Research Associate- Women's Mobility Program

Project Name: Women's Mobility Program

Employment Category: Contractual

Duration: 1 year, subject to renewal

Principal Investigators:

Erica Field (Duke University), Kate Vyborny (World Bank), Robert Garlick (Duke University), Alison Andrew (University of Oxford), Nivedhitha Subramanian (Bates College)

About the Program:

This study examines how various labor market interventions can improve the job search process for both employers and job seekers. We use our in-house job matching platform Job Talash, which is a high-frequency job search facilitation and matching service that connects jobseekers and employers by listing jobs from employers, sharing job information with jobseekers to record their interest, and applying to jobs on behalf of the jobseekers. This Lahore-based service has 13,000+ job seekers from diverse backgrounds such as those with minimal education, seeking low-skilled jobs, and coming from low-income households. The platform also has 1,300+ employers recruited through a representative sample.

In addition to the core matching service of the platform, we run a number of follow-up surveys that document off-platform search of employers and jobseekers. The program runs several interventions delivered through and evaluated using data from the job search facilitation and matching service.

Research Questions:

• How does offering safe pick-and-drop transport impact application rates and employment decisions, particularly for women?
• How does encouragement to apply for jobs impact job seekers’ application rates and interview outcomes?
• How does auditing of job seekers’ experiences impact their long-term investment in skills? Does providing audited information about job seekers impact employers’ hiring decisions?