IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/mareco/v8y2014i2p193-211.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Determinants of Job Search Intensity in Ghana

Author

Listed:
  • Christopher Opoku Nyarko
  • William Baah-Boateng
  • Edward Nketiah-Amponsah

Abstract

The success of individuals in securing employment requires a significant search effort. This article presents an empirical analysis of the determinants of job search intensity among a cross-section of workers in Accra, Ghana. Based on a sample of 404 workers drawn from 100 formal sector firms in Accra, we adopt the Poisson regression estimation technique to indicate that age, years of schooling, labour market experience, sex of household head, firm size and ethnic group significantly influence job search intensity. Measures to expose young job seekers to the world of work via internship and apprenticeship could accelerate their transition to employment. JEL Classification: J6; J21; J23

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher Opoku Nyarko & William Baah-Boateng & Edward Nketiah-Amponsah, 2014. "Determinants of Job Search Intensity in Ghana," Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 8(2), pages 193-211, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:mareco:v:8:y:2014:i:2:p:193-211
    DOI: 10.1177/0973801013519995
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0973801013519995
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0973801013519995?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stigler, George J., 2011. "Economics of Information," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 5, pages 35-49.
    2. John T. Addison & Pedro Portugal, 2002. "Job search methods and outcomes," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 54(3), pages 505-533, July.
    3. Albert Rees & Wayne Gray, 1982. "Family Effects in Youth Employment," NBER Chapters, in: The Youth Labor Market Problem: Its Nature, Causes, and Consequences, pages 453-474, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. 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.
    5. J. J. McCall, 1970. "Economics of Information and Job Search," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 84(1), pages 113-126.
    6. Gregg, Paul & Wadsworth, Jonathan, 1996. "How Effective Are State Employment Agencies? Jobcentre Use and Job Matching in Britain," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 58(3), pages 443-467, August.
    7. Try, Sverre, 2005. "The use of job search strategies among university graduates," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 223-243, March.
    8. William Baah-Boateng, 2013. "Determinants of Unemployment in Ghana," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 25(4), pages 385-399.
    9. Natalia Smirnova, 2003. "Job Search Behavior of Unemployed in Russia," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 2003-629, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    10. repec:zbw:bofitp:2003_013 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Schmitt, John & Wadsworth, Jonathan, 1993. "Unemployment Benefit Levels and Search Activity," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 55(1), pages 1-24, February.
    12. S. C. Salop, 1973. "Systematic Job Search and Unemployment," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 40(2), pages 191-201.
    13. John M. Barron & Wesley Mellow, 1979. "Search Effort in the Labor Market," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 14(3), pages 389-404.
    14. Harry Sackey & Barfour Osei, 2006. "Human Resource Underutilization in an Era of Poverty Reduction: An Analysis of Unemployment and Underemployment in Ghana," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 18(2), pages 221-247.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mbulaheni Albert Dagume, 2021. "Determinants of the Job Search Method among Rural Youth: The Case of Vhembe District in South Africa," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 11(5), pages 28-36.

    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. repec:zbw:bofitp:2003_013 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Rainer Eppel & Helmut Mahringer & Andrea Weber, 2014. "Job Search Behaviour and Job Search Success of the Unemployed," WIFO Working Papers 471, WIFO.
    3. Natalia Smirnova, 2003. "Job Search Behavior of Unemployed in Russia," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 2003-629, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    4. John T. Addison & Pedro Portugal, 2002. "Job search methods and outcomes," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 54(3), pages 505-533, July.
    5. Ronald Bachmann & Daniel Baumgarten, 2013. "How do the unemployed search for a job? – Evidence from the EU Labour Force Survey," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 2(1), pages 1-25, December.
    6. Battu, Harminder & Seaman, Paul & Zenou, Yves, 2011. "Job contact networks and the ethnic minorities," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 48-56, January.
    7. 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.
    8. Addison, John T. & Altemeyer-Bartscher, Martin & Kuhn, Thomas, 2010. "The Dilemma of Delegating Search: Budgeting in Public Employment Services," IZA Discussion Papers 5170, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Andrea Weber & Helmut Mahringer, 2008. "Choice and success of job search methods," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 153-178, August.
    10. 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.
    11. 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.
    12. Moundir LASSASSI, 2020. "Job seekers’ search intensity in Algeria: Does gender matter?," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 52, pages 59-81.
    13. Andrea Morescalchi, 2016. "The Puzzle Of Job Search And Housing Tenure: A Reconciliation Of Theory And Empirical Evidence," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(2), pages 288-312, March.
    14. Andrea Morescalchi, 2021. "A new career in a new town. Job search methods and regional mobility of unemployed workers," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 20(2), pages 223-272, May.
    15. Smirnova, Natalia, 2003. "Job search behavior of unemployed in Russia," BOFIT Discussion Papers 13/2003, Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT).
    16. Opoku Nyarko, Christopher & Baah-Boateng, William & Nketiah-Amponsah, Edward, 2014. "The Effect of Search Effort on the transition from Unemployment to Work: Evidence from a Cross Section of Ghanaian Formal Sector Workers," MPRA Paper 109691, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Wen Wang & Peter G. Moffatt, 2008. "Hukou and Graduates’ Job Search in China," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 22(1), pages 1-23, March.
    18. Masaru Sasaki & Miki Kohara & Tomohiro Machikita, 2013. "Measuring Search Frictions Using Japanese Microdata," The Japanese Economic Review, Japanese Economic Association, vol. 64(4), pages 431-451, December.
    19. Damm, Anna Piil, 2014. "Neighborhood quality and labor market outcomes: Evidence from quasi-random neighborhood assignment of immigrants," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 139-166.
    20. Colin Green, 2012. "Employed and unemployed job search methods: Australian evidence on search duration, wages and job stability," Working Papers 50029416, Lancaster University Management School, Economics Department.
    21. Manning, Alan, 2009. "You can't always get what you want: The impact of the UK Jobseeker's Allowance," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 239-250, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Employment; Unemployment; Job search intensity; Poisson regression; Ghana;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand

    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:sae:mareco:v:8:y:2014:i:2:p:193-211. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ncaer.org/ .

    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.