Appendix B1: Job Changes Within and Across Firms
The possible answers to the question on the changes in employment situation since the preceding year
are as follows: (1) no change - (2) have a job with a new employer - (3) became self-employed - (4) have
changed position within the firm - (5) took up a job for the first time in my life - (6) gone back to work
after a break.
I have categorized the different changes in employment situation into four groups:“No changes”
“Separations”,“Intra-firm Mobility” and “Other”. Answers 2 and 3 are considered as separations, 4
as intra-firm mobility and 6 as other types of moves. I considered workers in the firm for at least one
period so observations on answer 5 have been excluded from the sample. Frequencies conditional on
potential experience and gender are presented in table B1.1 below.
Appendix Table B1.1: Frequency of Mobility by Experience (GSOEP)
|
Experience |
No |
Separation |
Intra-firm |
Other |
N |
|
Men | |||||
|
0-10 |
70.6 |
17.6 |
5.7 |
6.2 |
2869 |
|
11-20 |
87.6 |
7.4 |
3.6 |
1.5 |
5368 |
|
21-30 |
94.3 |
2.6 |
2.2 |
0.9 |
5483 |
|
31- |
96.7 |
1.8 |
1.3 |
0.7 |
7010 |
|
Total |
90.1 |
5.5 |
2.7 |
1.7 |
20730 |
|
Women | |||||
|
0-10 |
73.2 |
15.9 |
5.8 |
5.1 |
2468 |
|
11-20 |
84.2 |
6.5 |
3.2 |
6.0 |
2983 |
|
21-30 |
89.4 |
4.8 |
1.9 |
3.9 |
2955 |
|
31- |
95.5 |
1.2 |
1.3 |
0.4 |
3356 |
|
Total |
86.4 |
6.7 |
2.8 |
4.1 |
11762 |
|
Total |
88.8 |
5.9 |
2.7 |
2.5 |
32492 |
On can see that 89% of the workers surveyed experience no changes in employment situation. Among
the 11% who are mobile, one half experienced separations while intra-firm mobility accounts for one
fourth of the moves. Note also that all types of mobility decline with experience. The percentage
of separations is high during the first ten years of experience but decreases rapidly after. Intra-firm
mobility declines less rapidly than separations. Mean wage growth associated with the four categories
of changes is provided in table B1.2 below.
Appendix Table B1.2: Wage Growth Associated with Mobility (GSOEP)
|
Experience |
No |
Separation |
Internal Mobility |
Other |
N |
|
Men | |||||
|
0-10 |
.049 (.005) |
.113 (.02) |
.102 (.02) |
.073 (.04) |
.063 (.005) |
|
11-20 |
.029 (.002) |
.072 (.01) |
.080 (.01) |
.031 (.14) |
.033 (.002) |
|
21-30 |
.016 (.002) |
.059 (.03) |
.033 (.01) |
.056 (.04) |
.017 (.002) |
|
31- |
.009 (.002) |
.010 (.04) |
.045 (.01) |
-.213 (.14) |
.010 (.002) |
|
Total |
.020 (.001) |
.082 (.01) |
.071 (.008) |
.024 (.04) |
.025 (.001) |
|
Women | |||||
|
0-10 |
.039 (.004) |
.125 (.02) |
.158 (.03) |
.036 (.09) |
.060 (.005) |
|
11-20 |
.026 (.003) |
.111 (.03) |
.078 (.02) |
.065 (.05) |
.034 (.004) |
|
21-30 |
.022 (.003) |
.048 (.02) |
.042 (.02) |
.061 (.08) |
.024 (.003) |
|
31- |
.014 (.003) |
.144 (.05) |
.029 (.01) |
.149 (.04) |
.016 (.003) |
|
Total |
.023 (.002) |
.107 (.01) |
.099 (.01) |
.077 (.03) |
.030 (.001) |
|
Total |
.021 (.001) |
.092 (.008) |
.081 (.007) |
.048 (.03) |
.027 (.001) |
The Table shows that average wage growth resulting from intra-firm mobility is relatively important and
quite close to the average wage growth workers experience after separations. Since separations include
moves to a new employer or to self-employment, one might suspect that most of those separations are
voluntary and therefore associated with important wage growth.
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