IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ilrrev/v66y2013i4p874-901.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Study of the Extent and Potential Causes of Alternative Employment Arrangements

Author

Listed:
  • Peter H. Cappelli
  • JR Keller

Abstract

The notion of regular, full-time employment as one of the defining features of the U.S. economy has been called into question in recent years by the apparent growth of alternative or “nonstandard†work arrangements—part-time hours, temporary help, independent contracting, and other configurations. Identifying the extent of these arrangements, whether they are increasing and where they occur, is the first step to understanding their implications for the economy and the society. But such steps have been difficult to take because of the lack of appropriate data. Based on a national probability sample of U.S. establishments, the authors present estimates of the extent of these practices, evidence on changes in their use over time, and analyses that contribute to understanding why alternatives have come into play.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter H. Cappelli & JR Keller, 2013. "A Study of the Extent and Potential Causes of Alternative Employment Arrangements," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 66(4), pages 874-901, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:66:y:2013:i:4:p:874-901
    DOI: 10.1177/001979391306600406
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/001979391306600406
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/001979391306600406?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Miles, Thomas J, 2000. "Common Law Exceptions to Employment at Will and U.S. Labor Markets," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(1), pages 74-101, April.
    2. Susan N. Houseman, 2001. "Why Employers Use Flexible Staffing Arrangements: Evidence from an Establishment Survey," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 55(1), pages 149-170, October.
    3. Brenda A. Lautsch, 2002. "Uncovering and Explaining Variance in the Features and Outcomes of Contingent Work," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 56(1), pages 23-43, October.
    4. Jamie Peck & Nikolas Theodore, 1998. "The Business of Contingent Work: Growth and Restructuring in Chicago's Temporary Employment Industry," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 12(4), pages 655-674, December.
    5. David H. Autor, 2003. "Outsourcing at Will: The Contribution of Unjust Dismissal Doctrine to the Growth of Employment Outsourcing," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 21(1), pages 1-42, January.
    6. Britton Lombardi & Yukako Ono, 2008. "Professional employer organizations: What are they, who uses them, and why should we care?," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 32(Q IV), pages 2-14.
    7. Stacey L. Schreft & Aarti Singh, 2003. "A closer look at jobless recoveries," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, vol. 88(Q II), pages 45-73.
    8. Cynthia L. Gramm & John F. Schnell, 2001. "The Use of Flexible Staffing Arrangements in Core Production Jobs," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 54(2), pages 245-258, January.
    9. Susan N. Houseman & Arne L. Kalleberg & George A. Erickcek, 2001. "The Role of Temporary Help Employment in Tight Labor Markets," Upjohn Working Papers 01-73, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    10. Susan N. Houseman & Arne L. Kalleberg & George A. Erickcek, 2003. "The Role of Temporary Agency Employment in Tight Labor Markets," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 57(1), pages 105-127, October.
    11. Lars W. Mitlacher, 2007. "The Role of Temporary Agency Work in Different Industrial Relations Systems — a Comparison between Germany and the USA," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 45(3), pages 581-606, September.
    12. David H. Autor & Susan N. Houseman, 2006. "Temporary Agency Employment: A Way Out of Poverty?," Book chapters authored by Upjohn Institute researchers, in: Rebecca M. Blank & Sheldon H. Danziger & Robert F. Schoeni (ed.),Working and Poor: How Economic and Policy Changes Are Affecting Low-Wage Workers, pages 312-337, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    13. Jamie Peck & Nik Theodore, 2007. "Flexible recession: the temporary staffing industry and mediated work in the United States," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 31(2), pages 171-192, March.
    14. Nik Theodore & Jamie Peck, 2002. "The Temporary Staffing Industry: Growth Imperatives and Limits to Contingency," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 78(4), pages 463-493, October.
    15. Kyle J. Mayer & Jack A. Nickerson, 2005. "Antecedents and Performance Implications of Contracting for Knowledge Workers: Evidence from Information Technology Services," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(3), pages 225-242, June.
    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. Derek C. Jones & Jeffrey Pliskin & Matthew Poterba, 2017. "How Employment Responds to Changes in Assets at US Banks and Credit Unions," Journal of Entrepreneurial and Organizational Diversity, European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises, vol. 6(2), pages 40-66.
    2. Smirnykh, Larisa & Wörgötter, Andreas, 2019. "The importance of institutional and organizational characteristics for the use of fixed-term contracts in Russia," Journal of East European Management Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 24(1), pages 89-121.
    3. Olga V. Smirnova, 2017. "Flexible institutional arrangements and labour productivity: the case of transit industry in the United States," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 72-93, January.
    4. J. Adam Cobb, 2015. "Risky Business: The Decline of Defined Benefit Pensions and Firms’ Shifting of Risk," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(5), pages 1332-1350, October.
    5. Adina D. Sterling, 2014. "Friendships and Search Behavior in Labor Markets," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(9), pages 2341-2354, September.
    6. Adrienne T. Edisis, 2016. "The Effect of Unemployment Insurance on Temporary Help Services Employment," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 37(4), pages 484-503, December.
    7. Bernhardt, Annette, 2014. "Labor Standards and the Reorganization of Work: Gaps in Data and Research," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt3hc6t3d5, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    8. Gabriella Chiarenza, 2016. "Economics in the Community Context: Underemployment," Monograph, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, number 00001.

