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Task Assignment over the Business Cycle

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  • Devereux, Paul J

Abstract

In this article, I evaluate the hypothesis that firms respond to negative demand shocks by assigning workers to tasks that require less skill than the tasks they normally carry out. Using changes in employment in state-industry cells as a measure of demand conditions facing individual firms, I provide evidence in favor of the hypothesis. Furthermore, the skill requirements of the tasks carried out by workers are procyclical. The results are consistent with a specific capital model where employers move workers between tasks so that layoffs are concentrated on workers with low levels of firm-specific human capital. Copyright 2000 by University of Chicago Press.

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  • Devereux, Paul J, 2000. "Task Assignment over the Business Cycle," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(1), pages 98-124, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlabec:v:18:y:2000:i:1:p:98-124
    DOI: 10.1086/209952
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    7. Summerfield, Fraser, 2014. "Labor Market Conditions, Skill Requirements and Education Mismatch," CLSSRN working papers clsrn_admin-2014-19, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 28 Apr 2014.
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    15. Leombruni, Roberto & Razzolini, Tiziano & Serti, Francesco, 2015. "The Hidden Cost of Labor Market Entry During Recession: Unemployment Rate at Entry and Occupational Injury Risk of Young Workers," IZA Discussion Papers 8968, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
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    20. Verhaest, D. & van der Velden, R.K.W., 2010. "Cross-country differences in graduate overeducation and its persistence," ROA Research Memorandum 007, Maastricht University, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA).
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