Frontier estimation of changes in Workers' labor market information

Abstract

This paper uses search theory to analyze the association between worker characteristics and changes in workers' labor market information across time. A number of hypotheses concerning who will invest in more information over time are derived from search theory and tested. Stochastic frontier estimation techniques are used to estimate the workers' information at different points in time. Workers who are searching for a new job, who currently have less information, experience, and tenure, but more education, or who live in counties with low levels of unemployment will have a greater increase in information across time.