Working Paper: NBER ID: w7427
Authors: Marcello Estevo; Saul Lach
Abstract: The Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported an extraordinary increase in temporary help supply (THS) employment during the late 1980s and the 1990s. However, little is known about the venues where these THS employees actually work. Our estimates indicate that the proportion of THS employees in each major American industry, except the public sector, increased during 1977-97. By 1997, close to 4 percent of the employees in manufacturing and services were THS workers. In the service sector, the increase was accompanied by a large increase in direct hires. In manufacturing, however, it was accompanied by a decline in direct hiring from its peak in 1989 even though output increased substantially in the 1990s. Practically, all of the growth in THS employment is attributed to a change in the hiring behavior of firms, rather than to a disproportional increase in the size of more THS-intensive industries.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: J20; J40; D21
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Changes in hiring behavior of firms (J23) | Growth in THS employment (J39) |
| Demand for nonstandard labor (J29) | Rise in THS employment (J69) |
| THS employment growth (J49) | Shifts in direct hires in manufacturing (L69) |
| Decline in proportion of THS workers in public sector (J45) | Shift in labor demand towards manufacturing and services (O14) |
| Reliance on THS workers in manufacturing (L69) | Growth in THS employment (J39) |
| Proportional increase in THS-intensive industries (L69) | Growth in THS employment (J39) |