Job search, motivation and the labour market outcomes

Job searching is a difficult process often associated with failed applications and lost social connections, making it challenging for unemployed workers to stay motivated and continue to actively search for suitable jobs. This prompts the question: what is the best way for public employment agencies like Arbetsförmedlingen to trigger higher levels of motivation? Research in psychology differentiates between various sources of motivation. Controlled motivation occurs when people search for jobs because they feel pressured to do so. Autonomous motivation occurs when people search for jobs because they find it interesting or meaningful and/or personally relevant. It shows that motivation can be triggered and promoted in different ways, and it is an empirical question which way is the best.

This project evaluates a novel large-scale intervention to study whether controlled or autonomous motivation leads to more efficient job search behaviour and better employment outcomes for unemployed individuals. The project is conducted in collaboration with Arbetsförmedlingen. The intervention consists of sex monthly emails sent to jobseekers, either aimed at promoting controlled motivation or autonomous motivation. These two groups are compared with a control group selected using randomization. Survey data on motivation job-search quality, and administrative data on job-search effort, job finding, and job quality are used to measure the impacts of the interventions.