Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/307171 
Year of Publication: 
2024
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 17347
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We ran a field experiment to causally identify the effects of intense survey participation on key labour market outcomes. We randomly excluded individuals willing to sign up for the German Job Search Panel, a high-frequency survey with a focus on job search and well-being. Using administrative data on labour market outcomes (e.g., employment, earnings), we find that, on average, survey participation had no effect on labour market outcomes during the year after signing up. Furthermore, there is no strong heterogeneity across subgroups. Overall, this is good news for the validity of survey-based research involving labour market outcomes. We also demonstrate that a comparison of individuals signing up for the survey with individuals not responding to the invitation could have been misleading. Even when controlling for a wide range of observable characteristics, survey participation and the subsequent take up of training programs correlate significantly. This speaks to the importance of experimental research designs in our context.
Subjects: 
Hawthorne effect
panel conditioning
job search
labour market outcomes
field experiment
JEL: 
C83
C93
J63
J64
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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