Suchergebnisse

This paper investigates differences in worker turnover characteristics between periods of workforce expansion and contraction in a firm. We derive a Cox proportional hazard model from a simple model of job separation based on the expected surpluses from the firm and its workers. We account for non-stationarity in the baseline hazard reversing the role of calendar time and employment duration (Imbens (1994)), and estimate the model using personnel data from a large Dutch aircraft manufacturer over a period from January 1987 until March 14th, 1996, one day before its bankruptcy. Performance evaluations, blue versus white collar employment, and career paths within the firm are found to play an important role explaining differences in turnover behavior. A generally important result is that smooth functional forms of the age effect on worker mobility can produce misleading results, blurring a better understanding of the design of early retirement schemes for corporate reorganizations.

This paper develops a model that shows why high-skilled workers move more and are therefore unemployed less than low-skilled workers. The model can explain the paradoxical empirical regularity that higher owner-occupation rates are associated with higher levels of unemployment although home-owners tend to be unemployed less. The choice of housing tenure affects moving costs and thereby regional mobility and unemployment. The paper analyzes the impact of symmetric and asymmetric shocks on mobility and unemployment, and discusses effects of government intervention in the housing market. In addition, it is shown that moving costs reduce job search effort and search effectiveness.