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Employment Duration and Industrial Labor Mobility in the United States, 1880–1980

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  • Jacoby, Sanford M.
  • Sharma, Sunil

Abstract

Recent studies of job tenure raise the question of the appropriate duration statistic to use in historical research. This article compares duration measures and examines their empirical and theoretical implications for historical research on employment tenure. Using a variety of data from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, we find that although there existed a sector of stable jobs, most industrial jobs were brief. Since World War I, however, there has been a sharp shift in the relative size and importance of the short- and long-term job sectors.

Suggested Citation

  • Jacoby, Sanford M. & Sharma, Sunil, 1992. "Employment Duration and Industrial Labor Mobility in the United States, 1880–1980," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(1), pages 161-179, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:52:y:1992:i:01:p:161-179_01
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    2. Jeremy Atack & Fred Bateman, 2000. "Downtime in American Manufacturing Industry: 1870 and 1880," Vanderbilt University Department of Economics Working Papers 0048, Vanderbilt University Department of Economics.
    3. John E. Murray, 2011. "Asymmetric Information and Countermeasures in Early Twentieth‐Century American Short‐Term Disability Microinsurance," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 78(1), pages 117-138, March.
    4. Parsons, Donald O., 2017. "Employer-Provided Severance Pay: The Emergence of Job Displacement Insurance, 1930–1954," IZA Discussion Papers 11068, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Ferrie, Joseph P., 1997. "The Entry into the U.S. Labor Market of Antebellum European Immigrants, 1840-1860," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 295-330, July.
    6. Charles W. Calomiris & Christopher Hanes, 1994. "Historical Macroeconomics and American Macroeconomic History," NBER Working Papers 4935, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Ohanian, Lee E., 2009. "What - or who - started the great depression?," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 144(6), pages 2310-2335, November.
    8. Domènech, Jordi & Elu-Terán, Alexander, 2008. "Women's Paid Work in an Urban Developing Economy. Barcelona in 1930," Revista de Historia Económica / Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 26(3), pages 375-401, January.

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