Abstract

The aim of the project is to open up new possibilities for the scientific evaluation of “Big Data” that stem from the digital systems of the German Federal Employment Agency (FEA). Jobbörse, the job exchange of the FEA, is an online labour market platform used by employers and employees for search activities within the scope of working places and apprenticeship training positions. VerBIS, the mediation-, consultation- and information system, is an internal software used by the job agents in employment agencies and job centres and by the employer service of the FEA. For both systems, the number of visits of certain webpages can be determined and associated with employees, employers and job agents. As a consequence, it is possible to measure the intensity of the search- and mediating activities of all labour market participants. These data can then be used to investigate how jobseekers and employers react to economic fluctuations. Furthermore, the behaviour of the third actor, the labour mediation institution, can be integrated into empirical analysis for the first time. Hence, one can expect to learn significantly more about the functioning of the labour market. In the future, further data constantly accruing from the job exchange might be made accessible for scientific use.