Search Results

Author: Holzer, Harry J.
Resulting in 14 citations.
1. Hill, Carolyn J.
Holzer, Harry J.
Labor Market Experiences and Transitions to Adulthood
Working Paper #06-32, The National Poverty Center, University of Michigan,September 2006.
Cohort(s): NLSY79, NLSY97
Publisher: National Poverty Center
Keyword(s): Behavior; Cohabitation; Labor Market Outcomes; Marital Status; Risk-Taking; Transition, Adulthood

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

This paper analyzes labor market behaviors for young adults, their changing patterns for cohorts that are twenty years apart, and their associations with transitions to adulthood as measured by living with parents, being married, or cohabiting. We analyze these issues using data from the 1979 and 1997 cohorts of National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), specifically focusing on young people ages 20-22 in 1984 and 2002. Consistent with data from other sources, we find that youth in the later cohort tend to live at home or cohabit with greater frequency, but to marry less frequently, than those in the earlier cohort. These findings can be observed among youth in all education/enrollments groups and all race/gender groups. Regression analyses show evidence of some link between contemporaneous labor market outcomes and living arrangements, but these effects are too small to account for changes over time in these behaviors. We also find some relationships between academic and labor market outcomes as well as risky behaviors of youth during high school, on the one hand; and later labor market outcomes and living arrangements, on the other. These suggest the presence of unmeasured characteristics (like independence, maturity and the like) that help to account for differences across individuals in their living arrangements as young adults.
Bibliography Citation
Hill, Carolyn J. and Harry J. Holzer. "Labor Market Experiences and Transitions to Adulthood." Working Paper #06-32, The National Poverty Center, University of Michigan,September 2006..
2. Hill, Carolyn J.
Holzer, Harry J.
Labor Market Experiences and Transitions to Adulthood
In: The Price of Independence: The Economics of Early Adulthood. pp.141-169. S. Danziger, and C. Rouse, eds., New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2007
Cohort(s): NLSY79, NLSY97
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
Keyword(s): Cohabitation; Labor Market Outcomes; Marital Status; Risk-Taking; Transition, Adulthood

This chapter examines the extent to which labor market changes and other personal characteristics explain changes over time in young adults' living arrangements (living with parents or marrying).
Bibliography Citation
Hill, Carolyn J. and Harry J. Holzer. "Labor Market Experiences and Transitions to Adulthood" In: The Price of Independence: The Economics of Early Adulthood. pp.141-169. S. Danziger, and C. Rouse, eds., New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2007
3. Hill, Carolyn J.
Holzer, Harry J.
Chen, Henry
Against the Tide: Household Structure, Opportunities, and Outcomes among White and Minority Youth
Presented: Washington, DC, Bureau of Labor Statistics Conference Center, NLSY97 Tenth Anniversary Conference, May 29-30, 2008.
Also: http://harrisschool.uchicago.edu/Research/conferences/NLSYConf/pdf/kaestner.pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: U.S. Department of Labor
Keyword(s): Family Income; Home Environment; Household Structure; Human Capital; Neighborhood Effects; Racial Differences; Statistical Analysis

Excerpts
In this chapter [3]we examine household structure and its statistical relationship with observed outcomes among youth. Using information from the NLSY97, we show the range of household structures youth lived in when they were twelve years old, and how these differ by race. We show how household structure is correlated with other important characteristics of families and households, such as family income and parental education. Next, the chapter presents estimates of the statistical associations between household structure and the outcomes that were introduced in Chapter 2 in areas of employment, education, and risky behaviors. These are based on regression equations that control for many characteristics of the young people and their mothers, including some that have been "unobserved" in previous work.

In this chapter [4], we further explore three types of household characteristics that are likely to be correlated both with household structure and with the employment, educational, and behavioral outcomes we examine. They are measures of: (1) human capital enrichment; (2) parenting and home environment; and (3) neighborhood characteristics.

