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Source: U.S. Small Business Administration
Resulting in 2 citations.
1. Schiller, Bradley R.
Early Jobs and Training: The Role of Small Business
Final Report, Contract SBA-9281-AER. Washington DC: US Small Business Administration, 1986
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: U.S. Small Business Administration
Keyword(s): Employment, In-School; Employment, Youth; Industrial Sector; Job Satisfaction; Job Training; Transfers, Skill; Wages

This paper examines small business as the preeminent provider of early work experience and training for both in- school and out-of-school youth during the years 1979-1983. The concentration of employment of young men and women in this sector is examined, along with the linkages between these firms and larger, multi-establishment firms. Young men still in school and working are disproportionately employed in retail businesses. Young workers already out of school are also highly concentrated in retailing, but heavily represented in manufacturing as well. Within the retail sector, the fast food industry may account for a high percentage of jobs and job growth. Wages are generally lower in small businesses than in large businesses, but job satisfaction and perceived training opportunities of young men are higher. Young men in small businesses indicate that they are exposed to a greater variety of tasks than those in large businesses, and so develop a broader range of marketable skills, likely to accelerate productivity and wage growth. Training in larger firms tends to be more specialized and firm-specific. However, lower retention rates of newly-trained workers can reduce a smaller firm's pay-off to training investments and may result in a competitive disadvantage.
Bibliography Citation
Schiller, Bradley R. Early Jobs and Training: The Role of Small Business. Final Report, Contract SBA-9281-AER. Washington DC: US Small Business Administration, 1986.
2. Schiller, Bradley R.
Small Business and Self-employment as Income Mobility Mechanisms
Small Business Administration Research Summary 366, July 2010.
Also: http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs366tot.pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: U.S. Small Business Administration
Keyword(s): Income Level; Labor Force Participation; Mobility, Economic; Skill Formation; Small Business (Owner/Employer); Training, On-the-Job; Wage Growth; Work History

Executive Summary
The contributions of small businesses to the labor market entry, skill training, and wage growth of youth have been extensively documented in a series of research studies conducted in the mid- 1980s. That research confirmed that small businesses provide most first-time job opportunities for young labor market entrants. Moreover, the skills and experience provided at those entry jobs paid off handsomely for the affected youth, as witnessed by their subsequent wage growth. This study extends the observation period for gauging income growth. Using the same National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) surveys used in earlier studies, this study tracks employment and income experiences in a later phase of the typical work life. Whereas earlier studies focused on the first years of labor market entry for youths aged 14-22, this study focuses on those same workers a decade later. Specifically, this study focuses on young people aged 24- 32 years at the beginning of the observation period (1989). We then track their work history over the subsequent 15 years (1989-2004).

Our research goal was twofold. First we wanted to gauge the degree of relative income mobility over the 1989-2004 period. That is, we wanted to ascertain how often and to what degree individuals change intra-cohort income ranks in this age and time space. That would allow us to determine whether general mobility in the U.S. economy is changing over time. Our second goal was to isolate the role of small business exposure in the mobility process. Specifically, does small business experience – either as owner or employee – significantly affect the degree of income mobility?

Bibliography Citation
Schiller, Bradley R. "Small Business and Self-employment as Income Mobility Mechanisms." Small Business Administration Research Summary 366, July 2010.