The Economic Consequences of Labor Mobility

Unlike most previous research on the relative changes in earnings of job stayers and job changers, this study examines the variance in earnings changes rather than simply average changes, men and women rather than only men, and the five-year period following job change rather than only the first year or two. The author finds great variability in earnings changes both within and across race and gender groups. Notably, men gained more from quits and, except in the case of low-wage workers, lost less from layoffs than women. Also, men suffered a much smaller penalty than women for repeated job changes. For all groups, the percentage difference between earnings before and after leaving a job generally persisted for several years.