Volume 14, Number 3 (Summer) 1979
Barron, John M., and Wesley Mellow. 1979. "Search Effort in the Labor Market." Journal of Human Resources 14(3):389-404.
This paper develops a theory of the unemployed individual's choice of how much effort to devote to search. The term effort involves two choice variables, time and money. Specific attention is given to the role of unemployment contingent income and the probability of obtaining employment without search. The theory is tested using data from a supplement to the May 1976 Current Population Survey. The empirical findings suggest search theory is important in explaining the behavior of the unemployed: unemployment insurance benefits decrease search time per period, and search time is lower for individuals on layoff--a group that has a positive probability of employment without search effort.
The authors are, respectively, Assistant Professor of Economics, Purdue University, and Economist, Office of Research Methods and Standards, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Financial support provided to Barron by the Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor (Grant No. 91-18-77-26) is gratefully acknowledged. We would like to thank John Carlson, George Neumann, Jack Triplett, a referee, and the editor for helpful comments. Points of views or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent the official position or policy of the Department of Labor.
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