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Duration dependence as an unemployment stigma: Evidence from a field experiment in Germany

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  • Nüß, Patrick

Abstract

Based on a correspondence experiment covering 3,124 fictitious job applications, the paper identifies and quantifies duration dependence in Germany, with a particular emphasis on company and vacancy characteristics as potential determinants. The experiment reveals that duration dependence manifests itself in a sharp decline of 26% to 35% in callbacks when an individual has been unemployed for 10 months, pointing to the existence of an unemployment stigma for Germany. The results are driven by labor market tightness, companies' access to applicants and screening behavior related to company size, with no evidence for an unemployment stigma determined by the contract type.

Suggested Citation

  • Nüß, Patrick, 2018. "Duration dependence as an unemployment stigma: Evidence from a field experiment in Germany," Economics Working Papers 2018-06, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:cauewp:201806
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    Cited by:

    1. Sara Ayllón & Javier Valbuena & Alexander Plum, 2022. "Youth Unemployment and Stigmatization Over the Business Cycle in Europe," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 84(1), pages 103-129, February.
    2. Gerhard Krug & Katrin Drasch & Monika Jungbauer-Gans, 2019. "The social stigma of unemployment: consequences of stigma consciousness on job search attitudes, behaviour and success," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 53(1), pages 1-27, December.
    3. Leckcivilize, Attakrit & Straub, Alexander, 2020. "Your wingman could help you land a job: How beauty composition of applicants affects the call-back probability," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Field Experiments; Public Policy; Labor Demand; Unemployment Duration; Labor Discrimination;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • J68 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Public Policy
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • 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

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