The use of flexible working contracts in West Germany: evidence from an establishment panel

Bernhard Boockmann () and Tobias Hagen

No 01-33, ZEW Discussion Papers from ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research

Abstract: This paper investigates under which conditions firms use fixed-term contracts, subcontracted and freelance work. Using a probit model which accounts for unobserved heterogeneity, we find that positive changes in expected or actual turnover are associated with a higher probability of employing atypical work, which suggests that these forms of employment are used as means of adjustment. Other important factors are employees? skill levels, investment in information technology, and the existence of collective wage agreements and works councils. Furthermore, a natural experiment is used to evaluate the impact of dismissal protection for permanent workers on the use of flexible working contracts. There is clear evidence that reducing dismissal protection decreases the demand for fixed-term employment.

Keywords: Flexible working contracts; fixed-term employment; labour demand; adjustment costs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C23 J23 J42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2001
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:zewdip:5388

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