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Who Buffers Income Losses after Job Displacement? The Role of Alternative Income Sources, the Family, and the State

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  • Daniel Fackler
  • Eva Hank

Abstract

Using survey data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) this paper analyses to what extent alternative income sources, reactions within the household context, and redistribution by the state attenuate earnings losses after job displacement. Applying propensity score matching and fixed effects estimations, we find high individual earnings losses after job displacement and only limited convergence. Income from self-employment slightly reduces the earnings gap and severance payments buffer losses in the short run. On the household level, we find substantial and rather persistent losses in per capita labour income. We do not find that increased labour supply by other household members contributes to the compensation of the income losses. Most importantly, our results show that redistribution within the tax and transfer system substantially mitigates income losses of displaced workers both in the short and the long run whereas other channels contribute only little.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Fackler & Eva Hank, 2016. "Who Buffers Income Losses after Job Displacement? The Role of Alternative Income Sources, the Family, and the State," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 863, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
  • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp863
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    Cited by:

    1. Daniel Fackler & Michaela Fuchs & Lisa Hölscher & Claus Schnabel, 2019. "Do Start-ups Provide Employment Opportunities for Disadvantaged Workers?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 72(5), pages 1123-1148, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    job displacement; plant closure; household income; SOEP;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
    • J65 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment Insurance; Severance Pay; Plant Closings

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