IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bpj/bejeap/v10y2010i1n25.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Value of Layoffs and Labor Market Conditions as Signals of Worker Quality

Author

Listed:
  • Kosovich Stephen M

    (Stephen F Austin State University)

Abstract

Empirical studies in the job displacement literature have found that workers face significant earnings losses on average when they are permanently displaced from jobs. Previous work also finds that the costliness of job loss varies widely and that some of this variation may result from the differences between layoffs and plant closings. Layoffs provide hiring firms worker specific information about productivity but plant closings do not. This paper extends the understanding of the costs of job loss by presenting a theoretical motivation that indicates that labor market conditions can influence the information contained in a layoff. The empirical results from the Displaced Worker Supplement support this model and suggest that when the local unemployment rate is high, less information is transmitted by a layoff concerning worker quality, for the sample of white-collar workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Kosovich Stephen M, 2010. "The Value of Layoffs and Labor Market Conditions as Signals of Worker Quality," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-22, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:bejeap:v:10:y:2010:i:1:n:25
    DOI: 10.2202/1935-1682.2213
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2202/1935-1682.2213
    Download Restriction: For access to full text, subscription to the journal or payment for the individual article is required.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2202/1935-1682.2213?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ruhm, Christopher J, 1991. "Are Workers Permanently Scarred by Job Displacements?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(1), pages 319-324, March.
    2. Lori G. Kletzer & Robert W. Fairlie, 2003. "The Long-Term Costs of Job Displacement for Young Adult Workers," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 56(4), pages 682-698, July.
    3. Henry S. Farber, 1997. "The Changing Face of Job Loss in the United States, 1981-1995," Working Papers 761, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    4. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    5. Henry S. Farber, 1997. "The Changing Face of Job Loss in the United States, 1981-1995," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 28(1997 Micr), pages 55-142.
    6. Henry S. Farber, 1997. "The Changing Face of Job Loss in the United States, 1981-1995," Working Papers 761, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    7. Harry Krashinsky, 2002. "Evidence on Adverse Selection and Establishment Size in the Labor Market," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 56(1), pages 84-96, October.
    8. Grund, Christian, 1999. "Stigma effects of layoffs?: Evidence from German micro-data," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 241-247, August.
    9. George Akerlof, 1976. "The Economics of Caste and of the Rat Race and Other Woeful Tales," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 90(4), pages 599-617.
    10. Stevens, Ann Huff, 1997. "Persistent Effects of Job Displacement: The Importance of Multiple Job Losses," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(1), pages 165-188, January.
    11. Yolanda Kodrzycki, 1997. "Training programs for displaced workers: what do they accomplish?," New England Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, issue May, pages 39-57.
    12. Song, Younghwan, 2007. "Recall bias in the displaced workers survey: Are layoffs really lemons?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 335-345, June.
    13. Peter J. Kuhn (ed.), 2002. "Losing Work, Moving On: International Perspectives on Worker Displacement," Books from Upjohn Press, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, number lwmo.
    14. Michael Podgursky & Paul Swaim, 1987. "Job Displacement and Earnings Loss: Evidence from the Displaced Worker Survey," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 41(1), pages 17-29, October.
    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. Sushant Acharya & Shu Lin Wee, 2020. "Rational Inattention in Hiring Decisions," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 12(1), pages 1-40, January.

    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. Ortego-Marti, Victor, 2017. "Loss of skill during unemployment and TFP differences across countries," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 215-235.
    2. Jackson, Paul & Ortego-Marti, Victor, 2024. "Skill loss during unemployment and the scarring effects of the COVID-19 pandemic," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    3. Seim, David, 2019. "On the incidence and effects of job displacement: Evidence from Sweden," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 131-145.
    4. Burda, Michael C. & Mertens, Antje, 2001. "Estimating wage losses of displaced workers in Germany," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 15-41, January.
    5. Mattia Filomena, 2021. "Unemployment Scarring Effects: A Symposium On Empirical Literature," Working Papers 453, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
    6. Stephen M. Kosovich, 2009. "How do firms interpret a job loss? Evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 29(2), pages 1070-1086.
    7. Kunze, Astrid & Troske, Kenneth R., 2012. "Life-cycle patterns in male/female differences in job search," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 176-185.
    8. Bognanno, Michael & Kambayashi, Ryo, 2013. "Trends in worker displacement penalties in Japan: 1991–2005," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 41-57.
    9. Younghwan Song, 2018. "Job displacement and subjective well-being: findings from the American Time Use Survey Well-Being Modules," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 52(1), pages 1-13, December.
    10. William J. Carrington & Bruce Fallick, 2014. "Why Do Earnings Fall with Job Displacement?," Working Papers (Old Series) 1405, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
    11. Krebs, Tom & Scheffel, Martin, 2019. "Optimal Social Insurance and Rising Labor Market Risk," IZA Discussion Papers 12128, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. William J. Carrington, 2015. "Do We Know Why Earnings Fall with Job Displacement? Working Paper: 2015-01," Working Papers 49908, Congressional Budget Office.
    13. den Haan, Wouter J. & Ramey, Garey & Watson, Joel, 2000. "Job destruction and the experiences of displaced workers," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 87-128, June.
    14. Abbring, J.H. & van den Berg, G. & Gautier, P.A. & van Lomwel, A.G.C. & van Ours, J.C. & Ruhm, C.J., 1998. "Displaced Workers in The United States and The Netherlands," Discussion Paper 1998-96, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    15. Song, Younghwan, 2017. "The Effect of Job Displacement on Subjective Well-being," IZA Discussion Papers 10962, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Jon Ellingsen & Caroline Espegren, 2022. "Lost in transition? Earnings losses of displaced petroleum workers," Working Papers No 06/2022, Centre for Applied Macro- and Petroleum economics (CAMP), BI Norwegian Business School.
    17. BOGNANNO Michael & KAMBAYASHI Ryo, 2006. "Trends in Worker Displacement Penalties in Japan: 1991-2002," ESRI Discussion paper series 169, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    18. Richard Upward & Peter W. Wright, 2019. "Don't Look Down: The Consequences of Job Loss in a Flexible Labour Market," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 86(341), pages 166-200, January.
    19. Luojia Hu & Christopher Taber, 2011. "Displacement, Asymmetric Information, and HeterogeneousHuman Capital," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 29(1), pages 113-152, January.
    20. Ichino, Andrea & Schwerdt, Guido & Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf & Zweimüller, Josef, 2017. "Too old to work, too young to retire?," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 9(C), pages 14-29.

    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:bpj:bejeap:v:10:y:2010:i:1:n:25. 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: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.degruyter.com .

    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.