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Employers' Associations, Worker Mobility, and Training

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  • Martins, Pedro S.
  • Thomas, Jonathan P.

Abstract

This paper studies firm-provided training in a context of potential worker mobility. We argue that such worker mobility may be reduced by employers' associations (EAs) through no-poach agreements. First, we sketch a simple model to illustrate the impact of employer coordination on training. We then present supporting evidence from rich matched panel data, including firms' EA affiliation and workers' individual training levels. We find that workers' mobility between firms in the same EA is considerably lower than mobility between equivalent firms not in the same EA. We also find that training provision by EA firms is considerably higher, even when drawing on within-employee variation and considering multiple dimensions of training. We argue that these results are consistent with a role played by EAs in reducing worker mobility.

Suggested Citation

  • Martins, Pedro S. & Thomas, Jonathan P., 2023. "Employers' Associations, Worker Mobility, and Training," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1219, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:glodps:1219
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Employers organisations; No-poach agreements; Worker mobility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J53 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Labor-Management Relations; Industrial Jurisprudence
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
    • L40 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - General

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