The Direct and Indirect Effects of Online Job Search Advice

Abstract
We study how personalized online job search advice affects the search behavior and employment prospects of unemployed workers. In a large-scale field experiment, we provide vacancy information and occupational recommendations through a new online dashboard. A clustered randomization procedure with regionally varying treatment intensities allows us to account for treatment spillovers. Our results show that online advice is highly effective when the share of treated workers is relatively low: working hours and earnings in the year after the intervention increase by up to 12%. At the same time, we find substantial negative spillovers on other treated job seekers for higher treatment intensities, resulting from increased competition between job seekers who apply for similar vacancies. Joint paper with Anita Glenny and Robert Mahlstedt, Alexander Sebald.