Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/283967 
Year of Publication: 
2022
Series/Report no.: 
Upjohn Institute Working Paper No. 22-372
Publisher: 
W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, Kalamazoo, MI
Abstract: 
Job seekers face substantial information frictions, especially in international labor markets where intermediaries match prospective migrants with overseas employers. We conducted a randomized trial in Indonesia to explore how information about intermediary quality shapes migration outcomes. Holding access to information about the return to choosing a high-quality intermediary constant, intermediaryspecific quality disclosure reduces the migration rate, cutting use of low-quality providers. Workers who do migrate receive better pre-departure preparation and have improved experiences abroad, despite no change in occupation or destination. These results are not driven by changes in beliefs about average provider quality or the return to migration. Nor does selection explain improved outcomes for those who migrate with quality disclosure. Together, our findings are consistent with an increase in the option value of search: with better ability to differentiate offer quality, workers search longer, select higher-quality intermediaries, and ultimately have better migration experiences.
Subjects: 
International migration
information
middlemen
quality disclosure
search
JEL: 
F22
O15
D83
L15
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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