New @nberpubs paper w/ @PawelAdrjan, @BalgovaMaria, @jonasjessen & @JSockin: Workers infer unlisted job characteristics from what ads do list. Using a priced amenity—the 🇩🇪Deutschlandticket—we show this contaminates discrete choice estimates of WTP for amenities. 1/N
Job ads can signal hidden job traits. Evidence from German workers shows this distorts discrete choice estimates of workers’ willingness to pay, from Pawel Adrjan, Mária Balgova, @simon_jaeger, Jonas Jessen, and @JSockin nber.org/papers/w35457
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The overvaluation is now driven by lack of information about the price of the ticket, which we evaluate both cross-sectionally in a sample of workers with accurate knowledge of the price, as well as experimentally with an information treatment. 3/N
Jul 18, 2026 · 2:44 PM UTC
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Mechanism: in a complementary belief-elicitation experiment, advertising an amenity causally shifts beliefs about unlisted attributes of the job. This holds for the ticket but also for common amenities like work from home. Listing a perk signals what kind of job it is. 4/N
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The workers who have the highest valuation of the ticket (or of other amenities, such as WFH) also tend to be the ones for whom beliefs about unlisted job attributes shift more when the specific focal amenity (e.g., the ticket or WFH) is included in an ad. 5/N
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Posted wages also signal unlisted attributes—e.g., higher pay signals higher stress. Since wage variation is the money metric behind WTP calculations, the metric itself is contaminated by belief spillovers. 6/N
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In sum, discrete choice estimates capture perceived bundles rather than isolated attributes. This changes how to think about estimates of the overall value of non-wage compensation and of monopsony power. More in the paper: nber.org/papers/w35457 7/N
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We'll present the paper at the @nberpubs Summer Institute in Labor Studies next Monday. Live stream will be available here: nber.org/conferences/si-2026… N/N
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