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Bonet, Rocio, Marta Elvira & Stefano Visintin (2024): Hiring Temps but Losing Perms? Temporary Worker Inflows and Voluntary Turnover of Permanent Employees. In: Work, Employment and Society, Jg. 38, H. 1, S. 83-102. DOI:10.1177/09500170221103135

Abstract

"This article investigates the effect of hiring temporary workers on the voluntary turnover of permanent employees. It argues that inflows of temporary workers erode the working conditions of permanent employees, prompting their voluntary departure. Using a unique panel dataset of individual-level monthly payroll data over an eight-year period in a sample of Spanish companies, a positive association between temporary worker inflows and the voluntary turnover of permanent workers is found. The results are robust to diverse specifications and are strongest for firms in non-manufacturing sectors and for firms that hire proportionally more low-skilled workers, contexts where the hiring of temporary workers may be more disruptive for permanent employees. Since the hiring of temporary workers is unlikely to threaten the employment of permanent employees in the dual labour market of Spain, the results indicate serious disruption costs associated with temporary hiring in organisations." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Conde-Ruiz, J. Ignacio, Manu García, Luis A. Puch & Jesus Ruiz (2023): Reforming Dual Labor Markets: “Empirical” or “Contractual” Temporary Rates? (Estudios sobre la Economía Española / Fundación de Estudios de Economía Aplicada 2023-36), Madrid, 48 S.

Abstract

"This paper analyzes the impact of the 2021 labor reform in Spain on job creation, job destruction, and employment duration using new daily comprehensive administrative data. The reform's primary objective was the mitigation of the temporary employment rate; however, despite the success in reducing the nominal temporary employment rate, the evidence suggests that employment stability in terms of duration has not significantly improved. The Spanish experience demonstrates that it is possible to design a labor reform that is highly effective in reducing the “contractual” temporary employment rate in a dual labor market, but with minimal impact on duration and short-term employment transitions, i.e. the “empirical” temporary employment rate." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Siöland, Linus, Emmanuel Hassan, Matthew Geraci, Michela Gasperini, Clara Viñuales, Agnieszka Markowska & Olivia Aouati (2023): Report on mobile seasonal workers and intra-EU labor mobility. Luxemburg, 51 S. DOI:10.2767/093005

Abstract

"Mobile seasonal workers play an important role in the European labor market by increasing the supply of labor in times of the year when there is more work than the domestic market can supply workers for. This allows sectors that are marked by strong seasonality – notably agriculture, hospitality and tourism – to bolster their staff with workers from another country if they are not able to allocate all their work using only domestic applicants." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Carrasco, Raquel, Ismael Gálvez Iniesta & Belén Jerez (2022): Do Temporary Help Agencies Help? Temporary employment transitions for low-skilled workers. (Working paper. Economics / uc3m, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid 2022,04), Madrid, 40 S.

Abstract

"We investigate how being employed by a Temporary Help Agency (THA) affects transition rates to alternative labor market states for low-skilled workers. Our approach is based on the estimation of competing risk discrete duration models, and reveals the importance of accounting for short duration dependence. We use Spanish administrative data for the period 2005-2017. We find that having a THA contract rather than a direct-hire temporary contract increases the probability of entering into unemployment or another agency job at all durations. Agency workers are more likely to transition to permanent employment than their direct-hire counterparts, but these transitions are very infrequent for both. The positive effect of THA employment on the probability of transitioning to a permanent job is procyclical. By contrast, the positive effect on the probability of entering unemployment (or another agency job) increased during the Great Recession relative to the previous economic expansion, and has remained high during the recovery. In words, agency jobs in Spain are characterized by higher unemployment risk and persistence than regular temporary jobs, and these differences have intensified in recent years. Accouting for unobserved heterogeneity does not alter our main results." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Padrosa, Eva, Francesc Belvis, Joan Benach & Mireia Julià (2021): Measuring precarious employment in the European Working Conditions Survey: psychometric properties and construct validity in Spain. In: Quality & quantity, Jg. 55, H. 2, S. 543-562. DOI:10.1007/s11135-020-01017-2

Abstract

"Monitoring precarious employment (PE) is crucial to design and evaluate policies tailored to enhance the quality of employment and to achieve more decent and sustainable labour markets. In that regard, the construction of theory-based multidimensional measurement instruments with data derived from well-established and periodically-conducted surveys stands out as an insightful opportunity to acquire so. Accordingly, this study aims to adapt the Employment Precariousness Scale (EPRES) to the available information in the European Working Conditions Survey VI (EWCS-2015), and to explore the psychometric properties and construct validity of the ensuing instrument, namely EPRES-E, in Spain. 13 items sorted in six dimensions (temporariness, disempowerment, vulnerability, exercise of rights, uncertain working times and wages) shaped the EPRES-E. In a sample of 2442 formal employees residing in Spain, item- and scale-level analyses were performed alongside omega reliability coefficients and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). The scale exhibited good psychometric properties and reliability (ω = 0.80 for the EPRES-E score and near or above 0.70 for all subscales excepting “exercise of rights”). The factor structure was confirmed by CFA [χ2 (df) = 530.432 (58), p < 0.0001; CFI = 0.964; TLI = 0.951; RMSEA (95% CI) = 0.067 (0.062–0.073); all paths statistically significant]. Acceptability, however, was hampered by the large amount of non-response in the “earnings” variables (20.97%). In sum, the EPRES-E constitutes a promising instrument for the measurement of PE over time in Spain. Further studies should explore its comparability in the rest of the countries included in the EWCS as a first step towards the achievement of a European-wide monitoring system of the phenomenon." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © Springer-Verlag) ((en))

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Xavier Jara, H. & Alberto Tumino (2021): Atypical work and unemployment protection in Europe. In: Journal of Common Market Studies, Jg. 59, H. 3, S. 535-555. DOI:10.1111/jcms.13099

Abstract

"This paper evaluates the degree of income protection the tax-benefit system provides to atypical workers in the event of unemployment. Our approach relies on simulating transitions from employment to unemployment for the entire workforce in EU member states to compare household financial circumstances before and after the transition. Our results show that coverage rates of unemployment insurance are low among atypical workers, who are also more exposed to the risk of poverty, both while in work and in unemployment. Low work intensity employees are characterized by high net replacement rates. However, this is due to the major role played by market incomes of other household members. Finally, we show that in countries where self-employed workers are not eligible for unemployment insurance benefits, extending the eligibility to this group of workers would increase their replacement rates and make them less likely to fall into poverty in the event of unemployment." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))

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Inanc, Hande (2020): Varieties of Precarity: How Insecure Work Manifests Itself, Affects Well-Being, and Is Shaped by Social Welfare Institutions and Labor Market Policies. In: Work and occupations, Jg. 47, H. 4, S. 504–511. DOI:10.1177/0730888420934539

Abstract

"Precarious Lives addresses one of the most important developments in employment relations in the neoliberal era: increase in labor precarity and the subsequent decline in employee well-being. Drawing on data on social welfare institutions and labor market policies in six rich democracies, the author shows that work is less precarious, and workers are happier, when institutions and policies provide job protection, and put in place support systems to buffer job loss." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Millán, Ana, José María Millán & Leonel Caçador-Rodrigues (2020): Disclosing 'masked employees' in Europe: job control, job demands and job outcomes of 'dependent self-employed workers'. In: Small business economics, Jg. 55, H. 2, S. 461-474. DOI:10.1007/s11187-019-00245-7

Abstract

"In this study, we examine whether job control, job demands and job outcomes of 'dependent self-employed workers', i.e. the workers in this particular grey zone between employment and self-employment, are more similar to those of the self-employed or paid employed. To this end, we use microdata drawn from the 2010 wave of the European Working Conditions Survey for 34 European countries. First, we develop and validate a psychometrically sound multidimensional scale for these 3 key constructs by conducting both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Then, multilevel (hierarchical) linear regressions are used to test the validity of our hypotheses. Our results suggest that these hybrid work relationships are endowed with the least favourable attributes of both groups: lower job control than self-employed workers, higher job demands than paid employees and, overall, worse job outcomes than both." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © Springer-Verlag) ((en))

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Avlijaš, Sonja (2019): The dynamism of the new economy: Non-standard employment and access to social security in EU-28. (LEQS – LSE 'Europe in Question' Discussion Paper Series 141), London, 76 S.

Abstract

"This paper examines the prevalence of non-standard workers in EU-28, rules for accessing social security, and these workers' risk of not being able to access it. It focuses on temporary and part-time workers, and the self-employed, and offers a particularly detailed analysis of their access to unemployment benefits. It focuses on eligibility, adequacy (net income replacement rates) and identifies those workers which are at the greatest risk of either not receiving benefits or receiving low benefits. It offers a special overview of foreign non-standard workers, who may be particularly vulnerable due to the absence of citizenship in the host country. The paper also analyses access to maternity and sickness benefits for these three groups of workers, as well as their access to pensions. Its key contribution is in bringing together the different dimensions of disadvantage that non-standard workers face vis-à-vis access to social protection. This allows us to comprehensively assess the adaptation of national social security systems across EU-28 to the changing world of work over the past 10 years. The paper shows that there is a lot of variation between the Member States, both in the structure of their social security systems, as well as the prevalence of non-standard work. Most notably, the paper concludes that: i) access to unemployment benefits is the most challenging component of welfare state provision for people in non-standard employment; ii) policy reforms vis-à-vis access to social benefits have improved the status of non-standard workers in several countries, while they have worsened it in others, particularly in Bulgaria, Ireland and Latvia; iii) some Eastern European countries can offer lessons to other Member States due to their experiences with labour market challenges during transition and the subsequent adaptations of their social security systems to greater labour market flexibility. The paper also implies that a country's policy towards nonstandard work" (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Cruz, Irene, Oscar Molina, Joan Miquel Verd, Elma Paulauskaite, Rimantas Dumčius, Milda Venckutė, Valentina Patrini & Carlos Vacas-Soriano (2019): Labour market segmentation: Piloting new empirical and policy analyses. Labour market change. (Eurofound research report / European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions), Dublin, 88 S. DOI:10.2806/751649

Abstract

"This report sets out to describe what labour market segmentation is and why it is problematic for the labour market and society, as well as disadvantaged groups. It takes a broad view of the term to examine the situation that arises when the divergence in working conditions between different groups of workers is attributable to factors other than differentials in human capital levels. The report explores which policies or instruments are most effective in combating labour market segmentation, taking into account specific situational characteristics. The report offers a novel approach to the study of labour market segmentation that combines a quantitative empirical analysis with a policy analysis." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Dimova, Dilyana (2019): The structural determinants of the labor share in Europe. (IMF working paper 2019,67), Washington, DC, 41 S.

