Individual and Plant-level Determinants of Job Durations in Germany

We examine job durations of German workers using a linked employer-employee dataset. The descriptive evidence suggests that firm characteristics have a substantial influence on the job exit rate. However, the extent of dispersion in durations is not substantially lower at the firm level than for the sample as a whole, pointing to the presence of segmentation between long and short employment spells within establishments. Using the Cox partial likelihood estimator, we then examine the determinants of job exit. There is some evidence that neglecting firm characteristics biases the coefficients of individual-specific variables. Extension of the model to a competing risks framework shows that both individual and firm-level characteristics differ greatly in their impact on job exit to different destination states.

Boockmann, Bernhard and Susanne Steffes (2005), Individual and Plant-level Determinants of Job Durations in Germany, ZEW Discussion Paper No. 05-89, Mannheim.