This paper derives a model in which workers have firm-specific and industry-specific skills, and in each period there is a non-zero probability that a worker quits. This makes the private discount factor, used by firms in making decisions about hiring and training new workers and firing existing...

The paper examines gender differences in intra-firm and inter-firm job changes, including worker-initiated and firm-initiated separations, for white full-time British workers over the period 1991-96. We document four main findings. First, job mobility is high for both men and women, with more...

The paper extends the theoretical approach in Lazear (1986, 1996) to show that jobs with performance related pay (PRP) attract workers of higher unobservable ability, and also induce workers to provide greater effort. We then test some of the predictions of this model against data from the...

This paper uses a new data source to investigate whether wages rise more with seniority in unionised or nonunionised workplaces. The data distinguish establishments that have incremental wage scales with automatic progression by seniority. For unions with seniority scales, the union wage...

The paper examines the optimal level of training investment when trained workers are mobile, wage contracts are time-consistent, and training comprises both specific and general skills. It is shown that, in the absence of a social planner, the firm has ex post monopsonistic power that drives...

This paper uses the first four waves (1991-4) of the British Household Panel Survey to chart patterns of labour market transition for men and women. We examine movements into and out of part-time employment, full-time employment, unemployment and out of the labour force. In particular, we...

This paper uses the retrospective work history data from the British Household Panel Survey to examine patterns of job mobility and job tenure for men and women over the twentieth century. British men and women hold an average of five jobs over their lifetimes, and half of all lifetime job...

Using new data from the British Household Panel Study (BHPS) 1991--1995, we document patterns of career mobility and investigate various factors affecting the probabilities of male and female workers' promotions, quits and layoffs. We find that internal promotions account for almost two-fifths...

It is often argued that statutory firing costs contribute to the high level of European unemployment. This paper aims to shed light on this debate by examining the employment implications of firing costs in (i) a perfectly competitive labour market with exogenously given wages, and (ii) a model...