The author uses data from a 1992-94 survey of employers in four metropolitan areas to investigate the effects of skill demands, as measured by hiring requirements and job tasks, on the wages and employment of newly hired workers. Skill demands were generally associated with lower employment of...

This paper analyzes reservation wages and durations of nonemployment for young blacks and whites. Selfreported reservation wages are compared for blacks and whites before and after controlling for indicators of labor demand such as received wages, weeks worked, or other personal characterlstics....

This paper analyzes the effects of demand shifts within and between local labor markets on unemployment and employment levels and changes observed in those markets. Between-market demand shifts are measured by the means of sales growth for firms in each market, while within-market shifts are...

This paper presents an analysis of workers who persistently have low earnings in the labor market over a period of three or more years. Some of these workers manage to escape from this low-earning status over subsequent years, while many do not. Using data from the Longitudinal Employer...

Analyzing data from a 1982 survey of firms, the author finds evidence that firms' wage levels are positively associated with the previous experience of new hires, the tenure of employees with the firm, managers' perceptions of employee productivity, and managers' perceptions of the ease of...