Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/51783 
Year of Publication: 
2011
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 5860
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We use individual data for Great Britain over the period 1992-2009 to compare the probability that employed and unemployed job seekers find a job and the quality of the job they find. The job finding rate of unemployed job seekers is 50 percent higher than that of employed job seekers, and this difference remains even when controlling for differences in observable worker characteristics and job search behaviour. We present evidence suggesting that these differences in the job finding probability is caused by behavioural differences between employed and unemployed job seekers rather than differences in characteristics. Consistent with search theory, we find that employed job seekers are more selective in evaluating job offers and are therefore less likely to find a job offer acceptable; for example, they are less likely to accept low-wage and temporary jobs, or jobs that do not meet their working hour requirements.
Subjects: 
on-the-job search
unemployment
job-finding rate
JEL: 
J01
J20
J29
J62
J64
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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