IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/woemps/v38y2024i1p206-225.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Scarring Effect of First Job Precarity: New Evidence from a Panel Study in Hong Kong

Author

Listed:
  • Duoduo Xu

    (University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China)

  • Shuheng Jin

    (Guangdong University of Technology, China)

  • Ngai Pun

    (Lingnan University, Hong Kong SAR, China)

  • Jiao Guo

    (University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China)

  • Xiaogang Wu

    (NYU Shanghai, China)

Abstract

Does entering the labour market via precarious employment have a long-term scarring effect on one’s career? Prior research proposes diverse arguments, but firm conclusions remain elusive. Using panel data from Hong Kong, this study rekindles this debate by revealing the long-lasting effect of first job precarity on workers’ subsequent career prospects. A comprehensive measure of precarious employment is constructed to simultaneously account for employment status, contractual status and occupational status, and random effects models are used to test the scarring effect of first job precarity on subsequent monthly income, job satisfaction and fringe benefits. It is also observed that macroeconomic situations, particularly periods of economic crisis, have a detrimental effect on entry into precarious employment. Importantly, the results show the substantial negative consequences of initial precarious employment, highlighting the adverse impact of economic crises on first job precarity and the subsequent scarring effect on career prospects.

Suggested Citation

  • Duoduo Xu & Shuheng Jin & Ngai Pun & Jiao Guo & Xiaogang Wu, 2024. "The Scarring Effect of First Job Precarity: New Evidence from a Panel Study in Hong Kong," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(1), pages 206-225, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:38:y:2024:i:1:p:206-225
    DOI: 10.1177/09500170221112221
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09500170221112221
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/09500170221112221?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. Laura Helbling & Shireen Kanji, 2018. "Job Insecurity: Differential Effects of Subjective and Objective Measures on Life Satisfaction Trajectories of Workers Aged 27–30 in Germany," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 137(3), pages 1145-1162, June.
    2. Stefano Scarpetta & Anne Sonnet & Thomas Manfredi, 2010. "Rising Youth Unemployment During The Crisis: How to Prevent Negative Long-term Consequences on a Generation?," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 106, OECD Publishing.
    3. Shuheng Jin & Tianzhu Nie & Ngai Pun & Duoduo Xu, 2022. "Spatial Mismatch, Different Labor Markets and Precarious Employment: The Case of Hong Kong," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 161(1), pages 51-73, May.
    4. Jarl Kampen & Marc Swyngedouw, 2000. "The Ordinal Controversy Revisited," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 87-102, February.
    5. Kang, Hyunju & Park, Jaevin & Suh, Hyunduk, 2020. "The rise of part-time employment in the great recession: Its causes and macroeconomic effects," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    6. Janet L. Yellen, 2010. "Hong Kong and China and the global recession," FRBSF Economic Letter, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue feb8.
    7. Wayne Lewchuk & Marlea Clarke & Alice de Wolff, 2008. "Working without commitments: precarious employment and health," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 22(3), pages 387-406, September.
    8. Stuth, Stefan & Jahn, Kerstin, 2020. "Young, successful, precarious? Precariousness at the entry stage of employment careers in Germany," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 23(6), pages 702-725.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Shanting Zheng & Tangli Ding & Hao Chen & Yunhong Wu & Wenjing Cai, 2021. "Precarious Job Makes Me Withdraw? The Role of Job Insecurity and Negative Affect," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-15, December.
    2. Marelli Enrico & Sciulli Dario & Signorelli Marcello, 2014. "Skill mismatch of graduates in a local labour market," Экономика региона, CyberLeninka;Федеральное государственное бюджетное учреждение науки «Институт экономики Уральского отделения Российской академии наук», issue 2, pages 181-194.
    3. Giovanni S F Bruno & Enrico Marelli & Marcello Signorelli, 2014. "The Rise of NEET and Youth Unemployment in EU Regions after the Crisis," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 56(4), pages 592-615, December.
    4. Liotti, Giorgio, 2020. "Labour market flexibility, economic crisis and youth unemployment in Italy," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 150-162.
    5. Jill Rubery & Isabelle Bi-Swinglehurst & Anthony Rafferty, 2024. "Part-time work and productivity," Insight Papers 031, The Productivity Institute.
    6. Pedro Gete and Paolo Porchia, 2011. "A Real Options Analysis of Dual Labor Markets and the Single Labor Contract," Working Papers gueconwpa~11-11-02, Georgetown University, Department of Economics.
    7. Luis René Cáceres, 2021. "Youth Unemployment and Underdevelopment in Honduras," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 13(2), pages 1-61, February.
    8. Kelly, Elish & McGuinness, Seamus & O'Connell, Philip J., 2011. "What Can Active Labour Market Policies Do?," Papers EC1, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    9. Hashimoto, Ken-ichi & Ono, Yoshiyasu & Schlegl, Matthias, 2023. "Structural unemployment, underemployment, and secular stagnation," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    10. Brendan Burchell, 2011. "A Temporal Comparison of the Effects of Unemployment and Job Insecurity on Wellbeing," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 16(1), pages 66-78, February.
    11. Manuel Carlos Vallejo-Martos, 2016. "Institutionalism and the Influence of the Cultural Values of the Family Subsystem on the Management of the Small–Medium Family Firms," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(1), pages 119-137, January.
    12. Hans Dietrich, 2013. "Youth unemployment in the period 2001–2010 and the European crisis – looking at the empirical evidence," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 19(3), pages 305-324, August.
    13. Dennis Tamesberger & Johann Bacher, 2020. "COVID-19 Crisis: How to Avoid a ‘Lost Generation’," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 55(4), pages 232-238, July.
    14. Marios Michaelides & Peter Mueser & Jeffrey Smith, 2019. "Youth Unemployment and U.S. Job Search Assistance Policy during the Great Recession," University of Cyprus Working Papers in Economics 13-2019, University of Cyprus Department of Economics.
    15. Lucia Mýtna Kureková & Zuzana Žilinčíková, 2016. "Are student jobs flexible jobs? Using online data to study employers’ preferences in Slovakia," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-14, December.
    16. Riccardo Cappelli & Fabio Montobbio & Andrea Morrison, 2021. "Unemployment resistance across EU regions: the role of technological and human capital," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 147-178, January.
    17. Pierre Cahuc & Stéphane Carcillo, 2015. "Youth Unemployment in France," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03393003, HAL.
    18. Jeremy W Bray & Brooks Depro & Dorren McMahon & Marion Siegle & Lee Mobley, 2016. "Disconnected Geography: A Spatial Analysis of Disconnected Youth in the United States," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 317-342, September.
    19. Clotilde Coron & Géraldine Schmidt, 2021. "The “gender face” of job insecurity in France: an individual- and organizational-level analysis," Post-Print halshs-03117970, HAL.
    20. Yekaterina Chzhen & Dominic Richardson, 2014. "Young People (not) in the Labour Market in Rich Countries during the Great Recession," Papers inwopa726, Innocenti Working Papers.

    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:woemps:v:38:y:2024:i:1:p:206-225. 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.britsoc.co.uk/ .

    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.