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Flexible Staffing Arrangements and Employers' Short-Term Adjustment Strategies

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Katharine G. Abraham

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Abstract

This paper reports new evidence from a survey of over 408 U.S. employers concerning their use of temporary and on-call workers. More than 90 percent of responding organizations reported reliance on these flexible staffing arrangements. They accounted for an average of 1.5 percent of total labor input at user organizations during 1985; at some organizations, they accounted for 10 percent or even 20 percent of total labor input. Four-fifths of survey respondents indicated that flexible staffing arrangements play an important role in absorbing workload fluctuations. Moreover, organizations with highly seasonal or highly cyclical demand made significantly greater use of flexible staffing arrangements during 1985 than organizations with less seasonal or less cyclical demand. The use of flexible staffing arrangements appears to be a more important component of employers' short-term adjustment strategies than has previously been recognized.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 2617.

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Date of creation: Jun 1988
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:2617

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  1. Topel, Robert H, 1982. "Inventories, Layoffs, and the Short-Run Demand for Labor," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(4), pages 769-87, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  1. J. Ignacio García Pérez & Fernando Muñoz Bullón, 2001. "Temporary Help Agencies and Workers' Occupational Mobility," Economics Working Papers 554, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra. [Downloadable!]
  2. Patricia Bielman & Denis Chênevert & Gilles Simard & Michel Tremblay, 1999. "Déterminants du recours au travail atypique : Une étude des travailleurs à statut précaire dans les organisations québécoises," CIRANO Working Papers 99s-36, CIRANO. [Downloadable!]
  3. J. Ignacio García-Pérez & Fernando Muñoz-Bullón, 2003. "Temporary Help Agencies And Occupational Mobility," Business Economics Working Papers wb034110, Universidad Carlos III, Departamento de Economía de la Empresa. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Tommaso NANNICINI, 2004. "The Take-off of Temporary Employment in the Italian Labor Market," Economics Working Papers ECO2004/09, European University Institute. [Downloadable!]
  5. John S. Heywood & W. Stanley Siebert & Xiangdong Wei, 2006. "Examining the Determinants of Agency Work: Do Family Friendly Practices Play a Role?," IZA Discussion Papers 2413, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  6. Büchtemann, Christoph F., 1990. "Kündigungsschutz als Beschäftigungshemmnis? : empirische Evidenz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland," Mitteilungen aus der Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 23(3), pages 394-409. [Downloadable!]
  7. Susan N. Houseman, 1995. "Job Growth and the Quality of Jobs in the U.S. Economy," Staff Working Papers 95-39, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Tommaso Nannicini, 2004. "Temporary Workers: How Temporary Are They?," Economics Working Papers ECO2004/23, European University Institute. [Downloadable!]
  9. Climent Serrano, S., 2004. "Utilización y conocimiento de la herramientas de medición y su relación con los costes de calidad en las empresas certificadas en la norma ISO 9000 de la Comunidad Valenciana/Use and Knowledge of t," Estudios de Economía Aplicada, Estudios de Economía Aplicada, vol. 22, pages 369-389, Agosto. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. David H. Autor & Susan Houseman, 2005. "Do Temporary Help Jobs Improve Labor Market Outcomes for Low-Skilled Workers? Evidence from 'Work First'," NBER Working Papers 11743, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Pinoli, Sara, 2008. "Screening ex-ante or screening on-the-job? The impact of the employment contract," MPRA Paper 11429, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  12. Hagen, Tobias, 2001. "Does fixed-term contract employment raise firms' adjustment-speed? : Evidence from an establishment panel for West-Germany," ZEW Discussion Papers 01-57, ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  13. David Autor & Susan Houseman, 2005. "Do Temporary Help Jobs Improve Labor Market Outcomes
    for Low-Skilled Workers? Evidence from Random Assignments
    ," Staff Working Papers 05-124, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Boockmann, Bernhard & Hagen, Tobias, 2001. "The use of flexible working contracts in West Germany : evidence from an establishment panel," ZEW Discussion Papers 01-33, ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  15. James B. Rebitzer & Lowell J. Taylor, 1991. "Work Incentives and the Demand for Primary and Contingent Labor," NBER Working Papers 3647, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. David Autor & Susan Houseman, 2005. "Temporary Agency Employment as a Way out of Poverty?," NBER Working Papers 11742, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  17. David H. Autor, 2008. "The Economics of Labor Market Intermediation: An Analytic Framework," NBER Working Papers 14348, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  18. Boockmann, Bernhard & Steffes, Susanne, 2005. "Individual and Plant-level Determinants of Job Durations in Germany," ZEW Discussion Papers 05-89, ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  19. Fernando Munoz-Bullon, 2008. "Who downsizes for longer? A longitudinal analysis," Business Economics Working Papers wb082805, Universidad Carlos III, Departamento de Economía de la Empresa. [Downloadable!]
  20. Susan N. Houseman, 2000. "Why Employers Use Flexible Staffing Arrangements: Evidence from an Establishment Survey," Staff Working Papers 01-67, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  21. Chris Forde & Gary Slater, 2004. "Agency working in Britain: character, consequences and regulation," Working Papers 2004/4, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham Business School, Economics Division. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  22. Traci L. Mach & John A. Holmes, 2008. "The use of alternative employment arrangements by small businesses: evidence from the 2003 Survey of Small Business Finances," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2008-45, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.). [Downloadable!]
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