Abstract

"The labor share in Europe has been on a downward trend. This paper finds that the decline is concentrated in manufacture and among low- to mid-skilled workers. The shifting nature of employment away from full-time jobs and a rollback of employment protection, unemployment benefits and unemployment benefits have been the main contributors. Technology and globalization hurt sectors where jobs are routinizable but helped others that require specialized skills. High-skilled professionals gained labor share driven by productivity aided by flexible work environments, while low- and mid-skilled workers lost labor share owing to globalization and the erosion of labor market safety nets." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Lozano, Mariona & Elisenda Rentería (2019): Work in transition: Labour market life expectancy and years spent in precarious employment in Spain 1986-2016. In: Social indicators research, Jg. 145, H. 1, S. 185-200. DOI:10.1007/s11205-019-02091-2

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Marcu, Silvia (2019): The limits to mobility: Precarious work experiences among young Eastern Europeans in Spain. In: Environment and planning. A, Economy and space, Jg. 51, H. 4, S. 913-930. DOI:10.1177/0308518X19829085

Abstract

"This article contributes to the existing literature on the geography of mobility by examining the precarious work experiences of young people in relation to the limits to their mobility. Using 60 in-depth interviews with young immigrants from Eastern Europe who practised mobility to and from Spain, the article highlights the concern of 'limits to mobility' to show how respondents try to end their precarious work and labour instability in order to reach a stable destination. What are the limits to mobility? When is the peak reached? I argue that the limits to mobility can be explained by the interplay between the political-economic structure and people's spatiotemporal experiences. I have found three different types, depending on the life-course contexts in which young people live their limits to mobility: (1) mobility as tiredness-specific to those who have practised mobility to Spain and, after travelling, training and changing precarious jobs in several countries, try to move and settle in one place; (2) mobility as a labyrinth-situated between the fulfilment of objectives and the uncertainty of relocation; and (3) mobility as resistance to precarity through return-practised by people who migrated with their parents at an early age, who studied in Spain, but for professional reasons had to leave, and are currently either back in their countries of origin or in Spain. The limits to mobility have not as yet been researched in this way, and the findings may contribute to a refinement of the spatiotemporal framework of youth mobility." (Author's abstract, © 2019 a Pion publication) ((en))

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Mussida, Chiara & Luca Zanin (2019): Voluntary mobility of employees for better job opportunities given a temporary contract. Insights regarding an age-varying association between the two events. In: The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy, Jg. 19, H. 2, S. 1-27. DOI:10.1515/bejeap-2018-0143

Abstract

"What mechanisms govern the mobility of employees who voluntarily switch employers for better opportunities, given a temporary contract (TC)? We attempt to answer this question by exploring this issue in Southern and Central European countries. We use cross-sectional data from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions survey for the 2005 - 2016 period. We estimate a flexible simultaneous equation model for binary responses by assuming the presence of an age-varying association between voluntary mobility and having a TC. After accounting for several socio-demographic and economic variables, we find a nonlinear decreasing relation between age and the outcomes, while we detect heterogeneous nonlinear patterns in the association between voluntary mobility and having a TC across countries. These insights can support policy-makers aiming to promote initiatives that facilitate the professional mobility of employees given a TC for an efficient allocation of human capital in the production system." (Author's abstract, © De Gruyter) ((en))

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Passaretta, Giampiero & Maarten H. J. Wolbers (2019): Temporary employment at labour market entry in Europe. Labour market dualism, transitions to secure employment and upward mobility. In: Economic and Industrial Democracy, Jg. 40, H. 2, S. 382-408. DOI:10.1177/0143831X16652946

Abstract

"This article focuses on school-leavers who enter employment with a temporary contract in the European context, and examines their probabilities to shift to standard employment or unemployment, and their chances of occupational mobility afterwards. The authors argue that two institutional dimensions of insider - outsider segmentation drive the career progression after a flexible entry: the gap between the regulation of permanent and temporary contracts and the degree of unionization. The analyses show that a disproportionate protection of permanent compared to temporary contracts increases the probability of remaining on a fixed-term contract, whereas the degree of unionization slightly decreases the chance of moving to jobs with higher or lower socio-economic status. Finally, a shift to permanent employment after a fixed-term entry is more often associated with occupational upward mobility in strongly rather than weakly unionized labour markets." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Sora, Beatriz, Thomas Höge, Amparo Caballer & José M. Peiró (2019): Employment contract, job insecurity and employees' affective well-being. The role of self- and collective efficacy. In: Economic and Industrial Democracy, Jg. 40, H. 2, S. 193-214. DOI:10.1177/0143831X18804659

Abstract

"A large amount of research has focused on job insecurity, but without obtaining consistent results. Some authors have pointed that this variability might be due to the operationalization of job insecurity. Different types of job insecurity can provoke different employee reactions. The aim of this study is to analyse the effect of job insecurity, understood as temporary employment (objective job insecurity) and personal perception (subjective job insecurity), on affective well-being. In addition, the moderator roles of job self-efficacy and collective efficacy are examined in the relationship between job insecurity and employees' affective well-being. This study was carried out with 1435 employees from 138 Spanish and Austrian organizations. The results showed a different effect of job insecurity depending on its conceptualization. Only subjective job insecurity was negatively related to affective well-being. Moreover, both self- and collective efficacy moderated the subjective job insecurity - outcomes relation, ameliorating employees' well-being levels when they perceived job insecurity." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Kalleberg, Arne L. (2018): Precarious lives. Job insecurity and well-being in rich democracies. Cambridge: Polity Press, 248 S.

Abstract

"Employment relations in advanced, post-industrial democracies have become increasingly insecure and uncertain as the risks associated with work are being shifted from employers and governments to workers. Arne L. Kalleberg sets out to examine the impact of the liberalization of labor markets and welfare systems on the growth of precarious work and job insecurity for indicators of well-being such as economic insecurity, family formation and happiness, in six advanced capitalist democracies: the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Spain, and Denmark. This insightful cross-national analysis demonstrates how active labor market policies and generous social welfare systems can help to protect workers and give employers latitude as they seek to adapt to the rise of national and global competition and the rapidity of sweeping technological changes. Such policies thereby form elements of a new social contract that offers the potential for addressing many of the major challenges resulting from the rise of precarious work." (Publisher's text, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Rubery, Jill, Damian Grimshaw, Arjan Keizer & Mathew Johnson (2018): Challenges and contradictions in the "normalising" of precarious work. In: Work, employment and society, Jg. 32, H. 3, S. 509-527. DOI:10.1177/0950017017751790

Abstract

"Precarious work is increasingly considered the new 'norm' to which employment and social protection systems must adjust. This article explores the contradictions and tensions that arise from different processes of normalisation driven by social policies that simultaneously decommodify and recommodify labour. An expanded framework of decommodification is presented that identifies how the standard employment relationship (SER) may be extended and flexibilised to include those in precarious work, drawing examples from a recent study of precarious work across six European countries. These decommodification processes are found to be both partial and, in some cases, coexisting with activation policies that position precarious work as an alternative to unemployment, thereby recommodifying labour. Despite these challenges and contradictions, the article argues that a new vision of SER reform promises greater inclusion than alternative policy scenarios that give up on the regulation of employers and rely on state subsidies to mitigate against precariousness." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Dekker, Fabian & Romke van der Veen (2017): Modern working life: A blurring of the boundaries between secondary and primary labour markets? In: Economic and Industrial Democracy, Jg. 38, H. 2, S. 256-270. DOI:10.1177/0143831X14563946

Abstract

"Today, there is a widespread suggestion that permanent workers are increasingly subject to precarious working conditions. Due to international competition and declining union density, job qualities of permanent workers are assumed to be under strain. According to proponents of a democratization of risk rationale, low job qualities that were traditionally attached to secondary labour markets are transferred to workers in primary segments of the labour market. In this study, the authors test this theoretical rationale among workers in 11 Western European economies, using two waves of the European Working Conditions Survey. The results do not confirm a democratization of labour market risk. Lower job qualities are highly associated with flexible employment contracts and highlight a clear gap between insiders and outsiders." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Bachmann, Ronald & Julia Bredtmann (2016): Die Rolle befristeter Beschäftigung in Europa. In: Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftspolitik, Jg. 65, H. 3, S. 270-298. DOI:10.1515/zfwp-2016-0017

Abstract

"Befristete Verträge werden in vielen Ländern der Europäischen Union als Instrument, Arbeitsmärkte flexibel zu gestalten, eingesetzt. Ein internationaler Vergleich zeigt, dass die befristete Beschäftigung nur bedingt die Durchlässigkeit der Arbeitsmärkte unterstützt. Zwar erleichtert sie teilweise den Arbeitsmarktzugang, führt aber auch zu instabilen Beschäftigungsverhältnissen und segmentierten Arbeitsmärkten, die mit einer geringen Sprungbrettfunktion der befristeten Beschäftigung einhergehen. Um nachhaltige Beschäftigung zu schaffen, erscheinen Reformen des Kündigungsschutzes, die Übergange in reguläre Jobs erleichtern, sowie Investitionen in Aus- und Weiterbildung als sinnvolle Alternativen" (Autorenreferat, © De Gruyter)

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Bünning, Mareike & Matthias Pollmann-Schult (2016): Parenthood, child care, and nonstandard work schedules in Europe. In: European Societies, Jg. 18, H. 4, S. 295-314. DOI:10.1080/14616696.2016.1153698

Abstract

"An increasing proportion of the European labor force works in the evening, at night or on weekends. Because nonstandard work schedules are associated with a number of negative outcomes for families and children, parents may seek to avoid such schedules. However, for parents with insufficient access to formal child care, working nonstandard hours or days may be an adaptive strategy used to manage child-care needs. It enables 'split-shift' parenting, where parents work alternate schedules, allowing one of the two to be at home looking after the children. This study examines the prevalence of nonstandard work schedules among parents and nonparents in 22 European countries. Specifically, we ask whether the provision of formal child care influences the extent to which parents of preschool-aged children work nonstandard schedules. Using data from the European Social Survey and multilevel models, we find evidence that the availability of formal child care reduces nonstandard work among parents. This indicates that access to formal child care enables parents to work standard schedules. To the extent that nonstandard work schedules are negatively associated with child wellbeing, access to formal child care protects children from the adverse effects of their parents' evening and night work." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Gialis, Stelios & Lila Leontidou (2016): Antinomies of flexibilization and atypical employment in Mediterranean Europe. Greek, Italian and Spanish regions during the crisis. In: European Urban and Regional Studies, Jg. 23, H. 4, S. 716-733. DOI:10.1177/0969776414538983

Abstract

"Until recently, Mediterranean countries were called on by European Union officials to provide for a 'less-rigid' regulatory framework, in order to enhance 'flexicurity'. This paper critically examines post-2008 flexibilization trends by focusing on Spanish, Italian and Greek regions. Starting from a contextualization of atypical employment and security, it then moves in a twofold direction; firstly, it presents the Flexible Contractual Arrangements and Active Labour Market Policies composite indicators, calculated for the NUTS-II regions of 12 member states for 2008 and 2011. These indicators reveal the changing ranking, especially of the Greek regions, towards higher labour market flexibility and relatively low levels of employability security; secondly, it focuses on the changing forms of atypical labour in the six regions that host the capital and the most important port city of Greece, Italy and Spain, respectively, by offering data on the expansion of flexible arrangements therein. The uneven flexibilization trends found in the study regions are seen as an outcome of the interaction between the general devaluation trends, different backgrounds and regionally specific patterns of labour market adjustment, while employment is found to be neither 'rigid' nor 'flexicure'. The paper concludes with some remarks on the relation between post-2008 dismantling of local labour regimes, restructuring and flexicurity." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Horemans, Jeroen, Ive Marx & Brian Nolan (2016): Hanging in, but only just. Part-time employment and in-work poverty throughout the crisis. In: IZA journal of European Labor Studies, Jg. 5, S. 1-19. DOI:10.1186/s40174-016-0053-6

