Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • 2022
  • Working Paper

Can a Website Bring Unemployment Down? Experimental Evidence from France

By: Aïcha Ben Dhia, Bruno Crépon, Esther Mbih, Louise Paul-Delvaux, Bertille Picard and Vincent Pons
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
ShareBar

Abstract

We evaluate the impact of an online platform giving job seekers tips to improve their search and recommendations of new occupations and locations to target, based on their personal data and labor market data. Our experiment used an encouragement design and was conducted in collaboration with the French public employment agency. It includes 212,277 individuals. We find modest effects on search methods: the users of the platform adopt some of its tips and they are more likely to use resources provided by public employment services. However, following individual trajectories for 18 months after the intervention, we do not observe any impact on time spent looking for a job, search scope (occupational or geographical), or self-reported well-being. Most importantly, we do not find any effect on any employment outcome, whether in the short or medium run. We conclude that the enthusiasm around the potential for job-search assistance platforms to help reduce unemployment should be toned down.

Keywords

Online Platform; Digital Platform; Unemployment; Encouragement Design; Job Search; Jobs and Positions; Internet and the Web; Well-being; Outcome or Result; Digital Platforms; France

Citation

Ben Dhia, Aïcha, Bruno Crépon, Esther Mbih, Louise Paul-Delvaux, Bertille Picard, and Vincent Pons. "Can a Website Bring Unemployment Down? Experimental Evidence from France." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 29914, April 2022.
  • Read Now
  • Register to Read

About The Author

Vincent Pons

Business, Government and the International Economy
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • December 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Spanish Labor Law: Lifting all Boats or Leveling Down?

    By: Vincent Pons
    • November 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Walmart Chile After the Unrest: Doubling Down or Pulling Out?

    By: Vincent Pons, William Mullins and Ruth Costas
    • 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Small Campaign Donors

    By: Laurent Bouton, Julia Cagé, Edgard Dewitte and Vincent Pons
More from the Authors
  • Spanish Labor Law: Lifting all Boats or Leveling Down? By: Vincent Pons
  • Walmart Chile After the Unrest: Doubling Down or Pulling Out? By: Vincent Pons, William Mullins and Ruth Costas
  • Small Campaign Donors By: Laurent Bouton, Julia Cagé, Edgard Dewitte and Vincent Pons
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College