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Employment Adjustment and Part-time Jobs: The U.S. and the U.K. in the Great Recession

Author

Listed:
  • Borowczyk-Martins, Daniel

    (Copenhagen Business School)

  • Lalé, Etienne

    (York University, Canada)

Abstract

We document that fluctuations in part-time employment play a major role in movements in hours per worker, especially during cyclical swings in the labor market. Building on this result, we propose a novel representation of the intensive margin based on a stock-flow framework. The evolution of part-time employment is predominantly explained by cyclical changes in transitions between full-time and part-time employment, which occur overwhelmingly at the same employer and entail large changes in individuals' working hours. We discuss implications for a large class of macroeconomic models that map individual decisions along the extensive/intensive margins onto aggregate labor market outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Borowczyk-Martins, Daniel & Lalé, Etienne, 2016. "Employment Adjustment and Part-time Jobs: The U.S. and the U.K. in the Great Recession," IZA Discussion Papers 9847, IZA Network @ LISER.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9847
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/59cr4u3mmr9pobrceptvua5g8c is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Alan Manning & Barbara Petrongolo, 2008. "The Part‐Time Pay Penalty for Women in Britain," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(526), pages 28-51, February.
    3. Giuseppe Moscarini & Fabien Postel-Vinay, 2012. "The Contribution of Large and Small Employers to Job Creation in Times of High and Low Unemployment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(6), pages 2509-2539, October.
    4. Ohanian, Lee E. & Raffo, Andrea, 2012. "Aggregate hours worked in OECD countries: New measurement and implications for business cycles," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 40-56.
    5. Lars Ljungqvist & Thomas J. Sargent, 2011. "A Labor Supply Elasticity Accord?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 487-491, May.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Daniel Schaefer & Carl Singleton, 2017. "Real Wages and Hours in the Great Recession: Evidence from Firms and their Entry-Level Jobs," CESifo Working Paper Series 6766, CESifo.
    2. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/7arg7blugi9b2o08qjafcpg8e2 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Daniel Borowczyk-Martins & Etienne Lalé, 2016. "The Rise of Part-time Employment," Sciences Po Economics Discussion Papers hal-01311976, HAL.
    4. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/7arg7blugi9b2o08qjafcpg8e2 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Daniel Borowczyk-Martins & Etienne Lalé, 2019. "Employment Adjustment and Part-Time Work: Lessons from the United States and the United Kingdom," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(1), pages 389-435, January.
    6. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/4f4eu80n0h8r28g6dadlk02mtb is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Giovanni Razzu & Carl Singleton, 2018. "Segregation and Gender Gaps in the United Kingdom's Great Recession and Recovery," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 31-55, October.
    8. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/4f4eu80n0h8r28g6dadlk02mtb is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Daniel Borowczyk-Martins, 2017. "Why does part-time employment increase in recessions?," World of Labour, LISER, pages 397-397, October.
    10. Carl Singleton, 2018. "Long‐Term Unemployment and the Great Recession: Evidence from UK Stocks and Flows," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 65(2), pages 105-126, May.
    11. Parvinder Kler & Azhar Hussain Potia & Sriram Shankar, 2023. "Nappies, books and wrinkles: How children, qualifications and age affect female underemployment in Australia," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 44(1), pages 138-160, February.
    12. Cardon, James H. & Eide, Eric R. & Phillips, Kerk L. & Showalter, Mark H., 2018. "A model of sleep, leisure and work over the business cycle," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 19-36.
    13. Fernandes, Ana P. & Ferreira, Priscila, 2017. "Financing constraints and fixed-term employment: Evidence from the 2008-9 financial crisis," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 215-238.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure

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