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Job and Worker Turnover in German Establishments

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  • Bellmann, Lutz

    (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg)

  • Gerner, Hans-Dieter

    (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg)

  • Upward, Richard

    (University of Nottingham)

Abstract

We use a simple regression-based approach to measure the relationship between employment growth, hirings and separations in a large panel of German establishments over the period 1993-2009. Although the average level of hiring and separation is much lower in Germany than in the US, as expected, we find that the relationship between employment growth and worker flows in German establishments is very similar to the behaviour of US establishments described in Davis, Faberman & Haltiwanger (2006, 2011), and quite different to the behaviour of French establishments described in Abowd, Corbel & Kramarz (1999). The relationship is very stable over time, even during the most recent economic crisis, and across different types of establishment.

Suggested Citation

  • Bellmann, Lutz & Gerner, Hans-Dieter & Upward, Richard, 2011. "Job and Worker Turnover in German Establishments," IZA Discussion Papers 6081, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6081
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    Cited by:

    1. Ben Kriechel & Samuel Muehlemann & Harald Pfeifer & Miriam Schütte, 2014. "Works Councils, Collective Bargaining, and Apprenticeship Training – Evidence From German Firms," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(2), pages 199-222, April.
    2. Schnabel Claus, 2016. "United, Yet Apart? A Note on Persistent Labour Market Differences between Western and Eastern Germany," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 236(2), pages 157-179, March.
    3. Wrede, Matthias, 2012. "Wages, rents, unemployment, and the quality of life," FAU Discussion Papers in Economics 01/2012 [rev.], Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Institute for Economics.
    4. Shigeru Fujita & Hermann Gartner, 2014. "A closer look at the German labor market 'miracle'," Business Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, issue Q4, pages 16-24.
    5. Wellschmied, Felix Maximilian & Bachmann, Rüdiger & Bayer, Christian & Seth, Stefan, 2013. "Cyclicality of Job and Worker Flows: New Data and a New Set of Stylized Facts," VfS Annual Conference 2013 (Duesseldorf): Competition Policy and Regulation in a Global Economic Order 79874, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    6. Hijzen, Alexander & Kambayashi, Ryo & Teruyama, Hiroshi & Genda, Yuji, 2015. "The Japanese labour market during the global financial crisis and the role of non-standard work: A micro perspective," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 260-281.
    7. Bachmann, Rüdiger & Bayer, Christian & Merkl, Christian & Seth, Stefan & Stüber, Heiko & Wellschmied, Felix, 2021. "Worker churn in the cross section and over time: New evidence from Germany," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 781-797.
    8. Bellmann, Lutz & Bossler, Mario & Dütsch, Matthias & Gerner, Hans-Dieter & Ohlert, Clemens, 2016. "Folgen des Mindestlohns in Deutschland: Betriebe reagieren nur selten mit Entlassungen (Establishment-level reactions to the new statutory minimum wage : Layoffs are rare)," IAB-Kurzbericht 201618, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    9. Chiara Mussida & Carlo Lucarelli, 2014. "Dynamics and Performance of the Italian Labour Market," Economia politica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 1, pages 33-54.
    10. Knut Gerlach & Olaf Hübler & Wolfgang Meyer, 2014. "Betriebliche Suche und Besetzung von Arbeitsplätzen für qualifizierte Tätigkeiten in Niedersachsen - Gibt es Defizite an geeigneten Bewerbern?," Working Paper Series in Economics 319, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
    11. Kovalenko, Tim, 2021. "Uncertainty shocks and employment fluctuations in Germany: The role of establishment size," Discussion Papers 119, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    12. Bellmann, Lisa & Bellmann, Lutz & Hübler, Olaf, 2023. "Labour Mobility in German Establishments during the COVID-19 Crisis: Panel Data Analyses with Special Reference to Short-Time Work and Working from Home," IZA Discussion Papers 15935, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Fabio Berton & Anna Carreri & Francesco Devicienti & Andrea Ricci, 2023. "The collective voice of unions and workplace training in Italy: New insights from mixed methods," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(3), pages 595-622, September.
    14. Matthias Wrede, 2015. "Wages, Rents, Unemployment, And The Quality Of Life: A Consistent Theory‐Based Measure," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(4), pages 609-625, September.
    15. Müller, Steffen & Dettmann, Eva & Fackler, Daniel & Neuschäffer, Georg & Slavtchev, Viktor & Leber, Ute & Schwengler, Barbara, 2017. "Produktivitätsunterschiede zwischen West- und Ostdeutschland und mögliche Erklärungsfaktoren : Ergebnisse aus dem IAB-Betriebspanel 2016," IAB-Forschungsbericht 201716, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    16. Mario Bossler, 2015. "The efficiency wage effect of employer provided occupational pensions," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-17, December.
    17. Tim Kovalenko, 2021. "Uncertainty shocks and employment fluctuations in Germany: the role of establishment size," Working Papers 212, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    hirings and separations; worker turnover; job turnover;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis

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