Sources of Displaced Workers' Long-Term Earnings Losses

S-Tier
Journal: American Economic Review
Year: 2020
Volume: 110
Issue: 10
Pages: 3231-66

Score contribution per author:

2.681 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We estimate the magnitudes of reduced earnings, work hours, and wage rates of workers displaced during the Great Recession using linked employer-employee panel data from Washington state. Displaced workers' earnings losses occurred mainly because hourly wage rates dropped at the time of displacement and recovered sluggishly. Lost employer-specific premiums explain only 17 percent of these losses. Fully 70 percent of displaced workers moved to employers paying the same or higher wage premiums than the displacing employers, but these workers nevertheless suffered substantial wage rate losses. Loss of valuable specific worker-employer matches explains more than one-half of the wage losses.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aecrev:v:110:y:2020:i:10:p:3231-66
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25