Off-Platform Search Non-Displacement
Digital labor platform interventions that increase on-platform application activity might simply displace or crowd out traditional, off-platform job search effort (such as direct applications or newspaper ads), resulting in zero net change in total search activity.
Picture this
Imagine a student who starts using an online homework portal. If using the portal causes them to stop studying with their physical textbook for the exact same number of hours, the portal produces zero net additional study time. But if their textbook studying remains unchanged, the portal creates genuine extra learning effort rather than swapping one habit for another.
What the evidence says
Phone call treatment changed off-platform search probability by -0.78 percentage points (p = 0.632) and monthly off-platform applications by -0.188 (p = 0.201). Off-platform employment probability changed by +0.18 percentage points (p = 0.910 unadjusted; +1.08 percentage points, p = 0.589 adjusted).
- Who
- N = 9,823 jobseekers (survey sample N = 4,327 for search, N = 4,643 for employment) in Lahore, Pakistan.
- How
- Randomized Controlled Trial measuring off-platform search and employment outcomes using 14-day and 30-day recall surveys with selection adjustments for survey non-response.
What to do
Evaluate digital matching platform interventions on total employment outcomes without assuming digital applications displace non-digital job search channels.
From the source
"Any employment effect is unlikely to be driven by treatment effects on off-platform search, which are negative but close to zero at the extensive and several intensive margins."
Why_Don’t_Jobseekers_Search_More_Barriers_and_Returns_to_Search.pdf