Job Search and Labor Market Perceptions – Experimental Evidence from Recent College Graduates

Last registered on October 28, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Job Search and Labor Market Perceptions – Experimental Evidence from Recent College Graduates
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0014623
Initial registration date
October 21, 2024

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
October 28, 2024, 12:54 PM EDT

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
Jin Yan
Affiliation
Beijing Normal University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Haoran He
PI Affiliation
Beijing Normal University
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PI Name
Jun Luo
PI Affiliation
Zhejiang University of Finance & Economics
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PI Name
Lehao Zou
PI Affiliation
Zhejiang University of Finance & Economics
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-10-20
End date
2025-12-31
Keywords
Behavior, Labor
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
C93, D83, J64
Secondary IDs
National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project No. 72473010), Zhejiang Province Philosophy and Social Science Special Fund (Project No. 23QNYC14ZD)
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
In this field experiment, we investigate whether recent college graduates hold biased beliefs regarding certain primitives in job search models. Additionally, we assess whether providing information about these primitives of previous cohorts can help correct these biases.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
He, Haoran et al. 2024. "Job Search and Labor Market Perceptions – Experimental Evidence from Recent College Graduates." AEA RCT Registry. October 28. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14623-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
n/a
Intervention Start Date
2024-10-22
Intervention End Date
2025-06-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Posterior future beliefs: participants' beliefs about their own cohort after the intervention, particularly regarding wage offers and the perceived returns to search efforts.

Expected future search effort: participants' planned number of resume submissions and their intended time allocation for job search activities in the upcoming month.

Expected wage/Reservation wage: the expected monthly income participants anticipate earning, and the minimum monthly income they are willing to accept for a job.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
The primary outcomes are obtained from the main survey at the time when they are likely to starting job seeking.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Realized employment status: whether participants have secured a job prior to graduating.

Realized monthly income: the monthly labor income participants earn, if employed.

Realized call-back rate: the proportion of job applications that receive responses from employers.

Realized offer rate: the proportion of job applications that lead to formal job offers.

Realized time of offer acceptance: the point at which a participant formally agrees to accept a job offer.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
The secondary outcomes are obtained from the follow-up survey at the time closed to their graduation, and thus are subject to strong attrition.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
In collaboration with the Career Center of a university in Zhejiang province, we conduct a field experiment to investigate the impact of information provision on recent graduates’ beliefs regarding the job market and their job-searching strategies.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
We conducted stratified randomization based on students' major fields (Economics, Management, and Others) and their affiliated schools.
Randomization Unit
The unit of randomization is at the class level.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
119 classes
Sample size: planned number of observations
about 2900 senior students
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
T0 (Control): about 800 students
T1 (AMI) : 800 students
T2 (MOAR) : 800 students
T3 (AMI+MOAR): 500 students
Note that the above size refers to the planned allocation of students to each treatment arms, rather than the actual size of respondents. Consequently, the sample size we ultimately achieve may be less than this figure.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Unit of measurement: the fraction of students whether sign for a job contract. For a type I error probability of alpha=0.05 and a power of 1-k=0.8, and N=800 per treatment arm, the standardized minimum detectable effect size is 0.140 standard deviations. The standard deviation of out outcome variable is highest when half of students find jobs and the other half not, in which case s.d.=0.5. In this most extreme case, the minimum detectable effect size (MDE) would be a change in employment of about 7.0 percentage points (=0.5x0.140).
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Business School, Beijing Normal University
IRB Approval Date
2024-10-21
IRB Approval Number
BNU-BS-IRB 2024-032
Analysis Plan

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