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on Human Capital and Human Resource Management |
| By: | Fuchs, Larissa (affiliation not available); Heinz, Matthias (University of Cologne); Pinger, Pia (University of Cologne); Thon, Max (University of Cologne) |
| Abstract: | We conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with a leading technology firm to study how highlighting flexibility and career advancement in job advertisements causally affects the applicant pool. Highlighting career advancement increases the number of applications from men for entry-level positions and attracts additional applicants with strong qualifications and a good fit, which in turn leads to more interview invitations. By contrast, highlighting flexibility increases applications from both women and men at the entry level but provides limited evidence of attracting higher-quality or better-fit applicants. A complementary survey experiment among STEM students shows how job advertisements shape beliefs about the firm’s job characteristics and work environment. Overall, our results show that the amenities firms choose to highlight can powerfully influence both the size and characteristics of their applicant pool. |
| Keywords: | gender, job advertisements, field experiments, hiring |
| JEL: | M51 M52 D22 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18310 |
| By: | Zoë B. Cullen; Ester Faia; Elisa Guglielminetti; Ricardo Perez-Truglia; Concetta Rondinelli |
| Abstract: | We present the first large-scale field experiment test of strategic complementarities in firms’ technology adoption. Our experiment was embedded in a Bank of Italy survey covering around 3, 000 firms. We elicited firms’ beliefs about competitors’ adoption of two advanced technologies: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics. We randomly provided half of the sample with accurate information about adoption rates. Most firms substantially underestimated competitors’ current adoption, and when provided with information, they updated their expectations about competitors’ future adoption. The information increased firms’ own intended future adoption of robotics, although we do not observe a significant effect on AI adoption. Our findings provide causal evidence on coordination in innovation and illustrate how information frictions shape technology diffusion. |
| JEL: | C93 D22 L21 O33 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34532 |
| By: | Masaya Nishihata; Suguru Otani |
| Abstract: | We examine whether team affinity differs across skill dimensions in team production. Using a novel nonparametric framework that accommodates task-level structure, role asymmetry, and latent affinity, we decompose team performance into skill-specific productivity and unobserved match affinity. As an illustrative application, we analyze elite women's bobsleigh data, where performance can be separated into start and riding phases with distinct individual skill inputs. The estimates reveal heterogeneous, task-specific affinities: coordination and complementarity are stronger in the start phase but weaker and more dispersed during riding, underscoring skill-specific heterogeneity in unobserved team affinity. |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2512.21460 |
| By: | Jose Maria Cabrera; Alejandro Cid |
| Abstract: | Individuals are influenced by both their absolute performance and their performance relative to others. For example, workers’ satisfaction is affected not only by their nominal wage but also by how their salaries compare to those of their colleagues. We apply these ideas in the context of education. We analyze the effect of delivering relative performance feedback in a field experiment involving more than a thousand university students. We first find that untreated students tend to misperceive their standing in the grade distribution, with underperforming students often overstating their ranking and high-achieving students, particularly women, understating their performance. We experimentally provided treated students with information about their exact performance relative to peers.We find asymmetric effects of information feedback on men and women.Treated men reported increased satisfaction with their GPA, while treated women reported reduced satisfaction, regardless of their position in the grade distribution. Additionally, the non-monetary incentive caused a decline in women’s academic performance after one and two years. Two potential explanatory channels could account for these findings: women may exhibit a tendency to shy away from competition, and they might face an increasing marginal cost of effort. This paper highlights the nuanced impact of information feedback, showing that more information is not always universally beneficial. |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mnt:wpaper:2408 |