Surveying employment-related newspaper advertisements over several centuries, we identify four eras (neither workers nor firms posted ads, mostly workers posted, mostly firms posted, both parties posted). These eras correspond to alternative equilibria in a strategic coordination game describing...

Freelancers face cold-start problems in online labor markets: getting hired is very difficult without ratings, while obtaining a rating is impossible unless already having been hired. According to economic theory and empirical evidence, advertising can serve as a signal of product quality for...