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Author: Akerlof, George A.
Resulting in 3 citations.
1. Akerlof, George A.
Main, Brian G.
An Experience-Weighted Measure of Employment and Unemployment Durations
American Economic Review 71,5 (December 1981): 1003-1011.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1803481
Cohort(s): Older Men
Publisher: American Economic Association
Keyword(s): Job Tenure; Job Turnover; Unemployment Duration

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This study displays empirical estimates of a measure of the average length of a spell in which an employment-year and unemployment-week is utilized. The results show that unemployment durations are all longer by large multiples. Most employment experience is spent in jobs that are quite long. Even though there may be less permanence than previous times, the average male is employed in a job of long standing; therefore, there exists a considerable degree of permanence in the labor market.
Bibliography Citation
Akerlof, George A. and Brian G. Main. "An Experience-Weighted Measure of Employment and Unemployment Durations." American Economic Review 71,5 (December 1981): 1003-1011.
2. Akerlof, George A.
Main, Brian G.
Maximum Likelihood Estimation with Pooled Observations: An Example from Labor Economics
International Economic Review 21,3 (October 1980): 507-515.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2526348
Cohort(s): Older Men
Publisher: U.S. International Trade Commission
Keyword(s): Data Quality/Consistency; Employment; Longitudinal Data Sets; Research Methodology; Unemployment

The difficulty of pooled observations in a data base arises when, for each sample point, some characteristic is measured exactly up to a certain level, but no record is made if the characteristic should exceed that boundary. This poses obvious problems if it is desired to perform a maximum likelihood estimate of the probability of an event. It is shown that whereas most researchers use ad hoc methods, it is possible to solve this problem by a non-ad hoc procedure which is illustrated by an example from labor economics. The example arises from a study of the weekly probability of transition from employment to unemployment using the NLS of Older Men. It is assumed that the probability of predicting whether an individual will be employed or unemployed in the following week can be represented as a logistic function of personal characteristics. A method is illustrated by which pooled data can be incorporated into maximum likelihood estimation in an exact fashion.
Bibliography Citation
Akerlof, George A. and Brian G. Main. "Maximum Likelihood Estimation with Pooled Observations: An Example from Labor Economics." International Economic Review 21,3 (October 1980): 507-515.
3. Akerlof, George A.
Rose, Andrew K.
Yellen, Janet L.
Waiting for Work
NBER Working Paper No. 3385 (June 1990). Also Working Paper, University of California - Berkeley, April 2002.
Also: http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/arose/waitwork.pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Author
Keyword(s): Business Cycles; Mobility; Mobility, Job; Skilled Workers; Unemployment

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This paper was prepared for Imperfect Economics: Essays in Honor of Joseph Stiglitz. It is adapted from our earlier unpublished paper with the same title, NBER Working Paper No. 3385, May 1990.

This paper explains upward job mobility and observed patterns of unemployment by skill as an economy recovers from a recession. Skilled unemployment is due to rational waiting by workers looking for long-term jobs when there is a 'lock-in' effect. Lock-in occurs if the conditions in the labor market when a worker first accepts a job have a persistent effect on wages. Using data from the NLSY, the authors provide empirical evidence of the cyclical pattern of wages predicted by the theory and also of lock-in.

Bibliography Citation
Akerlof, George A., Andrew K. Rose and Janet L. Yellen. "Waiting for Work." NBER Working Paper No. 3385 (June 1990). Also Working Paper, University of California - Berkeley, April 2002.