Abstract

"The crisis has deepened pre-existing concerns regarding low-wage and non-standard employment. Countries where unemployment increased most strongly during the crisis period also saw part-time employment increasing, particularly involuntary part-time work. With involuntary part-time workers, as a particular group of underemployed, facing especially high poverty rates, this was accompanied by an increase, on average, in the poverty risk associated with working part-time. However, this was not reflected in a marked increase in the overall in-work poverty rate because full-time work remains dominant and its poverty risk did not change markedly. The household context is of the essence when considering policy implications." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Kahn, Lawrence M. (2016): The structure of the permanent job wage premium. Evidence from Europe. In: Industrial relations, Jg. 55, H. 1, S. 149-178. DOI:10.1111/irel.12129

Abstract

"Using longitudinal data on individuals from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) for thirteen countries during 1995-2001, I investigate the wage premium for permanent jobs relative to temporary jobs. The countries are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom. I find that among men the wage premium for a permanent vs. temporary job is lower for older workers and native born workers; for women, the permanent job wage premium is lower for older workers and those with longer job tenure. Moreover, there is some evidence that among immigrant men, the permanent job premium is especially high for those who migrated from outside the European Union. These findings all suggest that the gain to promotion into permanent jobs is indeed higher for those with less experience in the domestic labor market. In contrast to the effects for the young and immigrants, the permanent job pay premium is slightly smaller on average for women than for men, even though on average women have less experience in the labor market than men do. It is possible that women even in permanent jobs are in segregated labor markets. But as noted, among women, the permanent job wage premium is higher for the young and those with less current tenure, suggesting that even in the female labor market, employers pay attention to experience differences." (Author's abstract, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))

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Prosser, Thomas (2016): Dualization or liberalization? Investigating precarious work in eight European countries. In: Work, employment and society, Jg. 30, H. 6, S. 949-965. DOI:10.1177/0950017015609036

Abstract

"A recent upsurge in the incidence of precarious work in Europe necessitates fresh examination of the origins of this trend. On the basis of field research in eight European countries and with reference to theories of liberalization and dualization, the factors that drive precarious work in discrete European labour markets are thus investigated. It is discovered that, while a structural-demographic factor such as non-compliance with labour law is a notable progenitor of precarious work, the deregulatory strategies of public authorities are particularly significant drivers. In conclusion it is asserted that although the theory of dualization helps explain developments in conservative-corporatist countries, in Anglophone and Mediterranean countries liberalization theory is generally more apposite. Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries emerge as a hybrid case." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Eichhorst, Werner & Paul Marx (Hrsg.) (2015): Non-standard employment in post-industrial labour markets. An occupational perspective. Cheltenham: Elgar, 435 S. DOI:10.4337/9781781001721

Abstract

"Examining the occupational variation within non-standard employment, this book combines case studies and comparative writing to illustrate how and why alternative occupational employment patterns are formed.
Non-standard employment has grown significantly in most developed economies, varying between countries. Different institutional settings have been deemed accountable for this variation, although inadequate consideration has been given to differences within national labour markets. Through an occupational perspective, this book contends that patterns of non-standard employment are shaped by flexibility in hiring and firing practices and the dispensability of workers' skills. The framework integrates explanations based on labour market regulation, industrial relations and skill supply, filling the gaps in previous scholastic research." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Roca-Puig, Vicente, Inmaculada Beltrán-Martín & Mercedes Segarra-Ciprés (2015): Temporary contracts and manufacturing firms' outcomes in Spain. A curvilinear examination. In: Economic and Industrial Democracy, Jg. 36, H. 1, S. 23-49. DOI:10.1177/0143831X13494248

Abstract

"This work contributes to research on temporary employment, specifically through an analysis of its effect on firm efficacy. The authors analyze the potential curvilinear (nonlinear) relationship between temporary contracts and organizational outcomes and examine how the proportion of indirect temporary workers - hired through Temporary Help Agencies (THAs) - influences this relationship in a sample of 1597 Spanish manufacturing firms. The analysis finds a negative linear relationship between temporary contracts and labor productivity and a predominantly positive concave downward curve between temporary contracts and gross operating margin. This curvilinear relationship is especially stronger when the proportion of indirect temporary contracts is low, and it is found that the use of temporary contracts has a positive effect on gross operating margin, but this effect becomes negative with overuse. This empirical evidence partially questions the dominant linear view that has been established over the past few decades in the labor flexibility literature at an organizational level." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Cabrales, Antonio, Juan J. Dolado & Ricardo Mora (2014): Dual labour markets and (lack of) on-the-job training. PIAAC evidence from Spain and other EU countries. (IZA discussion paper 8649), Bonn, 35 S.

Abstract

"Using the Spanish micro data from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), we first document how the excessive gap in employment protection between indefinite and temporary workers leads to large differentials in on-the-job training (OTJ) against the latter. Next, we find that that the lower specific training received by temporary workers is correlated with lower literacy and numeracy scores achieved in the PIAAC study. Finally, we provide further PIAAC cross-country evidence showing that OJT gaps are quite lower in those European labour markets where dualism is less entrenched than in those where it is more extended." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Garcia Perez, J. Ignacio & Victoria Osuna (2014): Dual labour markets and the tenure distribution. Reducing severance pay or introducing a single contract. In: Labour economics, Jg. 29, H. August, S. 1-13. DOI:10.1016/j.labeco.2014.05.001

Abstract

"This paper evaluates Spain's 2012 labour market reform concerning the reduction in severance pay from 45 to 33 days of wages per year of seniority and the introduction of a new subsidised permanent contract. We also compare this policy with the introduction of a single open-ended labour contract with increasing severance payments for all new hires. We use an equilibrium search and matching model to generate the main properties of this segmented labour market. Our steady-state results show that this reform will reduce unemployment (by 10.5%) and job destruction (by 7.5%). However, in terms of wage subsidies, the cost of implementing this reform will be very high. A cheaper and more effective way to decrease the duality in the labour market could be to eliminate temporary contracts and introduce a single contract. Unemployment and job destruction in this case could be reduced by 31.5% and 35%, respectively. Most interestingly, tenure distribution could be even smoother than under the designed reform, as 22.5% more workers could have tenures of more than three years and there could be 38.5% fewer one-year contracts. The transition shows that both policy measures would benefit a majority of workers: only 7.4% would experience a decrease in tenure under the approved reform (5.5% in the transition to the single contract) due to the improvement in job stability." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Martínez-Pastor, Juan-Ignacio (2014): Fixed-term contracts: does nationality matter? In: Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Jg. 40, H. 5, S. 814-828. DOI:10.1080/1369183X.2013.778141

Abstract

"This paper contrasts foreigners and Spaniards regarding their likelihood of having a fixed-term contract. Data are drawn from the ad hoc module of the 2008 Spanish Labour Force Survey. The analysis is carried out with non-student males who have been in the Spanish labour market for ten years or less. Two probit models are applied. The analyses led us to conclude that the effect of nationality disappears for Eastern Europeans after controlling for human capital, social class, sector of activity and time spent in the Spanish labour market. However, the likelihood of working with a fixed-term contract is still 5 per cent higher for Latin Americans compared to Spaniards, even controlling for these variables. The gap reaches about 20 per cent for Africans." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Bernhard-Oettel, Claudia, Thomas Rigotti, Michael Clinton & Jeroen de Jong (2013): Job insecurity and well-being in the temporary workforce. Testing volition and contract expectations as boundary conditions. In: European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, Jg. 22, H. 2, S. 203-217. DOI:10.1080/1359432X.2011.647409

Abstract

"This study investigates whether temporary contract volition and workers' expectations for contract renewal are boundary conditions to explain differences in temporary workers' job insecurity feelings and well-being. It is hypothesized that (1) low volition through higher job insecurity indirectly associates with lower well-being and that (2) temporary workers' expectations of contract renewal weakens the links between both low volition and high job insecurity and high job insecurity and impaired well-being. Results based on an international data set of 1755 temporary workers employed in the education, manufacturing, and service sectors supported the first hypothesis and partly also the second. More specifically, low preferences for temporary contracts associated via higher job insecurity with lower job satisfaction, impaired health, and higher irritation. Contract expectations placed a boundary condition upon this indirect relation; however, the negative association between high job insecurity and impaired well-being was not weakened but strengthened. In conclusion, particularly temporary workers with low contract volition and high job insecurity feelings, who have high expectations for contract renewal are at risk for impaired well-being. Hence, this study sheds light onto the question how volition for temporary work and expected contract renewal relate to job insecurity and associate with individual well-being." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Bonet, Rocio, Cristina Cruz, Daniel Fernández Kranz & Rachida Justo (2013): Temporary contracts and work-family balance in a dual labor market. In: ILR review, Jg. 66, H. 1, S. 55-87. DOI:10.1177/001979391306600103

Abstract

"A well-established finding in the literature is that self-employment enables mothers to accommodate work and family needs better than when they are engaged in organizational employment. With this result in mind, the authors investigate within a dual system of job protection if women under temporary contracts face greater work-family conflicts than those under permanent contracts. The authors use data on women's work and fertility histories from the Spanish Continuous Sample of Working Histories to analyze whether women under temporary contracts transition to self-employment upon motherhood more than those who are under permanent contracts. Analyses show that being under a temporary contract increases women's likelihood of transitioning to self-employment upon childbirth. Supplementary analyses show that this is partly the result of voluntary transitions and not an employer's decision to terminate a temporary contract upon motherhood. Overall, these findings reveal a hidden cost of temporary contracts: the greater difficulty in balancing work and family." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Cutuli, Giorgio & Raffaele Guetto (2013): Fixed-term contracts, economic conjuncture, and training opportunities. A comparative analysis across European labour markets. In: European Sociological Review, Jg. 29, H. 3, S. 616-629. DOI:10.1093/esr/jcs011

Abstract

"Our work aims to bring together two research fields: the debate concerning different labour market flexibilization strategies and the determinants of training chances. The purpose of our work is therefore to assess the trade-off between temporary employment and training opportunities in a comparative analysis of three groups of countries characterized by different levels of labour market segmentation and training coverage. Particular attention is paid to the impact of the 2008 economic downturn in shaping training opportunities for contingent workers. Our research questions are investigated using three pooled rounds of the European Social Survey (2004, 2006, and 2008). While regression analyses partially confirm the negative effects of fixed-term contracts (FTCs) on training opportunities, a counterfactual analysis shows a retrenchment in training provisions among temporary workers only in strongly segmented labour markets, where FTCs constitute a more homogeneous marginal group, highly stratified in terms of age, gender, unemployment experience, and social class." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Koch, Max & Martin Fritz (Hrsg.) (2013): Non-standard employment in Europe. Paradigms, prevalence and policy responses. (Work and welfare in Europe), Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 246 S.

