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The Ins and Outs of Involuntary Part-time Employment

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  • Borowczyk-Martins, Daniel

    (Department of Economics, Copenhagen Business School)

  • Lalé, Etienne

Abstract

We develop an adjustment procedure to construct 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 dynamics of involuntary part-time work. Transitions from full-time to involuntary part-time employment dominate this dynamics, spiking up at recessions' onsets and persisting well into recovery periods. On the other hand, weaknesses in job creation contribute little to these fluctuations. Our data and findings are relevant to inform a broader assessment of labor market performance and to develop models of cyclical labor adjustment.

Suggested Citation

  • Borowczyk-Martins, Daniel & Lalé, Etienne, 2018. "The Ins and Outs of Involuntary Part-time Employment," Working Papers 9-2018, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:cbsnow:2018_009
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    3. Christian vom Lehn & Cache Ellsworth & Zachary Kroff, 2022. "Reconciling Occupational Mobility in the Current Population Survey," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 40(4), pages 1005-1051.
    4. Chassamboulli, Andri & Fontaine, Idriss & Gálvez-Iniesta, Ismael & Gomes, Pedro, 2024. "Immigration and labour market flows," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
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    6. Fiaschi, Davide & Tealdi, Cristina, 2021. "A General Methodology to Measure Labour Market Dynamics," IZA Discussion Papers 14254, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. 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.
    8. 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.
    9. Griffy, Benjamin & Gomis-Porqueras, Pedro, 2020. "Part and Full-Time Employment over the Business Cycle," MPRA Paper 105095, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. 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.
    11. Martin Biewen & Bernd Fitzenberger & Jakob de Lazzer, 2018. "The role of employment interruptions and part-time work for the rise in wage inequality," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-34, December.
    12. Hirokazu Mizobata, 2024. "Japan’s dual labor market and its macroeconomic characteristics," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 67(1), pages 165-196, July.
    13. Bransch, Felix & Malik, Samreen & Mihm, Benedikt, 2024. "The cyclicality of on-the-job search," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    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.
    15. Houari, Oussama, 2022. "Uncertainty shocks and business cycles in the US: New insights from the last three decades," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).

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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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