Varieties of Wage Mobility in Early Career in Europe

Bibliographic Data

ID7772028
AuthorsPaul Schmelzer (German Institute for Economic Research, corresponding author), Alberto Veira Ramos (0000-0002-8306-2295), Alberto Veira-Ramos (0000-0002-1418-6323, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid)
Year2016
Volume32
Issue2
Pages175-188
Publication date2016-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEuropean Sociological Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0266-7215 • E-ISSN: 1468-2672
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/esr/jcv079
OpenAlexW2326467473
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited31

This article investigates the relationship between job mobility and wage mobility for salaried workers at the beginning of the employment career in eight European countries. While job-to-job mobility is associated with positive rewards, there are competing theories for job mobility via unemployment. Search and matching models predict that an unemployment phase might result in positive rewards. In contrast, signalling and human capital theories predict a negative impact of unemployment on future wages. Our results indicate that the validity of theoretical concepts is largely dependent on the institutional context. Job mobility via unemployment yields high rewards for job movers in Ireland and the United Kingdom and to a lesser degree in Southern Europe, but negative outcomes in Austria and Germany. In contrast, job-to-job mobility rewards job movers with positive outcomes in all countries, though to a lesser extent in southern European countries. Search and matching models are therefore more appropriate for predicting outcomes in countries of liberal regime, while signalling and human capital models yield better predictions in countries with stricter employment legislation and tighter occupational boundaries. In southern European countries, the insider–outsider fragmentation of the labour market impairs predictive power of both theories.

Context (archaeology) · Demographic economics · Economic growth · Economics · Employment protection legislation · Human capital · Labour economics · Matching (statistics) · Reservation wage · Unemployment · Wage · Wage growth · Employment and Welfare Studies · Labor market dynamics and wage inequality · Social Policy and Reform Studies