Abstract

"'Non-standard' employment is becoming more common. Fewer people are working full-time and/or have permanent employment contracts; more are working part-time, have fixed-term contracts or are self-employed. Many scholars have pointed to the negative consequences of this development, including 'precarious' forms of employment and in-work poverty. This volume provides a thorough theoretical and empirical analysis of these processes by understanding the 'destandardization' of employment in Europe and the associated modifications in socio-economic regulation both at national and EU level. The book provides country studies of the UK, Spain, Germany, Poland, Croatia, and the Nordic countries and offers comparative European analyses of part-time and fixed-term employment in relation to in-work poverty, exclusion and anomie. Emphasis is on 'best practice' in the governance of non-standard employment. Is there evidence for a new and socially inclusive European employment standard?" (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Lisi, Domenico (2013): The impact of temporary employment and employment protection on labour productivity. Evidence from an industry-level panel of EU countries. In: Journal for labour market research, Jg. 46, H. 2, S. 119-144., 2013-01-01. DOI:10.1007/s12651-013-0127-0

Abstract

"In den letzten Jahren ermöglichten neue, auf Branchenebene verfügbare Daten eine genauere Evaluation des Einflusses der Arbeitsmarktpolitik als frühere ländervergleichende Analysen. In diesem Aufsatz wird ein branchenspezifisches Panel genutzt, um den Einfluss des Kündigungsschutzes auf befristete und unbefristete Arbeitsverhältnisse in den EU-Ländern zu ermitteln. Die Vorteile dieser Datengrundlage sind vielfältig. Die Methode nutzt sowohl die internationale Variation beim Kündigungsschutz für befristete und unbefristete Arbeitsverhältnisse als auch die Variation von Branche zu Branche. Im Unterschied zur bisherigen Literatur wenden wir die Idee der unterschiedlichen Bindungskraft des Kündigungsschutzes nur für unbefristete Beschäftigungsverhältnisse an, während wir für befristete Beschäftigungsverhältnisse eine andere Strategie anwenden, die eine genauere Identifikation des Effekts unbefristeter Beschäftigungsverhältnisse auf die Arbeitsproduktivität ermöglicht. Die theoretische Literatur erlaubt noch keine klare Vorhersage zum Vorzeichen dieses Effekts, da unterschiedliche überzeugende Gründe für Effekte in beide Richtungen bestehen. Daher haben die Ergebnisse der Analyse möglicherweise wichtige politische Implikationen. Unsere Haupterkenntnis ist, dass befristete Verträge einen negativen, wenn auch sehr geringen Effekt auf die Arbeitsproduktivität haben. Desweiteren bestätigt die Analyse, dass Kündigungsschutz bei regulären Arbeitsverträgen das Wachstum der Arbeitsproduktivität in den Branchen drosselt, die auf eine stärkere Beschäftigungsallokation angewiesen sind." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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Silva, Jose I. & Javier Vázquez-Grenno (2013): The ins and outs of unemployment in a two-tier labor market. In: Labour economics, Jg. 24, H. October, S. 161-169. DOI:10.1016/j.labeco.2013.08.009

Abstract

"This paper aims to shed some light on the dynamics of the Spanish labor market, using data from the Spanish Labor Force Survey for the period 1987 to 2010. We examine transition rates in a three-state model and compare our results with those reported for the UK and the US. Explicitly, introducing the employment duality present in the Spanish labor market, we study labor market dynamics in a four-state model set-up and we compute the contribution of the different transitions rates to unemployment fluctuations. Our main findings are as follows: i) around 85% the employment - unemployment gross flows involve temporary contracts; ii) the transition rates involving temporary employment account for around 60% of the fluctuations in the unemployment rate; iii) almost 80% of the unemployment rate volatility - explained by movements between unemployment and employment - involves the transition rates to/from temporary jobs. Our overall conclusion points out that the employment duality is the key to understanding the unemployment volatility and the functioning of the Spanish labor market." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Cervini-Pla, Maria & Xavier Ramos (2012): Long-term earnings inequality, earnings instability and temporary employment in Spain. 1993-2000. In: BJIR, Jg. 50, H. 4, S. 714-736. DOI:10.1111/j.1467-8543.2011.00871.x

Abstract

"This article provides a longitudinal perspective on changes in Spanish male earnings inequality for the period 1993-2000 by decomposing the earnings covariance structure into its permanent and transitory parts. Cross-sectional earnings inequality of male full-time employees falls over the second half of the 1990s. Such decline was determined by a decrease in earnings instability and an increase of the permanent earnings component. Given the marked decline in temporary employment over the sample period, we also examine the effect of the type of contract on earnings variance components and find that workers on a fixed-term contract face, on average, more instability than workers on a permanent contract. This evidence suggests that the decline in temporary employment is responsible for the decreasing earnings instability." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Comi, Simona & Mara Grasseni (2012): Are temporary workers discriminated against? Evidence from Europe. In: The Manchester School, Jg. 80, H. 1, S. 28-50. DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9957.2011.02231.x

Abstract

"We analyse the wage gap between temporary and permanent jobs in nine European countries using a semiparametric approach and evaluate the wage gap across the entire wage distribution. We show that in some countries the fixed-term wage gap decreases as higher quantiles are considered, and that having a fixed-term contract penalizes more workers located at the bottom of the earnings distribution. We find also that workers with the same characteristics as temporary workers would receive higher wages if they worked on permanent contracts in almost all the countries considered, and that this finding is stable across the entire wage distribution." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Hohnen, Pernille (2012): Capacities and vulnerabilities in precarious work. The perspective of employees in European low wage work. Synthesis report on employees' experiences and work trajectories for Workpackage 7 of the walqing project. Wien, 174 S.

Abstract

"The report discusses work and life quality in new and growing jobs from an individual perspective. The empirical data on which the analysis is based consists of 22 country reports investigating elderly care, cleaning, catering, waste collection and construction in 11 different countries (4-5 countries per sector, see the matrix table below). Each country report is based on 20-25 individual semi-structured interviews with employees working in the selected sector and business functions.
The report consists of this introduction, five chapters, each focusing on one sector, and a conclusion. The chapters follow the same structure by starting with a brief introduction of the main characteristics of work in the sector. The remaining part of each chapter is organized into four sections. The first concentrates on workers' perceptions of the main quality of work and life issues. Then follows a section on agency, career trajectories and career options. The next section examines vulnerability in work and processes of vulnerabilization in the sector. Finally, the last section discusses workers' aspirations and capacities to aspire, followed by a summary and conclusion. The last concluding chapter discusses cross-sector findings in terms of the impact of new and growing jobs on individual lives, and highlights some trends in the present labour market and their possible implications for vulnerability." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Kahn, Lawrence M. (2012): Temporary jobs and job search effort in Europe. In: Labour economics, Jg. 19, H. 1, S. 113-128. DOI:10.1016/j.labeco.2011.09.001

Abstract

"Using longitudinal data on individuals from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) for eleven countries during 1995 - 2001, I investigate temporary job contract duration and job search effort. The countries are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. I construct a search model for workers in temporary jobs which predicts that shorter duration raises search intensity. Calibration of the model to the ECHP data implies that at least 75% of the increase in search intensity over the life of a 2+ year temporary contract occurs in the last six months of the contract. I then estimate regression models for search effort that control for human capital, pay, local unemployment, and individual and time fixed effects. I find that workers on temporary jobs indeed search harder than those on permanent jobs. Moreover, search intensity increases as temporary job duration falls, and roughly 84% of this increase occurs on average in the shortest duration jobs. These results are robust to disaggregation by gender and by country. These empirical results are noteworthy, since it is not necessary to assume myopia or hyperbolic discounting in order to explain them, although the data clearly also do not rule out such explanations." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Lancker, Wim Van (2012): The European world of temporary employment. In: European Societies, Jg. 14, H. 1, S. 83-111. DOI:10.1080/14616696.2011.638082

Abstract

"Departing from growing concerns about in-work poverty and the proliferation of flexible employment, we investigate the association between temporary employment and poverty in a European comparative perspective. In doing so, we focus specifically on possible gender dimensions, because some are concerned that the impact of flexible employment on income security will be different for men and women and that gender inequality will increase. By means of a logistic multilevel model, we analyse recent EU-SILC data for 24 European countries. The results show that the temporarily employed have a higher poverty risk vis-à-vis permanent workers, mainly caused by lower wages. However, the risk factors to become working poor are similar. The poorly educated, young workers and those living in a single earner household with dependent children have an increased probability to live in poverty, whether they are employed on temporary or permanent basis. Differences between European welfare regimes demonstrate that policy constellations influence the magnitude of these risk factors. Counter-intuitively, temporary working women have a lower poverty risk than their male counterparts. They are better protected because they are more often secondary earners in a dual earning household, while men are more often primary earners. This article advances knowledge on the linkages between temporary employment, economic insecurity and gender differences in European welfare states." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Casquel, Elena & Antoni Cunyat (2011): Temporary contracts, employment protection and skill. An application to Spain. In: The Manchester School, Jg. 79, H. 6, S. 1237-1261. DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9957.2011.02226.x

Abstract

"In this paper we explain the different conversion patterns of temporary contracts by the impact of employment protection in combination with differences in productivity between workers. We use longitudinal survey data from individuals to estimate a competing risks model with multi-spells for Spain. The model includes correlated unobserved determinants in the transition rates to deal with selectivity. We find that workers with higher levels of education have a stronger probability of finding a permanent job. In contrast, low-educated workers have a stronger probability of ending in unemployment or another temporary contract. Furthermore, we show the importance of employment protection in affecting the threshold level above which workers gain access to a permanent contract." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Fernandez-Kranz, Daniel, Marie Paul & Nuria Rodriguez-Planas (2011): Part-time work, fixed-term contracts, and the returns to experience. (IZA discussion paper 5815), Bonn, 31 S.

Abstract

"Using data from Spanish Social Security records, we investigate the returns to experience in different flexible work arrangements, including part-time and full-time work, and permanent and fixed-term contracts. We use a trivariate random effects model which consists of a three equation system that is estimated simultaneously by Markov Chain Monte Carlo techniques. Our results indicate that there is a large pay gap for working part-time which persists many years after having resumed full-time work. We also find that working part-time involves lower returns to experience than standard full-time employment and thus a substantial negative wage differential for those employed part-time accumulates over time. Finally, we find that heterogeneity exist by contract type and motherhood status." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Fernández-Kranz, Daniel & Nuria Rodriguez-Planas (2011): The part-time pay penalty in a segmented labor market. In: Labour economics, Jg. 18, H. 5, S. 591-606. DOI:10.1016/j.labeco.2011.01.001

Abstract

"This paper is the first to examine the implications of switching to PT work for women's subsequent earnings trajectories, distinguishing by their type of contract: permanent or fixed-term. Using a rich longitudinal Spanish data set from Social Security records of over 76,000 prime-aged women strongly attached to the Spanish labor market, we find that the PT/FT hourly wage differential is larger and more persistent among fixed-term contract workers, strengthening the existent evidence that these workers can be classified as secondary. The paper discusses problems arising in empirical estimation (including a problem not discussed in the literature up to now: the differential measurement error of the LHS variable by PT status), and how to address them. It concludes with policy implications relevant for Continental Europe and its dual structure of employment protection." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Marx, Paul (2011): The unequal incidence of non-standard employment across occupational groups. An empirical analysis of post-industrial labour markets in Germany and Europe. (IZA discussion paper 5521), Bonn, 23 S.

