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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Adriana Kugler; Giovanni Pica |
| Abstract: | This paper uses the Italian Social Security employer-employee panel to study the effects of the Italian reform of 1990 on worker and job flows. We exploit the fact that this reform increased unjust dismissal costs for firms below 15 employees, while leaving dismissal costs unchanged for bigger firms, to set up a natural experiment research design. We find that the increase in dismissal costs decreased accessions and separations for workers in small relative to big firms, especially in sectors with higher employment volatility. Moreover, we find that the reform reduced firms' employment adjustments on the internal margin as well as entry rates while increasing exit rates. |
| JEL: | E24 J63 J65 |
| Date: | 2005–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:11658&r=lab |
| By: | Michael Kvasnicka (Humboldt-University Berlin) |
| Abstract: | Based on administrative data from the federal employment office in Germany, we apply matching techniques to estimate the stepping-stone function of temporary agency work for the unemployed, i.e. its short-run and long-run effects on their future employment prospects. Our results show that unemployed workers who take up a job in the temporary work agency (TWA) industry are on average more likely than unemployed workers not joining TWA work to be in agency employment in the four year period these workers are tracked after entering TWA work. However, we find no discernable effects on the probabilities of being either in regular employment or registered unemployment. Our findings therefore do not lend support to the stepping-stone function of temporary agency work. |
| Keywords: | Temporary work agencies, stepping stone, evaluation, matching |
| JEL: | C14 C41 J41 J64 |
| Date: | 2005–10–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wpa:wuwpla:0510005&r=lab |
| By: | Edin, Per-Anders (IFAU - Institute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation); Gustavsson, Magnus (Department of Economics , Uppsala University) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the role of skill depreciation in the relationship between work interruptions and subsequent wages. Using unique longitudinal microdata containing information on the ability to understand and practically employ printed information, we are able to analyze changes in skills for individuals as a function of time out of work. In general, we find statistically strong evidence of a negative relationship between work interruptions and skills. Our analysis suggests that depreciation of general information-processing skills is economically significant, with a full year of non-employment being equivalent to moving 5 percentiles down the skill distribution. |
| Keywords: | Work interruptions; skill depreciation; wage differentials |
| JEL: | J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2005–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2005_021&r=lab |
| By: | Robert E. Hall |
| Abstract: | New data compel a new view of events in the labor market during a recession. Unemployment rises almost entirely because jobs become harder to find. Recessions involve little increase in the flow of workers out of jobs. Another important finding from new data is that a large fraction of workers departing jobs move to new jobs without intervening unemployment. I develop estimates of separation rates and job-finding rates for the past 50 years, using historical data informed by detailed recent data. The separation rate is nearly constant while the job-finding rate shows high volatility at business-cycle and lower frequencies. I review modern theories of fluctuations in the job-finding rate. The challenge to these theories is to identify mechanisms in the labor market that amplify small changes in driving forces into fluctuations in the job-finding rate of the high magnitude actually observed. In the standard theory developed over the past two decades, the wage moves to offset driving forces and the predicted magnitude of changes in the job-finding rate is tiny. New models overcome this property by invoking a new form of sticky wages or by introducing information and other frictions into the employment relationship. |
| JEL: | E24 J64 |
| Date: | 2005–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:11678&r=lab |
| By: | Miguel A. Malo; Fernando Munoz-Bullon |
| Abstract: | In this article, we evaluate the influence that employment promotion measures designed for disabled people have on the latter’s job matching quality through the use of matching analysis. We focus on two aspects of quality: the type of contract held (either permanent or temporary) and whether or not the individual is searching for another job. We find that employment promotion measures do not improve the match’s job quality. Furthermore, the use of specialized labour market intermediation services by disabled individuals does not affect their job matching quality. As an additional contribution, our definition of disability eludes the self-justification bias. |
| Date: | 2005–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:wbrepe:wb055315&r=lab |
| By: | Kevin E. Cahill (Tinari Economics Group); Michael D. Giandrea (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics); Joseph F. Quinn (Boston College) |
| Abstract: | Purpose: This paper investigates whether permanent, one-time retirements are coming to an end just as the trend towards earlier and earlier retirements did nearly 20 years ago. We explore how common bridge jobs are among today’s retirees, and how uncommon traditional retirements have become. Methods: Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), we explore the work histories and retirement patterns of a cohort of retirees aged 51 to 61 in 1992 over a ten-year time period in both a cross-sectional and longitudinal context. Bridge job determinants are examined using bivariate comparisons and a multinomial logistic regression model of the bridge job decision. Results: We find that one-half to two-thirds of the HRS respondents with full-time career jobs take on bridge jobs before exiting the labor force completely. We also find that bridge job behavior is most common among younger respondents, respondents without defined-benefit pension plans, and respondents at the lower- and upper-end of the wage distribution. Implications: The evidence suggests that changes in the retirement income landscape since the 1980s appear to be taking root. Going forward, traditional retirements will be the exception rather than the rule. |
| Keywords: | Economics of Aging; Partial Retirement; Gradual Retirement |
| JEL: | J26 J14 J32 H55 |
| Date: | 2005–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bls:wpaper:ec050100&r=lab |
| By: | Michael C. Burda (Humboldt-University Berlin); Michael Kvasnicka (Humboldt-University Berlin) |
| Abstract: | Temporary help services (THS) offer firms an additional option for flexible adjustment of employment levels. In addition, THS can facilitate new employment for both labor market entrants and job losers. This survey examines the economic significance, the changing regulatory framework, and the recent development of the THS sector in Germany. Declining wages and rising employment shares in THS are suggestive of a safety valve for the primary labor market, especially for unskilled workers. High markups charged by THS firms despite declining relative compensation of THS workers suggest a high shadow price for this form of labor input. Nevertheless, the coincidence of low and falling wages, small sector size, combined with low inflow rates and high overall fluctuation point to supply rather than demand bottlenecks as an explanation for the sector’s overall modest size. |
| Keywords: | Zeitarbeit, temporary agency work, temporary help employment, flexible employment forms |
| JEL: | J |
| Date: | 2005–10–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wpa:wuwpla:0510004&r=lab |
| By: | Nomaan Majid (International Labour Office, Employment Strategy Department) |
| Keywords: | wage inequality, trade, GDI, national income |
| JEL: | J31 F15 F16 |
| Date: | 2004–01–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ilo:empstr:2004-18&r=lab |