The Public Employment Agency (PEA) helps unemployed to find work and mediates PEA-registered job vacancies to job seekers via vacancy referrals. Using the spatial and temporal variation resulting from the regional roll-out of the Hartz 3 reform we are able to show that Hartz 3, which changed...

Our paper analyzes the role of public employment agencies in job matching, in particular the effects of the restructuring of the Federal Employment Agency in Germany (Hartz III labor market reform) for aggregate matching and unemployment. Based on two microeconomic datasets, we show that the...

In a randomised controlled trial in Austria, lowering caseloads for caseworkers in a Public Employment Office led to more meetings with unemployed clients, more job offers, more programme assignments, and more sanctions for noncompliance with job search requirements. It shortened unemployment...

Our paper analyzes the role of public employment agencies in job matching, in particular the effects of the restructuring of the Federal Employment Agency in Germany (Hartz III labor market reform) for aggregate matching and unemployment. Based on two microeconomic datasets, we show that the...

Our paper analyzes the role of public employment agencies in job matching, in particular the effects of the restructuring of the Federal Employment Agency in Germany (Hartz III labor market reform) for aggregate matching and unemployment. Based on two microeconomic datasets, we show that the...

Digitization has spurred interest in the potential of statistical profiling to improve the targeting of active labor market policies. Despite growing adoption, empirical evidence on the effectiveness of such profiling in program allocation is scarce. We evaluate a semi-automated statistical...

Using a unique combination of Austrian administrative data, we show that start-ups' search and hiring decisions matter for their business success. Firms that report vacancies to the Public Employment Service in the early stage of their existence stay longer in the market and grow stronger....

Despite their importance for the success of firms, the job prospects of the unemployed and overall unemployment, the factors that determine firms' decisions to report vacancies to the Public Employment Service and to hire the unemployed are largely unexplored. We address this research gap by...

In 2005, displaced workers in Finland with at least three years of work history were given the option to enroll in a Re-employment Program. Participants met with a caseworker at the beginning of their unemployment and drafted an employment plan. In return, they became eligible for higher...

This study estimates and decomposes recruitment elasticity, a key measure of employer market power, across job-matching stages using data from Japan's largest job-matching intermediary. On average, recruitment elasticity is negative but not statistically significantly different from zero....

This paper evaluates a hiring subsidy for lower-educated youths in Flanders (Belgium) that reduced labour costs by approximately 13% for a period of two years, starting in 2016. Using a donut Regression Discontinuity Design, we find no evidence that the subsidy improved the job finding rate of...

Searching for jobs is challenging, and online platforms now often offer tailored job recommendations. In a randomized controlled trial with over 1,250 participants, we evaluate recommendations based on prior experience or based on skill profiles assessed at study enrolment. We find that, on...

Our paper analyzes the role of public employment agencies in job matching, in particular the effects of the restructuring of the Federal Employment Agency in Germany (Hartz III labor market reform) for aggregate matching and unemployment. Based on two microeconomic datasets, we show that the...

Our paper aims at improving the understanding for the role of public employment agencies in job matching. We analyze the effects of the restructuring of the Federal Employment Agency in Germany (Hartz III labor market reform) for aggregate matching and unemployment. Based on two microeconomic...

Our paper analyzes the role of public employment agencies in job matching, in particular the effects of the restructuring of the Federal Employment Agency in Germany (Hartz III labor market reform) for aggregate matching and unemployment. Based on two microeconomic datasets, we show that the...

Using the administrative records of the Spanish Public Employment Service for the period 2018-2019, we analysed the impact of participation in job search assistance and training programmes on the chances of unemployed jobseekers finding employment, as well as the quality of the job obtained....

The objective of the document is to explore the current and evolving role of European public employment services (PES) in the international recruitment of skilled labour and develop recommendations to expand and/or streamline their role. The document maps current involvement of PES structured...

