Employer-to-Employer Flows in the United States: Estimates Using Linked Employer-Employee Data

61 Pages Posted: 27 Sep 2007

See all articles by Bruce Fallick

Bruce Fallick

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

John Haltiwanger

University of Maryland - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Melissa Bjelland

Cornell University - School of Industrial and Labor Relations

Erika McEntarfer

U.S. Census Bureau

Multiple version iconThere are 3 versions of this paper

Date Written: July 2007

Abstract

We use administrative data linking workers and firms to study employer-to-employer flows. After discussing how to identify such flows in quarterly data, we investigate their basic empirical patterns. We find that the pace of employer-to-employer flows is high, representing about 4 percent of employment and 30 percent of separations each quarter. The pace of employer-to-employer flows is highly pro cyclical, and varies systematically across worker, job and employer characteristics. Our findings regarding job tenure and earnings dynamics suggest that for those workers moving directly to new jobs, the new jobs are generally better jobs; however, this pattern is highly procyclical. There are rich patterns in terms of origin and destination of industries. We find somewhat surprisingly that more than half of the workers making employer-to-employer transitions switch even broadly-defined industries (NAICS super-sectors).

Keywords: Employer-to-employer flows, jobs flows, worker flows, turnover

JEL Classification: J62, J63

Suggested Citation

Fallick, Bruce and Haltiwanger, John C. and Bjelland, Melissa and McEntarfer, Erika, Employer-to-Employer Flows in the United States: Estimates Using Linked Employer-Employee Data (July 2007). FEDS Working Paper No. 2007-30, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1017606 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1017606

Bruce Fallick (Contact Author)

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland ( email )

East 6th & Superior
Cleveland, OH 44101-1387
United States

John C. Haltiwanger

University of Maryland - Department of Economics ( email )

College Park, MD 20742
United States
301-405-3504 (Phone)
301-405-3542 (Fax)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

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Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
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Melissa Bjelland

Cornell University - School of Industrial and Labor Relations ( email )

Ithaca, NY 14853-3901
United States
212-340-2845 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/directory/mjb62/

Erika McEntarfer

U.S. Census Bureau ( email )

4600 Silver Hill Road
Washington, DC 20233
United States

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