Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp11555.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

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

Author

Listed:
  • Gürtzgen, Nicole

    (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg)

  • Nolte, André

    (ZEW Mannheim)

  • Pohlan, Laura

    (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg)

  • van den Berg, Gerard J.

    (University of Groningen)

Abstract
This paper studies effects of the introduction of a new digital mass medium on reemployment of unemployed job seekers. We combine data on high-speed (broadband) internet availability at the local level with individual register data on the unemployed in Germany. We address endogeneity by exploiting technological peculiarities in the network that affected the roll-out of high-speed internet. The results show that high-speed internet improves reemployment rates after the first months of the unemployment spell. This is confirmed by complementary analysis with individual survey data suggesting that online job search leads to additional formal job interviews after a few months in unemployment.

Suggested Citation

  • Gürtzgen, Nicole & Nolte, André & Pohlan, Laura & van den Berg, Gerard J., 2018. "Do Digital Information Technologies Help Unemployed Job Seekers Find a Job? Evidence from the Broadband Internet Expansion in Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 11555, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11555
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp11555.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gerard J. van den Berg & Bas van der Klaauw, 2006. "Counseling And Monitoring Of Unemployed Workers: Theory And Evidence From A Controlled Social Experiment," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 47(3), pages 895-936, August.
    2. Gerard J. van den Berg & Antoine Bozio & Mónica Costa Dias, 2020. "Policy discontinuity and duration outcomes," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 11(3), pages 871-916, July.
    3. Anders Akerman & Ingvil Gaarder & Magne Mogstad, 2015. "The Skill Complementarity of Broadband Internet," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 130(4), pages 1781-1824.
    4. Van den Berg, G J & Lindeboom, M & Ridder, G, 1994. "Attrition in Longitudinal Panel Data and the Empirical Analysis of Dynamic Labour Market Behaviour," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 9(4), pages 421-435, Oct.-Dec..
    5. Bhuller, Manudeep & Kostøl, Andreas & Vigtel, Trond Christian, 2019. "How Broadband Internet Affects Labor Market Matching," Memorandum 10/2019, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
    6. Manudeep Bhuller & Tarjei Havnes & Edwin Leuven & Magne Mogstad, 2013. "Broadband Internet: An Information Superhighway to Sex Crime?," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 80(4), pages 1237-1266.
    7. Michèle Belot & Philipp Kircher & Paul Muller, 2019. "Providing Advice to Jobseekers at Low Cost: An Experimental Study on Online Advice," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 86(4), pages 1411-1447.
    8. Arash Nekoei & Andrea Weber, 2015. "Recall Expectations and Duration Dependence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(5), pages 142-146, May.
    9. Bertschek, Irene & Cerquera, Daniel & Klein, Gordon J., 2011. "More bits - more bucks? Measuring the impact of broadband internet on firm performance," ZEW Discussion Papers 11-032, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    10. Erik Brynjolfsson & Michael D. Smith, 2000. "Frictionless Commerce? A Comparison of Internet and Conventional Retailers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 46(4), pages 563-585, April.
    11. Lee, Sokbae & Wilke, Ralf A., 2009. "Reform of Unemployment Compensation in Germany: A Nonparametric Bounds Analysis Using Register Data," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 27(2), pages 193-205.
    12. Kory Kroft & Devin G. Pope, 2014. "Does Online Search Crowd Out Traditional Search and Improve Matching Efficiency? Evidence from Craigslist," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(2), pages 259-303.
    13. Bruno Crépon & Gerard J. van den Berg, 2016. "Active Labor Market Policies," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 8(1), pages 521-546, October.
    14. Michael Polder & George van Leeuwen & Pierre Mohnen & Wladimir Raymond, 2010. "Product, Process and Organizational Innovation: Drivers, Complementarity and Productivity Effects," DRUID Working Papers 10-24, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    15. Oliver Falck & Robert Gold & Stephan Heblich, 2014. "E-lections: Voting Behavior and the Internet," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(7), pages 2238-2265, July.
    16. Gartner, Hermann, 2005. "The imputation of wages above the contribution limit with the German IAB employment sample," FDZ Methodenreport 200502_en, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    17. Gerard J. van den Berg & Bas van der Klaauw, 2019. "Structural Empirical Evaluation Of Job Search Monitoring," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 60(2), pages 879-903, May.
    18. Shigeru Fujita & Giuseppe Moscarini, 2017. "Recall and Unemployment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(12), pages 3875-3916, December.
