Search Intensity Research Articles

A Comparative Analysis of the Factors Influencing Job Expectations among Unemployed Men and Women in Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, persistent gender differences in unemployment rates exist, with women enduring greater rates of unemployment de-spite having a higher average educational attainment than men. Gender differences in job search intensity vary with attitudes to-ward employment or unemployment as attitudes play a significant role in employment decision-making. These differences are intimately linked to people's expectations and mindsets regarding their work, which are strongly influenced by societal and cultural gender roles. This study looks at how job expectations differ between unemployed men and women in Sri Lanka. This study relies on data from the Department of Census and Statistics Sri Lanka Labour Force Survey (2021) and a multinomial logistic model to analyse the total unemployed, male unemployed, and female unemployed separately while taking two dependent variables; job sector expectations and occupational expectations. The study's findings emphasise the pivotal role of gender in sharpening job expectations among the unemployed. Regarding job sector expectations, unemployed women are more inclined towards jobs in the public sector than those in the private sector because of the government's reputation for offering standardized working hours and a work-life balance conducive environment. Furthermore, there are noteworthy differences in occupational expectations as unemployed women are more likely to expect professional and managerial level jobs with the increase in higher education enrolment. This study offers a groundbreaking contribution to the literature by unveiling unique, gender-specific determinants of job expectations among Sri Lanka's unemployed, highlighting the influence of unemployment duration, and employing distinct analytical models to bridge significant theoretical, empirical and methodological gaps. Finally, this study puts forth the broader discourse on gender, unemployment, and labour market dynamics in Sri Lanka, offering gender-specific policy recommendations aimed at bridging the expectation gap between unemployed men and women in Sri Lanka.

Leader Attention to Information and Sustainability Performance

In contemporary business practice, sustainability has emerged as a focal point for understanding value creation. This study examines how leader attention influences sustainability performance. Specifically, it investigates two dimensions of leader attention: search intensity, which pertains to the depth and thoroughness of exploration, and search selection, which involves the criteria used to prioritize sustainability issues. This study employed a quantitative approach utilizing a survey methodology. Data collection of 30 SMEs was conducted through a postal survey, targeting the Malaysian service sector listed in the directory of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM). Data is analyzed using PLS-SEM to investigate perceptions regarding leader attention towards corporate sustainability performance. Employing the ABV theory, the findings indicate that search intensity positively impacts both corporate financial and non-financial performance, highlighting the importance of comprehensive information-gathering and analysis processes. However, the study does not find a significant relationship between search selection and financial performance, suggesting a limited impact of specific information search strategies. These results underscore the pivotal role of leader attention in shaping organizational sustainability performance. The study contributes to understanding how leader attention enhances sustainability and provides valuable insights for organizations. Despite its contributions, future research could explore mechanisms through which search intensity influences financial outcomes and consider moderating factors across industries and regions. In conclusion, this research emphasizes the importance of data-driven decision-making and comprehensive information search processes for corporate financial and non-financial performance in today's information-rich environment.

Job search intensity and wage rigidity in business cycles

Search intensity, as well as the aggregate economic condition, is a crucial factor that determines unemployed workers’ success in job searches. Their search intensity is predicted to be procyclical in standard search and matching models. However, many empirical studies show that search intensity is countercyclical. This study examines the job search behavior of unemployed workers over business cycles using a search and matching model that incorporates wage rigidity and a generalized matching function. Unlike previous studies, the proposed model can generate both procyclical and countercyclical search intensities by introducing wage rigidity. This study calibrates the model to the U.S. economy and provides various impulse response analyses. The numerical exercises show that the model successfully and simultaneously reproduces countercyclical search efforts and sizable labor market fluctuations.

A framework for modeling the impacts of adaptive search intensity on the efficiency of abundance surveys.

When planning abundance surveys, the impact of search intensity on the quality of the density estimates is rarely considered. We constructed a time-budget modeling framework for abundance surveys using principles from optimal foraging theory. We link search intensity to the number of sample units surveyed, searcher detection probability, the number of detections made, and the precision of the estimated population density. This framework allowed us to determine how a searcher should behave to produce optimized density estimates. Using data collected from quadrat and removal surveys of zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) in central Minnesota, we applied this framework to evaluate potential improvements. We found that by tuning searcher behavior, density estimates from removal surveys of zebra mussels could be improved by up to 60% in some cases, without changing the overall survey time. Our framework also predicts a critical population density where the best survey method switches from removal surveys at low densities to quadrat surveys at high densities, consistent with past empirical work. In addition, we provide simulation tools to apply this form of analysis to a number of other commonly used survey designs. Our results provide insights into how to improve the performance of many survey methods in high-density environments by either tuning searcher behavior or decoupling the estimation of population density and detection probability.

