author

Listed:
  • Stefan Eriksson
  • Jonas Lagerström

Abstract

We use the Swedish Applicant Database to investigate empirically whether being unemployed per se reduces the probability of getting contacted by a firm. All searchers looking for a new job are invited to submit their personal details to this database over the internet. Since we have access to exactly the same information as the firms, we can minimize the problems associated with unobserved heterogeneity. Our results show that an unemployed applicant faces a lower contact probability than an otherwise identical employed applicant, thus supporting the notion that firms view employment status as a signal of productivity.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefan Eriksson & Jonas Lagerström, 2006. "Competition between Employed and Unemployed Job Applicants: Swedish Evidence," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 108(3), pages 373-396, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:scandj:v:108:y:2006:i:3:p:373-396
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9442.2006.00462.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9442.2006.00462.x
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-9442.2006.00462.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bean, Charles R, 1994. "European Unemployment: A Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 32(2), pages 573-619, June.
    2. Agell, Jonas & Bennmarker, Helge, 2002. "Wage policy and endogenous wage rigidity: a representative view from the inside," Working Paper Series 2002:12, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    3. Carling, Kenneth & Edin, Per-Anders & Harkman, Anders & Holmlund, Bertil, 1996. "Unemployment duration, unemployment benefits, and labor market programs in Sweden," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(3), pages 313-334, March.
    4. Andrews, Martyn J. & Bradley, Steve & Upward, Richard, 2001. "Estimating the probability of a match using microeconomic data for the youth labour market," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 335-357, June.
    5. Pascale Petit, 2004. "Hiring discrimination: a field experiment in the French financial sector," Cahiers de la Maison des Sciences Economiques v04086, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1).
    6. Eriksson, Stefan & Gottfries, Nils, 2005. "Ranking of job applicants, on-the-job search, and persistent unemployment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 407-428, June.
    7. Eriksson, Stefan, 2002. "Imperfect information, wage formation, and the employability of the unemployed," Working Paper Series 2002:17, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    8. Blau, David M & Robins, Philip K, 1990. "Job Search Outcomes for the Employed and Unemployed," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(3), pages 637-655, June.
    9. Corrado Benassi & Antonello E. Scorcu, 2003. "Indexation Rules, Risk Aversion and Imperfect Information," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 71(3), pages 330-340, June.
    10. Edin, Per-Anders & Lagerström, Jonas, 2006. "Blind dates: quasi-experimental evidence on discrimination," Working Paper Series 2006:4, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    11. Harry J. Holzer, 1987. "Job Search by Employed and Unemployed Youth," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 40(4), pages 601-611, July.
    12. Belzil, Christian, 1996. "Relative Efficiencies and Comparative Advantages in Job Search," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(1), pages 154-173, January.
    13. Amemiya, Takeshi, 1981. "Qualitative Response Models: A Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 19(4), pages 1483-1536, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Forslund, Anders & Gottfries, Nils & Westermark, Andreas, 2005. "Real and nominal wage adjustment in open economies," Working Paper Series 2005:23, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    2. Stefan Eriksson, 2006. "Skill Loss, Ranking of Job Applicants and the Dynamics of Unemployment," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 7(3), pages 265-296, August.
    3. Stefan Eriksson, 2006. "Skill Loss, Ranking of Job Applicants and the Dynamics of Unemployment," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 7(3), pages 265-296, August.
    4. Stefan Eriksson & Jonas Lagerström, 2012. "Detecting discrimination in the hiring process: evidence from an Internet-based search channel," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 537-563, October.
    5. Eriksson, Stefan & Gottfries, Nils, 2005. "Ranking of job applicants, on-the-job search, and persistent unemployment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 407-428, June.
    6. Jan Boone & Peter Fredriksson & Bertil Holmlund & Jan C. van Ours, 2007. "Optimal Unemployment Insurance with Monitoring and Sanctions," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(518), pages 399-421, March.
    7. Julie Hotchkiss, 1999. "The effect of transitional employment on search duration: A selectivity approach," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 27(1), pages 38-52, March.
    8. Alba, Alfonso & Arranz, José M. & Muñoz-Bullón, Fernando, 2006. "Unemployment duration, unemployment benefits and recalls," DEE - Working Papers. Business Economics. WB wb066218, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía de la Empresa.
    9. Hwang, Hae-shin & Mortensen, Dale T & Reed, W Robert, 1998. "Hedonic Wages and Labor Market Search," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(4), pages 815-847, October.
    10. Stefan Eriksson & Dan-Olof Rooth, 2014. "Do Employers Use Unemployment as a Sorting Criterion When Hiring? Evidence from a Field Experiment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(3), pages 1014-1039, March.
    11. Sanjay K. Chugh & Christian Merkl, 2016. "Efficiency And Labor Market Dynamics In A Model Of Labor Selection," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 57(4), pages 1371-1404, November.
    12. van der Klaauw, Bas & van Ours, Jan C., 2003. "From welfare to work: does the neighborhood matter?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(5-6), pages 957-985, May.
    13. Fougère, Denis & Pradel, Jacqueline & Roger, Muriel, 2009. "Does the public employment service affect search effort and outcomes?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(7), pages 846-869, October.
    14. Yosef Bonaparte, 2006. "Why do Wealthy Investors have a Higher Return on their Stocks?," 2006 Meeting Papers 286, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    15. Wahba, Jackline & Zenou, Yves, 2005. "Density, social networks and job search methods: Theory and application to Egypt," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(2), pages 443-473, December.
    16. Lindeboom, Maarten & van Ours, Jan C & Renes, Gusta, 1994. "Matching Employers and Workers: An Empirical Analysis on the Effectiveness of Search," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 46(1), pages 45-67, January.
    17. Kugler, Adriana & Saint-Paul, Gilles, 2000. "Hiring and Firing Costs, Adverse Selection and Long-term Unemployment," IZA Discussion Papers 134, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. P. Taylor, Mark & Böheim, René, 2001. "Job search methods, intensity and success in Britain in the 1990s," ISER Working Paper Series 2001-07, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    19. van der Klaauw, B. & van Ours, J.C., 1999. "Labor Supply and Matching Rates for Welfare Recipients : An Analysis Using Neighborhood Characterisitics," Other publications TiSEM f9308f1c-fe2e-4890-a04e-f, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    20. Denis Fougère & Jacqueline Pradel & Muriel Roger, 2005. "Does Job-Search Assistance Affect Search Effort and Outcomes ? A Microeconometric Analysis of Public Versus Private Search Methods," Working Papers 2005-33, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:scandj:v:108:y:2006:i:3:p:373-396. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1467-9442 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.