Low-wage careers: Are there dead-end firms and dead-end jobs?

Alexander Mosthaf, Claus Schnabel and Jens Stephani
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Alexander Mosthaf: Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg, Germany
Jens Stephani: Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg, Germany

Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, 2011, vol. 43, issue 3, 231-249

Abstract: "Using representative linked employer-employee data of the German Federal Employment Agency, this paper shows that just one out of seven full-time employees who earned low wages (i.e., less than two-thirds of the median wage) in 1998/99 was able to earn wages above the low-wage threshold in 2003. Bivariate probit estimations with endogenous selection indicate that upward wage mobility is higher for younger and better qualified low-wage earners, whereas women are substantially less successful. We show that the characteristics of the employing firm also matter for low-wage earners' probability of escaping low-paid work. In particular, small plants and plants with a high share of low-wage earners often seem to be dead ends for low-wage earners. The likelihood of leaving the low-wage sector is also low when staying in unskilled and skilled service occupations and in unskilled commercial and administrative occupations. Consequently, leaving these dead-end plants and occupations appears to be an important instrument for achieving wages above the low-wage threshold." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Keywords: Bundesrepublik Deutschland; berufliche Mobilität; berufliche Qualifikation; beruflicher Aufstieg; Frauen; geschlechtsspezifische Faktoren; IAB-Linked-Employer-Employee-Datensatz; Kleinbetrieb; Niedriglohn; Geringverdiener; Arbeitskräftemobilität; 1998-2003 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J30 J60 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010-08-18
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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https://doi.org/10.1007/s12651-010-0036-4

Related works:
Working Paper: Low-Wage Careers: Are There Dead-End Firms and Dead-End Jobs? (2010)
Working Paper: Low-wage careers: are there dead-end firms and dead-end jobs? (2010)
Working Paper: Low-wage careers: are there dead-end firms and dead-end jobs? (2009)
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DOI: 10.1007/s12651-010-0036-4

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