Continuing vocational training in times of economic uncertainty: an event-study analysis in real time

Continuing vocational training (CVT) is a key channel for employees to adapt their skills to changing requirements in the labor market due to structural changes and digitization. The COVID-19 pandemic and the energy crisis as a consequence of the war in Ukraine may have accelerated these developments. Yet, it is unclear how the economic impact of these crises affects individuals’ occupational preferences. In this study, we want to investigate how interest in CVT changes in times of economic uncertainty. We use Google Trends data for Germany and apply an event study analysis to examine how interest in CVT developed with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian attack on Ukraine. We find that the interest in CVT strongly declined during the first wave of the pandemic regardless of how severely a region was affected. During the second lockdown, the decline in CVT interest was more pronounced in the eastern German states where we find a general decline in search intensity since March 2020. We also consider different channels that may have influenced the demand for CVT during the pandemic. Overall, we show that during the first 2.5 years of the pandemic, the search intensity for CVT decreased on average by 12 to 19 percent, while the search intensity for online CVT increased by 39 to 45 percent. We also see a decrease in the search intensity for CVT at the beginning of the energy crisis.

Uncertainty, labour force participation and job search

This study examines the impact of labour force participation (LFP) on search behaviour and unemployment in response to uncertainty shocks. Using a Bayesian vector autoregression model, this study shows that an increase in uncertainty raises unemployment, lowers inflation and decreases LFP and search intensity. Then, a New Keynesian model that incorporates endogenous LFP and variable search intensity is constructed. Results show that both search intensity and participation are procyclical, which suggests a discouragement effect. However, with habit formation, the wealth effect outweighs the discouragement effect and induces an increase in LFP, resulting in a more significant decline in aggregate search intensity due to the expanded searcher pool. In the exogenous LFP model, search intensity is countercyclical, which dampens the unemployment rate. In the endogenous LFP model, the increased entry of non-participants cancels out the countercyclical search intensity of unemployed workers due to the large number of searchers.

The paradox of search intensity

In standard labor search and matching models, the search intensity (SI) of unemployed workers is procyclical and complements job creation. Both predictions are at odds with the US labor market following the Great Recession. To address these inconsistencies, this paper extends the standard model to incorporate multi-market simultaneous search (MMSS). Adverse aggregate shocks can raise SI as workers simultaneously search in more markets because the incentives are decreasing in the local job-finding rate. This broader search effort leads to higher offer rejection, which in turn discourages firm entry. The offer-rejection externality can result in multiple equilibria. In the calibrated model, a temporary financial crisis can cause a persistent increase in both SI and unemployment.

Policy synergy on stock price crash risk: An intergovernmental perspective

Both central and local government policies present implications for companies and investors. While several studies evidence that government policies shape corporate behaviors, few studies have explored them from an intergovernmental view. This research constructs a new measurement of intergovernmental policy synergy with text-based tools and reveals an inverted U-shaped relation between central-local policy synergy and stock price crash risk, which still holds after checking robustness. Furthermore, we validate corporate greenwashing and divergence of investors’ opinion as underlying mechanisms. Additionally, the relation is more prominent among firms without online interactive platform and firms with high web search intensity.

"What's in a name?": Using mpox as a case study to understand the importance of communication, advocacy, and information accuracy in disease nomenclature.

Historically, many diseases have been named after the species or location of discovery, the discovering scientists, or the most impacted population. However, species-specific disease names often misrepresent the true reservoir; location-based disease names are frequently targeted with xenophobia; some of the discovering scientists have darker histories; and impacted populations have been stigmatized for this association. Acknowledging these concerns, the World Health Organization now proposes naming diseases after their causative pathogen or symptomatology. Recently, this guidance has been retrospectively applied to a disease at the center of an outbreak rife with stigmatization and misinformation: mpox (f.k.a. 'monkeypox'). This disease, historically endemic to west and central Africa, has prompted racist remarks as it spread globally in 2022 in an epidemic ongoing today. Moreover, its elevated prevalence among men who have sex with men has yielded increased stigma against the LGBTQ+ community. To address these prejudicial associations, 'monkeypox' was renamed 'mpox' in November 2022. We used publicly available data from Google Search Trends to determine which countries were quicker to adopt this name change-and understand factors that limit or facilitate its use. Specifically, we built regression models to quantify the relationship between 'mpox' search intensity in a given country and the country's type of political regime, robustness of sociopolitical and health systems, level of pandemic preparedness, extent of gender and educational inequalities, and temporal evolution of mpox cases through December 2023. Our results suggest that, when compared to 'monkeypox' search intensity, 'mpox' search intensity was significantly higher in countries with any history of mpox outbreaks or higher levels of LGBTQ+ acceptance; meanwhile, 'mpox' search intensity was significantly lower in countries governed by leaders who had recently propagated infectious disease misinformation. Among infectious diseases with stigmatizing names, mpox is among the first to be revised retrospectively. While the adoption of a given disease name will be context-specific-depending in part on its origins and the affected subpopulations-our study provides generalizable insights, applicable to future changes in disease nomenclature.

