Jobs that started in 1976 lasted on average for two to three years, but the jobs of people who were employed in 1976 had average durations of over fifteen years. This paper demonstrates how different concepts of the duration of jobs result in widely different estimates and shows that, although job durations differ considerably between industries and occupations, fairly long job tenures for those currently employed are typical. These results are consistent with the widespread existence of internal labour markets and have some implications for macroeconomic policy.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Akerlof, G.A. and Main, B.G.M. (1981), 'An experience-weighted measure of employment durations', American Economic Review71, 4.
2.
Foster, W. (1981), 'Gross flows in the Australian labour market', Australian Economic Review4.
3.
Gregory, R.G. (1982), 'Work and welfare in the years ahead', Australian Economic Papers21, 39.
4.
Gregory, R.G. and Foster, W. (1982), 'A preliminary look at some labour market dynamics in Australia, Japan, and North America', A.N. U. Centre for Economic Policy Research, Discussion paper no. 52. This paper also appears, without the appendix which explains the method of estimation, in K. Hancock, et al. (eds) (1983), Japanese and Australian labour markets: a comparative study, Australia-Japan Research Centre, Canberra.
5.
Maglen, L. and Daly, C. (1980), 'Internal labour markets for skilled manpower: some Australian evidence'. Paper presented to Ninth Conference of Economists (mimeo).
6.
Main, B.G.M. (1981), 'The length of employment and unemployment in Great Britain', Scottish Journal of Political Economy28, 2.
7.
Nowak, M. (1979), 'Internal labour markets and the market for highly qualified manpower', Journal of Industrial Relations21, 1.
8.
Nowak, M. and Crockett, G.V. (1983), 'The operation of internal labour markets: three case studies', Journal of Industrial Relations25, 4.
9.
Osterman, P. (1982), 'Employment structures within firms', British Journal of Industrial Relations20, 3.
10.
Salant, S.W. (1977), 'Search theory and duration data, a theory of sorts', Quarterly Journal of Economics91, 1.
11.
Solow, R. (1980), 'On theories of unemployment', American Economic Review71, 1.
12.
Williamson, O. (1975), Markets and Hierarchies: Analysis and Anti-trust Implications, Free Press, New York .
