Effects of Contingent Employment History on Labor Market Outcomes

204 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1997.Despite a recent growth in contingent employment (i.e., non-permanent employment status), few studies have assessed the effects of holding a series of contingent positions on an individual's subsequent career. This research investigated the effects of contingent employment history on an individual's labor market outcomes (i.e., perceived dispositions, perceived qualifications, number and type of employment opportunities, task assignment, and wages). Hypotheses regarding the effects of employment history, strength of stereotypes toward contingent workers, level of education, length of experience and the labor market location of the prospective position were offered. A laboratory experiment and a field study were conducted to test these hypotheses. The results showed that applicants with a history of contingent employment received lower labor market outcomes than applicants with a history of permanent employment. Employment history also interacted with length of experience and stereotype strength to influence labor market outcomes. The implications of these and other results are discussed.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD