Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/316716 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 17761
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We conduct a field experiment with job seekers to investigate how feedback influences job search and labor market outcomes. Job seekers who receive feedback on their ability compared to other job seekers update their beliefs and increase their search effort. Specifically, initially underconfident individuals intensify their job search. In contrast, overconfident individuals do not adjust their behavior. Moreover, job seekers' willingness-to-pay (WTP) for feedback predicts treatment effects: only among underconfident individuals with positive WTP, we observe significant increases in both search effort and search success. We present suggestive evidence that this pattern arises from heterogeneity in how job seekers perceive the relevance of relative cognitive ability to job search returns. While the intervention appears cost-effective, job seekers' WTP remains insufficient to cover its costs.
Subjects: 
field experiment
job search
overconfidence
feedback
willingness-to-pay
JEL: 
C93
J24
J64
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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