Landing the first job: the value of intermediaries in online hiring

Stanton, Christopher and Thomas, Catherine (2016) Landing the first job: the value of intermediaries in online hiring. Review of Economic Studies, 83 (2). pp. 810-854. ISSN 0034-6527

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Abstract

Online markets for remote labour services allow workers and firms to contract with each other directly. Despite this, intermediaries—called outsourcing agencies—have emerged in these markets. This article shows that agencies signal to employers that inexperienced workers are high quality. Workers affiliated with an agency have substantially higher job-finding probabilities and wages at the beginning of their careers compared to similar workers without an agency affiliation. This advantage declines after high-quality non-affiliated workers receive good public feedback scores. The results indicate that intermediaries have arisen endogenously to permit a more efficient allocation of workers to jobs.

Item Type:

Article

Official URL:

http://restud.oxfordjournals.org/

Additional Information:

Library of Congress subject classification:

H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor

Journal of Economic Literature Classification System:

D - Microeconomics > D0 - General > D02 - Institutions: Design, Formation, and Operations
F - International Economics > F1 - Trade > F16 - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J3 - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs > J30 - General
O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Technological Change; Research and Development > O30 - General

Sets:

Departments > Management

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