Using information from a subset of the NLSY97, we first show how measures in each of the three categories are associated with household structure. Next, we present 29 regression models similar to those shown in Chapter 3, now adding these three types of household characteristics. We show how the estimated effects of household structure differ once these characteristics are included in the models. We also show the joint influence of each of these three categories of variables on the outcomes.

Bibliography Citation
Hill, Carolyn J., Harry J. Holzer and Henry Chen. "Against the Tide: Household Structure, Opportunities, and Outcomes among White and Minority Youth." Presented: Washington, DC, Bureau of Labor Statistics Conference Center, NLSY97 Tenth Anniversary Conference, May 29-30, 2008.
4. Hill, Carolyn J.
Holzer, Harry J.
Chen, Henry
Against the Tide: Household Structure, Opportunities, and Outcomes among White and Minority Youth
Kalamazoo, MI: WE Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, 2009
Cohort(s): NLSY79, NLSY97
Publisher: Institute for Life Course and Aging
Keyword(s): Education; Employment; Family Income; Family Structure; Gender Differences; Home Environment; Household Structure; Human Capital; Neighborhood Effects; Racial Differences; Statistical Analysis

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

[Monograph blurb]
Gaps in educational and employment outcomes persist (and in some cases are growing) among various groups of young adults in the United States. Particularly notable are the gaps that exist between minority young adults—especially black young adults—and their white counterparts. One oft-cited reason for this trend is the growing number of youth who have grown up in single-parent households. For example, the proportion of young blacks growing up in female-headed households increased dramatically in the 1970s and 1980s, leading many to believe that this helps explain why black male youth and young adults today have experienced worsening educational and employment outcomes, rising incarceration rates, and increasing single parenthood.

Hill, Holzer, and Chen examine the effects of household structure on youth and young adults and how these effects might have contributed to the negative trends in outcomes observed for young minorities over time. They take into account several measures likely to affect outcomes, including human capital enrichment in the home; neighborhood environment, especially safety; and parental behavior and the home environment. They then consider the extent to which these measures are responsible for the observed effects of household structure on youth and young adult outcomes, and whether they account for significant effects among the full sample, for all blacks, for black males, and for black females.

For young people from low-income and single-parent families to be successful, the authors recommend policies that promote healthy marriages or more positive noncustodial fatherhood, higher incomes for working single parents, better schooling or employment options and safer neighborhoods for poor youth, and better child care and parenting among single parents.

The bottom line, say the authors, is that young people growing up in single-parent households face a combination of additional challenges compared to young people growing up in two-parent families, and that these challenges, while not insurmountable, pose a significant hurdle to achieving educational and employment success.

The book shows that educational and employment outcomes for blacks and Hispanics continue to be lower than for whites even after controlling for these factors. Notably, young women have made more progress in both education and employment than have young men in all racial groups over the past two decades. Most troubling, however, the authors find that young black men are falling even further behind whites and Hispanics in a number of dimensions, and substantially behind black women in educational attainment and achievement.

Bibliography Citation
Hill, Carolyn J., Harry J. Holzer and Henry Chen. Against the Tide: Household Structure, Opportunities, and Outcomes among White and Minority Youth. Kalamazoo, MI: WE Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, 2009.
5. Holzer, Harry J.
Black Youth Nonemployment: Duration and Job Search
Presented: Cambridge, MA, Conference on Inner City Black Youth Unemployment, August1983
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Author
Keyword(s): Inner-City; Racial Differences; Self-Reporting; Unemployment, Youth; Wages; Wages, Reservation

