Working Paper: NBER ID: w13867
Authors: Melissa Bjelland; Bruce Fallick; John Haltiwanger; Erika McEntarfer
Abstract: We use administrative data linking workers and firms to study employer-to-employer flows. After discussing how to identify such flows in quarterly data, we investigate their basic empirical patterns. We find that the pace of employer-to-employer flows is high, representing about 4 percent of employment and 30 percent of separations each quarter. The pace of employer-to-employer flows is highly procyclical, and varies systematically across worker, job and employer characteristics. Our findings regarding job tenure and earnings dynamics suggest that for those workers moving directly to new jobs, the new jobs are generally better jobs; however, this pattern is highly procyclical. There are rich patterns in terms of origin and destination of industries. We find somewhat surprisingly that more than half of the workers making employer-to-employer transitions switch even broadly-defined industries (NAICS super-sectors).
Keywords: employer-to-employer flows; labor market dynamics; job transitions; linked employer-employee data
JEL Codes: E24; J62; J63
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| economic conditions (E66) | employer-to-employer flows (J69) |
| economic cycles (E32) | employer-to-employer flows (J69) |
| employer-to-employer flows (J69) | job prospects (J68) |
| economic conditions (E66) | job quality and earnings (J31) |
| industry dynamics (L19) | employer-to-employer flows (J69) |