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Abstract
We contribute to the long-standing debate about an alleged "destabilization" and "destandardization" of employment biographies by analyzing how the job-shift patterns of West German workers have changed between 1984 and 2008. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we study changes in the rates of (upward) within- and between-firm mobility as well as the risk of employment exit, analyzing trends separately by gender, education, labour force experience, firm size, and sector. We document a considerable and pervasive reduction in the rate of (upward) within-firm moves. The decline is stronger for men and particularly steep for the employees of large companies and for those with limited labour force experience. We interpret these findings as evidence for a decline of internal labour markets and for increasing difficulties among labour market entrants. A second major result of our analysis is that rates of between-firm mobility and employment exit have risen primarily for low-educated men and women.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]