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

This study analyzes lengthy durations of nonemployment spells that are observed for young black males relative to those of young white males, and focuses particularly on reservation wages as determinants of duration. Self- reported reservation wages are compared for blacks and whites before and after controlling for various indicators of labor demand such as received wages, weeks worked, and the personal characteristics which determine them. The effects of these reservation wages on duration of nonemployment spells and on subsequent wages are also analyzed. Finally, some evidence on the determinants of reported reservation wages for blacks and whites is presented as well. The data used in the analysis are taken from the NLSY and the National Bureau of Economic Research Survey of Inner-City Black Youth. Reported reservation wages of young blacks for the job which they are seeking, as well as the jobs themselves, are fairly comparable to those of young whites. But after controlling for labor market characteristics of individuals such as received wages and weeks worked, the reservation wages of blacks appear to be high. The jobs which are sought also appear to be more unrealistic for blacks than for whites relative to those which are ultimately obtained. Reservation wages for specific, low-wage jobs are generally lower for blacks than for whites, and they appear to be more comparable only after controlling for weeks worked. An overall picture emerges in which young blacks seek and aspire to jobs and wages which are comparable to those of young whites, but less realistic for the blacks. Whites with higher reservation wages are more likely to actually obtain higher wages while their black counterparts are relatively more likely to gain longer spells of nonemployment.
Bibliography Citation
Holzer, Harry J. "Black Youth Nonemployment: Duration and Job Search." Presented: Cambridge, MA, Conference on Inner City Black Youth Unemployment, August1983.
6. Holzer, Harry J.
Collateral Costs: The Effects of Incarceration on the Employment and Earnings of Young Workers
IZA Discussion Paper No 3118, Institute for the Study of Labor, October 2007.
Also: http://www.econstor.eu/dspace/bitstream/10419/34750/1/548722005.pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
Keyword(s): Crime; Earnings; Education; Employment; Incarceration/Jail; Racial Studies; State-Level Data/Policy

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

In this paper I review the empirical evidence on the effects of incarceration on the subsequent employment and earnings of less-educated young prisoners. In this discussion I include evidence from: 1) Employer surveys and audit studies of hiring; 2) Survey data (mostly from the NLSY79) and administrative data; and 3) state-level incarceration data linked to micro employment data for young black men. The strengths and weaknesses of each type of analysis are discussed as well. The preponderance of the evidence considered suggests that, all else equal, spells of incarceration do tend to reduce subsequent employment and earnings for those with criminal records.
Bibliography Citation
Holzer, Harry J. "Collateral Costs: The Effects of Incarceration on the Employment and Earnings of Young Workers." IZA Discussion Paper No 3118, Institute for the Study of Labor, October 2007.
7. Holzer, Harry J.
Informal Job Search and Black Youth Unemployment
American Economic Review 77,3 (June 1987): 446-452.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1804107
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: American Economic Association
Keyword(s): Job Search; Racial Differences; Unemployment, Youth

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

Data from the 1981 and 1982 panels of the NLSY are used to test for racial differences in the use and effectiveness of various job search methods. Also, the total observed difference in employment probabilities is decomposed into components attributed to each method of search, and further into differences in use, job offers, and job acceptances based on all methods. The results show that the two informal methods of search -- checking with friends and relatives and direct application without referral -- account for 87%-90% of the difference in youth employment probabilities between blacks and whites. In addition, virtually all of this reflects differences in the ability of these methods to produce job offers, as opposed to differences in methods used or job acceptance rates. Thus, the evidence strongly indicates that young blacks face more severe barriers when using informal rather than formal search methods, possibly because of the greater role played by personal contacts and subjective employers' impressions in the former. [ABI/INFORM]
Bibliography Citation
Holzer, Harry J. "Informal Job Search and Black Youth Unemployment." American Economic Review 77,3 (June 1987): 446-452.
8. Holzer, Harry J.
Job Search by Employed and Unemployed Youth
Industrial and Labor Relations Review 40,4 (July 1987): 601-611.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2524061
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University
Keyword(s): Employment, Youth; Job Search; Work Histories

New evidence is presented on search choices and outcomes for employed and unemployed young men. In particular, the search choices analyzed include the reported reservation wage, the number of search methods used, and the time spent per method by each searcher. The employment outcomes considered are the likelihood of gaining new employment by receiving and accepting job offers and the wages of offers received and accepted. The data used come from the NLSY. The results indicate that young unemployed job seekers chose higher levels of search effort (as measured by number of methods used and time spent per method) and lower reservation wages (relative to offered wages) than did comparable employed job seekers in 1981. These differences in search selections at least partly explain search outcomes between the 2 groups: unemployed searchers were more likely than employed searchers to obtain new employment, and the wages they gained were slightly lower. [ABI/INFORM]
Bibliography Citation
Holzer, Harry J. "Job Search by Employed and Unemployed Youth." Industrial and Labor Relations Review 40,4 (July 1987): 601-611.
9. Holzer, Harry J.
Reservation Wages and Their Labor Market Effects for Black and White Male Youth
Journal of Human Resources 21,2 (Spring 1986): 157-177.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/145795
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Keyword(s): Racial Differences; Self-Reporting; Unemployment Duration; Unemployment, Youth; Wages, Reservation; Wages, Young Men

