How do the unemployed apply for jobs and what can we do to help them do better?

Research problem and specific questionsThis project consists of four work packages (WP:s) which revolve around unemployed workers´ job search behavior.

Together they aim at understanding and paint a more complete picture of how the unemployed search and apply for jobs (WP2) as well as how search behavior is affected by changes in incentives (WP3) and job search support, respectively (WP4).

All WP:s exploit unique data on job applications, which is processed in WP1, where we also lay the foundation for a new automatic monitoring system for the Swedish Public Employment Service (PES) that can replace large parts of the , currently manual, monitoring of job search behavior.

Data and methodA key part of this project is the use of unique and until now previously unutilized large sample data containing information about the jobs  unemployed job seekers registered at the PES have applied for.

These data, which consist of text to a great extent, will be processed and interpreted in WP1 using recent methodological advancements in artificial intelligence, and used in all subsequent WP:s. WP2 analyzes heterogeneity in job applications using regression analysis and proportional hazard models.

WP3 and WP4 take on questions of causal nature and require the use of state-of-the-art empirical methods in combination with so-called natural experiments.Societal relevance and utilizationConsiderable resources are spent on labor market policy, and an important part of these are various measures to accelerate the unemployeds´ transition to work.

Furthermore, large amounts of money are spent on manual monitoring of unemployment insurance (UI) beneficiaries job search behavior. Still, faulty UI-payments are estimated to be over 550 million Swedish krona (IAF, 2022).

This project aims to contribute to both of these issues by documenting differences in job search between groups and study how job search is affected by the design of UI-benefits and public job search support.

We also aim to lay the foundation for a new  job search monitoring system which has the potential to generate substantial societal gains.Plan for project realizationThe process of accessing data on job applications has already been initiated and has been granted tentative approval by the PES.

The project brings together researchers from IFAU and analysts from the PES who all have extensive experience with the proposed methods and data. The majority of the budget concerns wage costs for the IFAU project members.