Socially optimal search intensity in over-the-counter markets

This paper investigates the endogenous search intensity of traders in the OTC market, examining both competitive equilibrium and socially optimal scenario. Our study introduces a random search-and-matching model, where traders have the flexibility to ex post choose and adjust their search intensities based on two trader-level states: asset position and preference type. Our findings uncover the following key insights: (1) Changes in the level of search friction and/or the frequency of shocks on traders' preference type may lead to traders switching between high and low search intensities, shifting between the core and periphery of the trading network; and (2) Social optimality is achieved in the absence of intermediation, where no trader simultaneously invests in positive buying intensity and positive selling intensity. In contrast, competitive equilibrium reveals that some traders tend to over-search while others under-search, compared to the socially optimal outcome.

Need for speed: Fiber and student achievement

This paper studies the impact of the introduction of fiber broadband in North Carolina, through the lens of student achievement. I link granular data on new fiber construction and advertised download speeds with administrative test score data and local labor market data. Exploiting variation in fiber availability at the census block group level, I implement a difference-in-differences design and find modest effects on educational outcomes, roughly equivalent to lowering class sizes by one student. I show fiber increases local employment and search intensity for supplementary educational materials. Last, I show that increased competition from fiber providers drives quality improvements in other available technology.

Options illiquidity in an over-the-counter market

This article reveals that the intensity of search determines whether illiquid currency options trade at premia or at discounts. For options in a standalone search market, illiquidity leads to price premia, as intermediating dealers, who are presumably short in the equilibrium, demand additional compensation. With the presence of listed options at exchanges, illiquidity results in price discounts, as dealers provide concessions for customers’ alternative trading opportunities. The presence of substitutes changes the market outcome. Illiquidity premia and discounts coexist in a sufficiently one-sided market.

Contextual and personal resources in unemployed job search: An intra‐individual perspective

AbstractDrawing from conservation of resources (COR) theory and the equifinality principle, we challenge the prominent “the‐more‐resources‐the‐better” understanding by examining both the additive and interactive effects of contextual (i.e., networking behaviors and social support) and personal (i.e., job search self‐efficacy) resources on job seeking. Specifically, based on COR theory's resource gain corollary, we propose that higher levels of each resource are positively related to job search intensity and the number of interviews obtained (an additive effect). However, based on the equifinality principle that various resources can contribute to the same goal, we propose that each type of resource can compensate for low levels of the other (an interactive effect). In a four‐wave study following 89 unemployed job seekers over 6 months, we find positive intra‐individual relationships between networking behaviors and job search self‐efficacy with job search intensity. We find that networking behaviors and job search self‐efficacy are also positively related to the number of job interviews obtained and indirectly related through job search intensity for networking behaviors. In line with our predictions, high levels of either networking behaviors or job search self‐efficacy compensate for low levels of the other resource when predicting job search intensity and the number of interviews obtained.

Does the internet bring food prices closer together? Exploring search engine query data in Iran

AbstractModern communication technologies make information more easily and quickly accessible, leading to more transparent and competitive markets. Based on a theoretical model, this paper provides new empirical evidence on the potential impact of online search intensity on asymmetric cost pass‐through. Prices often move as ‘rockets and feathers’: they rise quickly in response to cost increases and they fall slowly in response to cost reductions. A panel threshold error correction model is applied to weekly producer and retail prices of chicken and mutton in Iran. The results suggest that the volume of online searches is associated with a more complete and less asymmetric cost pass‐through from farmgate to retail prices. Thus, online platforms and search engines have the potential to increase competition by bringing prices closer together and reducing profit margins.

