Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

How Do Firms Interpret A Job Loss? Evidence From The National Longitudinal Survey Of Youth, Stephen M. Kosovich

Faculty Publications

Empirical studies in the job displacement literature have found that workers face significant earnings losses on average, when they are permanently displaced from jobs. Previous research also suggests that the costliness of job loss varies widely. Gibbons and Katz (1991) develop and test a theoretical model in which layoffs provide the market with information concerning the quality of laid off workers, while plant and firm closings do not. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, this paper tests a model that describes how firms can use additional information about job losses to determine worker quality. The results suggest …