Information, skills and job search

I use a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate the general average treatment effect of reducing information frictions for jobseekers in low- and middle-income urban labour markets. I find that information provision generates a small and reasonably certain increase in private employment, but has an uncertain average effect on earnings. Reducing information frictions is particularly beneficial to individuals who previously lacked a method to credibly communicate their skills to firms. I examine the estimate heterogeneity to establish whether the general average effect is informative of the labour market effects of reducing information frictions in similar low- and middle-income countries. I find that the estimates are mutually informative and therefore likely to generalise to other settings well. These findings suggest that information provision interventions offer fairly certain increases in employment for low- and middle-income labour markets, particularly if individuals who are unable to credibly communicate their skills to firms are targeted with the policy.