Search and Multiple Jobholding

Authors

Etienne Lalé, Universite du Quebec a Montreal

Publication Date

6-21-2019

Series

Upjohn Institute working paper ; 19-305

DOI

10.17848/wp19-305

Abstract

A search-theoretic model of the labor market with idiosyncratic fluctuations in hours worked, search both off- and on-the-job, and multiple jobholding is developed. Taking on a second job entails a commitment to hold onto the primary employer, enabling the worker to use the primary job as her outside option to bargain with the secondary employer. The model performs well at explaining multiple jobholding inflows and outflows, and it is informative for understanding the secular decline in multiple jobholding. While some worry that this decline heralds a less-flexible labor market, the model reveals that it has contributed to reducing search frictions.

Issue Date

April 2019

Sponsorship

W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research Early Career Research Award 18-156-08

Subject Areas

LABOR MARKET ISSUES; Employment relationships; Nonstandard work arrangements