Abstract

"The paper addresses an often neglected question in labour market research: to which extent do outcomes aggregated on the national level disguise occupational diversity in employment conditions? In particular, how and why do occupational groups differ with regard to the incidence of non-standard employment? To explore these questions, the paper derives a detailed occupational scheme from the literature, capturing the variety of labour market outcomes within countries. In a second step, the scheme is theoretically linked to the topic of non-standard work. It is argued that different degrees of skill specificity across occupational groups produce diverging incentives for flexible and long-term employment, respectively. This leads to the expectation of (some) service-sector occupations showing stronger tendencies towards non-standard employment than those in the industrial sector. Based on European and German micro data, the categorisation is used to decompose various labour market indicators. The results clearly demonstrate the unequal incidence of non-standard employment along the lines of the suggested categorisation. Moreover, the longitudinal perspective suggests that traditionally functioning occupational groups will be crowded out by more destandardised ones." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Vives, Alejandra, Christophe Vanroelen, Marcelo Amable, Montserrat Ferrer, Salvador Moncada, Clara Llorens, Carles Muntaner, Fernando G. Benavides & Joan Benach (2011): Employment precariousness in Spain. Prevalence, social distribution, and population-attributable risk percent of poor mental health. In: International Journal of Health Services, Jg. 41, H. 4, S. 625-646. DOI:10.2190/HS.41.4.b

Abstract

"As a consequence of labor market flexibilization, nonstandard employment has expanded and standard employment has declined. In many cases, these transformations are best described as an evolution toward precarious employment, which is considered a major determinant of health and health inequalities. Using the Employment Precariousness Scale (EPRES), this study aims to determine the prevalence of precarious employment in the waged and salaried workforce in Spain, to describe its distribution across social groups defined by occupational class, gender, age, and immigrant status, and to estimate the proportion of cases of poor mental health potentially attributable to employment precariousness. Data are from the Psychosocial Work Environment Survey conducted in 2004-5 on a representative sample of the Spanish workforce. Findings indicate a high prevalence of employment precariousness, affecting nearly 6.5 million workers, with almost 900,000 of them exposed to high precariousness. These estimates are higher than the proportion of fixed-term employment reported in regular statistical sources but may today be an underestimation, given the current economic crisis. Additionally, a significant proportion of cases of poor mental health are potentially attributable to employment precariousness. Both the proportion of cases of poor mental health attributable to and the prevalence of employment precariousness were highly unequally distributed across the study sample, indicating that this may be a significant contributor to social inequalities in mental health." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Ricardo Serrano-Padial (2010): Labor market flexibility and poverty dynamics. In: Labour economics, Jg. 17, H. 4, S. 632-642. DOI:10.1016/j.labeco.2010.01.004

Abstract

"The past two decades have witnessed a rapid growth in flexible work arrangements that, in some instances, could expose workers to a higher poverty risk via limited job stability, few advancement opportunities, and low wages. Nowhere in the world has this increase in flexible work arrangements being more evident than in Spain, where about a third of the wage and salary workforce holds fixed-term contracts. Using Spanish panel data and maximum-likelihood binary models that account for state dependence and unobserved heterogeneity, we examine the poverty implications of past and present temporary employment. Our findings suggest that fixed-term contracts are linked to a greater poverty exposure among women and older men relative to open-ended contracts. Furthermore, this greater poverty exposure can last several years due to feedback effects operating via job instability or via the transition to work statuses characterized by higher poverty hazards. Finally, the adverse impact of temporary employment is linked to the short duration of some contracts, thus signaling the importance of work attachment." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Arranz, José M., Carlos Garcia-Serrano & Luis Toharia (2010): The influence of temporary employment on unemployment exits in a competing risks framework. In: Journal of labor research, Jg. 31, H. 1, S. 67-90. DOI:10.1007/s12122-009-9078-1

Abstract

"Using Spanish longitudinal data from the period 1992-2004, this paper examines labour market transitions of the newly unemployed in order to investigate the determinants of unemployment duration in a competing risks framework with four destination states: temporary employment, permanent employment, self-employment and inactivity. Special emphasis is placed on the influence of previous job variables. We find that individuals who become unemployed due to the end of a temporary contract are more likely to exit unemployment by finding another temporary job and less likely to exit through permanent jobs, self-employment or inactivity. However, long tenures in temporary jobs enhance the probability of finding a permanent employment. Moreover, the length of the previous job, when it terminates due to a layoff, hinders the probability of moving to employment (either permanent or temporary)." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Guest, David E., Kerstin Isaksson & Hans De Witte (Hrsg.) (2010): Employment contracts, psychological contracts, and employee well-being. An international study. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 327 S.

Abstract

"Temporary employment has become a focus of policy debate, theory, and research. The book addresses as its core concern the relationship between temporary employment contracts and employee well-being. It does so within the analytic framework of the psychological contract, and advances theory and knowledge about the psychological contract by exploring it from a variety of perspectives. It also sets the psychological contract within the context of a range of other potential influences on work-related well-being including workload, job insecurity, employability, and organizational support. A key aim of the book is to identify the relative importance of these various potential influences on well-being.
The book covers seven countries; Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK, as well as Israel as a comparator outside Europe. Data were collected from over 5,000 workers in over 200 organizations; and from both permanent and temporary workers as well as from employers.
The book's conclusions are interesting and controversial. The central finding is that contrary to expectations, temporary workers report higher well-being than permanent workers. As expected, a range of factors help to explain variations in work-related well-being and the research highlights the important role of the psychological contract. However, even after taking into account alternative explanations, the significant influence of type of employment contract remains, with temporary workers reporting higher well-being. In addition to this core finding, by exploring several aspects of the psychological contract, and taking into account both employer and employee perspectives, the book sheds new light on the nature and role of the psychological contract. It also raises some challenging policy questions and while acknowledging the potentially precarious nature of temporary jobs, highlights the need to consider the increasingly demanding nature of permanent jobs and their effects on the well-being of employees." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Ortiz, Luis (2010): Not the right job, but a secure one: over-education and temporary employment in France, Italy and Spain. In: Work, employment and society, Jg. 24, H. 1, S. 47-64. DOI:10.1177/0950017009353657

Abstract

"Recent educational expansion in many OECD countries has renewed interest in over-education. The educational system has often been highlighted as the main source of over-education, whereas the role of the labour market has been neglected. Using European Community Household Panel data on three countries with similar systems of education but different levels of temporary employment, the association between job security and over-education is explored here. The results show that in quite segmented labour markets, where a permanent contract is an especially valuable asset, human capital might be traded off for job security. Over-education thus becomes paradoxically likelier among permanent workers than among temporary ones." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Jong, Jeroen de, Nele de Cuyper, Hans de Witte, Inmaculada Silla & Claudia Bernhard-Oettel (2009): Motives for accepting temporary employment. A typology. In: International journal of manpower, Jg. 30, H. 3, S. 237-252. DOI:10.1108/01437720910956745

Abstract

"This paper aims to offer a typology of temporary workers, based on their motives for accepting their work arrangement, which includes voluntary, involuntary and stepping-stone motives, and relate this typology to various individual and work-related variables. Latent class analysis of 645 European workers was used to construct a typology of temporary workers. Variation of individual and work-related variables between types of temporary workers was analyzed using ANOVA. The analyses suggest that there are three types of workers: involuntary temporary workers highlight the involuntary motive and the stepping-stone motive; the stepping-stone type stresses the stepping-stone motive only, and the non-involuntary group disagrees with all three motives. Moreover, the groups differed significantly on important work-related variables such as occupational position, tenure, employability, and work-involvement. However, differences in individual variables were limited. The research puts forward a more complex typology of temporary workers than is usually suggested. Moreover, the study shows a non-involuntary group for which temporary employment can become a trap, and hence these workers should be targeted by future policy and interventions. The research offers a typology of temporary workers, which is founded on motivation theory, and existing research on motives for accepting temporary employment." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Leschke, Janine (2009): The segmentation potential of non-standard employment. A four-country comparison of mobility patterns. In: U. Blien, E. Jahn & G. Stephan (Hrsg.) (2009): Unemployment and labour market policies - novel approaches, S. 692-715. DOI:10.1108/01437720910997353

Abstract

"While forms of non-standard employment (which include part-time work and temporary employment) have received active promotion in recent years, possible negative effects emerging from these forms of employment have not been high on the agenda. This paper, accordingly, aims to compare workers with non-standard contracts and those with standard contracts in relation to transitions out of employment into unemployment, inactivity, household/care activities and education/training. Country differences in outcome are expected due to varying regulations of standard and non-standard employment and different reasons for resorting to forms of non-standard employment." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Shire, Karen A., Annika Schönauer, Mireia Valverde & Hannelore Mottweiler (2009): Temporary work in coordinated market economies. Evidence from front-line service workplaces. In: Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Jg. 62, H. 4, S. 602-617.

Abstract

"The growing use of temporary contracts in Europe raises the question of whether long-term employment relations are eroding in coordinated market economies, where protective regulations are historically strong. This paper, using data from establishment-level surveys conducted in 2003 - 2005, examines the institutional and organizational factors that have shaped the extent of use of temporary contracts in call centers in six European countries: Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Spain, and Sweden. While differences in regulatory regimes appear to have influenced employer behavior in some cases, the exceptions are striking, as the countries with the most stringent restrictions on temporary workers were among the heaviest users of such workers. By contrast, firm-level strategies that retained work in-house and invested in work force skills and training were consistent predictors of the use of long-term contracts as opposed to temporary ones." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Vosko, Leah F., Martha MacDonald & Iain Campbell (Hrsg.) (2009): Gender and the contours of precarious employment. (Routledge IAFFE Advances in feminist economics), Abingdon: Routledge, 280 S.

Abstract

"Precarious employment presents a monumental challenge to the social, economic, and political stability of labour markets in industrialized societies and there is widespread consensus that its growth is contributing to a series of common social inequalities, especially along the lines of gender and citizenship. The editors argue that these inequalities are evident at the national level across industrialized countries, as well as at the regional level within federal societies, such as Canada, Germany, the United States, and Australia and in the European Union. This book brings together contributions addressing this issue which include case studies exploring the size, nature, and dynamics of precarious employment in different industrialized countries and chapters examining conceptual and methodological challenges in the study of precarious employment in comparative perspective. The collection aims to yield new ways of understanding, conceptualizing, measuring, and responding, via public policy and other means - such as new forms of union organization and community organizing at multiple scales - to the forces driving labour market insecurity." (text exerp, IAB-Doku)
Content:
Leah F. Vosko, Martha Macdonald, Iain Campbell: Introduction: Gender and the concept of precarious employment (1-25);
Leah F. Vosko, Lisa F. Clark: Canada: Gendered precariousness and social reproduction (26-42);
Francoise Carre; James Heintz: The United States: Different sources of precariousness in a mosaic of employment arrangements (43-59);
Iain Campbell, Gillian Whithouse, Janeen Baxter: Australia: Casual employment, part-time employment and the resilience of the male-breadwinner model (60-75);
Heidi Gottfried: Japan: The reproductive bargain and the making of precarious employment (76-91);
Julia S. O'Connor: Ireland: Precarious employment in the context of the European Employment Strategy (92-107);
Jacqueline O'reilly, John Macinnes, Tizana Nazio, Jose M. Roche: The United Kingdom: From flexible employment to vulnerable workers (108-126);
Susanne D. Burri: The Netherlands: Precarious employment in a context of flexicurity (127-142);
Jeanne Fagnani, Marie-Therese Letablier: France: Precariousness, gender and the challenges for labour market policy (143-158);
John Macinnes: Spain: Continuity and change in precarious employment (159-176);
Claudia Weinkopf: Germany: Precarious employment and the rise of mini-jobs (177-193);
Inger Jonsson Anita Nyberg: Sweden: Precarious work and precarious unemployment (194-210);
Martha Macdonald. Spatial dimensions of gendered precariousness: Challenges for comparative analysis (211-225);
Sylvia Fuller: investigating longitudinal dimensions of precarious employment: Conceptual and practical issues (226-239);
Wallace Clement, Sophie Mathieu, Steven Prus Emre Uckardesler: Precarious lives in the new economy: Comparative intersectional analysis (240-255);
Pat Armstrong, Hugh Armstrong: Precarious employment in the health-care sector (256-270)

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Alonso, Luis Enrique & Carlos Fernandez Rodriguez (2008): Emploi et précarité des jeunes en Espagne. In: Travail et emploi H. 115, S. 71-80.

