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The ins and outs of involuntary part-time employment

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  • Borowczyk-Martins, Daniel
  • Lalé, Etienne

Abstract

We develop and implement a protocol to measure U.S. monthly time series of involuntary part-time employment stocks and flows from 1976 until today. Armed with these new data, we provide a comprehensive account of the cyclical dynamics of involuntary part-time work. We find that the recessionary increase in involuntary part-time employment is consistently driven by a jump in the transition probability from other employment states to involuntary part-time employment, and a drop in the reverse transition probability. We compare the dynamics of unemployment and involuntary part-time employment to argue that they reflect the operation of distinct labor-adjustment channels. While unemployment dynamics are driven by movements in job creation and destruction, the dynamics of involuntary part-time employment reflect changes in employers’ labor utilization.

Suggested Citation

  • Borowczyk-Martins, Daniel & Lalé, Etienne, 2020. "The ins and outs of involuntary part-time employment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:67:y:2020:i:c:s0927537120301445
    DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2020.101940
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    4. Devesh Roy & Sunil Saroj & Mamata Pradhan, 2022. "Nature of employment and outcomes for urban labor: evidence from the latest labor force surveys in India," Indian Economic Review, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 165-221, June.
    5. Congregado, Emilio & Garcia-Clemente, Javier & Rubino, Nicola & Vilchez, Inmaculada, 2023. "Testing hysteresis for the US and UK involuntary part-time employment," MPRA Paper 118115, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Griffy, Benjamin & Gomis-Porqueras, Pedro, 2020. "Part and Full-Time Employment over the Business Cycle," MPRA Paper 105095, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Liliana Cuccu & Vicente Royuela & Sergio Scicchitano, 2023. "“Navigating the Precarious Path: Understanding the Dualisation of the Italian Labour Market through the Lens of Involuntary Part-Time Employment”," AQR Working Papers 202307, University of Barcelona, Regional Quantitative Analysis Group, revised Oct 2023.
    8. Hirokazu Mizobata, 2024. "Japan’s dual labor market and its macroeconomic characteristics," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 67(1), pages 165-196, July.
    9. Bransch, Felix & Malik, Samreen & Mihm, Benedikt, 2024. "The cyclicality of on-the-job search," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    10. Houari, Oussama, 2022. "Uncertainty shocks and business cycles in the US: New insights from the last three decades," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    11. David Blanchflower & Alex Bryson & Jackson Spurling, 2024. "The wage curve after the Great Recession," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 91(362), pages 653-668, April.
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    14. Alex Gymnopoulos & Thanos Poulakis & Haris Poulakis & Nikolaos Chatzarakis, 2021. "Investigating the Greek Unemployment from a Classical Perspective," Bulletin of Political Economy, Bulletin of Political Economy, vol. 15(1), pages 69-91, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Involuntary part-time employment; Unemployment; Labor market flows; Business cycles;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure

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