    19. Nadine Fabritz, 2013. "The Impact of Broadband on Economic Activity in Rural Areas: Evidence from German Municipalities," ifo Working Paper Series 166, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    20. Peter Kuhn & Mikal Skuterud, 2004. "Internet Job Search and Unemployment Durations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(1), pages 218-232, March.
    21. Peter Kuhn & Hani Mansour, 2014. "Is Internet Job Search Still Ineffective?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 124(581), pages 1213-1233, December.
    22. Oberschachtsiek, Dirk & Scioch, Patrycja & Seysen, Christian & Heining, Jörg, 2009. "Stichprobe der Integrierten Erwerbsbiografien IEBS : Handbuch für die IEBS in der Fassung 2008," FDZ Datenreport. Documentation on Labour Market Data 200903_de, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    23. Jeffrey R. Brown & Austan Goolsbee, 2002. "Does the Internet Make Markets More Competitive? Evidence from the Life Insurance Industry," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(3), pages 481-507, June.
    24. David H. Autor, 2001. "Wiring the Labor Market," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 25-40, Winter.
    25. Giulia Canzian & Samuele Poy & Simone Schüller, 2015. "Broadband Diffusion and Firm Performance in Rural Areas: Quasi-Experimental Evidence," FBK-IRVAPP Working Papers 2015-10, Research Institute for the Evaluation of Public Policies (IRVAPP), Bruno Kessler Foundation.
    26. Kolko, Jed, 2010. "How broadband changes online and offline behaviors," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 144-152, May.
    27. Constantin Mang, 2012. "Online Job Search and Matching Quality," ifo Working Paper Series 147, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    28. van den Berg, Gerard J, 1994. "The Effects of Changes of the Job Offer Arrival Rate on the Duration of Unemployment," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 12(3), pages 478-498, July.
    29. repec:iab:iabfme:200502(en is not listed on IDEAS
    30. Kolko, Jed, 2012. "Broadband and local growth," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 100-113.
    31. repec:eee:labchp:v:2:y:1986:i:c:p:849-919 is not listed on IDEAS
    32. Czernich, Nina, 2014. "Does broadband internet reduce the unemployment rate? Evidence for Germany," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 32-45.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bhuller, Manudeep & Kostøl, Andreas & Vigtel, Trond Christian, 2019. "How Broadband Internet Affects Labor Market Matching," Memorandum 10/2019, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
    2. Jin, Xin & Ma, Baojie & Zhang, Haifeng, 2023. "Impact of fast internet access on employment: Evidence from a broadband expansion in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    3. Diegmann, André, 2019. "The internet effects on sex crime offenses - Evidence from the German broadband internet expansion," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 82-99.
    4. Gürtzgen, Nicole & Lochner, Benjamin & Pohlan, Laura & van den Berg, Gerard J., 2021. "Does online search improve the match quality of new hires?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    5. Briscese, Guglielmo & Zanella, Giulio & Quinn, Veronica, 2020. "Improving Job Search Skills: A Field Experiment on Online Employment Assistance," IZA Discussion Papers 13170, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Denzer, Manuel & Schank, Thorsten & Upward, Richard, 2018. "Does the Internet Increase the Job Finding Rate? Evidence from a Period of Internet Expansion," IZA Discussion Papers 11764, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Qiong Xu & Xin Li & Fei Guo, 2023. "Digital transformation and environmental performance: Evidence from Chinese resource‐based enterprises," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(4), pages 1816-1840, July.
    8. Wang, Yi & Niu, Geng & Zhou, Yang & Lu, Weijie, 2023. "Broadband internet and stock market participation," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    9. Piotr Denderski & Florian Sniekers, 2024. "Declining Search Frictions, Unemployment and Self-Employment," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(659), pages 1100-1145.
    10. Guglielmo Briscese & Giulio Zanella & Veronica Quinn, 2022. "Providing Government Assistance Online: A Field Experiment with the Unemployed," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(2), pages 579-602, March.
    11. McDool, Emily & Powell, Philip & Roberts, Jennifer & Taylor, Karl, 2020. "The internet and children’s psychological wellbeing," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    12. Johannes Moser & Fabian Wenner & Alain Thierstein, 2022. "Working From Home and Covid-19: Where Could Residents Move to?," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 15-34.
    13. Zhao, Xiaoxia & Cai, Lianghui, 2023. "Digital transformation and corporate ESG: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PA).