Abstract

"This paper focuses in employment and employment conditions among young people in Spain. We will approach this subject by placing it in the context of the transition from Fordism to PostFordism, which characterizes the Western economies. We start showing the specificity of that transition in the spanish case. Then we will see how in the past three decades has occurred in Spain a deep reform of the labour market regulation that has consisted of introducing flexibility in the business management of employment, and how it has affected mainly the young people. We will approach after the conditions of employment that have suffered the generations of young people who entered into the labour market since the eighties. We will conclude the article showing that the labour juvenile precarization has, among other negative effects, to prolong the stay in the homes of origin and delay the final emancipation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina, Miguel A. Malo & Fernando Munoz-Bullon (2008): The role of temporary help agency employment on temp-to-perm transitions. In: Journal of labor research, Jg. 29, H. 2, S. 138-161. DOI:10.1007/s12122-007-9041-y

Abstract

"This paper evaluates the impact of agency work on temporary workers' posterior likelihood of being hired on a permanent basis. We use administrative data on two groups of temporary workers for whom we have complete work histories since they are first observed in 1998 until the year 2004. One group consists of workers employed through a temporary help agency (THA) at some point during the 7 year period under examination (treated group). The other group is composed of individuals employed as direct-hire temps at some point between 1998 and the year 2004, but never via a THA (control group). Using propensity score matching methods, we find that agency workers endure a lower likelihood of being hired on a permanent basis following their temporary assignment than their direct-hire counterparts. However, there are relevant differences for some groups of workers." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Diaz, M. Angeles & Rosario Sanchez (2008): Temporary contracts and young women in Spain. In: Applied Economics, Jg. 40, H. 11, S. 1435-1442. DOI:10.1080/00036840600771387

Abstract

"In this article we analyse the determinants of temporary employment through a balanced panel of workers from 1995 to 2000. First, we estimate a panel with 1267 individuals with ages ranging from 16 to 65 years. We obtain that the probability of having a temporary contract increases for people younger than 46 years old. Secondly, we estimate separately the sample of people younger than 46 years old and we obtain that the probability of temporality increases for young people with university level of education. More interestedly, the probability of being in a temporary contract is smaller for young women that for young men in Spain." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Gash, Vanessa, Antje Mertens & Laura Romeu Gordo (2008): Gesundheitliche Auswirkungen befristeter Verträge in Deutschland und Spanien. In: K.- S. Rehberg (Hrsg.) (2008): Die Natur der Gesellschaft : Verhandlungen des 33. Kongresses der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Soziologie in Kassel 2006, S. 4418-4428.

Abstract

"Wie zahlreiche Studien zeigen, kann der Verlust des Arbeitsplatzes sowohl die psychische als auch die physische Gesundheit negativ beeinflussen. Einen zentralen Erklärungsfaktor bildet hierbei die soziale Dynamik der Beschäftigung, die positive Auswirkungen auf das Selbstwertgefühl der Beschäftigten und deren Wohlbefinden haben kann. Allerdings zeichnet sich durch die zunehmende Liberalisierung der Arbeitsmärkte und die Einführung von Befristungsmöglichkeiten seit Mitte der 1980er Jahre ein Wandel im Charakter der Beschäftigungsverhältnisse ab. Die Implikationen dieser Veränderungen scheinen jedoch länderspezifisch zu sein. So wird vermutet, dass die lediglich partielle Deregulierung in 'rigiden' Volkswirtschaften wie Deutschland und Spanien zu Segmentation auf dem Arbeitsmarkt führt. In diesem Beitrag untersuchen wir für Deutschland und Spanien - also zwei 'rigide' Länder -, ob die mit befristeten Verträgen einhergehende Unsicherheit die positiven gesundheitlichen Auswirkungen von Beschäftigung reduziert." (Textauszug, IAB-Doku)

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Leschke, Janine (2008): Unemployment insurance and non-standard employment. Four European countries in comparison. (VS research), Wiesbaden: VS, Verl. für Sozialwissenschaften, 262 S.

Abstract

Die Bedeutung atypischer Beschäftigung hat in den letzten Jahrzehnten zugenommen. In dem Buch wird zwei Fragen nachgegangen: Ist das Risiko der Arbeitslosigkeit für Teilzeit- und Leiharbeitnehmer größer als für Beschäftigte in Normalarbeitsverhältnissen? Und inwieweit sind diese benachteiligt hinsichtlich Leistungsanspruch und Leistungshöhe von Arbeitslosenunterstützung? Die Gestaltung des Systems der Arbeitslosenunterstützung in Dänemark, Deutschland, Spanien und Großbritannien wird verglichen. Nach einer Diskussion der Entwicklung und des Stellenwertes atypischer Beschäftigung in diesen Ländern werden die relevanten Merkmale des Versicherungssystems untersucht, z. B. Schwellenwerte für Arbeitszeit und Einkommen und Anforderungen bezüglich Mindestbeitragseinzahlung. Die Analyse zeigt, dass die Wahrscheinlichkeit, arbeitslos zu werden für atypisch Beschäftigte höher ist, und dass sie bezüglich Anspruch auf Arbeitslosenunterstützung benachteiligt sind. (IAB)

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Miguelez, Fausto & Carlos Prieto (2008): L'autre coté de la croissance de l'emploi en Espagne. Une précarité qui se perpétue. In: Travail et emploi H. 115, S. 45-57.

Abstract

"The important growth of employment in Spain in 1994s was accompanied by a strong precarity. This paper highlights its most important features and gives a definition of precarity in employment as it is understood in spanish scientific circles. It empazises how in Spain during the last decades occured a deep change in social norms of employment. This has showed the way at normalisation of types of temporary employment. Concretly, this normalisation was followed by an important increase in short times contracts as well as poor employment conditions. Finaly, it shows how and why precarity continued though an important growth of employment, the unemployment decrease and public policies to reduce precarity." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Ricardo Serrano-Padial (2007): Wage growth implications of fixed-term employment. An analysis by contract duration and job mobility. In: Labour economics, Jg. 14, H. 5, S. 829-847. DOI:10.1016/j.labeco.2006.09.001

Abstract

"Focusing on Spain, where fixed-term workers account for a third of the wage and salary workforce, we examine the wage growth implications of fixed-term employment of varying duration while distinguishing between wage growth occurring on-the-job versus via job mobility. Wage growth among employees with indefinite work contracts largely occurs via job mobility, whereas fixed-term workers gain via job mobility as well as on-the-job. Consequently, job stayers with fixed-term contracts a year ago narrow their wage gap with respect to similar counterparts with indefinite-term contracts. Yet, this effect is solely driven by the 10.5 percentage points higher wage growth experienced by fixed-term workers with 6-months contracts able to keep their jobs beyond their initial contract period. Given the limited number of short-term temporary workers in those circumstances, the overall wage gap between past fixed-term and indefinite-term workers is unlikely to vanish in the near future." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Blazquez Cuesta, Maite & Nuria Elena Ramos Martin (2007): Part-time employment. A comparative analysis of Spain and the Netherlands. (AIAS working paper 55), Amsterdam, 59 S.

Abstract

"Most industrialized countries have seen part-time employment as a percentage of total employment increase in the last decade. This paper presents the results of a comparative study of part-time employment in Spain and the Netherlands. The project comprised a legal comparative study of the effectiveness of the normative solutions provided by the Dutch and Spanish legal orders regarding the protection of part-time workers and the promotion of part-time employment, with special attention paid to the gender dimension of part-time work in both countries; and an analysis, based on data extracted from the European Community Household Panel (1995-2001), of the determinants of part-time employment in both countries and an examination of the extent to which part-time jobs are used as stepping-stones to full-time positions. We found significant country differences regarding females' decisions to take part-time jobs. We also found that, in general, Dutch females are not less likely than their male counterparts to increase the number of hours they work. However, this applies only to those females who are part of a couple or have children younger than 12 years. In Spain, females are 2.6 times less likely than their male counterparts to switch from a part-time to a full-time job." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Gash, Vanessa, Antje Mertens & Laura Romeu Gordo (2007): Are fixed-term jobs bad for your health? A comparison of West-Germany and Spain. In: European Societies, Jg. 9, H. 3, S. 429-458. DOI:10.1080/14616690701314150

Abstract

Der Beitrag analysiert die gesundheitlichen Auswirkungen befristeter Arbeitsverträge für Männer und Frauen in Westdeutschland und Spanien auf der Basis eines repräsentativen Datenpanels. Die Frage lautet, ob der Wandel der Beschäftigungsverhältnisse als Folge einer Liberalisierung der Arbeitsgesetzgebung Veränderungen der positiven gesundheitlichen Auswirkungen, die von einem Arbeitsverhältnis ausgehen (Goldsmith et al. 1996; Jahoda 1982) bewirken. Unter Nutzung von Informationen über Wechsel zwischen Arbeitslosigkeit und Beschäftigungsverhältnis je nach Art des Arbeitsvertrages wird analysiert, ob der Übergang in unterschiedliche Vertragsverhältnisse auch unterschiedliche gesundheitliche Auswirkungen hat. Es zeigt sich, dass für arbeitslose Arbeiter die Arbeitsaufnahme positive gesundheitliche Auswirkungen hat, sich dieser Effekt aber bei Arbeitern, die einen befristeten Job annehmen, verringert. Hinzukommen überraschende Unterschiede nach Geschlecht und Land, wobei Frauen in der Regel weniger über positive gesundheitliche Auswirkungen einer Arbeitsaufnahme berichten. Dieses Ergebnis fand für Westdeutschland seine Erklärung als Folge der Doppelbelastung von bezahlter Arbeit und unbezahlter Betreuungsarbeit im Haushalt. (IAB)

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Güella, Maia & Barbara Petrongolo (2007): How binding are legal limits? Transitions from temporary to permanent work in Spain. In: Labour economics, Jg. 14, H. 2, S. 153-183. DOI:10.1016/j.labeco.2005.09.001

Abstract

"This paper studies the duration pattern of fixed-term contracts and the determinants of their conversion into permanent ones in Spain, where the share of fixed-term employment is the highest in Europe. We estimate a duration model for temporary employment, with competing risks of terminating into permanent employment versus alternative states, and flexible duration dependence. We find that conversion rates are generally below 10%. Our estimated conversion rates roughly increase with tenure, with a pronounced spike at the legal limit, when there is no legal way to retain the worker on a temporary contract. We argue that estimated differences in conversion rates across categories of workers can stem from differences in worker outside options and thus the power to credibly threat to quit temporary jobs." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Leschke, Janine (2007): Are unemployment insurance systems in Europe adapting to news risks arising from nonstandard employment? (Universite Libre, Bruxelles, Departement d'Economie Appliquee. Working paper RS 07-05), Brüssel, 48 S.

