We study the job training provided under the US Workforce Investment Act (WIA) to adults and dislocated workers in two states. Our substantive contributions center on impacts estimated non-experimentally using administrative data. These impacts compare WIA participants who do and do not receive...

In this paper we use a very large matched database on firms and employees to analyze the use of temporary agencies by low earners, and to estimate the impact of temp employment on subsequent employment outcomes for these workers. Our results show that, while temp workers have lower earnings than...

Innovation in the U.S. economy is about employing and rewarding highly talented workers to produce new products. Using unique longitudinal matched employer-employee data, this paper makes a key connection between talent and firms in markets with risky product innovations. We show that software...

In this paper I present some evidence on the magnitudes and determinants of job vacancy rates at the firm level. The data are from a survey of firms in 1980 and 1982, as well as from 1980 Census data on industry and local area characteristics. The results show that overall job vacancy rates are...

This paper analyzes the effects of demand shifts within and between local labor markets on unemployment and employment levels and changes observed in those markets. Between-market demand shifts are measured by the means of sales growth for firms in each market, while within-market shifts are...

In this paper I use data from a survey of firms to estimate the effects of a firm's wage level on several measures of its hiring costs and the characteristics and performance of its employees. These measures include the previous experience and current tenure of its employees; subjective...

This paper uses data from a nationwide sample of firms on employee wages and characteristics to reexamine the determinants of employee productivity and earnings. The data include several measures of job experience, training, and both worker and firm characteristics as well as subjective employer...

This paper uses data on unemployment rates and job vacancy rates to measure structural/frictional and demand-deficient components of unemployment rate differences across local labor markets. Data on occupational and industrial distributions of unemployed workers and vacant jobs, as well as on...

This paper presents an economic analysis of recruitment and screening procedures chosen by firms as they hire new workers. After reviewing the relevant literature within the labor economics and human resources fields, I outline an employer search model in which firms choose hiring procedures as...

This paper presents evidence that young unemployed job seekers choose higher levels of search effort (as measured by numbers of methods used and time spent per method) and lower relative reservation wages than do comparable employed seekers. The unemployed also have higher probabilities of...