The effects of earlier caseworker meetings on job search

Last registered on May 03, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The effects of earlier caseworker meetings on job search
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0002780
Initial registration date
May 17, 2018

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
May 20, 2018, 5:41 PM EDT

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

Last updated
May 03, 2026, 10:21 AM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
Germany
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Michael Oberfichtner
Affiliation
Institute for Employment Research (IAB)
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Pia Homrighausen
PI Affiliation
Institute for Employment Research (IAB)
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2018-05-22
End date
2022-12-31
Keywords
Labor
Additional Keywords
caseworker meeting, job search, unemployment
JEL code(s)
J64, J68
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
To foster job finding and avoid unemployment, German workers whose employment contract ends are in principle obliged to register as job seekers with the public employment service three months before their last day in employment. This project uses a randomized controlled trial to investigate the effects of meeting the caseworker before becoming unemployed on job search outcomes. To this end, newly registered job seekers are randomly assigned to two different treatments. Job seekers in group 1 are invited to their first meeting with their caseworker upon registering with the employment service to meet as early as possible. Job seekers in group 2, in contrast, are invited to a first meeting with their caseworker later in the job search process shortly before their last day in employment.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Homrighausen, Pia and Michael Oberfichtner. 2026. "The effects of earlier caseworker meetings on job search." AEA RCT Registry. May 03. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.2780-1.3
Former Citation
Homrighausen, Pia and Michael Oberfichtner. 2026. "The effects of earlier caseworker meetings on job search." AEA RCT Registry. May 03. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/2780/history/303878
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention (Hidden)
Workers can register as job seekers in person at their local employment agency, per phone at centralized call centres or online. The call centres, which also process online registrations, randomize job seekers into group 1 and group 2. Hence, only workers who register online or per phone will be included in our study. Furthermore, only job seekers that register at least one month before their current job ends will participate.

For job seekers in group 1, we aim for a caseworker meeting as early as possibly after registration with the employment agency. For job seekers in group 2, we aim for a caseworker meeting between the first potential day in unemployment and two weeks before their current employment contract ends.
Intervention Start Date
2018-05-22
Intervention End Date
2018-12-28

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Our primary outcomes are the job seekers’ labour market success, including the probability of becoming unemployed when the current employment is expected to end, the duration in unemployment, the entry wage in the next job, and future wage and career paths.

In subgroup analyses, we will investigate whether the effects differ for workers who have fixed-term contracts vs. workers who have a permanent contract, by individual characteristics (e.g. sex, age, education, earlier wage and career paths) and by occupation, sector and region.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
To investigate wage and career paths, we will aggregate labour income and days in employment over time periods as data become available. These time periods will depend on data availability. Our first results will most likely refer to short-term outcomes such as accumulated earnings within six months after the expected end date of the current job or one year after registering as job seeker.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
As secondary outcomes that can shed light on the mechanisms driving the primary outcomes, we aim to look at workers’ job search behaviour. Specifically, we plan to conduct an online survey among workers in both groups asking about their search effort, e.g. the number of applications they sent out, their main search channels, and their reservation wage. We will also ask the survey participants for their consent to link their survey responses with administrative information on their labour market history.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Upon registering with the employment services, job seekers will be assigned randomly to either group 1 or group 2 and the employment agency will offer caseworker meetings accordingly. As deviations from this offered appointment are possible if workers insist on a different timing of meeting, the randomization will yield an intention-to-treat-effect of earlier meetings.
Experimental Design Details
Workers can register as job seekers in person at their local employment agency, per phone at centralized call centres or online. The call centres, which also process online registrations, randomize job seekers into group 1 and group 2. Hence, only workers who register online or per phone will be included in our study. Furthermore, only job seekers that register at least one month before their current job ends will participate.

For job seekers in group 1, we aim for a caseworker meeting as early as possibly after registering as job seekers. For job seekers in group 2, we aim for a caseworker meeting between the first potential day in unemployment and two weeks before their current employment contract ends.

We implement our study in four local employment agencies.
Randomization Method
Computer-based randomization with results automatically and unmodifiably stored in a central data base;
Randomization Unit
Individual.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
10,000
Sample size: planned number of observations
10,000
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
5,000 job seekers
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
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)

Abstract
Caseworker meetings have been shown to accelerate exit from unemployment. We investigate whether they are also effective before job loss. In a natural field experiment in Germany, where workers must register with the employment agency up to three months before becoming unemployed, we offer caseworker meetings to jobseekers while they are still employed. Our results indicate that offering preventive meetings does not improve jobseekers’ labour market outcomes, despite bringing forward the first meeting. The intervention increases the total number of meetings, thereby consuming scarce caseworker resources, but does not influence jobseekers’ search behaviour—likely explaining its lack of effectiveness.
Citation
Homrighausen, P., & Oberfichtner, M. (2025). Do caseworker meetings prevent unemployment? Evidence from a field experiment. European Economic Review, 105215.
URL
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2025.105215

Reports & Other Materials