IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ebl/ecbull/eb-09-00199.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How do firms interpret a job loss? Evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth

Author

Listed:
  • Stephen M. Kosovich

    (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 research also suggests that the costliness of job loss varies widely. Gibbons and Katz (1991) develop and test a theoretical model in which layoffs provide the market with information concerning the quality of laid off workers, while plant and firm closings do not. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, this paper tests a model that describes how firms can use additional information about job losses to determine worker quality. The results suggest that workers face the most stigma from very recent and uncommon job losses.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-09-00199
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.accessecon.com/Pubs/EB/2009/Volume29/EB-09-V29-I2-P55.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jacobson, Louis S & LaLonde, Robert J & Sullivan, Daniel G, 1993. "Earnings Losses of Displaced Workers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(4), pages 685-709, September.
    2. Gibbons, Robert & Katz, Lawrence F, 1991. "Layoffs and Lemons," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 9(4), pages 351-380, October.
    3. Ruhm, Christopher J, 1991. "Are Workers Permanently Scarred by Job Displacements?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(1), pages 319-324, March.
    4. 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.
    5. Thomas MaCurdy & Thomas Mroz & R. Mark Gritz, 1998. "An Evaluation of the National Longitudinal Survey on Youth," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 33(2), pages 345-436.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. Nakamura, Emi, 2008. "Layoffs and lemons over the business cycle," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 55-58, April.
    9. Lori G. Kletzer, 1998. "Job Displacement," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(1), pages 115-136, Winter.
    10. 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..
    11. 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.
    12. Michael Spence, 1973. "Job Market Signaling," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 87(3), pages 355-374.
    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. 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.
    2. Oliver Ruf, 2008. "Effects of Firm Size and Business Cycle on Earning Losses of Displaced Workers," IEW - Working Papers 366, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - University of Zurich.
    3. Ortego-Marti, Victor, 2017. "Loss of skill during unemployment and TFP differences across countries," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 215-235.
    4. 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).
    5. Huttunen, Kristiina & Moen, Jarle & Salvanes, Kjell G., 2006. "How Destructive Is Creative Destruction? The Costs of Worker Displacement," IZA Discussion Papers 2316, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. 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.
    7. Till von Wachter & Elizabeth Handwerker & Andrew Hildreth, 2009. "Estimating the "True" Cost of Job Loss: Evidence Using Matched Data from Califormia 1991-2000," Working Papers 09-14, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    8. 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.
    9. William J. Carrington & Bruce Fallick, 2017. "Why Do Earnings Fall with Job Displacement?," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(4), pages 688-722, October.
    10. 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.
    11. Kent Eliasson & Pär Hansson, 2016. "Are workers more vulnerable in tradable industries?," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 152(2), pages 283-320, May.
    12. Michèle A. Weynandt, 2014. "Selective Firing and Lemons," NRN working papers 2014-05, The Austrian Center for Labor Economics and the Analysis of the Welfare State, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    13. Arnaud Lefranc, 2002. "Labor Market Dynamics and Wage Losses of Displaced Workers in France and the United-States," THEMA Working Papers 2002-15, THEMA (THéorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), Université de Cergy-Pontoise.
    14. 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.
    15. Alicia H. Munnell & Steven Sass & Mauricio Soto & Natalia Zhivan, 2006. "Has the Displacement of Older Workers Increased?," Working Papers, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College wp2006-17, Center for Retirement Research, revised Sep 2006.
    16. D'Addio, Anna Cristina & De Greef, Isabelle & Rosholm, Michael, 2002. "Assessing Unemployment Traps in Belgium Using Panel Data Sample Selection Models," IZA Discussion Papers 669, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. 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.
    18. Oyer, Paul & Schaefer, Scott, 2011. "Personnel Economics: Hiring and Incentives," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 20, pages 1769-1823, Elsevier.
    19. 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.
    20. Ossi Korkeamäki & Jukka Appelqvist & Tomi Kyyrä, 2007. "Quantile Regression Estimates of the Earnings Losses of Displaced Workers," EcoMod2007 23900045, EcoMod.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    labor economics; job loss; job displacement; unemployment; layoffs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J0 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General

    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:ebl:ecbull:eb-09-00199. 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: John P. Conley (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.