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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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/632421513000919521/The-value-of-reference-letters http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29002 |
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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 |
| _version_ |
1764468242445762560 |