Keywords
JOB SEARCH
JOB VACANCIES
JOB SEARCH INTENSITY
COVID-19
DEMANDA DE TRABAJO
BÚSQUEDA DE EMPLEO
PUESTOS VACANTES
INTENSIDAD DE BÚSQUEDA DE EMPLEO
COVID-19
How to Cite
Abstract
This paper presents estimates of how the pandemic of COVID-19 and the lockdown policies implemented in Costa Rica to contain its spread affected the firm’s decision to post vacancies and workers search behavior, using data from the online job advertisement webpage buscoempleocr. Differences in Differences estimates suggest a drop of 67.2% in the inflow of vacancies posted by firms before and after the policies were implemented, relative to previous year. Results by industry states that Accommodation and Food Services, reported the highest decline in vacancy posting. By occupations, the reduction in vacancy posting was more severe for the groups of service and sales workers and elementary occupations. By location, the most affected provinces are those that i) are characterized by their touristic industries and ii) are main cities where industries are concentrated. Regarding the labor supply, there is an increase in the number of job seekers, however their search intensity might have declined during the pandemic.
References
Alon, T., Doepke, M., Olmstead-Rumsey, J., & Tertilt, M. (2020, August). This Time it´s Different: The Role of Women´s Employment in a Pandemic Recession (NBER Working Paper Series, No. 27660). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://www.doi.org/10.3386/w27660
Basso, G., Boeri, T., Caiumi, A., & Paccagnella, M. (2020). The New Hazardous Jobs and Worker Reallocation (OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers, No 247). Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. https://www.doi.org/10.1787/400cf397-en
Bennedsen, M., Larsen, B., Schmutte, I., & Scur, D. (2020). Preserving job matches during the COVID-19 pandemic: Firm-Level Evidence on the Role of Government Aid (GLO Discussion Paper 588). Global Labor Organization. http://hdl.handle.net/10419/221802
Betcherman, G., Giannakopoulos, N., Laliotis, I., Pantelaiou, I., Testaverde, M., & Tzimas, G. (2020). Reacting Quickly and Protecting Jobs: The Short-Term Impacts of the COVID-19 Lockdown on the Greek Labor Market (Policy Research Working Paper 9356). http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34353
Borjas, G., & Cassidy, H. (2020). The Adverse Effect of the COVID-19 Labor Market Shock on Inmigrant Employment (NBER Working Paper Series, No 13277). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://www.doi.org/10.3386/w27243
Brown, J., & Matsa, D. A. (2020). Locked in by leverage: Job search during the housing crisis. Journal of Financial Economics, 136(3), 623-648. https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2019.11.001
Bui, T. T. M., Button, P., & Picciotti, E. G. (2020). Early Evidence on the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the Recession on Older Workers. Public Policy & Aging Report, 30(4), 154-159. https://www.doi.org/10.1093/ppar/praa029
Central Bank of Costa Rica. (2020). Revision of the Macroeconomic Program 2020-21.
Chatterji, P., & Li, Y. (2021). Effects of COVID-19 on school enrollment. Economics of Education Review, 83, Article 102128. https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2021.102128
Delaporte, I., & Peña, W. (2020, May 6). Working from Home Under COVID-19: Who is Affected? Evidence From Latin American and Caribbean Countries. COVID Economics, 14, 200-229. https://cepr.org/content/covid-economics-vetted-and-real-time-papers-0
DeLoach, S. B., & Kurt, M. (2013). Discouraging Workers: Estimating the Impacts of Macroeconomic Shocks on the Search Intensity of the Unemployed. Journal of Labor Research, 34(4), 433-454. https://www.doi.org/10.1007/s12122-013-9166-0
Dingel, J. I., & Neiman, B. (2020). How many jobs can done at home? Journal of Public Economics, 189, Article 104235. https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104235
Eichenbaum, M. S., Rebelo, S. & Trabandt, M. (2020). The Macroeconomics of Epidemics. (NBER Working Paper Series, No. 26882). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://www.doi.org/10.3386/w26882
Elsby, M. W. L., Michaels, R., & Ratner, D. (2015). The Beveridge Curve: A Survey. Journal of Economic Literature, 53(3), 571-630. https://www.doi.org/10.1257/jel.53.3.571
Faberman, R. J., & Kudlyak, M. (2019). The intensity of Job Search and Search Duration. American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 11(3), 327-357. https://www.doi.org/10.1257/mac.20170315
Fetzer, T., Hensel, L., Hermle, J., & Roth, C. (2020). Coronavirus Perceptions and Economic Anxiety. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 103(5), 968–978. https://www.doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_00946
Forsythe, E., Kahn, L. B., Lange, F., & Wiczer, D. (2020). Labor Demand in the Time of COVID-19: Evidence from Vacancy Postings and UI Claims. Journal of Public Economics, 189. Article 104238. https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104238
Gomme, P., & Lkhagvasuren, D. (2015). Worker search effort as an amplification mechanism. Journal of Monetary Economics, 75, 106-122. https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmoneco.2015.02.002
Guerrieri, V., Lorenzoni, G., Straub, L., & Werning, I. (2021). Macroeconomic Implications of COVID-19: Can Negative Supply Shocks cause Demand Shortages? American Economic Review (Forthcoming).
