Job Re-Grading, Real Wages, and the Cycle

35 Pages Posted: 22 Aug 2011

See all articles by Robert A. Hart

Robert A. Hart

University of Stirling - Department of Economics; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Elizabeth Roberts

University of Stirling - Department of Economics

Abstract

This paper makes use of the British New Earnings Survey Panel Dataset between 1976 and 2010. It consists of individual-level payroll data and comprises a random sample of 1% of the entire male and female labor force. About two-thirds of within- and between-company moves involve job re-grading (measured at 3-digit occupation level) while one-third of movers retain their job titles. We find that the real wages of both male and female workers who change job titles within companies are significantly more procyclical than job stayers. This lends support to the predicted procyclical real wage effects of the Reynolds-Reder-Hall job re-grading hypothesis. On the extensive margin, title changers and title retainers who move jobs between companies exhibit the same degrees of wage cyclicality and these are considerably greater than for job stayers.

Keywords: real wage cyclicality, spot wages, job moves, job re-grading

JEL Classification: E32, J31

Suggested Citation

Hart, Robert A. and Roberts, Elizabeth, Job Re-Grading, Real Wages, and the Cycle. IZA Discussion Paper No. 5912, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1913619 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1913619

Robert A. Hart (Contact Author)

University of Stirling - Department of Economics ( email )

Stirling, Scotland FK9 4LA
United Kingdom
+44 1786 467 471 (Phone)
+44 1786 467 469 (Fax)

Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Elizabeth Roberts

University of Stirling - Department of Economics ( email )

Stirling FK9 4LA, Scotland FK9 4LA
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://www.economics.stir.ac.uk/People/res-staff.htm

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