Abstract
The objective of this study is to better understand the job market and job search considerations of college educated, urban Indian youth. Secondary panel data following unemployed, job-seeking, college educated youth, increasing rates of labour-market exit over time, particularly among female graduates. This paper aims to investigate this trend further using exploratory and experimental empirical methods. Surveying over two thousand college students and recent graduates in Mumbai India, the study collects descriptive data on education and employment history, job search activities, aspirations, job preferences, job market beliefs and expectations, norms and attitudes, marriage market activities, socio-economic and demographic details.
The experimental part of the survey will be two choice-based conjoint experiments. The first experiment will have respondents choosing between two hypothetical recruitment processes, where the attributes or characteristics of the job applications will be randomly varied. The second experiment will have respondents choosing between two hypothetical job offers, where the attributes of the job contracts will be randomly varied. The primary outcomes of interest are the choice probability and willingness to pay (relative to a baseline desired wage) associated with each attribute level of the hypothetical application and job. Heterogeneity analysis will be carried out by gender, socio-economic and labour market characteristics.