Wadsworth, Jonathan
(1990)
Labour mobility in Britain: evidence from the labour force survey.
PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Abstract
Labour mobility is a means by which to allocate human resources efficiently. The movement of labour into areas or states where it can increase individual worth, benefits the aggregate economy. This thesis is an empirical investigation of five aspects of labour mobility in Britain. A recurring theme of this study is the interaction between unemployment and mobility. We utilise information from the British Labour Force Surveys as the basis for our study. Specifically we examine: 1) The impact of unemployment on the inter-regional mobility of labour. We find that unemployment experience, and not regional differentials, increase the likelihood of migration. Further the regional allocation process functions less effectively at higher levels of aggregate unemployment. 2) The job search behaviour of employed workers. We show how worker satisfaction, as principally captured by length of job tenure, plays the largest role in the decision to seek work. The type of search strategy undertaken is partly dependent on the level of local labour demand. 3) The influence of unemployment benefit on job search effort. We demonstrate how benefit receipients search more extensively than others. Benefit claimants have a higher probability of locating a job offer. 4) Labour market transitions. Utilising a specially constructed dataset, we estimate annual probabilities of movement between employment, unemployment and inactivity. Worker heterogeneity is shown to explain the majority of these transitions, 5) Inter-firm mobility. Job-shopping by workers is an essential pre-requisite for eventual long-term, productive job matches. High levels of unemployment are shown to impede the job-shopping process.
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