Title
The Consequences of Temporary Agency Employment for Low-Skilled Workers
Project Dates
01/01/2006 - 12/31/2008
Description
This project supported research on the consequences of temporary help employment for low-skilled workers. Researchers analyzed a Michigan welfare-to-work program in which program participants were randomly allocated across service providers (contractors) with different job placement practices. Researchers surveyed contractors and used administrative program data linked with wage records data on all participants entering the program over a three-and-a half-year period. The findings raise questions about the incentive structure of many government employment programs that emphasize rapid placement of program participants into jobs and that may inadvertently encourage high placement rates with temporary help agencies.
Sponsorship
Russell Sage Foundation
Subject Area
LABOR MARKET ISSUES; Employment relationships
Publications
Temporary Agency Employment: A Way Out of Poverty? David H. Autor, Susan N. Houseman. In Working and Poor: How Economic and Policy Changes Are Affecting Low-Wage Workers, edited by Rebecca M. Blank, Sheldon H. Danziger, and Robert F. Schoeni. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2006, pp. 312-337