Hiring Frictions and the Promise of Online Job Portals: Evidence from India

A. Nilesh Fernando, Niharika Singh, Gabriel Tourek

American Economic Review: Insights, Vol. 5, Issue 4, Dec. 2023

Abstract

In a randomized experiment with 1,500 Indian firms, providing job portal advertising together with the ability to verify applicant identity increases portal-based hiring by 68 percent and the likelihood of filling a vacancy by 11 percent. Advertising attracts more skilled applicants, while verification lets firms screen unfamiliar candidates; neither treatment alone has much effect.