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Field Before After
Trial Status in_development completed
Last Published December 30, 2021 02:11 AM May 03, 2026 10:21 AM
Study Withdrawn No
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Papers

Field Before After
Paper 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.
Paper Citation Homrighausen, P., & Oberfichtner, M. (2025). Do caseworker meetings prevent unemployment? Evidence from a field experiment. European Economic Review, 105215.
Paper URL https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2025.105215
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