Job Search – An Vignette Experiment

Last registered on February 21, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Job Search – An Vignette Experiment
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0014103
Initial registration date
February 19, 2025

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
February 21, 2025, 6:45 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
Marcus Roel
Affiliation
University of Nottingham Ningbo China
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Haoran He
PI Affiliation
Beijing Normal University
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PI Name
Qian Weng
PI Affiliation
Renmin University of China
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-02-21
End date
2026-05-20
Keywords
Labor
Additional Keywords
labor market competition, job search, belief updating, vignette experiment
JEL code(s)
C93, D83, J64
Secondary IDs
Ministry of Education in China (No. 21YJA790059), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 71973016, 72131003, and 72273148).
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We conduct a follow-up survey for our paper "How Many Others Apply for the Jobs I Am Applying for? The Effect of Perceived Labor Market Competition on Job Search", previously registered under AEARCTR-0008179, which explored the causal impact of beliefs about labor market competition (measured by applications per vacancy in the job seeker’s preferred occupation) and goal setting on job seekers’ job search behavior on a large Chinese online job board.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
He, Haoran , Marcus Roel and Qian Weng. 2025. "Job Search – An Vignette Experiment." AEA RCT Registry. February 21. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14103-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
n/a
Intervention Start Date
2025-02-21
Intervention End Date
2025-05-20

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Competition Beliefs
Local level competition belief in preferred occupation
Local level competition belief in other related occupations
Local level competition belief in preferred occupation on other job boards
National level competition belief in preferred occupation
National level competition belief in other related occupations
National level competition belief in preferred occupation on other job boards

Intended job search behavior
Reservation wage in preferred occupation
Reservation wage in other related occupations

Application behavior
- effort (time, number of applications)
- job location
- job occupation
- job level
- directed search

Likelihood of quitting job

Likelihood of finding a job at different wages

Beliefs related to job-search.
Likelihood of finding a job in preferred occupation
Likelihood of finding a job in other related occupations
Marginal return to effort in their preferred occupation
Marginal return to effort in other related occupations
Likelihood of losing job
View on relative competitiveness

Wage distribution, jobs in preferred occupation (average, max, min)
Wage distribution, jobs in related occupations (average, max, min)
Non-wage amenities, jobs in preferred occupation
Non-wage amenities, jobs in related occupations
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
n/a
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
n/a

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
n/a
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization is done by the online survey system.
Randomization Unit
The unit of randomization is at the individual level.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
800 participants (no clusters)
Sample size: planned number of observations
800 participants
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
400
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Our sample of 800 participants was chosen to ensure that we can detect a difference in means across the two treatments of 0.2 at a standard deviation of 1 with a power of 80%. If the actual standard deviation is found to be substantially larger than 1, we will adjust the sample size accordingly to maintain our power target of 80%.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
School of Labor and Human Resources, Renmin University of China
IRB Approval Date
2025-02-20
IRB Approval Number
RUC-SLHR20250001
Analysis Plan

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