Gross and Net Employment Flows in Manufacturing Industries

This article uses the unique data set of employment in about 7000 manufacturing establishments in Lower Saxony in the period 1978 - 1989 to investigate the dynamics of employment. Basic findings include: (1) Gross flows of employment substantially exceed net employment changes. (2) Establishments in technologically advanced sectors experience a more favourable growth of employment; the pattern between gross and net employment flows, however, is persistent. (3) No evidence is found that establishments exhibit different employment growth rates according to firm size classes; employment growth rates persist for several periods independent of firm size, however