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Job Mobility and Sorting: Theory and Evidence

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  • Stijepic Damir

    (Johannes Gutenberg University, Jakob-Welder-Weg 4, 55128Mainz, Germany)

Abstract
Motivated by the canonical (random) on-the-job search model, I measure a person’s ability to sort into higher ranked jobs by the risk ratio of job-to-job transitions to transitions into unemployment. I show that this measure possesses various desirable features. Making use of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), I study the relation between human capital and the risk ratio of job-to-job transitions to transitions into unemployment. Formal education tends to be positively associated with this risk ratio. General experience and occupational tenure have a pronounced negative correlation with both job-to-job transitions and transitions into unemployment, leaving the risk ratio, however, mostly unaffected. In contrast, the estimates suggest that human-capital concepts that take into account the multidimensionality of skills, e.g. versatility, play a prominent role.

Suggested Citation

  • Stijepic Damir, 2020. "Job Mobility and Sorting: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 240(1), pages 19-49, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:jns:jbstat:v:240:y:2020:i:1:p:19-49:n:1
    DOI: 10.1515/jbnst-2018-0047
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    Cited by:

    1. Stijepic, Damir, 2021. "A cross-country study of skills and unemployment flows," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 55, pages 1-9.
    2. Stijepic Damir, 2022. "Workplace Heterogeneity and the Returns to Versatility," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 22(2), pages 483-508, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    gross worker flows; job mobility; employer–employer transitions; unemployment; human capital; education; versatility; search and matching; SIPP;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J60 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - General
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education

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