IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ctl/louvir/2020009.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Worker Flows, Occupations and the Dynamics of Unemployment and Labor Force Participation

Author

Listed:
  • Alexandre Ounnas

    (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES))

Abstract

Using Current Population Survey (CPS) data over the period 1976-2010 and the occupation classification of Autor and Dorn (2013) to rank occupations between high, medium and low skill, this paper provides a flow rate analysis of quarterly fluctuations in occupation-specific and aggregate stocks. I apply the variance decomposition developed by Elsby et al. (2015) and find that inflows (the ins) explain a higher share of the variance in the fluctuations of the high skill unemployment rate (around 54%), while outflows (the outs) account for 60% of the variance of the low skill unemployment rate variance. I then show how the variance decomposition for occupation-specific stocks can be used to study fluctuations of aggregate stocks, namely the unemployment and labor force participation rates. This allows to analyze the role of occupation-specific flow rates but also effects of variations in the occupational shares of employment and unemployment. The variance decomposition results indicate that compositional effects do not account for much of the variance in aggregate unemployment rate fluctuations. It is occupation-specific transition rates out and into unemployment that account for most of the variance in these fluctuations. Outflows and inflows explain 60% and 35% of the variance in unemployment fluctuations with flows into and out of middle and low skill unemployment contributing for 80%. I focus on labor force participation fluctuations in the last part of the paper. In addition to the occupation compositional effect, I find that outflows from the labor force are also affected by fluctuations of the unemployment rate: when unemployment increases, the transition rate out of the labor force increases as well given that unemployed have a much higher exit rate compared to employed workers. This compositional effect is also described by Barnichon (2019) and I find that it accounts for 34% of the variance in quarterly fluctuations of labor force participation. The remaining share is explained by inflows to the labor force (65%) with inflows to employment and unemployment contributing for 45% and 20% respectively.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexandre Ounnas, 2020. "Worker Flows, Occupations and the Dynamics of Unemployment and Labor Force Participation," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2020009, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    • Handle: RePEc:ctl:louvir:2020009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://sites.uclouvain.be/econ/DP/IRES/2020009.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael R. Darby & John C. Haltiwanger & Mark W. Plant, 1986. "The Ins and Outs of Unemployment: The Ins Win," UCLA Economics Working Papers 411, UCLA Department of Economics.
    2. Christopher L. Foote & Richard W. Ryan, 2015. "Labor-Market Polarization over the Business Cycle," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 29(1), pages 371-413.
    3. Elsby, Michael W.L. & Hobijn, Bart & Şahin, Ayşegül, 2015. "On the importance of the participation margin for labor market fluctuations," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 64-82.
    4. Jochen Mankart & Rigas Oikonomou, 2017. "Household Search and the Aggregate Labour Market," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 84(4), pages 1735-1788.
    5. Michael W. L. Elsby & Bart Hobijn & Aysegul Sahin, 2010. "The Labor Market in the Great Recession," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 41(1 (Spring), pages 1-69.
    6. Mankart, Jochen & Oikonomou, Rigas, 2016. "The rise of the added worker effect," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 48-51.
    7. Per Krusell & Toshihiko Mukoyama & Richard Rogerson & Ayşegül Şahin, 2017. "Gross Worker Flows over the Business Cycle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(11), pages 3447-3476, November.
    8. David H. Autor & David Dorn, 2013. "The Growth of Low-Skill Service Jobs and the Polarization of the US Labor Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(5), pages 1553-1597, August.
    9. Abowd, John M & Zellner, Arnold, 1985. "Estimating Gross Labor-Force Flows," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 3(3), pages 254-283, June.
    10. Brigitte C. Madrian & Lars John Lefgren, 1999. "A Note on Longitudinally Matching Current Population Survey (CPS) Respondents," NBER Technical Working Papers 0247, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Isabel Cairó & Shigeru Fujita & Camilo Morales-Jimenez, 2019. "Elasticities of Labor Supply and Labor Force Participation Flows," Working Papers 19-3, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    12. James D. Hamilton, 2018. "Why You Should Never Use the Hodrick-Prescott Filter," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 100(5), pages 831-843, December.
    13. Poterba, James M & Summers, Lawrence H, 1986. "Reporting Errors and Labor Market Dynamics," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 54(6), pages 1319-1338, November.
    14. Tripier, Fabien, 2004. "Can the labor market search model explain the fluctuations of allocations of time?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 131-146, January.
    15. Barnichon, Regis, 2019. "The Ins and Outs of Labor Force Participation," CEPR Discussion Papers 13481, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Oliver Jean Blanchard & Peter Diamond, 1990. "The Cyclical Behovior of the Gross Flows of U.S. Workers," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 21(2), pages 85-156.
    17. Durbin, James & Koopman, Siem Jan, 2012. "Time Series Analysis by State Space Methods," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, edition 2, number 9780199641178.
