UCLA

This dissertation consists of two essays on job search and job choice. In Chapter 1, I examine how on-the-job search (OJS) effort of employed workers varies over the business cycle. First, I document new evidence that aggregate OJS effort rises during a recession, as more workers start searching on-the-job and average search intensity increases when unemployment rises. Next, I account for compositional changes in the pool of employed workers and job seekers over the business cycle and find that workers change their search behavior in response to changing economic conditions. In particular, workers are more likely to search due to fear of job loss and search for an additional job when unemployment is higher. In addition, I find that job seekers increase their search intensity when unemployment rises during a recession. In Chapter 2, I estimate the value that workers place on non-wage job characteristics and assess their impact on compensation inequality in Germany. First, I evaluate the incidence of four key job attributes and find large disparities in the prevalence of job attributes by gender, education, and age. Next, I analyze an experiment given as part of a national survey in Germany to estimate the value that workers place on eight non-wage job attributes. In particular, I find that workers are willing to pay 31% of their wage to have a permanent employment contract, 13% of their wage for good promotion opportunities, 10% of their wage for schedule flexibility, and 8% of their wage to avoid overtime work requirements. Finally, I find that accounting for the incidence and valuation of non-wage job characteristics widens compensation inequality in Germany.