Locus of Control and Job Search Strategies
Open accessAbstract
Standard job search theory assumes that unemployed individuals have perfect information about the effect of their search effort on the job offer arrival rate. In this paper, we present an alternative model which assumes instead that each individual has a subjective belief about the impact of his or her search effort on the rate at which job offers arrive. These beliefs depend in part on an individual's locus of control, i.e., the extent to which a person believes that future outcomes are determined by his or her own actions as opposed to external factors. We estimate the impact of locus of control on job search behavior using a novel panel data set of newly-unemployed individuals in Germany. Consistent with our theoretical predictions, we find evidence that individuals with an internal locus of control search more and that individuals who believe that their future outcomes are determined by external factors have lower reservation wages.
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Recent studies applying personality traits to search economics suggest that agents with a higher perception of control over their lives have greater confidence in the arrival of job offers.
“Several recent studies that apply personality traits to search economics suggest that agents with a higher perception of the control they have over their lives have greater confidence in the arrival of job offers.”
From Personality Psychology and Economics (2011) · cites this paper as Caliendo, Cobb-Clark and Uhlendorff [2010]
A one standard deviation increase in internal locus of control is associated with a 1.9% increase in the reservation wage.
“a one standard deviation increase in internal locus of control was associated with a 1.9% increase in the reservation wage ( 0.01) p”
From Personality Psychology and Economics (2011) · cites this paper as Caliendo, Cobb-Clark and Uhlendorff [2010]
The respondents became unemployed near the time that the locus of control was measured, potentially limiting the role of reverse causality.
“While the measures were contemporaneous, the respondents became unemployed near the time that the locus of control was measured, potentially limiting the role of reverse causality.”
From Personality Psychology and Economics (2011) · cites this paper as Caliendo, Cobb-Clark and Uhlendorff [2010]
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Personality Psychology and Economics
Almlund, M., Duckworth, A. L., Heckman, J., & Kautz, T. (2011) · National Bureau of Economic Research · doi:10.3386/w16822 · Cited by 540 · see citing works
- Authors
- Caliendo, M., Cobb-Clark, D. A., & Uhlendorff, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Potsdam (DE)
- IZA - Institute of Labor Economics (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Caliendo, Marco
- Venue
- SSRN Electronic Journal
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2010
- ISSN
- 1556-5068 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3124676270
- Cited by
- 11
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2024: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 4
- Type
- posted content
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Locations
- SSRN Electronic Journal (acceptedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Labor market dynamics and wage inequality
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Employment and Welfare Studies
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Education and Labor Relations
- Keywords
- locus of control, job search behavior, subjective beliefs, search effort, reservation wage, unemployment, internal locus of control, external locus of control
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