In this paper, we measure the effectiveness of the Dutch public employment service (PES) for various performance measures, ranging from outflow rates to the timeliness of the benefits allocation. Using unique administrative monthly data from local PES offices during 2004, we exploit the fact...

We specify and estimate an equilibrium search model with between-market heterogeneity in the productivity levels. The model allows for two types of unemployment: unemployment due to search frictions and unemployment due to wage floors. Wage floors may exist, because of large unemployment...

This paper has been presented at the Journal of Applied Econometrics International Conference on the Micro-Econometrics of Dynamic Decision Making, in Tilburg, May 1994. We would like to thank John Rust, Arie Kapteyn and other participants at this conference for their helpful comments. This...

We specify and estimate an equilibrium job search model with productivity differences across labor market segments. The model allows for two types of unemployment: frictional unemployment due to search frictions and structural unemployment due to wage floors. Wage floors exist because of high...

In most studies on individual labor market transitions, the search process leading to job offers is a black box. In this paper we specify and estimate a search model that distinguishes between formal (applications) and informal (referrals) search methods. Job offers can be obtained by either...

We examine how self-selection of workers depends on the power of incentive schemes and how it affects team performance if the power of the incentive schemes is increased. In a laboratory experiment, we let subjects choose between (low-powered) team incentives and (high-powered) individual...

This paper assesses the response of Dutch secondary schools to the publication of relative quality ratings in a national newspaper (Trouw). Our research design exploits the discontinuities in the ranking formula that was used to generate five consecutive levels for the overall quality of...

We analyze the incentive effects of performance-based contracts, as well as their impacts on provider job placement rates, using unique data on Dutch cohorts of unemployed and disabled workers that were assigned to private social-welfare providers in 2002-2005. In a growing number of...

We analyse the causal effect of education on starting and quitting smoking, using longitudinal data of Australian twins. We take into account the endogeneity of education, censoring of smoking durations and the timing of starting smoking versus that of completing education by using the flexible...