Patrick P. Arni

Are Weak Ties Strong? How Information on Social Search Affects Job Finding

Patrick Arni and his co-researchers have assessed the relevance of social networks as a job search channel. By means of survey and register data and a stylised model framework, they have explored the channels through which information on social search has affected female search behaviour and search efficiency. Results show that women substituted effort towards more social search and consequently increased their search efficiency and the stability of found jobs.

During his stay at CESifo, Mr Arni will continue his research on the use of social networks for job searches. He will also address a question in labour market policy that has gained increasing attention: Do migrants (non-natives) react differently to supportive and restrictive labour market policy instruments? A further topic that could provide fruitful discussions is the empirical assessment of subjective expectations, self-perception and overconfidence. Mr Arni has recently collected new survey data on such behavioural traits and aspects.

Patrick Arni’s main research interests are in the empirical analysis of incentives of public policies and different questions in labour economics, with some focus on unemployment insurance and job search. To analyse these questions, he applies micro-econometric methods of programme evaluation and causal analysis. He also specialises in developing linked register datasets and in combining surveys with register data. The use of surveys is particularly linked to his interest in investigating the behavioural mechanisms how individuals react to incentives generated by public policies.

Patrick Arni is an Assistant Professor (Lecturer) in Economics at the University of Bristol (UK). He is also affiliated as a research fellow to IZA as well as to HEC Lausanne (DEEP) and to Aarhus University (CAFÉ). He previously worked as a Senior Research Associate at IZA and was a visiting scholar at the CLE (David Card) at UC Berkeley in 2014/15. He holds a PhD from HEC Lausanne, Switzerland.