Abstract

"This paper addresses the question to what extent social protection systems in different European countries do succeed in coping with the risks arising from non-standard forms of employment. Focusing on the examples of part-time and temporary employment, the paper will examine exclusionary transitions and the access to unemployment insurance benefits of workers concerned by these forms of employment. The European Community Household Panel Data (ECHP) will be used. The general hypothesis is that the adaptability of unemployment insurance systems varies between welfare regimes. Therefore, four countries will be compared: Denmark, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Mertens, Antje, Vanessa Gash & Frances McGinnity (2007): The cost of flexibility at the margin. Comparing the wage penalty for fixed-term contracts in Germany and Spain using quantile regression. In: Labour, Jg. 21, H. 4/5, S. 637-666.

Abstract

"Germany and Spain are typically regarded as 'rigid' economies, yet both have had different experiences of fixed-term jobs. Using quantile regression we find that in West Germany the earnings of permanent and fixed-term workers are most similar among high earners and most dissimilar among low earners. In Spain, the wage penalty shows little variation across the distribution of wages. This pattern was also found for different occupational groups, although there are clear differences in the absolute wage penalty across occupations. In conclusion we caution against generalizing findings from Spain to other 'rigid' European labour markets." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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O'Dorchai, Sile, Robert Plasman & François Rycx (2007): The part-time wage penalty in European countries. How large is it for men? (IZA discussion paper 2591), Bonn, 34 S.

Abstract

"Economic theory advances a number of reasons for the existence of a wage gap between part-time and full-time workers. Empirical work has concentrated on the wage effects of part-time work for women. For men, much less empirical evidence exists, mainly because of lacking data. In this paper, we take advantage of access to unique harmonised matched employer-employee data (i.e. the 1995 European Structure of Earnings Survey) to investigate the magnitude and sources of the part-time wage penalty for male workers in six European countries (i.e. Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Spain, and the UK). Findings show that the raw gap in hourly gross pay amounts to 16 per cent of male part-timer's wage in Spain, to 24 per cent in Belgium, to 28 per cent in Denmark and Italy, to 67 per cent in the UK and to 149 per cent in Ireland. Human capital differences explain between 31 per cent of the observed wage gap in the UK and 71 per cent in Denmark. When a larger set of control variables is taken into account (including occupation, industry, firm size, and level of wage bargaining), a much smaller part of the gap remains unexplained by differences in observed characteristics (except in Italy). Overall, results suggest that policy initiatives to promote lifelong learning and training are of great importance to help part-timers catch up. Moreover, except for Italy, they point to a persisting problem of occupational and sectoral segregation between men working part-time and full-time which requires renewed policy attention." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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Pedersen, Henrik Stener, Claus Bo Hansen & Susan Mahler (2007): Temporary agency work in the European Union. Dublin, 18 S.

Abstract

"Overall dissatisfaction with their working conditions and job situation among temporary agency workers would seem to indicate the existence of poor working conditions among this group. However, specific health and quality of work indicators paint a more ambiguous picture. They reveal that the main reasons behind this dissatisfaction are the insecurity inherent in this form of employment and the fact that temporary agency work may often be taken up involuntarily.
The purpose of this report is to study the relationship between TAW and the working conditions and health impacts for the workers. It also aims to promote European learning in relation to TAW through presenting national experiences and good practices. The report has been prepared for the European Working Conditions Observatory (EWCO). The information mainly derives from official national surveys as well as from qualitative studies provided by a network of seven European correspondents. These studies were based on a questionnaire prepared by the report coordinator. The seven countries initially engaged in EWCO are: Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. Results from pan-European sources and, in particular, the European working conditions survey 2000 are included when relevant as a framework for discussion of the national findings." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Alvarez, Fernando & Marcelo Veracierto (2006): Fixed-term employment contracts in an equilibrium search model. (NBER working paper 12791), Cambridge, Mass., 37 S., Anhang. DOI:10.3386/w12791

Abstract

"Fixed-term employment contracts have been introduced in number of European countries as a way to provide flexibility to economies with high employment protection levels. We introduce these contracts into the equilibrium search model in Alvarez and Veracierto (1999), a version of the Lucas and Prescott island model, adapted to have undirected search and variable labor force participation. We model a contract of length J as a tax on separations of workers with tenure higher than J. We show a version of the welfare theorems, and characterize the efficient allocations. This requires solving a control problem, whose solution is characterized by two dimensional inaction sets. For J=1 these contracts are equivalent to the case of firing taxes, and for large J they are equivalent to the laissez-faire case. In a calibrated verion of the model, we find that temporary contracts with J equivalent to three years length close about half of the gap between those two extremes." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Gash, Vanessa, Antje Mertens & Laura Romeu Gordo (2006): Are fixed-term jobs bad for your health? A comparison of West-Germany and Spain. (IAB-Discussion Paper 08/2006), Nürnberg, 36 S.

Abstract

Der Beitrag analysiert die gesundheitlichen Auswirkungen befristeter Arbeitsverträge für Männer und Frauen in Westdeutschland und Spanien auf der Basis eines repräsentativen Datenpanels. Die Frage lautet, ob der Wandel der Beschäftigungsverhältnisse als Folge einer Liberalisierung der Arbeitsgesetzgebung Veränderungen der positiven gesundheitlichen Auswirkungen, die von einem Arbeitsverhältnis ausgehen (Goldsmith et al. 1996; Jahoda 1982) bewirken. Unter Nutzung von Informationen über Wechsel zwischen Arbeitslosigkeit und Beschäftigungsverhältnis je nach Art des Arbeitsvertrages wird analysiert, ob der Übergang in unterschiedliche Vertragsverhältnisse auch unterschiedliche gesundheitliche Auswirkungen hat. Es zeigt sich, dass für arbeitslose Arbeiter die Arbeitsaufnahme positive gesundheitliche Auswirkungen hat, sich dieser Effekt aber bei Arbeitern, die einen befristeten Job annehmen, verringert. Hinzukommen überraschende Unterschiede nach Geschlecht und Land, wobei Frauen in der Regel weniger über positive gesundheitliche Auswirkungen einer Arbeitsaufnahme berichten. Dieses Ergebnis fand für Westdeutschland seine Erklärung als Folge der Doppelbelastung von bezahlter Arbeit und unbezahlter Betreuungsarbeit im Haushalt. (IAB)

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Polavieja, Javier G. (2006): The incidence of temporary employment in advanced economies. Why is Spain different? In: European Sociological Review, Jg. 22, H. 1, S. 61-78. DOI:10.1093/esr/jci042

Abstract

"This study analyses the determinants of the rate of temporary employment in 15 advanced economies using both macro-level data drawn from the OECD and EUROSTAT databases, as well as micro-level data drawn from the eighth wave of the European Household Panel. Comparative analysis is set out to test different explanations originally formulated for the Spanish case. The evidence suggests that the overall distribution of temporary employment in the analysed countries does not seem to be explicable by the characteristics of national productive structures. This evidence seems at odds with previous interpretations based on segmentation theories. As an alternative explanation, two types of supply-side factors are tested: crowding-out effects and educational gaps in the workforce. Both seem ill suited to explain the distribution of temporary work in the analysed economies. Institutional factors do, however, seem to play an important role. Multivariate analysis shows that the level of institutional protection in standard employment during the 1980s, together with the degree of coordinated centralization of the collective bargaining system, seem to have a significant impact on the distribution of temporary employment in the countries examined. Yet these institutional variables alone still fail to account for the Spanish difference. The Spanish puzzle seems, however, explicable when an interaction between employment protection in standard contracts and unemployment shocks is accounted for. This interaction is expected from a theoretical standpoint and proves consistent with both country-specific and comparative evidence." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Regalia, Ida (Hrsg.) (2006): Regulating new forms of employment. Local experiments and social innovation in Europe. London u.a.: Routledge, 289 S.

Abstract

"Using a comparative framework, this new volume focuses on how non-standard employment can be regulated in very different social, political and institutional settings. After surveying these new forms of work and the new demands for labour-market regulation, the authors identify possible solutions among local-level actors and provide a detailed analysis of how firms assess the advantages and disadvantages of flexible forms of employment. The authors provide six detailed case studies to examine the successes and failures of experimental approaches and social innovation in various regions in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Hernanz, Virginia, Federica Origo, Manuela Samek & Luis Toharia (2005): Dreaming of a stable job: The transitions of temporary workers in Italy and Spain. (TLM.NET working paper 2005-20), Amsterdam, 24 S.

Abstract

"The aim of this paper is to shed further light on transitions made by workers in Italy and Spain from temporary to stable employment. The analysis focuses on a comparison of involuntary temporary workers (i.e., individuals working on a fixed-term basis only, because they could not find permanent employment), with both other temporary workers and the unemployed. Not surprisingly, the rate of involuntary temporary employment is extremely high in both Italy and Spain (in 2002, 41% of Italian and 70% of Spanish temporary workers aged 15-64 were involuntary, compared to the EU average of 34%), despite the different incidence of overall temporary work between the two nations (around 10% of total employment in Italy, 30% in Spain). Institutional similarities between Italy and Spain (i.e., tight labour market regulation, extended family networks with low female participation rates, and important internal regional differences), in addition to their distinct policies towards temporary employment, make them ideal cases for studying the shifts made by workers from temporary to more stable jobs. Empirical analysis of longitudinal micro-data drawn from Italian and Spanish Labour Force surveys, reveals two different models. The Italian unemployed are in fact less likely to find a job than their Spanish counterparts, but they are more likely to get a stable job than a temporary one. Furthermore, temporary employees in Italy have a significant probability of obtaining a stable job and a relatively low probability of falling into unemployment. In sharp contrast, the unemployed in Spain are more likely to find temporary jobs than remain jobless, but once working have few options for upward mobility and seem to get 'stuck', at least in the short term. Econometric estimates demonstrate that temporary workers in both countries are actually more likely to get a stable job than are the unemployed, but no significant differences seem to emerge between involuntary and other temporary employees. Nonetheless, the marginal effect of temporary work experience (holding other factors constant) is much higher in Italy than in Spain (0.26 vs. 0.03). Furthermore, the positive effect of temporary work experience may be slightly higher (at least in the case of Italy) if unobserved heterogeneity is taken into account, suggesting the existence of negative (self-) selection into temporary employment. This may be due to the fact that, holding other observable characteristics constant, some individuals (whose unobserved characteristics make them more likely to get a stable job) prefer to remain unemployed (presumably waiting for a stable job) than to accept a temporary employment position." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Francesconi, Marco & Carlos Garcia-Serrano (2004): Unions and flexible employment in Britain and Spain. A descriptive note. In: Industrial relations, Jg. 43, H. 4, S. 874-882.