How strategic alliances shape problemistic search intensity: Evidence from responses to social and historical underperformance

Taking a social networks approach to the performance feedback model from the Behavioral Theory of the Firm (BTOF), we examine how a firm’s position within a strategic alliance network—and the structure surrounding that position—creates distinct pressures that differentially impact decision makers’ problemistic search intensity to social and historical underperformance. We test our predictions on a sample of 32,780 observations of the alliance networks of 4,726 firms and their R&D intensity from 2000–2015 and find results robust to numerous alternative specifications. Results indicate that highly centralized firms search more intensely in response to social underperformance and less intensely in response to historical underperformance. However, structural holes in the network reduce response intensity to social underperformance but increase response intensity to historical underperformance. We posit this is due to how altering one’s network cognitively shapes the perceived threat of status loss. Our study is both managerially and theoretically important, since firms increasingly rely on strategic alliances in the face of major disruptions including globalization, economic crises, and pandemics, and since strategic alliances are instrumental in shaping how firms set and respond to aspirational benchmarks.

Google Search Intensity and Stock Returns in Frontier Markets: Evidence from the Vietnamese Market

The study investigates investor attention's impact on stock trading by modeling the relationship between Google search intensity and stock return with stocks listed in frontier markets in Vietnam from October 2016 to October 2021. The study has three findings. First, the study confirms the price pressure hypothesis and attention theory that Google search intensity positively affects stock returns. Second, this study indicates that the impact of Google search intensity on stock price is short. The positive effect is within the week of searching and reverses the following week, although the reverse force is not strong. Third, the relationship is more robust post than pre-COVID-19, suggesting that after a shock, more new individual investors enter the market, the impact of GSVI on stock return is stronger.

Market Liquidity in a Natural Experiment: Evidence from CDS Standard Coupons

Abstract The credit default swap (CDS) Big Bang introduced 2 standard coupons for CDS trading. We exploit the setting of the 2 standard coupons as a natural experiment to quantify the components of the bid–ask spreads in over-the-counter markets. We find that a significant portion of the difference in the bid–ask spread between the 2 coupons is explained by the difference in funding costs. Furthermore, search intensity also explains the variation in the difference in bid–ask spread. The liquidity typically concentrates on one of the standard coupons and can suddenly switch to the other coupon. Using the sudden switch of the primary coupon, we provide further evidence to support the predictions of search-based liquidity models.

Is more always better? Information acquisition and stock price crash risk

We posit that high search intensity on a firm's SEC filings creates capital market pressure on managers to withhold bad news. Using the count of non-robot EDGAR downloads of SEC filings as a proxy for search intensity, we find that high search intensity is related to higher future crash risk. The result is cross-sectionally stronger for firms with higher transient institutional holdings, overconfident CEOs, and more intangibles. Our findings are robust to different measures of crash risk and bad news hoarding. Overall, we highlight one unintended capital market consequence associated with the high intensity of information acquisition.

Exploring the Structure of Career Narratives: The Application of the Narrative Identity Assessment Model

In career construction theory, career narratives play a central role in establishing vocational identity. This study investigated the factor structure of career narratives by applying the narrative identity assessment model. In total, 521 young adults participated in the job search. They completed an online survey comprising self-reported measures of career adaptability and job search intensity. Career narratives were also collected, with a career-turning point as a prompt. Career narratives were rated based on exploratory processing, meaning-making, change connections, affective tone, contamination, agency, communion, elaboration of facts, contextual coherence, and chronological coherence. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the hypothesized three-factor structure. Three factors were differentially associated with career adaptability. Only the motivational and affective themes were related to job search intensity. These findings suggest that the factor structure model of career narratives provides a complementary understanding of vocational identity.

Evolution of China's Role in the Structure of Global Carbon Emission Transfers: An Empirical Analysis Based on Network Governance

AbstractThis paper reconsiders the roles of China and some developed countries in the network of carbon emission transfers via international trade in value added from a new perspective of network governance. Network search intensity (NSI) and the extended gravity model are used with cross‐country panel data to analyze the mechanism of China's engagement in network governance of carbon emission transfers. The results show that from 2000 to 2009, China was a net exporter of carbon emissions, even though it shifted from the semi‐periphery to the core in the network of carbon emissions embodied in imports. Meanwhile, NSI had a significant positive impact on carbon emissions embodied in exports. Given China's important role in the global production network and division of labor, NSI may also affect industrial structure and the quality of the ecological environment to a large extent. This study analyses the network governance mechanism of China's participation in global carbon transfers. The results suggest that the technical complexity of export products and product heterogeneity do not change the positive impact of NSI on carbon emissions.