We assess the impact of discrimination on Black individuals’ job networks across the U.S. using a two-stage field experiment with 400+ fictitious LinkedIn profiles. In the first stage, we vary race via AI-generated images only and find that Black profiles’ connection requests are 13 percent...

The annual PES Capacity Report forms an integral part of the Work Programme of the European Network of Public Employment Services (PES Network). It provides an overview and analysis of the main trends in the development of Public Employment Services (PES). The main source of information for this...

In 2023, the Work Programme of the PES Network was implemented in a rapidly changing context. While unemployment remained close to historically low levels throughout most of 2023 (6% in the EU27 in September 2023), labour and skills shortages grew across many sectors, and SMEs most notably...

Using French administrative data we estimate the wage gap distribution between in-house and temporary agency workers working in the same establishment and the same occupation. The average wage gap is about 3%, but the gap is negative in more than 25% of establishment × occupation cells. We...

There is still a lack of knowledge on how to effectively help the long-term unemployed into employment. We evaluate a wide range of active labour market policies for this target group, using a dynamic matching approach. Measures vary considerably in the extent to which they improve labour market...

We analysed a new counselling and support programme for people with low employment prospects in Austria. The Austrian Public Employment Service introduced regional pilots to investigate whether a new counselling strategy could improve labour market outcomes for this group. Eligible unemployed...

We create a dataset of 14,000 hand-coded help-wanted advertisements placed by employment agencies in three U.S. newspapers in 1950 and 1960, a time when help-wanted advertisements were divided into male and female sections, and collect information on agency ownership. We find that female-owned...

Alleinerziehende müssen die Doppelbelastung bewältigen, ohne Unterstützung eines Partners im Haushalt für den Familienunterhalt und die Kinderbetreuung zu sorgen, weshalb sie als Bevölkerungsgruppe mit besonderem sozialpolitischen Unterstützungsbedarf gelten. Rund ein Drittel der...

In this paper, we document de facto, implicit, and explicit racial biases within the public employment service in Colombia. By combining administrative data about job seekers and job openings with direct surveys to job counselors, including a Race Implicit Association Test, we compute different...

Caseworker meetings have been shown to accelerate exit from unemployment. We explore whether they are also effectual before entering unemployment. In a natural field experiment, we offer caseworker meetings to workers at risk of losing their jobs while they are still employed. We find that the...

We assess the impact of discrimination on Black individuals’ job networks across the U.S. using a two-stage field experiment with 400+ fictitious LinkedIn profiles. In the first stage, we vary race via AI-generated images only and find that Black profiles’ connection requests are 13 percent...

Using French administrative data we estimate the wage gap distribution between in-house and temporary agency workers working in the same establishment and the same occupation. The average wage gap is about 3% in favor of in-house workers, but the gap is negative in more than 25% of establishment...

Does the priming of street-level bureaucrats with negative news stories on immigration influence their decisions regarding unemployment benefits? Previous research has established that regional-level peer pressure on public employees and the national-level salience of immigration debates...

Contracting out job placement services might save costs and provide a service capacity buffer in times of increasing unemployment. However, state agencies must be able to ensure a suitable balance between services and quality, and to carefully monitor and evaluate private provider outcomes....

Working for labour platforms is still relatively rare, but the generally poor working conditions and the impact on the world of work are the subject of much debate. Although data are scarce, there is a general consensus that migrants are overrepresented in this type of work. Platforms may well...

We combine a high-frequency survey on job search effort with administrative data on caseworker interactions from the German unemployment insurance system to estimate how the dynamics of search effort respond to caseworker meetings and vacancy referrals. Meetings alone do not increase...

As part of broader digitalisation efforts, half of public employment services (PES) in OECD countries are employing Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance their services. AI is being adopted across all key tasks of PES, including most commonly to match jobseekers with vacancies. While several...

Latvia’s public employment service, the State Employment Agency (SEA), is undertaking a modernisation of its service delivery. This review discusses the SEA’s digitalisation needs and strategy to guide its modernisation efforts. It provides a detailed assessment of the SEA’s digital...