IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/5596.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Changing Face of Job Loss in the United States, 1981-1993

Author

Listed:
  • Henry S. Farber

Abstract

I examine changes in the incidence and consequences of job loss by reported cause between 1981 and 1993 using data from Displaced Workers Surveys (DWS), conducted as part of the Current Population Survey (CPS) in even years since 1984. The overall rate of job loss is up somewhat in the 1990s. The increase in job loss is larger for older and more educated workers, but younger and less-educated workers continue to have the highest rates of job loss. Some significant changes are also found in the rate of job loss by reported reason. Next I examine the consequences of displacement for several post- displacement labor market outcomes, including the probability of employment, full-time/part-time status, the change in earnings, job stability, and self-employment status. The adverse consequences of job loss, which have always been substantial, do not appear to have changed systematically over time. More educated workers suffer less economic loss relative to income due to displacement than do the less educated. Self-employment appears to be an important response to displacement, and older workers and the more educated are more likely to turn to self-employment.

Suggested Citation

  • Henry S. Farber, 1996. "The Changing Face of Job Loss in the United States, 1981-1993," NBER Working Papers 5596, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:5596
    Note: LS
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w5596.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jacobson, Louis S & LaLonde, Robert J & Sullivan, Daniel G, 1993. "Earnings Losses of Displaced Workers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(4), pages 685-709, September.
    2. Gibbons, Robert & Katz, Lawrence F, 1991. "Layoffs and Lemons," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 9(4), pages 351-380, October.
    3. Kletzer, Lori Gladstein, 1989. "Returns to Seniority after Permanent Job Loss," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(3), pages 536-543, June.
    4. Jovanovic, Boyan, 1979. "Job Matching and the Theory of Turnover," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(5), pages 972-990, October.
    5. Parent, D., 1995. "Industry-Specific Capiatl and the Wage Profile: Evidence from the NLSY and the PSID," Cahiers de recherche 9508, Universite de Montreal, Departement de sciences economiques.
    6. Topel, Robert, 1990. "Specific capital and unemployment: Measuring the costs and consequences of job loss," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 181-214, January.
    7. Neal, Derek, 1995. "Industry-Specific Human Capital: Evidence from Displaced Workers," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 13(4), pages 653-677, October.
    8. Hall, Robert E, 1982. "The Importance of Lifetime Jobs in the U.S. Economy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(4), pages 716-724, September.
    9. Ureta, Manuelita, 1992. "The Importance of Lifetime Jobs in the U.S. Economy, Revisited," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(1), pages 322-335, March.
    10. Diebold, Francis X & Neumark, David & Polsky, Daniel, 1997. "Job Stability in the United States," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(2), pages 206-233, April.
    11. Michael Podgursky & Paul Swaim, 1987. "Job Displacement and Earnings Loss: Evidence from the Displaced Worker Survey," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 41(1), pages 17-29, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Koeniger, Winfried, 2001. "Labor and Financial Market Interactions: The Case of Labor Income Risk and Car Insurance in the UK 1969-95," IZA Discussion Papers 240, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Joonmo CHO & Jaeho KEUM, 2004. "Job instability in the Korean labour market: Estimating the effects of the 1997 financial crisis," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 143(4), pages 373-392, December.
    3. Giovanna Vallanti, 2005. "Capital Mobility and Unemployment Dynamics: Evidence from a Panel of OECD Countries," CEP Discussion Papers dp0684, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    4. Borghans, L. & ter Weel, B.J., 2002. "Do older workers have more trouble using a computer than younger workers?," ROA Research Memorandum 1E, Maastricht University, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA).
    5. Lawrence F Katz, 1998. "Reflections on US Labour Market Performance," RBA Annual Conference Volume (Discontinued), in: Guy Debelle & Jeff Borland (ed.),Unemployment and the Australian Labour Market, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    6. Mine Zeynep Senses, 2006. "The Effects of Outsourcing on the Elasticity of Labor Demand," Working Papers 06-07, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    7. Yona Rubinstein & Daniel Tsiddon, 2004. "Coping with Technological Change: The Role of Ability in Making Inequality so Persistent," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 305-346, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pb:p:2439-2483 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. repec:pri:cepsud:171farber is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Henry S. Farber, 2005. "What do we know about job loss in the United States? evidence from the displaced workers survey, 1984-2004," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 29(Q II), pages 13-28.
    4. Henry S. Farber, 2001. "Job Loss in the United States, 1981-1999," Working Papers 832, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    5. Daniel Aaronson & Daniel G. Sullivan, 1998. "The decline of job security in the 1990s: displacement, anxiety, and their effect on wage growth," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 22(Q I), pages 17-43.
    6. Henry S. Farber, 1993. "The Incidence and Costs of Job Loss: 1982-91," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 24(1 Microec), pages 73-132.
    7. Henry S. Farber, 2001. "Job Loss in the United States, 1981-1999," Working Papers 2001-4, Princeton University. Economics Department..
    8. William J. Carrington & Bruce Fallick, 2017. "Why Do Earnings Fall with Job Displacement?," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(4), pages 688-722, October.
    9. Henry S. Farber, 2001. "Job Loss in the United States, 1981-1999," Working Papers 832, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    10. Henry S. Farber, 2010. "Job Loss and the Decline in Job Security in the United States," NBER Chapters, in: Labor in the New Economy, pages 223-262, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Henry S. Farber, 2008. "Job Loss and the Decline in Job Security in the United States," Working Papers 1055, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    12. Till von Wachter & Stefan Bender, 2008. "Do Initial Conditions Persist between Firms? An Analysis of Firm-Entry Cohort Effects and Job Losers Using Matched Employer-Employee Data," NBER Chapters, in: The Analysis of Firms and Employees: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches, pages 135-162, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Peter F. Orazem & Marvin L. Bouillon & Benjamin M. Doran, 2004. "Long‐Term Attachments and Long‐Run Firm Rates of Return," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 71(2), pages 314-333, October.
    14. Henry S. Farber, 2008. "Job Loss and the Decline in Job Security in the United States," Working Papers 1055, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    15. Dan A. Black & Lars Skipper & Jeffrey A. Smith & Jeffrey Andrew Smith, 2023. "Firm Training," CESifo Working Paper Series 10268, CESifo.
    16. Neffke, Frank & Nedelkoska, Ljubica & Wiederhold, Simon, 2024. "Skill mismatch and the costs of job displacement," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(2).
    17. Henry S. Farber, 2007. "Job Loss and the Decline in Job Security in the United States," Working Papers 1041, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    18. Henry S. Farber, 2007. "Job Loss and the Decline in Job Security in the United States," Working Papers 1041, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    19. Arnaud Lefranc, 2002. "Labor Market Dynamics and Wage Losses of Displaced Workers in France and the United-States," THEMA Working Papers 2002-15, THEMA (THéorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), Université de Cergy-Pontoise.
    20. Abbring, J.H. & van den Berg, G. & Gautier, P.A. & van Lomwel, A.G.C. & van Ours, J.C. & Ruhm, C.J., 1998. "Displaced Workers in The United States and The Netherlands," Discussion Paper 1998-96, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    21. Joseph G. Altonji & Nicolas Williams, 1992. "The Effects of Labor Market Experience, Job Seniority, and Job Mobility on Wage Growth," NBER Working Papers 4133, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. Joseph G. Altonji & Nicolas Williams, 2005. "Do Wages Rise with Job Seniority? A Reassessment," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 58(3), pages 370-397, April.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:5596. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nberrus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.