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The Evolution of the Demand for Temporary Help Supply Employment in the United States

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  • Marcello M. Estevao
  • Saul Lach

Abstract

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported an extraordinary increase in temporary help supply (THS) employment during the late 1980s and the 1990s. However, little is known about the venues where these THS employees actually work. Our estimates indicate that the proportion of THS employees in each major American industry, except the public sector, increased during 1977-97. By 1997, close to 4 percent of the employees in manufacturing and services were THS workers. In the service sector, the increase was accompanied by a large increase in direct hires. In manufacturing, however, it was accompanied by a decline in direct hiring from its peak in 1989 even though output increased substantially in the 1990s. Practically, all of the growth in THS employment is attributed to a change in the hiring behavior of firms, rather than to a disproportional increase in the size of more THS-intensive industries.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcello M. Estevao & Saul Lach, 1999. "The Evolution of the Demand for Temporary Help Supply Employment in the United States," NBER Working Papers 7427, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:7427
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. David H. Autor, 2001. "Why Do Temporary Help Firms Provide Free General Skills Training?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(4), pages 1409-1448.
    2. Marcello Estevao & Saul Lach, 1999. "Measuring temporary labor outsourcing in U.S. manufacturing," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 1999-57, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    3. Lewis M. Segal & Daniel G. Sullivan, 1997. "The Growth of Temporary Services Work," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 11(2), pages 117-136, Spring.
    4. Abraham, Katharine G & Taylor, Susan K, 1996. "Firms' Use of Outside Contractors: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(3), pages 394-424, July.
    5. Lewis M. Segal & Daniel G. Sullivan, 1995. "The temporary labor force," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 19(Mar), pages 2-19.
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    Cited by:

    1. Yukako Ono & Daniel Sullivan, 2013. "Manufacturing Plants' Use of Temporary Workers: An Analysis Using Census Microdata," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(2), pages 419-443, April.
    2. Hiroyuki Chuma & Daiji Kawaguchi, 2010. "Does Information Technology Induce the De-skilling of Contingent Workers?: Experiences in the Japanese Electrical and Electronic Industry," Bank of Japan Working Paper Series 10-E-3, Bank of Japan.
    3. Ann Bartel & Saul Lach & Nachum Sicherman, 2005. "Outsourcing and Technological Change," NBER Working Papers 11158, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Daniel S. Hamermesh, 2002. "12 Million Salaried Workers are Missing," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 55(4), pages 649-666, July.
    5. Jordi Galí & Thijs van Rens, 2021. "The Vanishing Procyclicality of Labour Productivity [Why have business cycle fluctuations become less volatile?]," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 131(633), pages 302-326.
    6. Julien Champagne & André Kurmann, 2010. "The Great Increase in Relative Volatility of Real Wages in the United States," Cahiers de recherche 1010, CIRPEE.
    7. Surfield, Christopher & Welch, William, 2009. "Atypical Work and Employment Regulations: A Comparison of Right-to-Work to Closed-Shop States," MPRA Paper 14462, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Kandel, Eugene & Pearson, Neil D., 2001. "Flexibility versus Commitment in Personnel Management," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 515-556, December.
    9. Matthew Dey & Susan Houseman & Anne Polivka, 2010. "What Do We Know About Contracting Out in the United States? Evidence from Household and Establishment Surveys," NBER Chapters, in: Labor in the New Economy, pages 267-304, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Jeffrey B. Wenger & Arne L. Kalleberg, 2006. "Employers’ Flexibility and Employment Volatility," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(2), pages 347-382, April.
    11. Chen, Kuan-Jen & Lai, Ching-Chong & Lai, Ting-Wei, 2016. "The Division of Temporary and Permanent Employment and Business Cycle Fluctuations," MPRA Paper 72078, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Mariagiovanna Baccara, 2007. "Outsourcing, information leakage, and consulting firms," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 38(1), pages 269-289, March.
    13. Arvin Sahaym & H. Kevin Steensma & Melissa A. Schilling, 2007. "The Influence of Information Technology on the Use of Loosely Coupled Organizational Forms: An Industry-Level Analysis," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(5), pages 865-880, October.
    14. Gary Benedetto & John Haltiwanger & Julia Lane & Kevin McKinney, 2003. "Using Worker Flows in the Analysis of the Firm," Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics Technical Papers 2003-09, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau, revised May 2004.
    15. Tommaso Nannicini, 2006. "The Determinants of Contract Length in Temporary Help Employment," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 20(3), pages 453-474, September.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General
    • J40 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - General

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