Public employment agencies and unemployment spells: reconciling the experimental and nonexperimental evidence.

Econometric evidence strongly suggests that unemployed job-seekers who use the services of a Public Employment Agency (PEA) have longer unemployment spells than those choosing alternative search methods. Yet, in some well-designed U.S. experiments, increased use of PEA services has been associated w...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Industrial & Labor Relations Review Vol. 50; pp. 667 - 684
Autor principal: Thomas, Jonathan M.
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Cornell University July 1997
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:Econometric evidence strongly suggests that unemployed job-seekers who use the services of a Public Employment Agency (PEA) have longer unemployment spells than those choosing alternative search methods. Yet, in some well-designed U.S. experiments, increased use of PEA services has been associated with faster transitions into jobs. The author argues that the nonexperimental studies may be biased toward finding a positive relationship between unemployment spell duration and PEA use because they ignore the possibility that PEAs are chosen by many job-seekers only after other search methods have been tried unsuccessfully and a period of unemployment has elapsed. An analysis of U.K. survey data with information on the timing of PEA use in 1987-88 supports that hypothesis. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.