Job Search Decision Making Among Veterans in VA Vocational Rehabilitation: A Behavioral Economics Perspective

Abstract

Using a scenario format, this study examined whether behavioral economic concepts are useful for understanding vocational rehabilitation and job search decision-making. It was also designed to determine factors most likely to motivate participants to engage in job search activities. Results document the relative salience of specific cost/benefit factors associated with likelihood of seeking employment. The most salient factors include intrinsic factors such as interest or sense of accomplishment in the job, extrinsic factors such as pay, discounting factors such as length of time until the job starts, and factors related to income effects such as housing costs. The data also suggest that altering the unit price of specific job characteristics leads to predictable changes in the probability of job search behaviors consistent with classic behavioral economic demand curves. These findings suggest that a behavioral economic perspective is useful for understanding decision making for veterans within a vocation...