Do You Need a Job to Find a Job?

26 Pages Posted: 2 Jul 2004

See all articles by Deborah A. Cobb-Clark

Deborah A. Cobb-Clark

School of Economics, University of Sydney; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Paul Frijters

Queensland University of Technology - School of Economics and Finance

Guyonne R.J. Kalb

University of Melbourne - Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research; ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course; IZA

Date Written: July 2004

Abstract

This paper investigates whether job offers arrive more frequently for those in employment than for those in unemployment. To this end, we take advantage of a unique Australian data set which contains information on both accepted and rejected job offers. Our estimation strategy takes account of the selectivity associated with the initial employment state and we allow for individual heterogeneity in the probability of obtaining jobs. Our results reveal that, across the wage range, individuals are about equally likely to obtain a job offer in employment as in unemployment. This implies that encouraging unemployed (rather than employed) search through the provision of unemployment benefits does not improve the speed of a job match.

Keywords: Job-offer arrival rates, reservation wages, wage-offer distribution, directed search

JEL Classification: C41, C14, J64

Suggested Citation

Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. and Frijters, Paul and Kalb, Guyonne R.J., Do You Need a Job to Find a Job? (July 2004). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=560814 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.560814

Deborah A. Cobb-Clark

School of Economics, University of Sydney ( email )

606 Social Sciences Bldg. (A02)
The University of Sydney
Sydney, NSW 2006
Australia
61435061387 (Phone)

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Paul Frijters (Contact Author)

Queensland University of Technology - School of Economics and Finance ( email )

GPO Box 2434
2 George Street
Brisbane, Queensland 4001
Australia
(07) 3864 9364 (Phone)
(07) 3864 1500 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.bus.qut.edu.au/paulfrijters/index.jsp

Guyonne R.J. Kalb

University of Melbourne - Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research ( email )

Level 5, FBE Building, 111 Barry Street
Parkville, Victoria 3010
Australia

ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course ( email )

185 Pelham Street
Carlton, 3053
Australia

IZA ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

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