Preference for Public Sector Jobs and Wait Unemployment: A Micro Data Analysis

This paper exploits responses on the stated preferences for public sector jobs among a sample of unemployed in Pakistan to inform on the existence of public sector job queues. The empirical approach allowed job preference to influence unemployment duration. The potential wage advantage an unemployed individual would enjoy in a public sector job was found to exert no independent influence on the stated preference indicating that fringe benefits and work conditions are perhaps more important considerations. The stated preference for a public sector job was found to be associated with higher uncompleted durations. The estimated effect suggests that, on average and controlling for education and other characteristics, those unemployed who stated a preference for public sector jobs had higher uncompleted durations of between four and six months. This finding was taken to confirm that there are long queues for public sector jobs in Pakistan.