    18. Shigeru Fujita & Garey Ramey, 2009. "The Cyclicality Of Separation And Job Finding Rates," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 50(2), pages 415-430, May.
    19. McCarthy, David, 2010. "Developments in the Economics of Aging. David A. Wise, ed. The National Bureau of Economic Research and University of Chicago Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0-226-90335-4, 432 pages," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(4), pages 636-637, October.
    20. Robert Shimer, 2005. "The Cyclical Behavior of Equilibrium Unemployment and Vacancies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(1), pages 25-49, March.
    21. Robert Shimer, 2012. "Reassessing the Ins and Outs of Unemployment," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 15(2), pages 127-148, April.
    22. Kambourov, Gueorgui & Manovskii, Iourii, 2013. "A Cautionary Note On Using (March) Current Population Survey And Panel Study Of Income Dynamics Data To Study Worker Mobility," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(1), pages 172-194, January.
    23. Michael Elsby & Bart Hobijn & Fatih Karahan & Gizem Koşar & Ayşegül Şahin, 2019. "Flow Origins of Labor Force Participation Fluctuations," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 109, pages 461-464, May.
    24. Willem Van Zandweghe, 2017. "The Changing Cyclicality of Labor Force Participation," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, issue Q III, pages 5-34.
    25. Bruce Fallick & Charles A. Fleischman, 2004. "Employer-to-employer flows in the U.S. labor market: the complete picture of gross worker flows," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2004-34, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Alexandre Ounnas, 2020. "Worker Flows and Occupations in the CPS 1976-2010: A Framework for Adjusting the Data," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2020008, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    2. Borowczyk-Martins, Daniel & Lalé, Etienne, 2020. "The ins and outs of involuntary part-time employment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    3. Razzu, Giovanni & Singleton, Carl, 2016. "Gender and the business cycle: An analysis of labour markets in the US and UK," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 47(PB), pages 131-146.
    4. Shibata, Ippei, 2022. "Reassessing classification errors in the analysis of labor market dynamics," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    5. Per Krusell & Toshihiko Mukoyama & Richard Rogerson & Aysegul Sahin, 2020. "Gross Worker Flows and Fluctuations in the Aggregate Labor Market," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 37, pages 205-226, August.
    6. Isabel Cairo & Shigeru Fujita & Camilo Morales-Jimenez, 2022. "The Cyclicality of Labor Force Participation Flows: The Role of Labor," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 43, pages 197-216, January.
    7. Alexandre Ounnas, 2020. "Job Polarization and the Labor Market: A Worker Flow Analysis," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2020010, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    8. Simmons, Michael, 2023. "Job-to-job transitions, job finding and the ins of unemployment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    9. Philip Jung & Moritz Kuhn, 2019. "Earnings Losses and Labor Mobility Over the Life Cycle," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 17(3), pages 678-724.
    10. Andreas I. Mueller, 2017. "Separations, Sorting, and Cyclical Unemployment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(7), pages 2081-2107, July.
    11. Per Krusell & Toshihiko Mukoyama & Richard Rogerson & Ayşegül Şahin, 2017. "Gross Worker Flows over the Business Cycle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(11), pages 3447-3476, November.
    12. Robert Shimer, 2012. "Reassessing the Ins and Outs of Unemployment," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 15(2), pages 127-148, April.
    13. Nikolaos Kokonas & Paulo Santos Monteiro, 2020. "The Ins and Outs of Unemployment in General Equilibrium," Discussion Papers 2014, Centre for Macroeconomics (CFM).
    14. Hie Joo Ahn & James Hamilton, 2022. "Measuring Labor-Force Participation and the Incidence and Duration of Unemployment," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 44, pages 1-32, April.
    15. Olena Kostyshyna & Etienne Lalé, 2022. "On the evolution of multiple jobholding in Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(2), pages 1095-1134, May.
    16. Ludo Visschers & Carlos Carrillo-Tudela, 2011. "Unemployment and Endogenous Reallocation over the Business Cycle," 2011 Meeting Papers 1101, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    17. Marianna Kudlyak & Fabian Lange, 2014. "Measuring Heterogeneity in Job Finding Rates Among the Nonemployed Using Labor Force Status Histories," Working Paper 14-18, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
    18. Marianna Kudlyak & Felipe Schwartzman, 2012. "Accounting for unemployment in the Great Recession : nonparticipation matters," Working Paper 12-04, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
    19. Kevin Donovan & Will Jianyu Lu & Todd Schoellman, 2023. "Labor Market Dynamics and Development," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 138(4), pages 2287-2325.
    20. Elsby, Michael W.L. & Hobijn, Bart & Şahin, Ayşegül, 2015. "On the importance of the participation margin for labor market fluctuations," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 64-82.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Worker flows; unemployment; occupations; labor force participation;
    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
    • J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:ctl:louvir:2020009. 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: Virginie LEBLANC (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iruclbe.html .

    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.