Self-reported reservation wages, the lowest wages considered acceptable, for unemployed young black and white males in one year were used in an empirical analysis to explain wage and employment results in the following year. A set of equations were estimated utilizing data from the 1979 and 1980 panels of the NLSY. In absolute terms, young blacks desired wages comparable to those of young whites but received wages much lower than those of whites. Relative to what blacks obtained in the market, reservation wages were higher for blacks than for whites. The relatively higher reservation wages of young blacks affected their unemployment durations, while the wages they received were influenced somewhat. For young blacks, rising relative reservation wages and their recent wage and employment trends seemed to be related.
Bibliography Citation
Holzer, Harry J. "Reservation Wages and Their Labor Market Effects for Black and White Male Youth." Journal of Human Resources 21,2 (Spring 1986): 157-177.
10. Holzer, Harry J.
Ihlanfeldt, Keith R.
Sjoquist, David L.
Work, Search, and Travel Among White and Black Youth
Presented: Cincinnati, OH, Population Association of America Meetings, April 1993
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Commuting/Type, Time, Method; Job Search; Transportation; Unemployment Duration

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

In this paper we investigate the relationships between job search, commutes to work, and metropolitan decentralization of employment among young whites and blacks. This is accomplished by using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, along with data on job and population decentralization in metropolitan areas from the 1980 Census of Population. Our results show that blacks and central-city residents face higher time costs of travel than do others, at least partly because of their lower access to automobiles. We also find that central-city residents in metropolitan areas where jobs are more decentralized do not offset the loss of jobs in their areas with more geographically extensive job search or longer commutes to work, even after controlling for travel cost per mile. High travel costs and reduced travel distances appear to raise unemployment durations and lower wages for blacks. On the other hand, the estimated magnitudes of most of these relationships are not large, implying that high travel cost is but one of many causes of persistent spatial mismatch.
Bibliography Citation
Holzer, Harry J., Keith R. Ihlanfeldt and David L. Sjoquist. "Work, Search, and Travel Among White and Black Youth." Presented: Cincinnati, OH, Population Association of America Meetings, April 1993.
11. Holzer, Harry J.
LaLonde, Robert J.
Job Change and Job Stability among Less Skilled Workers
In: Finding Jobs: Work and Welfare Reform. D.E. Card and R.M. Blank, eds. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation, 2000
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
Keyword(s): Educational Attainment; Family Characteristics; Job Search; Job Skills; Job Tenure; Mobility, Job; Mobility, Labor Market; Skilled Workers; Skills; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT

...Thus, we find a need to update important parts of the previous literature on employment stability among less skilled workers, particularly in light of the major changes that have occurred in the labor market for these workers. More attention needs to be placed on less skilled workers more generally, who can be identified on the basis of academic achievement through test scores as well as educational attainment. In addition, we need to consider how other determinants of employment stability, such as job characteristics, previous employment experiences, and family status, affect this group compared with other workers.
Bibliography Citation
Holzer, Harry J. and Robert J. LaLonde. "Job Change and Job Stability among Less Skilled Workers" In: Finding Jobs: Work and Welfare Reform. D.E. Card and R.M. Blank, eds. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation, 2000
12. Holzer, Harry J.
LaLonde, Robert J.
Job Change and Job Stability Among Less-Skilled Young Workers
JCPR Working Paper 80, Joint Center for Poverty Research, Northwestern University/University of Chicago, March 1999
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Joint Center for Poverty Research
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Cognitive Ability; Education; Educational Attainment; Employment; Employment, Part-Time; Fertility; Gender Differences; High School Dropouts; Job Skills; Job Training; Job Turnover; Marital Status; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT; Welfare; Work History

