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New Facts About Factor-Demand Dynamics: Employment, Jobs, and Workers

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  • Daniel S. Hamermesh
  • Wolter H. J. Hassink
  • Jan C. van Ours

Abstract

We provide a unified discussion of the relations among flows of workers, changes in employment and changes in the number of jobs at the level of the firm. Using the only available set of data (a nationally representative sample of Dutch firms in 1988 and 1990) we discover that: 1) Nearly half of all hiring is by firms where employment is not growing; 2) Over half of all firing is by firms that are not contracting; 3) Most firing is by firms that are also hiring; 4) Flows of workers within firms are small compared to flows into and out of firms; and 5) Accounting for simultaneous creation and destruction of jobs within firms adds roughly 15 percent to estimates of economywide job creation and destruction. The results imply that macroeconomic fluctuations can have substantial effects beyond those indicated by net employment changes at the firm level, and that studies of dynamic factor demand must account for variations in gross flows of workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel S. Hamermesh & Wolter H. J. Hassink & Jan C. van Ours, 1994. "New Facts About Factor-Demand Dynamics: Employment, Jobs, and Workers," NBER Working Papers 4625, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:4625
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    1. Steven J. Davis & John Haltiwanger, 1990. "Gross Job Creation and Destruction: Microeconomic Evidence and Macroeconomic Implications," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1990, Volume 5, pages 123-186, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    4. Steven J. Davis & John C. Haltiwanger & Scott Schuh, 1998. "Job Creation and Destruction," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262540932, December.
    5. Hamermesh, Daniel S, 1989. "Labor Demand and the Structure of Adjustment Costs," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(4), pages 674-689, September.
    6. Timothy Dunne & Mark J. Roberts & Larry Samuelson, 1989. "The Growth and Failure of U. S. Manufacturing Plants," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 104(4), pages 671-698.
    7. Caballero, Ricardo J & Engel, Eduardo M R A & Haltiwanger, John, 1997. "Aggregate Employment Dynamics: Building from Microeconomic Evidence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(1), pages 115-137, March.
    8. Daniel S. Hamermesh, 1993. "Labor Demand and the Source of Adjustment Costs," NBER Working Papers 4394, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Rossana Patrón, 1999. "The imperfect mobility of labour: Going from theory to ‘virtual’ reality. Simulations with simple trade models," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 2299, Department of Economics - dECON.
    2. Hassink, W.H.J. & Ours, J.C. & Ridder, G., 1994. "The prevalence and role of internal labor markets : an empirical investigation," Serie Research Memoranda 0044, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    3. Tsou, Meng-Wen & Liu, Jin-Tan & Hammitt, James K., 2001. "Worker flows and job flows in Taiwan," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 89-96, October.
    4. Burgess, Simon & Lane, Julia & Stevens, David, 2000. "Job Flows, Worker Flows, and Churning," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(3), pages 473-502, July.
    5. Meng-Wen Tsou & Jin-Tan Liu & James Hammitt, 2002. "Worker turnover and job reallocation in Taiwanese manufacturing," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(4), pages 401-411.
    6. Patricia M. Anderson & Bruce D. Meyer, 1994. "The Extent and Consequences of Job Turnover," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 25(1994 Micr), pages 177-248.
    7. Broersma, Lourens & Butter, Frank A.G. den & Kock, Udo, 1998. "A national accounting system for labour market flows : an application to the Netherlands," Serie Research Memoranda 0059, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    8. Gautier, P. & Broersma, L., 1994. "The timing of labor reallocation and the business cycle," Serie Research Memoranda 0029, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    9. Carlos Henrique Corseuil, 2007. "Testing The Connection Between Replacement And Job Flows," Anais do XXXV Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 35th Brazilian Economics Meeting] 132, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    10. Bruce Fallick & Charles A. Fleischman, 2001. "The importance of employer-to-employer flows in the U.S. labor market," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2001-18, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    11. Alvaro Forteza & Rossana Patrón, 2003. "Trade Liberalisation with Costly Adjustment," Journal of Applied Economics, Universidad del CEMA, vol. 6, pages 95-125, May.
    12. Lucifora, Claudio, 1998. "The impact of unions on labour turnover in Italy:: Evidence from establishment level data," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 353-376, May.
    13. Carlos Henrique Corseuil & Hidehiko Ichimura, 2006. "New Evidences on What Job Creation and Job Destruction Represent," Discussion papers 06023, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    14. Broersma, L. & Butter, F.A.G. den, 1994. "A consistent set of time series data on labour market flows for the Netherlands," Serie Research Memoranda 0043, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    15. Rossana Patrón, 2000. "Effects from trade with heterogeneous workers and minimum wages: numerical exercises," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 1700, Department of Economics - dECON.
    16. 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.).

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    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand

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