The available empirical evidence on the wage effect of finding jobs through informal contacts is mixed. This author theorizes that, depending upon the efficiency of formal search methods, the use of personal contacts can lead either to a wage premium or to a wage penalty. Using data from the...

This paper develops a model of frictional job search in which job referral networks evolve endogenously in response to local labor market conditions. An intuitive "Network Balance'' condition characterizes the equilibrium density of the job referral network. The model helps explain observed...

Workers with lower socio-economic status more frequently use social networks to get jobs. This negative self-selection is not well accounted for by existing theories. We present a model that explains why it occurs. When social networks are connected to mismatched occupations, workers with fewer...

We question whether the use of social networks to exit unemployment matters in Cameroon. We develop an empirical model which allows us to address this issue in a convenient way. We propose a methodology based on the well known Heckman (1976) two-step procedure to account for both simultaneity...

This paper develops a labour market matching model with heterogeneous firms, on-thejob search and referrals. Social capital is endogenous, so that better connected workers bargain higher wages for a given level of productivity. This is a positive effect of referrals on reservation wages. At the...

We document gender sorting of candidates into gender-typed jobs at the point of initial application to a company. At this step of the hiring process, the firm has implemented a policy whereby organizational screeners’ discretion has been eliminated such that there is no opportunity for contact...

In this paper, we study whether performance feedback can serve as an instrument for firms to increase employee retention. Feedback on the relative performance may affect individual job search behavior differently depending on workers' relative rank among their peers. In line with these...

This paper proposes a simple general equilibrium model with labour market frictions and an imperfect financial market. The aim of the paper is to analyse the transitional dynamics of unemployment and vacancies when financial constraints are in place. We model the financial sector as a...

We propose an explanation of why Europeans choose to work fewer hours than Americans and also suffer higher rates of unemployment. Labor market regulations, unemployment benefits, and high levels of public consumption in many European countries reduce, ceteris paribus, the gains from being...

How the internet affects job matching is not well understood due to a lack of data on job vacancies and quasi-experimental variation in internet use. This paper helps fill this gap using plausibly exogenous roll-out of broadband infrastructure in Norway, and comprehensive data on recruiters,...