Unemployment, Participation and Worker Flows Over the Life-Cycle

Bibliographic Data

ID9717463
AuthorsSekyu Choi (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona GSE and MOVE), Alexandre Janiak (0000-0001-6216-4324, Universidad de Chile; Center for Applied Economics and LIEPP), Benjamín Villena-Roldán (0000-0002-2780-0214, Universidad de Chile; Center for Applied Economics)
Year2015
Volume125
Issue589
Pages1705-1733
Publication date2015-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Economic Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0013-0133 • E-ISSN: 1468-0297
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/ecoj.12176
OpenAlexW3121439889
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited34

We estimate and report life-cycle transition probabilities between employment, unemployment and inactivity for male and female workers using Current Population Survey monthly files. We assess the relative importance of each probability in explaining the life-cycle profiles of participation and unemployment rates using a novel decomposition method. A key robust finding is that most differences in participation and unemployment over the life-cycle can be attributed to the probability of leaving employment and the probability of transiting from inactivity to unemployment, while transitions from unemployment to employment (the job finding probability) play secondary roles. We conclude that search models that seek to explain life-cycle work patterns should not ignore transitions to and from inactivity

Business cycle · Current Population Survey · Demographic economics · Economic growth · Economics · Labour economics · Macroeconomics · Population · Sociology · Statistics · Survey data collection · Unemployment · Work (physics · Demography · Employment and Welfare Studies · Engineering · Labor market dynamics and wage inequality · Mathematics · Migration and Labor Dynamics