Tenure and employment contracts: An empirical investigation

In: Journal of economic studies, Band 29, Heft 2, S. 131-149

Abstract

This paper exploits a unique data set to explore the importance of key contractual characteristics on the duration of employment tenure. The paper recognises the insights of the human capital and job‐matching approaches in informing discussion on employment tenure. Nevertheless, this paper argues that features of the contractual arrangements between employer and employee have been under‐emphasised. The paper demonstrates that key features of contracts such as job security develop simultaneously with tenure. A clear lock‐in effect is observed in the results.