We use a new, matched worker-firm dataset for the United Kingdom to estimate the income loss resulting from firm closure and mass layoffs. We track workers for up to nine years after the displacement event, and the availability of predisplacement characteristics allows us to implement difference-in-differences estimators using propensity score…

Data from the Displaced Worker Survey found that, for men, the duration of joblessness increases with the length of job tenure (15 years or more), consistent with the hypothesis that male workers base reservation wages on factors such as accumulated human capital that raise current wages more than potential wage offers. (SK)

Canadian displaced worker data show that predisplacement wages rise at about the same rate, but women lose more from displacement than men and loss increases with tenure. Results do not support the hypothesis that women accumulate less job-specific human capital; gender differences in job search may be a cause. (SK)