The Role of Long-Term Unemployment in the Hiring Process: Evidence from a correspondence study in Italy

Last registered on April 22, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The Role of Long-Term Unemployment in the Hiring Process: Evidence from a correspondence study in Italy
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015852
Initial registration date
April 21, 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
April 22, 2025, 12:27 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Italy
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Arianna Gatta
Affiliation
The University of Queensland
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Mario Spiezio
PI Affiliation
Independent consultant
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Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2019-06-01
End date
2020-07-31
Keywords
Behavior, Firms & Productivity, Gender, Labor
Additional Keywords
Unemployment duration
JEL code(s)
J64
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Employers play a critical gatekeeping role in the labour market, yet much research on labour market discrimination overlooks how employers interpret candidates’ employment histories when they intersect with experiences of unemployment, welfare use and interrupted careers. Furthermore, the intersection between career histories and aspects such as gender and ethnicity is still poorly understood. Existing studies often rely on workers' outcomes to infer employer behaviour, obscuring the mechanisms employers use to assess employability.
To investigate these dynamics, this study employs a field experiment using an online correspondence design. Fictitious job applications are sent to real job advertisements in the fields of Marketing, Administration, and HR. Each employer/vacancy receives four CVs that differ randomly on characteristics such as unemployment duration, participation in Active Labour Market Policies, gender and ethnicity. We then record the callback rate for each resume and test whether employers' hiring behaviour is shaped by employment history and individual characteristics. This experiment will inform multiple publications on the topic of labour market discrimination.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Gatta, Arianna and Mario Spiezio. 2025. "The Role of Long-Term Unemployment in the Hiring Process: Evidence from a correspondence study in Italy." AEA RCT Registry. April 22. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15852-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Fictitious resumes were sent in response to online job ads, advertised online between September 2019 and June 2020. The dependent variable of this study is the callback rate from the resumes. Resumes were randomised to display 0, 6, 14 or 22 months in unemployment from the last job, male or female-sounding names, as well as northern-Italian, southern-Italian and Romanian-sounding surnames. Resumes were randomised to show either one or two jobs, and either a regular internship,a subsidised internship or an unemployment spell. We also randomised whether the candidate attended high school in the same city where the job was advertised or in a different one. We also randomized four additional information treatments that provided the following information with a 50% chance each: (1) motivation statement, (2) job-specific IT skills, (3) ongoing training, (4) volunteering.
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2019-09-15
Intervention End Date
2020-06-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The dependent variable of this study is the employers' callback rate from the resumes.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Fictitious resumes were sent in response to online job ads, advertised online between September 2019 and June 2020. The dependent variable of this study is the callback rate from the resumes. Resumes were randomised to display 0, 6, 14 or 22 months in unemployment from the last job, male or female-sounding names, as well as northern-Italian, southern-Italian and Romanian-sounding surnames. Resumes were randomised to show either one or two jobs, and either a regular internship,a subsidised internship or an unemployment spell. We also randomised whether the candidate attended high school in the same city where the job was advertised or in a different one.
For this experiment, we did not use a paired design. We also randomized four additional information treatments that provided the following information with a 50% chance each: (1) motivation statement, (2) job-specific IT skills, (3) ongoing training, (4) volunteering.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Applications are generated using a customised program that populates templates with real job experience descriptions using text that is randomly assigned.
Randomization Unit
Treatments on each resume were randomized independently of other resumes sent to the same and other employers. By doing this we avoided spillover effects that might arise as a result of keeping the pool of candidates fixed . Therefore the unit of randomization is the single resume.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
We targeted 1041 employers/vacancies, which received about 4 resumes each.
Sample size: planned number of observations
We sent out 4066 resumes to 1041 employers. Each employer received about 4 resumes. A minority of employers received less than 4 resumes. In most cases this happened because the job post was not available anymore.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
We do not have treatments arms in this study. Resumes were randomized within and between employers
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Study has received IRB approval. Details not available.
IRB Approval Date
Details not available
IRB Approval Number
Details not available
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials