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Occupational mobility in Europe: Extent, determinants and consequences

Author

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  • Bachmann, Ronald
  • Bechara, Peggy
  • Vonnahme, Christina
Abstract
We examine occupational mobility and its link to wage mobility across a large number of EU countries using worker-level micro data. In doing so, we document the extent, the individual-level determinants and the consequences of occupational mobility in terms of wage outcomes and structural change across the EU. In addition, we identify potential explanations for the observed cross-country variation. Our results show that on average, 3% of European workers change their occupation per year, and that the extent of occupational mobility differs strongly by country. Individual characteristics play an important role for person-specific occupational mobility, but have little explanatory power for differences between countries. Occupational mobility is strongly associated with earnings mobility, and occupation movers are more likely than job movers to experience a downward rather than an upward earnings transition; by contrast, changing occupation voluntarily is more often followed by an upward wage transition. As opposed to composition effects, labour-market institutions, especially employment protection legislation, seem to play an important role for explaining crosscountry differences in occupational mobility.

Suggested Citation

  • Bachmann, Ronald & Bechara, Peggy & Vonnahme, Christina, 2017. "Occupational mobility in Europe: Extent, determinants and consequences," Ruhr Economic Papers 732, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:rwirep:732
    DOI: 10.4419/86788852
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    Cited by:

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    3. Fragkos, Panagiotis & Fragkiadakis, Kostas & Sovacool, Benjamin & Paroussos, Leonidas & Vrontisi, Zoi & Charalampidis, Ioannis, 2021. "Equity implications of climate policy: Assessing the social and distributional impacts of emission reduction targets in the European Union," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(C).
    4. Bachmann, Ronald & Boockmann, Bernhard & Cim, Merve & Felder, Rahel & Frings, Hanna & Janisch, Laura M. & Schaffner, Sandra & Späth, Jochen & Tamm, Marcus, 2018. "Vergleich von Datenquellen für eine Analyse von Übergängen am Arbeitsmarkt: Studie im Auftrag der Mindestlohnkommission," RWI Projektberichte, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, number 180217.
    5. Bluedorn, John & Hansen, Niels-Jakob & Noureldin, Diaa & Shibata, Ippei & Tavares, Marina M., 2023. "Transitioning to a greener labor market: Cross-country evidence from microdata," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    6. Bachmann, Ronald & Boockmann, Bernhard & Gonschor, Myrielle & Kalweit, René & Klauser, Roman & Laub, Natalie & Rulff, Christian & Vonnahme, Christina, 2022. "Auswirkungen des gesetzlichen Mindestlohns auf Löhne und Arbeitszeiten," RWI Projektberichte, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, number 264288.
    7. Lipika Kalita & Hari K. Choudhury, 2024. "Exploring the impact of occupational mobility on socioeconomic status of tea garden labor community of Assam," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 4(7), pages 1-22, July.
    8. Michał Taracha & Krzysztof Mirowski, 2022. "Polityki rynku pracy i inne determinanty elastyczności zatrudnienia," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 2, pages 88-104.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    occupational mobility; job mobility; wage mobility; European labour markets; EU-SILC; cross-country study;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
    • P52 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - Comparative Studies of Particular Economies

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