The Value of Reference Letters

This paper shows that reference letters from former employers alleviate information asymmetries about workers' skills and improve both match quality and equity in the labor market. A resume audit study finds that using a reference letter in th...

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Main Authors: Abel, Martin, Burger, Rulof, Piraino, Patrizio
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/632421513000919521/The-value-of-reference-letters
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29002
id okr-10986-29002
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-290022021-06-08T14:42:47Z The Value of Reference Letters Abel, Martin Burger, Rulof Piraino, Patrizio WORKER SKILLS LABOR MARKET REFERENCE LETTER JOB APPLICATION GENDER GAP AFRICA GENDER POLICY GENDER INNOVATION LAB WOMEN AND YOUTH EMPLOYMENT This paper shows that reference letters from former employers alleviate information asymmetries about workers' skills and improve both match quality and equity in the labor market. A resume audit study finds that using a reference letter in the application increases callbacks by more than 60 percent, with women driving the effect. Letters are effective because they provide valuable information about workers' skills that employers use to select applicants of higher ability. A second experiment, which encourages job seekers to obtain and use a reference letter, finds consistent results. In particular, employment rates for women encouraged to obtain a letter increase by 49 percent, closing the gender gap in the sample. 2017-12-15T16:29:27Z 2017-12-15T16:29:27Z 2017-12 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/632421513000919521/The-value-of-reference-letters http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29002 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8266 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic WORKER SKILLS
LABOR MARKET
REFERENCE LETTER
JOB APPLICATION
GENDER GAP
AFRICA GENDER POLICY
GENDER INNOVATION LAB
WOMEN AND YOUTH EMPLOYMENT
spellingShingle WORKER SKILLS
LABOR MARKET
REFERENCE LETTER
JOB APPLICATION
GENDER GAP
AFRICA GENDER POLICY
GENDER INNOVATION LAB
WOMEN AND YOUTH EMPLOYMENT
Abel, Martin
Burger, Rulof
Piraino, Patrizio
The Value of Reference Letters
relation Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8266
description This paper shows that reference letters from former employers alleviate information asymmetries about workers' skills and improve both match quality and equity in the labor market. A resume audit study finds that using a reference letter in the application increases callbacks by more than 60 percent, with women driving the effect. Letters are effective because they provide valuable information about workers' skills that employers use to select applicants of higher ability. A second experiment, which encourages job seekers to obtain and use a reference letter, finds consistent results. In particular, employment rates for women encouraged to obtain a letter increase by 49 percent, closing the gender gap in the sample.
format Working Paper
author Abel, Martin
Burger, Rulof
Piraino, Patrizio
author_facet Abel, Martin
Burger, Rulof
Piraino, Patrizio
author_sort Abel, Martin
title The Value of Reference Letters
title_short The Value of Reference Letters
title_full The Value of Reference Letters
title_fullStr The Value of Reference Letters
title_full_unstemmed The Value of Reference Letters
title_sort value of reference letters
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2017
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/632421513000919521/The-value-of-reference-letters
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29002
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