The authors estimate the effects of U.S. manufacturers' use of staffing services on measured employment and labor productivity between 1989 and 2009. Using time series data constructed from the Occupational Employment Statistics program, they document the dramatic increase in manufacturers' use...

Drawing on a nationally representative survey of private sector establishments, the author presents new evidence on which employers use flexible staffing arrangements and why they use them. The surveyed employers made widespread use not only of regular part-time workers but also of short-term...

The authors use case study evidence from the hospital and auto parts manufacturing industries to investigate why employers used--and even increased their use of--temporary help agencies during a period of tight labor markets in the 1990s. In high-skill occupations, one apparent reason employers...

In cross-sectional data, the positive association between seniority and earnings is typically much stronger for nonunion workers than for union workers, a finding that seems inconsistent with the generalization that seniority is more important in the union sector than in the nonunion sector. The...

This paper presents survey evidence from about 200 firms that protection against job loss grows with employees' length of service even after controlling for the perceived net value of employees to the firm. As would be expected, senior workers are better protected against permanent layoff in...

This paper presents survey evidence from about 200 firms that protection against job loss grows with employees' length of service even after controlling for the perceived net value of employees to the firm. As would be expected, senior workers are better protected against permanent layoff in...