Learning and Work Hybrid Seminars, Maastricht University, SBE, Spring 2024

When: July 2 
Time: 12h00 – 13h00
Where: TS53: room A0.23 / Zoom

Presenter: Robert Mahlstedt (Copenhagen University) 
Title: Subjective Wage Expectations and Job Search

Abstract: We examine how job seekers' subjective wage expectations influence their perceived employment prospects, job search behavior, and labor market outcomes. Our study involves an information provision experiment embedded in an online survey conducted with unemployed workers in Denmark. We link the survey data with individual-level outcomes and background characteristics from an online job search platform and administrative records. Our preliminary results indicate that individuals who are initially optimistic (pessimistic) reduce (increase) their wage expectations and reservation wages upon receiving information about the actual wages of comparable workers. This suggests that misperceptions about their earnings potential affect job seekers’ selectivity in accepting job offers, potentially influencing job finding. Additionally, we find that belief adjustments are stronger in response to positive signals than to negative ones. There is only limited evidence that wage expectations have a causal effect on search intensity or the types of jobs targeted by unemployed workers.

June 25: Who's Afraid of Policy Experiments? - Robert Dur (Erasmus University) - CANCELLED

June 11: The Impact of Strenuous Working Conditions on Labour Market and Health Outcomes with A. Ahammer (JKU Linz) and F. Degenhardt (U Potsdam) - Marco Caliendo (University of Potsdam)

June 4: Changing Gender Norms Across Generations: Evidence from a Paternity Leave Reform (with Lídia Farré, Christina Felfe, and Patrick Schneider) - Libertad Gonzalez (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)

May 28: How do education and labour market institutions influence the school-to-work transitions of persons with disabilities? Findings from Germany and Europe - Jonna Blanck (WZB)

May 21: How temperature influences primary school students’ performance - Elke Claes (ROA)

April 23: Poor rich women? Labour market effects of de-subsidising childcare for high-income mothers - Olivier Marie (Erasmus University)

April 16: Environmental Awareness and Occupational Choices of Adolescents - Patrick Lehnert (UZH, University of Zürich)

April 9: Can Public Policies Break the Gender Mold? Evidence from Paternity Leave Reforms in Six Countries - Sébastien Fontenay (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)

March 26: The Cost of Air Pollution for Workers and Firms - Marion Leroutier (Institute for Fiscal Studies London)

March 19: Worker Representatives - Thomas Dohmen (University of Bonn)

March 12: Building Health across Generations: Unraveling the Impact of Early Childcare on Maternal Health (with Laia Bosque-Mercader) - Mara Barschkett (BiB Federal Institute for Population Research)

March 5:  Labour market information on students' occupational choice: One-format-fits-all? Evidence from a field experiment - Sandra Perez (ROA, Maastricht University)

February 27: Can Work Time Reduction really deliver Improved Productivity and A Four-Day Week to all? - Brendan Burchell (University of Cambridge)

February 20: Training Jobseekers to Address Labour Shortages: An Experimental Study on Information Barriers - Elisabeth Leduc (Erasmus University)

January 30: Generative Artificial Intelligence in the Workplace: Inequalities in AI Use, Attitudes and Skills - Giedo Jansen (UvA AIAS-HIS)

January 23: Tax incentives for high skilled immigrants: Evidence from a preferential tax scheme in the Netherlands - Paul Muller (VU University Amsterdam)

January 16: The Shift Premium: Evidence from a Discrete Choice Experiment - Sam Desiere (Ghent University)