Hiring frictions and growth among small firms: Evidence from an internet platform experiment

Presented by Niharika Singh
London School of Economics/University of Notre Dame

Organized by the Private Sector Development Research Network
hosted by the International Growth Center (IGC)

Friday, 17th April 2025 from 9-10am EST
Click here to join virtually the day of the seminar

ABOUT THE SEMINAR

Despite the growing prominence of online job portals, firms remain reluctant to hire outside traditional recruitment networks. Thsi seminar will show that experimentally providing firms with a combination of advertising and 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 enables the screening of unfamiliar applicants. Portal-based hires are retained beyond the standard assessment period, suggesting that they are well suited to the vacancies. Firms assigned only advertising also attract more skilled applicants, but providing neither advertising nor verification alone increases hiring.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Niharika Singh (LSE)

Niharika Singh is a development economist, with a research focus on labor markets, gender, and collective action. Her recent projects examine how information frictions and institutions shape job search and recruitment, how gender norms and policies influence women’s education and employment, and how unions and grassroots organizing affect public service delivery and worker welfare. She received a Ph.D. in Public Policy from Harvard University.