Employment Verification and History: Misreported Job Applicant Qualifications and Implications for Firm Behavior

Last registered on December 21, 2023
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Employment Verification and History: Misreported Job Applicant Qualifications and Implications for Firm Behavior
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0012721
Initial registration date
December 18, 2023

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
December 21, 2023, 7:59 AM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Nivedhitha Subramanian
Affiliation
Bates College
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Kate Vyborny
PI Affiliation
World Bank
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PI Name
Robert Garlick
PI Affiliation
Duke University
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PI Name
Erica Field
PI Affiliation
Duke University
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Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2016-10-20
End date
2025-12-31
Keywords
Labor
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Workers typically report employment histories when applying to jobs. Existing research shows that information about employment histories influences firms' hiring decisions. However, if verifying employment histories is costly to firms, then firms may not verify all job applicants' employment histories, giving applicants an incentive to misreport. This can reduce the expected value of hires for firms, leading to fewer job postings and lower wage offers. This information problem may be alleviated by a centralized employment verification service that lowers the total cost of verification by avoiding effort duplication by firms. We explore these ideas by creating a centralized employment verification service in Lahore, Pakistan. In trial AEARCTR-0006239, we randomize the probability that jobseekers’ self-reported employment history will be audited. We measure the extent of misreporting and the effect of audit threats on reporting behavior. In this trial, we randomize whether firms are given audited reports along with CVs for job applicants. We measure application rates, interview rates, including by gender (conditional on having enough observations across men and women).
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Field, Erica et al. 2023. "Employment Verification and History: Misreported Job Applicant Qualifications and Implications for Firm Behavior." AEA RCT Registry. December 21. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12721-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Intervention Start Date
2021-04-19
Intervention End Date
2024-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Applications, Interviews, Characteristics of Interviews
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We randomize firms into a treatment and control group; in the treatment group the firms will receive a report containing the results of the audit for the jobseekers applying to their open position. Jobseekers matched to firms that are in the audit treatment group will be notified that the firm requires employment verification, which the job matching platform will facilitate.

Our projected end dates are dependent on funding. Our enrollment into the sample is on a rolling basis, so the sample size numbers are projections.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization is conducted using Stata.
Randomization Unit
Treatment is assigned at the firm level.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
443 firms
Sample size: planned number of observations
443 firms
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
221 Treatment; 222 Control
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Duke University
IRB Approval Date
2014-08-05
IRB Approval Number
C0441/2019-0067
Analysis Plan