Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are marketed as opportunities for participants to improve their labor market outcomes, and tens of thousands of students have paid for career-focused MOOC certificate programs. However, there is limited and conflicting research on MOOCs and labor market outcomes. Using two randomized control trials, we test Amazon’s Mechanical Turk respondents’ preferences for hiring hypothetical freelance web developers. In the first experiment, we examine preferences for profiles with MOOCs as compared to profiles with traditional degrees (bachelor’s, associates, and community college certificates). Respondents preferred all traditional degrees over a MOOC; MOOCs do not serve as substitutes for traditional postsecondary credentials. In the second experiment, we examine preferences for MOOCs as compared to no listed credential. Results demonstrate a 61–percentage point preference for MOOC credentials compared to no MOOC credential; the preference does not vary across levels of professional experience.

大规模开放式在线课程（MOOC）的销售为参与者提供了改善其劳动力市场成果的机会，成千上万的学生已经为以职业为中心的MOOC证书课程付费。但是，关于MOOC和劳动力市场成果的研究有限且相互矛盾。我们使用两项随机对照试验，测试了Amazon Mechanical Turk受访者在雇用假定的自由职业Web开发人员方面的偏好。在第一个实验中，我们检查了具有MOOC的个人资料与具有传统学位的个人（学士学位，合作伙伴和社区大学证书）的偏好。相对于MOOC，受访者更喜欢所有传统学位。MOOC不能替代传统的中学后证书。在第二个实验中，我们检查了MOOC的偏好（与未列出的凭据相比）。结果表明，与没有MOOC凭证相比，MOOC凭证的偏好为61个百分点。偏好不会因专业经验水平而异。