Temporary Agency Work and the Great Recession

Baumgarten, Daniel and Kvasnicka, Michael (April 2016): Temporary Agency Work and the Great Recession. Discussion Papers in Economics 2016-7

Abstract

We investigate with German data how the use of temporary agency work has helped establishments to manage the economic and financial crisis in 2008/09. We examine the (regular) workforce development, use of short-time work, and business performance of establishments that made differential use of temporary agency work prior to the crisis. Overall, our results suggest that establishments with a greater use of temporary agency work coped better with the sharp decline in demand and made less frequent use of government-sponsored short-time work schemes.

• Item Type: Paper
• Keywords: labour demand, employment adjustment, economic crisis, temporary agency work, short-time work, establishment data
• Faculties: Economics; Economics > Munich Discussion Papers in Economics
• Subjects: 300 Social sciences > 330 Economics
• JEL Classification: E32, J23, L23, J68
• Language: English

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