Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Impacts of Underemployment in the New Economy

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SES-1203135Devah Pager and David PedullaPrinceton UniversityAbstractDoctoral Dissertation Research: The Impact of Underemployment in the New EconomyIn recent years, a phenomenon called "precarious work," which includes underemployment, temporary and contract employment, part-time work, and long-term unemployment, has grown rapidly. While social scientists have begun to address its consequences for employers and employees, important gaps remain. This project examines two central issues. First, using survey- and field-experimental methods, the dissertation examines the impact of precarious employment histories on future employment patterns for individual workers. It also examines how the effects of these employment histories differ across demographic groups. Second, the project explores the consequences of this shift for full-time, permanent employees in organizations that rely on such contingent employees. Broader Impacts The recent economic downturn has resulted in growing rates of under- and unemployment. Findings from this research may improve our understanding of sectoral and economic change as well as growing income inequality in the U.S. Findings from this research may be of interest to the general public as well as policy efforts designed to create jobs, both permanent and temporary. Findings may also be of interest to employers, for whom downsizing and hiring strategies carry both known and unknown opportunity costs.