Stepping stones for the unemployed: the effect of temporary jobs on the duration until (regular) work

Transitions from unemployment into temporary work are often succeeded by a transition
from temporary into regular work. This paper investigates whether temporary work increases
the transition rate to regular work. We use longitudinal survey data of individuals to estimate
a multi-state duration model, applying the ‘timing of events’ approach. The data contain
multiple spells in labour market states at the individual level. We analyse results using novel
graphical representations, which unambiguously show that temporary jobs shorten the
unemployment duration, although they do not increase the fraction of unemployed workers
having regular work within a few years after entry into unemployment.