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Employer Screening Costs, Recruiting Strategies, and Labor Market Outcomes: An Equilibrium Analysis of On-Campus Recruiting

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  • Weinstein, Russell

    (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

Abstract

This paper analyzes labor market matching in the presence of search and informational frictions, by studying employer recruiting on college campuses. Based on employer and university interviews, I develop a model describing how firms choose target campuses given relevant frictions. The model predicts that with screening costs, the decision to recruit and the wage are driven by the selectivity of surrounding universities, in addition to the university's selectivity. The prediction has strong support using data from 39 finance and consulting firms and the Baccalaureate and Beyond. Structural estimation of an equilibrium model directly quantifies the impact of reducing screening costs.

Suggested Citation

  • Weinstein, Russell, 2017. "Employer Screening Costs, Recruiting Strategies, and Labor Market Outcomes: An Equilibrium Analysis of On-Campus Recruiting," IZA Discussion Papers 10912, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10912
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    Cited by:

    1. Giuseppe Grasso & Konstantinos Tatsiramos, 2023. "The Impact of Restricting Fixed-Term Contracts on Labor and Skill Demand," CESifo Working Paper Series 10693, CESifo.
    2. Felix Ehrenfried & Thomas A. Fackler & Lindlacher Valentin & Thomas Fackler, 2022. "New Region, New Chances: Does Moving Regionally for University Shape Later Job Mobility?," CESifo Working Paper Series 9922, CESifo.
    3. Weinstein, Russell, 2021. "Graduating from a Less Selective University during a Recession: Evidence from Mobility Report Cards and Employer Recruiting," IZA Discussion Papers 14462, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Forsythe, Eliza & Weinstein, Russell, 2021. "Recruiting Intensity, Hires, and Vacancies: Evidence from Firm-Level Data," IZA Discussion Papers 14138, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Weinstein, Russell, 2017. "Geography and Employer Recruiting," IZA Discussion Papers 11224, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Cecilia Machado & Germ'an Reyes & Evan Riehl, 2023. "The Direct and Spillover Effects of Large-scale Affirmative Action at an Elite Brazilian University," Papers 2305.02513, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2023.
    7. Weinstein, Russell, 2017. "University Selectivity, Initial Job Quality, and Longer-Run Salary," IZA Discussion Papers 10911, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    return to university education; employer recruiting; labor market search; screening costs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education
    • M51 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Firm Employment Decisions; Promotions

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