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Low‐Paid Employment and Unemployment Dynamics in Australia

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  • HIELKE BUDDELMEYER
  • WANG‐SHENG LEE
  • MARK WOODEN

Abstract

This article uses longitudinal data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (or HILDA) Survey to examine the extent to which the relatively high rates of transition from low‐paid employment into unemployment are the result of disadvantageous personal characteristics or are instead a function of low‐paid work itself. Dynamic random effects probit models of the likelihood of unemployment are estimated. After controlling for unobserved heterogeneity and initial conditions, we find that, relative to high‐paid employment, low‐paid employment is associated with a higher risk of unemployment, but this effect is only significant among women. We also find only weak evidence that low‐paid employment is a conduit for repeat unemployment.

Suggested Citation

  • Hielke Buddelmeyer & Wang‐Sheng Lee & Mark Wooden, 2010. "Low‐Paid Employment and Unemployment Dynamics in Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 86(272), pages 28-48, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecorec:v:86:y:2010:i:272:p:28-48
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-4932.2009.00595.x
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    Cited by:

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    2. Plum, Alexander & Knies, Gundi, 2015. "Does neighbourhood unemployment affect the springboard effect of low pay?," ISER Working Paper Series 2015-20, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    3. Lixin Cai, 2015. "The dynamics of low pay employment in Australia," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 36(7), pages 1095-1123, October.
    4. Kabir Dasgupta & Alexander Plum, 2023. "Human capital formation and changes in low pay persistence," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(56), pages 6583-6604, December.
    5. Alexander Plum & Gail Pacheco & Kabir Dasgupta, 2021. "When There is No Way Up: Reconsidering Low‐paid Jobs as Stepping‐stones," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 97(318), pages 387-409, September.
    6. Mavromaras, Kostas & Zhu, Rong, 2013. "Labour Force Participation of Mature Age Men in Australia: The Role of Spousal Participation," IZA Discussion Papers 7581, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Alexander Mosthaf & Thorsten Schank & Claus Schnabel, 2014. "Low-wage employment versus unemployment: Which one provides better prospects for women?," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-17, December.
    8. Lixin Cai, 2014. "State-Dependence and Stepping-Stone Effects of Low-Pay Employment in Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 90(291), pages 486-506, December.
    9. Kostas Mavromaras & Darcy Fitzpatrick, 2017. "Self-employment Dynamics in Australia and the Importance of State Dependence," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 93, pages 144-170, June.
    10. Jeff Borland & Michael Coelli, 2016. "Labour Market Inequality in Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 92(299), pages 517-547, December.
    11. Kostas Mavromaras & Seamus McGuinness & Nigel O'Leary & Peter Sloane & Zhang Wei, 2013. "Job Mismatches and Labour Market Outcomes: Panel Evidence on University Graduates," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 89(286), pages 382-395, September.
    12. Pacheco, Gail & Plum, Alexander T. & Sloane, Peter J., 2020. "Not Much Bounce in the Springboard: On the Mobility of Low Pay Workers," IZA Discussion Papers 12896, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Kostas Mavromaras & Peter Sloane & Zhang Wei, 2015. "The scarring effects of unemployment, low pay and skills under-utilization in Australia compared," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(23), pages 2413-2429, May.
    14. Mosthaf, Alexander, 2011. "Low-wage jobs - stepping stones or just bad signals?," IAB-Discussion Paper 201111, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    15. Alexander Plum, 2016. "Reconsidering the interrelated dynamics of unemployment and low-wage employment in Great Britain," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 36(2), pages 1230-1241.
    16. Cai, Lixin & Mavromaras, Kostas & Sloane, Peter J., 2016. "Low Paid Employment in Britain: Estimating State-Dependence and Stepping Stone Effects," IZA Discussion Papers 9633, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Victoria Maleeva & Majlinda Joxhe & Skerdilajda Zanaj, 2020. "Poverty in Russia: the Role of the Marital Status and Gender," DEM Discussion Paper Series 20-16, Department of Economics at the University of Luxembourg.
    18. Jeff Borland & David Johnston, 2010. "How Does a Worker's Labour Market History Affect Job Duration?," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2010n06, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.

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