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

In this paper we review evidence from previous studies of job and employment instability among less-educated young workers, and we provide some new evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Our results indicate that early employment instability contributes somewhat to the low levels of employment observed among high school dropouts, especially females. Important determinants of job stability include the cognitive skills of the workers themselves (as measured by math test scores); current or previous experience and job tenure; and a variety of job characteristics, including starting wages, occupation and industry. Job instability among female dropouts seems to be strongly related to fertility history and marital status. Some implications for policy, especially welfare reform, are discussed as well.
Bibliography Citation
Holzer, Harry J. and Robert J. LaLonde. "Job Change and Job Stability Among Less-Skilled Young Workers." JCPR Working Paper 80, Joint Center for Poverty Research, Northwestern University/University of Chicago, March 1999.
13. Holzer, Harry J.
LaLonde, Robert J.
Job Change and Job Stability Among Less-Skilled Young Workers
Discussion Paper No. 1191-99, Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin - Madison, May 1999.
Also: http://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/dps/pdfs/dp119199.pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP), University of Wisconsin - Madison
Keyword(s): Dropouts; Fertility; Job Skills; Job Tenure; Marital Status; Occupations; Skills; Wages; Welfare; Work Experience

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

In this paper we review evidence from previous studies of job and employment instability among less-educated young workers, and we provide new evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. We find that early employment instability contributes somewhat to the low levels of employment observed among high school dropouts, especially females. Important determinants of job stability include the cognitive skills of the workers themselves (as measured by math test scores), current or previous experience and job tenure, and a variety of job characteristics including starting wages, occupation, and industry. Job instability among female dropouts seems to be strongly related to fertility history and marital status. Some implications for policy, especially welfare reform, are discussed as well.
Bibliography Citation
Holzer, Harry J. and Robert J. LaLonde. "Job Change and Job Stability Among Less-Skilled Young Workers." Discussion Paper No. 1191-99, Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin - Madison, May 1999.
14. Holzer, Harry J.
Raphael, Steven
Stoll, Michael A.
Employment Barriers Facing Ex-Offenders
Discussion Paper of The Urban Institute Reentry Roundtable, May 19-20, 2003.
Also: http://www.urban.org/uploadedPDF/410855_holzer.pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Urban Institute
Keyword(s): Employment; Incarceration/Jail; Labor Force Participation; Labor Market Studies, Geographic

Over 600,000 people are now being released from prisons each year. Many suffer from a variety of serious difficulties as they attempt to reenter society. Among the most challenging situations they face is that of reentry into the labor market. Employment rates and earnings of exoffenders are low by almost any standard—though in most cases they were fairly low even before these (mostly) men were incarcerated. Low employment rates seem closely related to the very high recidivism rates observed among those released from prison.

Why are the employment and earnings of ex-offenders so low? What barriers do they face in gaining employment and in achieving earnings that are sufficient to live on independently? To what extent are these barriers based on their own characteristics and attitudes, as opposed to those of employers? Are there policies that are likely to reduce these barriers, and thereby improve employment and earnings among ex-offenders?

We review these issues in this paper. We begin by reviewing some evidence on the employment and earnings of ex-offenders. We then consider the barriers that appear to limit their employment opportunities—first on the supply side (i.e., their own characteristics and attitudes), and then on the demand side (i.e., those of employers) of the labor market. We also consider some potentially positive factors that will influence the employment prospects of ex-offenders over the next few decades—particularly, the growing tightness of the labor market that most economists expect in the future due to the impending retirements of the “baby boomers” generation. Finally, we review a range of policies that might reduce some of the barriers faced by ex-offenders in the labor market.

Bibliography Citation
Holzer, Harry J., Steven Raphael and Michael A. Stoll. "Employment Barriers Facing Ex-Offenders." Discussion Paper of The Urban Institute Reentry Roundtable, May 19-20, 2003.