The Impact of Unemployment Insurance on Job Search: Evidence from Google Search Data
利用谷歌搜索数据构建求职活动指数，验证其有效性后，研究2008至2014年间美国失业保险政策变化对总体求职行为的影响，发现无显著经济效应。
Job search is a key choice variable in theories of labor markets but is difficult to measure directly. We develop a job search activity index based on Google search data, the Google Job Search Index (GJSI). We validate the GJSI with both survey- and web-based measures of job search. Unlike those measures, the GJSI is high frequency, geographically precise, and available in real time. We demonstrate the GJSI’s utility by using it to study the effects of unemployment insurance policy changes between 2008 and 2014. We find no evidence of an economically meaningful effect of these changes on aggregate search.