Title
What’s the Inside Scoop? Challenges in the Supply and Demand for Information on Employers
Upjohn Author ORCID Identifier
Publication Date
9-8-2022
Source
Journal of Labor Economics 2022
Abstract
Workers struggle to understand prospective employers. Through experienced workers' volunteered reviews, Glassdoor is a platform that seeks to provide information about prospective employers to jobseekers. We find that the content most valuable to jobseekers (negative information) is the kind most risky to supply, pointing to a Catch-22. Higher ratings increase job applications to smaller firms only, creating an incentive for them to discourage negative reviews. Concerns about employer retaliation discourage negative reviews and motivate employees who do disclose to conceal aspects of their identity, degrading the information's value. Reputation institutions provide valuable but partial solutions to workers' information problems.
DOI
10.1086/721701
Publisher
University of Chicago Press
Subject Areas
LABOR MARKET ISSUES
Citation
Sockin, Jason and Aaron Sojourner. 2022. "What’s the Inside Scoop? Challenges in the Supply and Demand for Information on Employers." Journal of Labor Economics. https://doi.org/10.1086/721701