register
Vera Brencic

University of Alberta, Canada

Its quick reach of a wide audience makes IZA World of Labor a perfect outlet for policy-relevant research. It has been an honor to be able to contribute

IZA World of Labor role

Author

Current position

Professor, Department of Economics, University of Alberta, Canada

Research interest

Labor economics, search and matching, personnel economics

Website

https://apps.ualberta.ca/directory/person/vbrencic

Positions/functions as a policy advisor

Consultant to Human Resources and Social Development Canada

Past positions

Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University of Alberta (July 2006–June 2012); Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Purdue University (January 2006–June 2006)

Qualifications

PhD Economics, Purdue University, 2005

Selected publications

  • "Developments in the Market for Employment Websites in the U.S." International Journal of the Economics of Business 29:1 (2022): 33-56.

  • "Network Size and Terms of Use: Evidence from Employment Websites." Information Economics and Policy 67 (2024): 1-12.

  • "Distribution of Vacancies and New Hires across Employers: Implications for Skill Requirements, Wage Offers, and Hiring Outcomes." Labour Economics 91 (2024): 1-10.

  • "Demand for Personality Traits, Tasks, and Sorting." Research in Labor Economics: Big Data Applications in Labor Economics 52A (2024): 161–211 (with A. D. McGee).

  • "Employers’ hiring practices, employment protection, and costly search: A vacancy- level analysis." Labour Economics 16:5 (2009): 461–479.

article(s)

  • Interaction between technology and recruiting practices

    While technology has improved sharing and managing information, there are legitimate concerns about the quality of information and its use in recruitment

    Vera Brencic, August 2021
    Employers are steadily increasing their reliance on technology when recruiting. On the one hand, this technology enables the wide dissemination of information and the management of large quantities of data at a relatively low cost. On the other hand, it introduces new costs and risks. The ease with which information can be shared, for example, can lead to its unauthorized use and obsolescence. Recruiting technologies are also susceptible to misuse and to biases built into their underlying algorithms. Better understanding of these trade-offs can inform government policies aiming to reduce search frictions in the labor market.
    MoreLess