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

Country

China

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Marcus Roel

Affiliation

University of Nottingham Ningbo China

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Haoran He

PI Affiliation

Beijing Normal University

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Qian Weng

PI Affiliation

Renmin University of China

Contact Investigator

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

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

n/a

Intervention (Hidden)

We conduct an online survey on a large Chinese online survey platform. Participation is voluntary but compensated. The survey first elicits participants’ occupation that best describes where they want to work in (i.e., preferred occupation). Using a hypothetical scenario, we implement a 1x2 design that varies whether labor market competition in the participants’ preferred occupation on a typical job board has increased or decreased by 50%, with participants updating their respective estimation thereof + or- 50%. We subsequently elicit the (change in) (1) beliefs about various dimensions of labor market competition, (2) search behavior, (3) beliefs related to job search under this scenario. The survey concludes by eliciting various demographic and socio-economic variables.

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

n/a

Experimental Design Details

Using a hypothetical scenario, we implement a 1x2 design that varies whether labor market competition in the participants’ preferred occupation on a typical job board has increased or decreased by 50%, with participants updating their respective estimation thereof + or - 50%.

Sampling:
The participants of our follow-up survey will be registered users of a large Chinese online survey platform where the survey is conducted. To best address our key empirical findings, that employed job seekers increase their reservation wage, we restrict our sample to include only employed survey participants.

Treatments and survey procedure:
Please refer to the intervention section above.

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?

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