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Opportunities and Competition in Thick Labor Markets: Evidence from Plant Closures

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  • Haller, Peter
  • Heuermann, Daniel F.

Abstract

Since Marshall (1890), it has been widely held in urban economic theory that cities ensure workers against the risk of unemployment by offering a larger pool of potential jobs. Using a large administrative panel data set on workers affected by firm closures, we examine whether positive effects from a higher urban job density are offset by more intense competition between workers. When controlling for the sorting of workers between regions, we find no evidence that the number of days workers spend in unemployment decreases with local job density. Instead, longer unemployment periods in cities are partly driven by more intense competition for available jobs

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  • Haller, Peter & Heuermann, Daniel F., 2018. "Opportunities and Competition in Thick Labor Markets: Evidence from Plant Closures," VfS Annual Conference 2018 (Freiburg, Breisgau): Digital Economy 181527, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:vfsc18:181527
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    Cited by:

    1. Kerstin Ostermann & Johann Eppelsheimer & Nina Gläser & Peter Haller & Martina Oertel, 2022. "Geodata in labor market research: trends, potentials and perspectives," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 56(1), pages 1-17, December.
    2. Lukas Kuld & Sara Mitchell & Christiane Hellmanzik, 2021. "Manhattan Transfer: Productivity effects of agglomeration in American authorship," Trinity Economics Papers tep0821, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics.
    3. Arntz, Melanie & Ivanov, Boris & Pohlan, Laura, 2022. "Regional Structural Change and the Effects of Job Loss," IZA Discussion Papers 15313, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Illing, Hannah & Koch, Theresa, 2021. "Who Suffers the Greatest Loss? Costs of Job Displacement for Migrants and Natives," IAB-Discussion Paper 202108, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    agglomeration; thick labor markets; displacement;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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