    14. Denzer, Manuel, 2018. "Does the internet increase the job finding rate? Evidence from a period of internet expansion," VfS Annual Conference 2018 (Freiburg, Breisgau): Digital Economy 181557, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    15. Choi, Eleanor Jawon, 2023. "Does the internet help the unemployed find jobs?," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    16. Liu, Na & Xu, Qinqiao & Gao, Meng, 2024. "Digital transformation and tourism listed firm performance in COVID-19 shock," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    17. Sabatini, Fabio, 2023. "The Behavioral, Economic, and Political Impact of the Internet and Social Media: Empirical Challenges and Approaches," IZA Discussion Papers 16703, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Denzer, Manuel & Schank, Thorsten & Upward, Richard, 2021. "Does the internet increase the job finding rate? Evidence from a period of expansion in internet use," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bastian Stockinger, 2019. "Broadband internet availability and establishments’ employment growth in Germany: evidence from instrumental variables estimations," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 53(1), pages 1-23, December.
    2. Gürtzgen, Nicole & Lochner, Benjamin & Pohlan, Laura & van den Berg, Gerard J., 2021. "Does online search improve the match quality of new hires?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    3. Briglauer, Wolfgang & Dürr, Niklas S. & Falck, Oliver & Hüschelrath, Kai, 2019. "Does state aid for broadband deployment in rural areas close the digital and economic divide?," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 68-85.
    4. Czernich, Nina, 2014. "Does broadband internet reduce the unemployment rate? Evidence for Germany," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 32-45.
    5. Bhuller, Manudeep & Kostøl, Andreas & Vigtel, Trond Christian, 2019. "How Broadband Internet Affects Labor Market Matching," Memorandum 10/2019, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
    6. Denzer, Manuel & Schank, Thorsten & Upward, Richard, 2018. "Does the Internet Increase the Job Finding Rate? Evidence from a Period of Internet Expansion," IZA Discussion Papers 11764, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Stockinger, Bastian, 2017. "The effect of broadband internet on establishments' employment growth: evidence from Germany," IAB-Discussion Paper 201719, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    8. Denzer, Manuel & Schank, Thorsten & Upward, Richard, 2021. "Does the internet increase the job finding rate? Evidence from a period of expansion in internet use," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    9. Choi, Eleanor Jawon, 2023. "Does the internet help the unemployed find jobs?," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    10. Denzer, Manuel, 2018. "Does the internet increase the job finding rate? Evidence from a period of internet expansion," VfS Annual Conference 2018 (Freiburg, Breisgau): Digital Economy 181557, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    11. Nadine Fabritz, 2015. "Investment in ICT: Determinants and Economic Implications," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 60.
    12. Diegmann, André, 2019. "The internet effects on sex crime offenses - Evidence from the German broadband internet expansion," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 82-99.
    13. Hasbi, Maude & Bohlin, Erik, 2021. "Impact of Broadband Quality on Median Income and Unemployment: Evidence from Sweden," 23rd ITS Biennial Conference, Online Conference / Gothenburg 2021. Digital societies and industrial transformations: Policies, markets, and technologies in a post-Covid world 238026, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    14. Bertschek, Irene & Briglauer, Wolfgang & Hüschelrath, Kai & Kauf, Benedikt & Niebel, Thomas, 2016. "The economic impacts of telecommunications networks and broadband internet: A survey," ZEW Discussion Papers 16-056, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    15. Ana Dammert & Jose Galdo & Virgilio Galdo, 2015. "Integrating mobile phone technologies into labor-market intermediation: a multi-treatment experimental design," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-27, December.
    16. Sofia Amaral-Garcia & Mattia Nardotto & Carol Propper & Tommaso Valletti, 2022. "Mums Go Online: Is the Internet Changing the Demand for Health Care?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 104(6), pages 1157-1173, November.
    17. Canzian, Giulia & Poy, Samuele & Schüller, Simone, 2019. "Broadband upgrade and firm performance in rural areas: Quasi-experimental evidence," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 87-103.
    18. Jason Chan & Anindya Ghose & Robert Seamans, 2013. "The Internet and Hate Crime: Offline Spillovers from Online Access," Working Papers 13-02, NET Institute.
    19. Leonardo Fabio Morales & Carlos Ospino & Nicole Amaral, 2021. "Online Vacancies and its Role in Labor Market Performance," Borradores de Economia 1174, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    20. Houngbonon, Georges V. & Liang, Julienne, 2018. "The Impact of Broadband Internet on Employment in France," 29th European Regional ITS Conference, Trento 2018 184945, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    search channels; matching technology; information frictions; online job search; unemployment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • H40 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - General
    • L96 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Telecommunications
    • C26 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Instrumental Variables (IV) Estimation

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11555. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.