Essays on the Employment Service and Employers' Recruitment Behaviour

Abstract

This thesis results from four research projects. The issues addressed in the projects are different types of labour market information problems. The purpose of the first article is to contribute to a better empirical under- standning of how an increase of staff at the Public Employment Service affects job seekers. In 1987, the Swedish Government decided to grant the Labour Market Administration extra funds to be used for an increase of personnel by 250 placement officers and counsellors. The article gives an account of an assessment of the impact on job placement which was based on a comparison between three employment offices where the staff increase was substantial and three offices where staff was either unchanged or was increased only slightly. The research design can be described as a quasi-experiment with nonrandom controls. The main results of the study are the following: 1) there are no effects on unemployment duration regarding jobs on the open market, 2) there are positive effects regarding register times at the employment office, i.e. unemployed who were registered at the programme offices were faster cancelled from the register. The second article presents the results of a study of the impact of the personnel increase on vacancy durations. Also in this case the research design was quasi- experimental. The main results of the study are: 1) the increase of employment office staff reduced vacancy durations by approximately two days on average, and 2) this effect is too small to result in a net increase in the value of goods and services produced, but it is large enogh for a "break-even" outcome in the cash-accounts of the public sector. In the third article "production frontier analysis" is used to elucidate differences in efficiency between Swedish employment offices. This study shows a new way of evaluating the operations of labour market policy organisations. The main result of this investigation is that employment offices exhibit major differences in the efficiency with which the carry out their job matching services. The fourth article gives a picture of the recruitment behaviour of Swedish employers. The study is based on about 800 telephone interviews with employers regarding their latest filled vacancy. Summary of findings: employers mainly recruit personnel in order to expand a certain activity of their firm; on average the total recruitment process takes about a month. Among a group of job seekers some are eliminated in a first round, mainly depending on the fact that these job seekers lack experience and/or education. Also being over 45 years of age leads, in one fifth of the cases, to direct elimination. During the job interview, which the employers, together with personal contacts of all kinds, regards as the most important source of information in the recruitment process, the employer searches for a person with professional knowledge, personal engagement in the job and social competence.

Abstract (Swedish)

Popular Abstract in Swedish

Denna avhandling är en sammanläggningsavhandling som består av fyra artiklar inom arbetsmarknadsområdet. Den första artikeln behandlar en personalförstärkning till arbetsförmedlingen. Metoden har bestått i att jämföra tre arbetsförmedlingskontor som erhållit stora personalförstärkningar med tre kontor som inte fått någon personalförstärkning alls. Resultaten tyder på att en personalförstärkning till arbetsförmedlingen har effekt på andelen som blir avregistrerade från arbetsförmedlingen till andra orsaker än till arbete. Den andra artikeln behandlar samma personalförstärkning som i artikel ett och samma analysmetod har använts. I den andra artikeln analyseras effekterna på tiden som lediga platser är anmälda till arbetsförmedlingen (vakanstiden). Resultaten anger en effekt på ungefär två dagar på vakanstiden. En samhällsekonomisk kalkyl har genomförts där intäkterna för samhället av en förkortad vakanstid med två dagar ställs i relation till personalförstärkningens kostnader för samhället. Resultatet av kostnads-intäkts analysen anger att kostanderna i form av personal är större än intäkterna i form av ökad produktion av varor och tjänster. Den tredje artikeln är en effektivitetsanalys av arbetsförmedlingen. 297 olika arbetsförmed- lingar jämförs med varandra. varje arbetsförmedlingskontors resurser i form av personal, datorer och lokaler ställs i relation till dess resultat i form av placeringar i arbete, placeringar i arbetsmarknadspolitiska åtgärder, den genomsnittliga arbetslöshetstiden och den genomsnittliga vakanstiden. Resultatet av studien anger stora skillnader i effektivitet mellan de svenska arbetsförmedlingskontoren. Den fjärde artikeln behandlar arbetsgivares rekryteringsbeteende. I en telefonintervjuundersökning studerades hur arbetsgivare rekryterar personal. Studien anger bland annat att ungefär 20 procent av arbetsgivarna gallrar bort arbetssökande över 45 år i en första omgång. Förutom utbildning och yrkeserfarenhet framkommer social kompetens och engagemang som mycket betydelsefulla faktorer när arbetsgivare skall avgöra vem som skall få de lediga jobben på den svenska arbetsmarknaden.

• author: Behrenz, Lars
• supervisor: [unknown] [unknown]
• opponent: Professor Eriksson, Tor
• organization: Department of Economics
• publishing date: 1998
• type: Thesis
• publication status: published
• subject: Economics
• keywords: ekonomisk teori, ekonometri, economic policy, Nationalekonomi, economic systems, Labour Market, Evaluation, Hazard Functions, Unemployment Duration, Cost-benefit Analysis, Production frontier approach, Economics, economic theory, econometrics, ekonomiska system, ekonomisk politik
• in: Lund Economic Studies
• pages: 170 pages
• defense location: EC III:210
• defense date: 1998-11-10 10:15:00
• ISSN: 0460-0029
• ISBN: 91-628-3219-0
• language: English
• LU publication?: yes
• id: 70e8a22c-b270-46b2-b85e-3845bf1a4ed4 (old id 39052)
• date added to LUP: 2016-04-01 16:22:12
• date last changed: 2019-05-21 16:58:05