Mayer, F. (2014). Labor market polarization in the U.S. : an empirical approach [Master Thesis, Technische Universität Wien]. reposiTUm. https://doi.org/10.34726/hss.2014.24930
job polarization; labor market; feedback effect from the aggregates; individual decision; transition probabilities
en
Abstract:
Labor market polarization is an ongoing structural change of the U.S. labor market which consists of the \hollowing out" of the wage and skill distribution. This paper examines the effects of this process on individ- ual workers, focusing on the feedback effect from the changes in the labor market aggregates represented by employment-to-population ratios and by the employment shares of the different occupational groups on the transi- tion between unemployment and the three main occupational groups. The main occupational groups defined by skill and wage levels are the routine, non-routine manual and non-routine cognitive occupations. In order to estimate the effects of the aggregates on the individual level, transition probabilities are estimated with logistic regressions. The 1991 and the 2001 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation are used as data source for the analysis, in contrast to most of the literature which uses CPS data. The findings show that polarization was present in the pe- riod of the 2001 panel, while it cannot be detected in the 1991 panel. The results suggest that, as expected, the aggregate rates had an effect on the transition toward unemployment in both panels, but they did not in uence the movement between the routine, non-routine cognitive and non-routine occupational groups. The results also imply that in the 2001 panel the probability of acquiring a routine job after job change is smaller for those who were employed in any occupational category than for those who were unemployed before the change. This indicates that on the level of individ- uals the polarization made the direct transition from any job towards the routine occupations more difficult.