    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. Peter Cappelli & J. R. Keller, 2012. "A Study of the Extent and Potential Causes of Alternative Employment Arrangements," NBER Working Papers 18376, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Matthew Dey & Susan Houseman & Anne Polivka, 2010. "What Do We Know About Contracting Out in the United States? Evidence from Household and Establishment Surveys," NBER Chapters, in: Labor in the New Economy, pages 267-304, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Yukako Ono & Daniel Sullivan, 2013. "Manufacturing Plants' Use of Temporary Workers: An Analysis Using Census Microdata," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(2), pages 419-443, April.
    4. Alexander Schiersch, 2015. "TFP, Labor Productivity and the (Un)observed Labor Input: Temporary Agency Work," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1532, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    5. Autor, David, 2008. "The Economics of Labor Market Intermediation: An Analytic Framework," IZA Discussion Papers 3705, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Lorenzo Cappellari & Carlo Dell’Aringa & Marco Leonardi, 2012. "Temporary Employment, Job Flows and Productivity: A Tale of Two Reforms," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 122(562), pages 188-215, August.
    7. Schiersch, Alexander, 2016. "Considering the (Un)observed: temporary agency work in productivity estimations," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145749, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    8. David H. Autor & Susan N. Houseman, 2010. "Do Temporary-Help Jobs Improve Labor Market Outcomes for Low-Skilled Workers? Evidence from "Work First"," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 96-128, July.
    9. John S. Heywood & W.S. Siebert & Xiangdong Wei, 2011. "Estimating the Use of Agency Workers: Can Family-Friendly Practices Reduce Their Use?," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3), pages 535-564, July.
    10. René Böheim & Martina Zweimüller, 2013. "The Employment of Temporary Agency Workers in the UK : For or Against the Trade Unions?," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 80(317), pages 65-95, January.
    11. Alejandro Micco & Pablo Muñoz-Henríquez, 2018. "The Impact of Extended Employment Protection Laws on the Demand for Temporary Agency Workers," Working Papers wp463, University of Chile, Department of Economics.
    12. David H. Autor, 2009. "Introduction to "Studies of Labor Market Intermediation"," NBER Chapters, in: Studies of Labor Market Intermediation, pages 1-23, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. J. Ignacio García‐Pérez & Fernando Muñoz‐Bullón, 2011. "Transitions into Permanent Employment in Spain: An Empirical Analysis for Young Workers," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 49(1), pages 103-143, March.
    14. Fang, Tony & Samnani, Al-Karim & Novicevic, Milorad M. & Bing, Mark N., 2013. "Liability-of-foreignness effects on job success of immigrant job seekers," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 98-109.
    15. Baudy, Philipp & Cords, Dario, 2016. "Deregulation of temporary agency employment in a unionized economy: Does this really lead to a substitution of regular employment?," Hohenheim Discussion Papers in Business, Economics and Social Sciences 06-2016, University of Hohenheim, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences.
    16. Linda McDowell & Adina Batnitzky & Sarah Dyer, 2008. "Internationalization and the Spaces of Temporary Labour: The Global Assembly of a Local Workforce," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 46(4), pages 750-770, December.
    17. Francesco Devicienti & Paolo Naticchioni & Andrea Ricci, 2015. "How Do Demand Volatility And Unions Affect Temporary Employment? A Firm-Level Approach," Working Papers 0415, CREI Università degli Studi Roma Tre, revised 2015.
    18. Lakshmi Parvathy & Rajalaxmi Kamath, 2024. "Labour Contractors (Thekedaars) to Human Resource Companies: Labour Market Intermediaries in India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 67(1), pages 197-219, March.
    19. Andres Drenik & Simon Jager & Pascuel Plotkin & Benjamin Schoefer, 2023. "Paying Outsourced Labor: Direct Evidence from Linked Temp Agency-Worker-Client Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 105(1), pages 206-216, January.
    20. Jamie Peck & Nik Theodore, 2007. "Flexible recession: the temporary staffing industry and mediated work in the United States," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 31(2), pages 171-192, March.

    More about this item

    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:sae:ilrrev:v:66:y:2013:i:4:p:874-901. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu .

    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.