Job referrals and strategic network formation: Experimental evidence from urban neighbourhoods in Ethiopia

This project poses the question: Do unemployed individuals use their job referral opportunities to strengthen their position in a geographically restricted social network? In particular, the project looks at whether there is reciprocity in the job referral process among individuals from the same geographic area. In addition, the laboratory experiment will be able to shed more light on whether there is persistency in exclusion from these (temporary) labour market opportunities. In general, it will be possible to observe how local networks evolve after an laboratory intervention that activates the field context via job referrals.