Hensvik, L., Le Barbachon, T., & Rathelot, R. (2020, April). Which Jobs Are Done from Home? Evidence from the American TIme Use Survey (Discussion Paper Series, No. 13138). IZA Institute of Labor Economics. https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/13138/which-jobs-are-done-from-home-evidence-from-the-american-time-use-survey
Hensvik, L., Le Barbanchon, T., & Rathelot, R. (2021). Job Search during the COVID-19 Crisis. Journal of Public Economics, 194, 1-10. https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104349
Hodrick, R. J., & Prescott, E. C. (1997). Postwar U.S. Business Cycles: An Empirical Investigation. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, 29(1), 1-16. https://www.doi.org/10.2307/2953682
Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos. (2018). Encuesta Nacional a Empresas: Metodología.
International Monetary Fund. (2020a). Policy Responses to COVID-19. https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/imf-and-covid19/Policy-Responses-to-COVID-19#C
International Monetary Fund. (2020b, June). World Economic Outlook Update. IMF.
Krueger, A. B., & Mueller, A. (2010). Job search and unemployment insurance: New evidence from time use data. Journal of Public Economics, 94(3-4), 298-307. https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2009.12.001
Krueger, A. B., & Mueller, A. (Spring, 2011). Job Search, Emotional Well-Being, and Job Finding in a Period of Mass Unemployment: Evidence from High-Frequency Longitudinal Data [with Comments and Discussion]. Brooking Papers on Economic Activity, 1-81. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4122852
Lichand, G., Alberto Doria, C., Leal Neto, O., & Cossi, J.. (2021). The Impacts of Remote Learning in Secondary Education during the Pandemic in Brazil (SSRN Scholarly Paper ID 3841775). Social Science Research Network. https://www.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3841775
Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguridad Social. (2020, July 17). Tercer Informe Mensual de Seguimiento a la ejecución del Bono Proteger. http://www.mtss.go.cr/elministerio/despacho/covid-19-mtss/plan_proteger/archivos/tercer_informe_proteger.pdf
Musaddiq, T., Stange, K., Bacher-Hicks, A., & Goodman, J (2021). The Pandemic's Effect on Demand for Public Schools, Homeschooling, and Private Schools. (NBER Working Paper Series, No 29262). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://www.doi.org/10.3386/w29262
Pissarides, C. (2000). Equilibrium Unemployment Theory (2th ed.). MIT Press.
Saltiel, F. (2020, April 17). Who can work from home in developing countries? Covid Economics, 6, 104-118. https://cepr.org/content/covid-economics-vetted-and-real-time-papers-0
Shen, Y. S. (2020). Unexpected Shocks to Movement and Job Search: Evidence from COVID-19 Policies in Singapore using Google Data (ACI Policy Research Paper Series, No 4-2020). Asia Competitiveness Institute, National University of Singapore.
Yasenov, V. (2020, April). Who Can Work from Home? (Discussion Paper Series, No. 13197). IZA Institute of Labor Economics. https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/13197/who-can-work-from-home