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07.1 Program for the Study of Germany and Europe

Do Changes in Regulation Affect Employment Duration in Temporary Work Agencies?

2007 – Manfred Antoni and Elke J. Jahn

Abstract

Over the past three decades Germany has repeatedly deregulated the law on temporary agency work by stepwise increasing the maximum period for hiring-out employees and allowing tempo- rary work agencies to conclude fixed-term contracts. These reforms should have had an effect on employment duration within temporary work agencies. Based on an informative administrative data set we use a mixed proportional hazard rate model to examine whether employment dura- tion has changed in response to these reforms. We find that the repeated prolongation of the maximum period for hiring-out employees significantly increased average employment duration while the authorization of fixed-term contracts reduced employment tenure.Key words: temporary agency work, regulation, labor law, hazard rate model.

 
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