IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ecdequ/v16y2002i2p167-178.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Barriers to Rehiring of Displaced Workers: A Study of Aerospace Engineers in California

Author

Listed:
  • Ward F. Thomas

    (University of Akron)

  • Paul Ong

    (University of California, Los Angeles)

Abstract

This article examines the problem of labor market adjustment to industrial change through a case study of engineers displaced from California’s aerospace industry at the end of the Cold War. Displaced engineers experienced long unemployment spells and a decline in earnings after finding new employment. Displaced workers, according to human capital theory, generally have difficulty readjusting to the labor market because their firm-specific skills do not easily transfer to new industries. However, employers in the electronics industry in California, a sector in which displaced aerospace engineers could transfer their firm-specific skills, avoided hiring displaced aerospace engineers. Electronics employers reported that displaced aerospace engineers had difficulty adapting to the organizational culture and technological requirements of the electronics sector because of work habits acquired in aerospace. We argue for an extension of human capital theory that goes beyond firm-specific skills and includes work norms and attitudes acquired through work.

Suggested Citation

  • Ward F. Thomas & Paul Ong, 2002. "Barriers to Rehiring of Displaced Workers: A Study of Aerospace Engineers in California," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 16(2), pages 167-178, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecdequ:v:16:y:2002:i:2:p:167-178
    DOI: 10.1177/089124240201600206
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/089124240201600206
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/089124240201600206?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    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. Louis S. Jacobson & Robert J. LaLonde & Daniel G. Sullivan, 1993. "Long-term earnings losses of high-seniority displaced workers," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 17(Nov), pages 2-20.
    3. William J. Carrington, 1993. "Wage Losses for Displaced Workers: Is It Really the Firm That Matters?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 28(3), pages 435-462.
    4. Ruhm, Christopher J, 1991. "Are Workers Permanently Scarred by Job Displacements?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(1), pages 319-324, March.
    5. Duane E. Leigh, 1995. "Assisting Workers Displaced by Structural Change: An International Perspective," Books from Upjohn Press, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, number awd.
    6. Robert E. B. Lucas, 1994. "The Impact of Structural Adjustment on Training Needs," Boston University - Institute for Economic Development 41, Boston University, Institute for Economic Development.
    7. Gary S. Becker, 1975. "Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, with Special Reference to Education, Second Edition," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck75-1.
    8. Addison, John T & Portugal, Pedro, 1989. "Job Displacement, Relative Wage Changes, and Duration of Unemployment," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 7(3), pages 281-302, July.
    9. Michael Podgursky & Paul Swaim, 1987. "Job Displacement and Earnings Loss: Evidence from the Displaced Worker Survey," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 41(1), pages 17-29, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Daniel Kuehn & Hal Salzman, 2018. "The Engineering Labor Market: An Overview of Recent Trends," NBER Chapters, in: US Engineering in a Global Economy, pages 11-46, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    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. Burda, Michael C. & Mertens, Antje, 2001. "Estimating wage losses of displaced workers in Germany," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 15-41, January.
    2. Amynah Vanessa Gangji & Robert Plasman, 2007. "The Matthew effect of unemployment: how does it affect wages in Belgium," DULBEA Working Papers 07-19.RS, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    3. Simone Balestra & Uschi Backes-Gellner, 2017. "When a Door Closes, a Window Opens? Long-Term Labor Market Effects of Involuntary Separations," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 18(1), pages 1-21, February.
    4. Carneiro, Anabela & Portugal, Pedro, 2006. "Earnings Losses of Displaced Workers: Evidence from a Matched Employer-Employee Data Set," IZA Discussion Papers 2289, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. 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.
    6. Ortego-Marti, Victor, 2016. "Unemployment history and frictional wage dispersion," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 5-22.
    7. Ortego-Marti, Victor, 2017. "Loss of skill during unemployment and TFP differences across countries," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 215-235.
    8. J. Meekes & W.H.J. Hassink, 2016. "The role of the housing market in workers’ resilience to job displacement after firm bankruptcy," Working Papers 16-10, Utrecht School of Economics.
    9. Dickens William T. & Triest Robert K., 2012. "Potential Effects of the Great Recession on the U.S. Labor Market," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-41, October.
    10. Kritkorn Nawakitphaitoon & Russell Ormiston, 2015. "Occupational human capital and earnings losses of displaced workers: does the degree of similarity between pre- and post-displacement occupations matter? [Berufliches Humankapital und Einkommensver," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 48(1), pages 57-73, March.
    11. 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.
    12. Bognanno, Michael & Kambayashi, Ryo, 2013. "Trends in worker displacement penalties in Japan: 1991–2005," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 41-57.
    13. Gregg, Paul & Tominey, Emma, 2005. "The wage scar from male youth unemployment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 487-509, August.
    14. 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).
    15. Fujii, Mayu & Shiraishi, Kousuke & Takayama, Noriyuki, 2018. "The effects of early job separation on later life outcomes," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 68-84.
    16. Eguchi Kyota, 2008. "Damages or Reinstatement: Incentives and Remedies for Unjust Dismissal," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 4(1), pages 443-474, December.
    17. Ken Ueda, 2019. "How Do Local Labor Markets and Human Capital Affect Employment Outcomes after Job Loss?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 86(2), pages 548-572, October.
    18. den Haan, Wouter J. & Ramey, Garey & Watson, Joel, 2000. "Job destruction and the experiences of displaced workers," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 87-128, June.
    19. Rosario Aldunate & Gabriela Contreras & Matías Tapia, 2019. "Sectoral Transitions Between Formal Wage Jobs in Chile," Working Papers Central Bank of Chile 836, Central Bank of Chile.
    20. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/417l64npmp86ub068rsa2s16rt is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Joseph G. Altonji & Nicolas Williams, 2005. "Do Wages Rise with Job Seniority? A Reassessment," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 58(3), pages 370-397, April.

    More about this item

    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:sae:ecdequ:v:16:y:2002:i:2:p:167-178. 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: SAGE Publications (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.