Internet Job Search and Unemployment Durations

Abstract

Using the December 1998 and August 2000 CPS Computer and Internet Supplements matched with subsequent CPS files, we ask which types of unemployed workers looked for work on line and whether Internet searchers became reemployed more quickly. In our data, Internet searchers have observed characteristics that are typically associated with shorter unemployment spells, and do spend less time unemployed. This unemployment differential is however eliminated and in some cases reversed when we hold observable characteristics constant. We conclude that either Internet job search is ineffective in reducing unemployment durations, or Internet job searchers are negatively selected on unobservables.

Do Digital Information Technologies Help Unemployed Job Seekers Find a Job? Evidence from the Broadband Internet Expansion in Germany

“…Consistent with the international evidence (e.g. Kuhn and Skuterud, 2004), his results suggest that the incidence was higher among younger and better qualified (unemployed) individuals. This pattern is confirmed by Thomsen and Wittich (2010) based on the same data set, who document an increase in the share of unemployed job seekers searching online from 37% in 2003 to 53% in 2007.…”

“…Kuhn and Skuterud (2004) were the first to exploit individual variation in internet usage and to evaluate the impact of online job search on unemployment durations for the years 1998-2000 based on the Current Population Survey (CPS). The results from their duration analysis suggest that after controlling for observables, unemployed workers searching online do not become reemployed more quickly than their non-online job-seeking counterparts.…”

“…Moreover, she 1 finds that internet searching advantages had disappeared by 2000. Kuhn and Mansour (2014) replicate the analysis by Kuhn and Skuterud (2004) combining information from the CPS with the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). Comparing the relationship between internet usage and unemployment durations in 1998/2000 and 2008/2009, the authors find that while internet usage was ineffective one decade ago, it was associated with a reduction in the duration of unemployment by about 25% in 2008/2009.…”

Liability-of-foreignness effects on job success of immigrant job seekers

“…Employers may also be attracted to online applications because the digital interface would enable them to use artificial-intelligence software to screen applicants in a standardized manner. Due to its low requirement for social interactions, the internet as a method of job search may provide immigrants with a favorable lean jobsearch avenue to reduce the extent to which they are stereotyped (Kuhn & Skuterud, 2004). In addition, immigrants that apply online are typically self-selected, a sign that they may have higher levels of computer and internet literacy (Fountain, 2005).…”

“…The internet job-search method has, however, its own limitations. For example, once education and occupation variables are controlled, internet job seekers have been found to take a significantly longer period of time to obtain employment than those who do not use internet job searches as a method (Kuhn & Skuterud, 2004).…”