Purpose: There is consistent evidence that a positive mindset could foster the job search process. Psychological capital, defined as a tendency to hold cognitions and positive appraisals of one's ability, could highlight the importance of individual cognitive appraisal in the job search process....

Standard economic theory suggests that individuals know best how to make themselves happy. Thus, policies designed to encourage more forward-looking behaviors will only reduce people's happiness. Recently, however, economists have explored the role of impatience, especially difficulties with...

Many OECD countries have, or have had, a policy that exempts older unemployed people from the requirement to search for a job. An aging population and low participation by older workers in the labor market increasingly put public finances under strain, and spur calls for policy measures that...

Employment agencies aim to match individuals to appropriate jobs. There are public and private employment agencies, which co-exist in many countries. Selection effects may be relevant in the sense that private agencies potentially engage in 'cream-skimming' by prioritizing highly qualified...

If a person is overqualified in the sense that an employee's level of training exceeds the job requirements, then some human capital lies idle and cannot be converted into appropriate (monetary and non-monetary) returns. Migrants are particularly at risk of being overqualified in their...

Angesichts des demographischen Wandels gewinnen die Verlängerung der Erwerbstätigkeit und damit auch die Bedingungen für Neueinstellungen im letzten Drittel des Erwerbslebens an Bedeutung. Dieser Beitrag untersucht auf mikroökonomischer Grundlage (IABBetriebspanel) betriebliche Merkmale, die...

Increasing labor mobility is high on the political agenda because of its supposedly positive effects on labor market functioning. However, little attention has been paid to information imperfections, and to what extent they limit potential efficiency gains of labor mobility. When the quality of...

Labor market policies succeed or fail at least in part depending on how well they reflect or account for behavioral responses. Insights from behavioral economics, which allow for realistic deviations from standard economic assumptions about behavior, have consequences for the design and...

Since the internet’s earliest days, firms and workers have used various online methods to advertise and find jobs. Until recently there has been little evidence that any internet-based tool has had a measurable effect on job search or recruitment outcomes. However, recent studies, and the...

Unemployment benefits often reduce incentives to search for a job. Policymakers have responded to this behaviour by setting minimum job search requirements, by monitoring to check that unemployment benefit recipients are engaged in the appropriate level of job search activity, and by imposing...