IZA’s research team “Personalized Labor Policy” studies how labor market policy can be improved by better targeting policy instruments to the preferences, backgrounds, and needs of different groups of the population. Based on recent advancements in labor and behavioral economics, our research sheds new light on individual-level differences in labor-market success and their underlying causes. Building on this body of knowledge, we seek to develop and test new tools to improve job search processes and labor market performance.

Our research centers around four main questions:

• How do differences in workers’ preferences, backgrounds, and beliefs affect their employment prospects, workplace behavior, and responses to labor market policy?
• How can employers make use of this knowledge to attract and retain the “right types” of workers?
• How can policy makers better target existing policy instruments towards the subgroups of workers that benefit most strongly from them?
• Can newly developed personalized tools facilitate job search and enhance the match between workers and firms?

Contact

Prof. Dr. Steffen Altmann (Team Leader)