Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/232776 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 14024
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Employment agencies aim to match individuals to appropriate jobs. There are public and private employment agencies, which co-exist in many countries. Selection effects may be relevant in the sense that private agencies potentially engage in 'cream-skimming' by prioritizing highly qualified workers. The resulting job match quality is also important from an individual, a firm, and a society perspective. We examine the selection into job placement via private and public employment agencies as well as the resulting job match qualities, taking a job-market reform in Germany into account: the introduction of placement vouchers for private job placements. Using representative German panel data, we find that cream-skimming is significantly less pronounced under the voucher policy, as private agencies shift the focus toward unemployed individuals with a voucher. In addition, we find evidence based on propensity score matching estimations that private agencies tend to create better matches than their public counterparts.
Subjects: 
cream-skimming
job match quality
job placement
job search
private employment agencies
public employment agency
selection
vouchers
JEL: 
J64
L33
M5
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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