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Labor Market Dynamics and Wage Losses of Displaced Workers in France and the United States

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  • Arnaud Lefranc

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to provide a comparative assessment of the consequences of worker displacement in France and the United States. I estimate wage losses of displaced workers in the two countries and examine the relative contribution of two important sources of post-displacement wage adjustments. The first one relates to the loss of seniority-accumulated firmspecific earnings potential. The second one arises from match heterogeneity. Identification of the relative contribution of these two sources can be achieved given separate estimates of returns to seniority. I show that, while the order of magnitude of total wage losses are comparable in the two economies (10 to 15%), the sources of wage adjustments differ strongly: all of the wage decline in France seems to be due to the loss of accumulated firm-specific earnings potential, while in the US, more than half of measured wage losses arise from a downgrading of displaced workers into lower quality job matches.

Suggested Citation

  • Arnaud Lefranc, 2003. "Labor Market Dynamics and Wage Losses of Displaced Workers in France and the United States," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 2003-614, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    • Handle: RePEc:wdi:papers:2003-614
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wage losses; Unemployment; Displaced workers; Returns to seniority; Match heterogeneity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • J65 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment Insurance; Severance Pay; Plant Closings

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