Job search decisions are not made in isolation. Instead, job-seekers interact with others who may themselves be employed or searching. Such interactions may influence search behavior as it allows searchers to compare their own offers and decisions with those of others. Using a laboratory experiment we examine how social comparisons may influence behavior in a sequential search task. In a control treatment subjects search in isolation while in two other treatments subjects get feedback on the search decisions and outcomes of a partner subject. Our preliminary findings suggest that subjects who receive feedback search differently from those who search in an isolated environment. When subjects only observe the income (i.e. accepted offer) of their partner, they initially choose a higher reservation wage than when they search in isolation, but on observing the partner accept an offer they react by lowering their reservation wage. However, the content of the feedback also matters: reservation wages are lower when subjects get feedback about rejected as well as accepted offers.

(Coauthors: J. Fu, R. Upward)