Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/319226 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 11858
Publisher: 
CESifo GmbH, Munich
Abstract: 
This paper exploits that the Covid-19 pandemic came as an unexpected shock that temporarily reduced the ratio of vacancies to seekers. We use this unique setting to understand the importance of job opportunities for the impact of unemployment on workers’ careers. Compared to individuals who became unemployed under more benign conditions, we find greater and lasting adverse effects on earnings. We provide evidence that lower job opportunities lead unemployed individuals to take up jobs that are further down the occupation-specific wage distribution. Finally, we substantiate the importance of job prospects by using exogenous variation in the pandemic’s effect on occupations.
Subjects: 
economic shocks
Covid-19 pandemic
unemployment
worker careers
occupations.
JEL: 
J23
J62
J64
Document Type: 
Working Paper
Appears in Collections:

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.