Abstract

"Spain and Britain are known to have different labor market structures and degrees of employment protection. Despite such differences, they show remarkably similar associations of unionization with temporary employment and nonstandard hours of work. In particular, we find that unionization in both countries is correlated neither with overtime/long hours of work nor temporary employment. In both economies, instead, part-time work is negatively associated with unionization. These cross-national similarities warrant a rethinking of the strategies of enlargement toward flexible forms of work that unions have supposedly adopted in recent years." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Garcia-Serrano, Carlos (2004): Temporary employment, working conditions and expected exits from firms. In: Labour, Jg. 18, H. 2, S. 293-316.

Abstract

"This paper analyses two issues related to working conditions and temporary employment. First, why do temporary workers exhibit lower scores in objective indicators of working life? Second, what is the influence of working conditions on mobility? Using information for Spanish workers, the results indicate that differences in working conditions remain after controlling for individual, job and firm characteristics: in particular, temporary workers with short job tenure seem to occupy jobs with poorer working conditions. Moreover, there is evidence that workers with worse working life are more likely to expect to leave their current firms." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Laparra, Miguel (2004): Managing labour market related risks in Europe. Policy implications. Pamplona u.a., 130 S.

Abstract

Die Studie wurde im Rahmen des Projekts ESCOPE erstellt, dessen Zielsetzung es ist, zu einem besseren vergleichenden Verständnis und zu einer besseren vergleichenden Bewertung sogenannter 'prekärer Beschäftigungsverhältnisse' als einer der Hauptaspekte sozialer und sozioökonomischer Unsicherheit und Risiken in Europa beizutragen. Leitende Forschungsfragen sind: Was wird unter 'prekären Beschäftigungsverhältnissen' sowohl seitens der Arbeitsmarktforschung als auch der Politik in fünf untersuchten Ländern (Frankreich, Deutschland, Italien, Spanien, Großbritannien) aber auch auf europäischer und internationaler Ebene verstanden? Welches sind die Hauptmerkmale der Formen prekärer Beschäftigungsverhältnisse und wie wirken sich sektorale Faktoren und nationale Regulierungen aus? Welches Verständnis von 'prekärer Beschäftigung' könnte sowohl aus wissenschaftlicher als auch aus operationaler Hinsicht besser geeignet sein, angemessene Maßnahmen seitens der Politik in Gang zu setzen? Unter dieser Zielsetzung ist der Projektbericht in vier Teile gegliedert: Der erste Teil umfasst eine Bestandsaufnahme der Literatur zu Inhalt und Bedeutung prekärer Beschäftigung, daran schließt ein Überblick über Umfang und Formen derartiger Beschäftigungsverhältnisse an, gefolgt von einer Analyse der Ursachen und Umstände prekärer Beschäftigung in Form von Fallstudien in den fünf Ländern. Abschließend werden die politischen Implikationen der Untersuchungsergebnisse auf europäischer Ebene diskutiert. (IAB)

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Valdés Dal-Ré, Fernando (2004): The difficulty of reconciling flexibility and security in Spain: the paradigmatic case of part-time work. In: Transfer, Jg. 10, H. 2, S. 248-262. DOI:10.1177/102425890401000208

Abstract

"Zwischen 1984 und 1993 haben sich die Teilzeitbeschäftigungsquoten in Spanien verdreifacht. Die zunehmende Verbreitung von Teilzeitarbeit war Ausdruck der in diesem Zeitraum und darüber hinaus geführten Beschäftigungspolitik die darauf abzielte, ein Höchstmaß an Flexibilität beim Abschluss von Arbeitsverträgen, d.h. sowohl Vollzeit- als auch Teilzeitverträgen, zu gewähren. Teilzeitarbeit war und ist in gewissem Maße auch heute noch mit einer hohen Beschäftigungsunsicherheit verbunden. Der Beitrag untersucht die aufeinander folgenden und zum Teil widersprüchlichen Maßnahmen, die seit 1994 von den Sozialpartnern und der Regierung ergriffen wurden, um die Qualität und die Sicherheit der Teilzeitarbeit zu erhöhen. Er befasst sich mit der Frage, inwieweit diese Maßnahmen ihre Ziele erreicht haben." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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Zachert, Ulrich (2004): Kündigungsschutz, Befristung und Leiharbeit in Europa. In: WSI-Mitteilungen, Jg. 57, H. 3, S. 132-137.

Abstract

"Die vergleichende Untersuchung der normativen und tatsächlichen Lage in verschiedenen europäischen Ländern gibt Anhaltspunkte dafür, dass viele gegen die bestehenden Schutzstandards in der nationalen Debatte wiederholt vorgetragenen Argumente entweder unrichtig oder undifferenziert sind. Der Beitrag bietet eine Darstellung der rechtlichen Aspekte des Kündigungsschutzes (z.B. das Verhältnis zwischen Richterrecht und Gesetzesrecht, die Regelung von Schwellenwerten und Abfindungen und Prekaritätsabfindungen, die Möglichkeit der Weiterbeschäftigung und die Präventivfunktion) und ergänzt diese um eine Darstellung der rechtlichen Regelungen zur Befristung und Leiharbeit. Dabei wird untersucht, dass die atypischen Beschäftigungsformen als Ausweichstrategie für zu rigiden Kündigungsschutz genutzt werden können oder aber als Brücke zum Dauerarbeitsvertrag oder Drehtüreffekt dienen. Ein wesentliches Ergebnis des Beitrags ist, dass der Zusammenhang zwischen Arbeitsmarkt und Regulierungsintensität der Beendigungstatbestände in der (fach-)öffentlichen Diskussion stark überschätzt wird." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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Bergström, Ola & Donald Storrie (Hrsg.) (2003): Contingent employment in Europe and the United States. Cheltenham u.a.: Elgar, 256 S.

Abstract

"The book examines the developments in labour markets in advanced economies in the 21st century, as regards contingent employment. This is defined as employment relationships that can be terminated with minimal costs within a predetermined period of time. This includes fixed-term contracts, temporary agency work and self-employment. Contingent employment has been the subject of much legislative activity in the last decade, at both the national and European level. Temporary agency work, in particular, has recently been extensively deregulated in most European countries and currently we await the fate of a proposed EU directive on agency work. Using evidence from Germany, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, the UK and the US, the authors assess the increasing use of contingent employment against the legislative and institutional background in these countries. The European countries represent a wide range of regulatory regimes within the European Union, and comparison with the United States, where contingent employment is least regulated, is a useful feature of the book. Some emphasis is placed on the role of temporary work agencies. This is not only due to recent spate of legislation but also because agency work is the type of contingent employment that grew most rapidly in the last decade, it is a relatively novel form of employment, and has several interesting theoretical features." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku)

Zitatform

Booth, Alison L., Juan J. Dolado, Jeff Frank, Marco Francesconi, Olivier Blanchard, Augustin Landier, Bertil Holmlund, Donald Storrie, Carlos Garcia-Serrano & Juan F. Jimeno (2002): Symposium on temporary work. In: The economic journal, Jg. 112, H. 480, S. 181-295.

Abstract

"This symposium gathers together comparative evidence on the nature and evolution of temporary work in countries with different regulatory frameworks and different labour market conditions. Some of the evidence is microeconomic, providing information on the extent to which temporary jobs are 'good' or 'bad' in terms of worker compensation and career possibilities. Other evidence is macroeconomic, and sheds light both on forces that may explain the rise in temporary work and on the consequences of an increased prevalence of temporaty jobs. The four papers in the symposium examine temporary work in four EU countries: Britain, France, Spain and Sweden. The reason for looking across countries is that the differing institutions in each country - notably the degree of employment protection - allow as to examine different features of temporary work. Overall, the papers in this symposium suggest that the expansion of temporary jobs as a way of increasing labour market flexibility may be undesirable. In the absence of strong employment protection for permanent jobs, as in Britain, temporary jobs are - from worker's perspective - bad jobs, with possible long-term career implications, in particular for men. Even where there is strong EPL for permanent jobs - as in France - the expansion of temporary jobs may be undesirable, leading to high turnover among younger workers. The Swedish study, investigating the causes of the rapid growth in temporary work over the 1990s, suggests that adverse macroeconomic shocks can trigger substantial increases in temporary work. Finally, the Spanish study shows that, once temporary jobs are entrenched in a dual labour market, later reforms to restrict their growth can be unsuccessful, indicating that attempts to reduce firing costs for permanent contracts have so far been insufficient." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Bielenski, Harald (1993): Betriebliche Erfahrungen mit atypischen Arbeitsformen. Ergebnisse einer Repräsentativerhebung in acht europäischen Ländern. In: Mitteilungen aus der Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Jg. 26, H. 3, S. 375-385.

Abstract

Um empirisch fundierte Aussagen zu den Entwicklungspotentialen von vier ausgewählten atypischen Arbeitsformen machen zu können, wurde 1989/90 eine international angelegte Repräsentativbefragung durchgeführt. Befragt wurden Manager und - soweit vorhanden - Arbeitnehmervertreter in 3520 privatwirtschaftlichen Betrieben aus acht europäischen Ländern. Ziel der Untersuchung war es herauszufinden, in welchem Ausmaß atypische Arbeitsformen in den Betrieben angewendet werden und wie Manager und Arbeitnehmervertreter aufgrund ihrer Erfahrungen Teilzeitarbeit, befristete Arbeitsverträge, Samstags- und Abendarbeit bewerten. Der internationale Vergleich zeigt, daß die Verbreitung und Bewertung insbesondere von befristeten Arbeitsverträgen und Teilzeitarbeit stark von den jeweiligen rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen abhängt. Dies bedeutet, daß es in relativ breitem Umfang möglich ist, durch politische Maßnahmen - insbesondere durch eine entsprechende Ausgestaltung des Arbeits- und Sozialrechts - die Attraktivität und damit auch die Verbreitung dieser atypischen Arbeitsformen zu fördern oder zu bremsen. Entwicklungschancen werden vor allem bei der Teilzeitarbeit gesehen. Sowohl seitens der Arbeitgeber als auch seitens der Arbeitnehmer besteht ein großes und bei weitem noch nicht ausgeschöpftes Interesse an dieser Arbeitsform. Für beide Seiten kann Teilzeitarbeit große Vorteile mit sich bringen. Die gegenwärtige Praxis ist allerdings durch die Tatsache geprägt, daß zumindest teilweise Arbeitgeberinteressen auf Kosten der Arbeitnehmer durchgesetzt werden. Bei befristeten Arbeitsverträgen sowie bei Samstags- und Abendarbeit decken sich dagegen die Interessen von Arbeitgebern und Arbeitnehmern nur in Ausnahmefällen. Einer stärkeren Verbreitung dieser atypischen Arbeitsformen dürften daher auf Dauer relativ enge Grenzen gesetzt sein. (IAB)