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Job Search during a Pandemic Recession: Survey Evidence from the Netherlands

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Listed:
  • Balgova, Maria

    (IZA)

  • Trenkle, Simon

    (IZA and IAB)

  • Zimpelmann, Christian

    (IZA)

  • Pestel, Nico

    (Maastricht University)

Abstract

This paper studies job search behavior in the midst of a pandemic recession. We use long-running panel data from the Netherlands (LISS) and complement the core survey with our own COVID-specific module, conducted in June 2020, surveying job search effort of employed as well as unemployed respondents. We estimate an empirical model of job search over the business cycle over the period 2008-2019 to explore the gap between predicted and actual job search behavior in 2020. We find that job search during the pandemic recession differs strongly from previous downturns. The unemployed search significantly less than what we would normally observe during a recession of this size, while the employed search mildly more. Expectations about the duration of the pandemic seem to play a key role in explaining job search effort for the unemployed in 2020. Furthermore, employed subjects affected by changes in employment status due to COVID-19 are more likely to search for a job. Conversely, beliefs about infection risk do not seem to be related to job search in a systematic way.

Suggested Citation

  • Balgova, Maria & Trenkle, Simon & Zimpelmann, Christian & Pestel, Nico, 2021. "Job Search during a Pandemic Recession: Survey Evidence from the Netherlands," IZA Discussion Papers 14180, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14180
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hans Martin von Gaudecker & Radost Holler & Lena Janys & Bettina Siflinger & Christian Zimpelmann, 2020. "Labour Supply During Lockdown and a “New Normal”: The Case of the Netherlands," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2020_211, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    2. Andreas I. Mueller & Johannes Spinnewijn & Giorgio Topa, 2021. "Job Seekers' Perceptions and Employment Prospects: Heterogeneity, Duration Dependence, and Bias," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(1), pages 324-363, January.
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    4. Hensvik, Lena & Le Barbanchon, Thomas & Rathelot, Roland, 2021. "Job search during the COVID-19 crisis," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    5. Bransch, Felix, 2021. "Job search intensity of unemployed workers and the business cycle," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    6. Lichter, Andreas & Schiprowski, Amelie, 2021. "Benefit duration, job search behavior and re-employment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    7. Coibion, Olivier & Gorodnichenko, Yuriy & Weber, Michael, 2020. "Labor Markets During the Covid-19 Crisis: A Preliminary View," Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt7rx7t91p, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
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    9. Bauer Anja & Weber Enzo & Keveloh Kristin & Mamertino Mariano, 2023. "Competing for Jobs: How COVID-19 Changes Search Behaviour in the Labour Market," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 24(4), pages 323-347, December.
    10. Stefano Della & Jörg Heining & Johannes F Schmieder & Simon Trenkle, 2023. "Evidence on Job Search Models from a Survey of Unemployed Workers in Germany," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 137(2), pages 1181-1232.
    11. Zimpelmann, Christian & Gaudecker, Hans-Martin von & Holler, Radost & Janys, Lena & Siflinger, Bettina, 2021. "Hours and income dynamics during the Covid-19 pandemic: The case of the Netherlands," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    12. Jose Maria Barrero & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis & Brent H. Meyer, 2021. "COVID-19 Is a Persistent Reallocation Shock," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 111, pages 287-291, May.
    13. Gomme, Paul & Lkhagvasuren, Damba, 2015. "Worker search effort as an amplification mechanism," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 106-122.
    14. Leyva Gustavo, 2018. "Against All Odds: Job Search during the Great Recession," Working Papers 2018-13, Banco de México.
    15. Toshihiko Mukoyama & Christina Patterson & Ayşegül Şahin, 2018. "Job Search Behavior over the Business Cycle," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 10(1), pages 190-215, January.
    16. Stephen DeLoach & Mark Kurt, 2013. "Discouraging Workers: Estimating the Impacts of Macroeconomic Shocks on the Search Intensity of the Unemployed," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 34(4), pages 433-454, December.
    17. Crossley, Thomas F. & Fisher, Paul & Low, Hamish, 2021. "The heterogeneous and regressive consequences of COVID-19: Evidence from high quality panel data," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
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    Cited by:

    1. Henri Bussink & Tobias Vervliet & Bas Weel, 2022. "The Short-Term Effect of the COVID-19 Crisis on Employment Probabilities of Labour-Market Entrants in the Netherlands," De Economist, Springer, vol. 170(2), pages 279-303, May.
    2. Arceo-Gomez, Eva O. & Campos-Vazquez, Raymundo M. & Esquivel, Gerardo & Alcaraz, Eduardo & Martinez, Luis A. & Lopez, Norma G., 2023. "The impact of COVID-19 infection on labor outcomes of Mexican formal workers," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 29(C).
    3. Carrillo-Tudela, Carlos & Clymo, Alex & Comunello, Camila & Jäckle, Annette & Visschers, Ludo & Zentler-Munro, David, 2023. "Search and reallocation in the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from the UK," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    4. Daniel Goller & Stefan C. Wolter, 2021. "“Too shocked to search” The COVID-19 shutdowns’ impact on the search for apprenticeships," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 157(1), pages 1-15, December.
    5. D’Amuri, Francesco & De Philippis, Marta & Guglielminetti, Elisa & Lo Bello, Salvatore, 2022. "Slack and prices during Covid-19: Accounting for labor market participation," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    6. Joseph Richardson, 2023. "Health Risks and Labour Supply," Working Papers 379420583, Lancaster University Management School, Economics Department.
    7. Higashi, Yudai & Sasaki, Masaru, 2023. "Did COVID-19 Deteriorate Mismatch in the Japanese Labor Market?," IZA Discussion Papers 15917, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    job search; COVID-19; labor supply; survey;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • J68 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Public Policy

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