Why Don’t Firms Hire Young Workers During Recessions?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliza Forsythe

Abstract Recessions are known to be particularly damaging to young workers’ employment outcomes. I find that during recessions the hiring rate falls faster for young workers than for more-experienced workers. I show this cannot be explained by the composition of jobs or workers’ labour supply decisions, and I conclude that firms preferentially hire experienced workers during periods of high unemployment. I develop a new model of cyclical upgrading that relaxes the classic assumptions of exogenous firm size and rigid wages. I show this model predicts larger log wage decreases during recessions for young workers than for experienced workers, a prediction that is supported by the data. I conclude that policy makers should consider extending unemployment insurance coverage during recessions to new labour market entrants.

Author(s):  
Simon C. Parker

This article surveys the entrepreneurship literature as it relates to the labour market. The purpose of this article is to describe, from a mainly but not exclusively economic perspective, the principal theoretical methods and empirical findings in the field. Entrepreneurship intersects with labour markets in several other ways. For example, human capital theory can be used to help explain entrepreneurs' business performance; and labour supply models can be used to help understand their work effort patterns. Both topics attract policy interest, because policy-makers frequently express interest in promoting successful enterprises, and fostering an ‘enterprise culture’ in which hard work is encouraged and rewarded. Policy-makers also promote entrepreneurship because they believe it creates employment growth and reduces unemployment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-147
Author(s):  
Wieteke Conen ◽  
Karin Schulze Buschoff

In a number of European countries there is a clear trend towards increased multiple jobholding. As things stand, however, little is known about the structure and the potential consequences of this increase, notably in terms of quality of work and social protection. This special issue focuses on contemporary forms of multiple jobholding in Europe. Have the structure, nature and dynamics of multiple jobholding changed over time? What are the roles of labour market flexibility, technological change and work fragmentation in the development of multiple jobholding? And do multiple jobholders benefit from similar and adequate employment terms, conditions and protections compared with single jobholders, or are they worse off as a consequence of their (fragmented) employment situation? What implications do these findings have for unions, policy-makers and the regulation of work? The collection of articles in this special issue adds to the literature on emerging forms of employment in the digital age and challenges for social protection, also in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. This introduction initiates a discussion of central debates on multiple jobholding and presents a synopsis of the articles in this issue.


2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maureen Maloney ◽  
Alma McCarthy

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse how firm size impacts pension workforce coverage with a particular focus on automatic enrolment (AE) to pension plans in small organisations.Design/methodology/approachThe paper examines the alignment of government AE interests with those of small employers, their employees and pension providers to better understand how firm size impacts pension workforce coverage.FindingsThe alignment of interests between stakeholders (government, pension providers, employers and employees) differs between large and small organisations, and empirical findings from large organisations cannot be assumed to apply in small organisations.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper calls attention to the need for future empirical research and identifies a number of research questions for further analysis to examine how AE impacts pension participation in small organisations and advance the field.Originality/valueThe policy of automatically enroling employees into occupational pension plans, recently legislated for all eligible workers in the UK and under consideration in the USA and Ireland, was developed from research conducted in a small number of large organisations. Pension coverage is particularly inadequate for the large number of employees working in small organisations (1–49 employees). However, little research attention has been focussed on pensions in small organisations with pension policy makers assuming that legislated AE will work as effectively in small organisations as it did in large organisations. This paper addresses this gap in the field.


2012 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 2-26
Author(s):  
احمد عبدالرازق احمد سلامه
Keyword(s):  

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Reeves

Imposing financial penalties on claimants of unemployment insurance may incentivise labour market re-entry. However, sanctions may have differential effects depending on the work-readiness of the claimants. Here, I explore whether sanctioning disabled claimants is associated with greater labour market activity or inactivity among disabled people using data on 346 British local authorities between 2009 and 2014. When the number of sanctioned disabled claimants rises (as a proportion of all claimants) the proportion of economically inactive people who are also disabled becomes larger. There is not a clear relationship between sanctioning disabled claimants the proportion of employed people who are disabled.


Author(s):  
Jim Ogg ◽  
Michal Myck

AbstractEconomic exclusion is a multidimensional concept that has particular relevance in the context of ageing populations and globalised economies. Sustaining adequate incomes in old age and protecting older citizens from poverty are major challenges for governments and policy makers and they have been amplified in the face of the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past few decades most countries have made adjustments to their pension systems and other welfare related policies that concern older citizens, and these reforms have already had and will continue to have a differential impact on economic exclusion. For some, extending the working life and pushing back the legal age of retirement can be a safeguard against inadequate incomes in old age, while for others who are excluded from the labour market, or who are working in low paid jobs, economic exclusion remains a reality. The labour market implications of the pandemic are likely to exacerbate this risk for those whose situation was already fragile before the crisis.


2008 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maroesjka Versantvoort

Towards the Scandinavian model? Effects of parental leave schemes on the labour market position of women Towards the Scandinavian model? Effects of parental leave schemes on the labour market position of women Increasing the labour market participation and emancipation of women has been and still seems to be one of the major socio-economic policy goals for Dutch policy makers. The new coalition agreement mentions an extension of parental leave rights, and a further granting of parental leave by means of life course policies as potential effective policies in this respect. This paper endeavours to provide insights in the labour market, income, and emancipation effects of these policies. For that purpose it reviews the relevant theoretical and empirical literature on the effects of career breaks and places the effects in the context of the welfare state. The paper concludes with a trade-off: extension of parental leave rights may lead to better job possibilities for women, but this effect tends to go together with lower wages, and less career prospects for women in general.


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