Retail employee turnover and turnover destinations–the role of human capital

Abstract

This paper assesses the role of human capital in labor turnover and turnover destinations of full-time retail employees. We use register data that encompasses the full population of Swedes above the age of 16 and follow the career paths of those that have, at one point in time between 2002 and 2018, worked full-time in retail. We use logit- and multinomial logit-estimations to assess the role of firm-specific (proxied by establishment tenure) and worker-specific human capital (proxied by industry tenure, formal education, retail education, and occupational complexity) in the propensity to quit a retail establishment and the retail sector. Results indicate that establishment tenure, industry tenure, retail education, and occupational complexity decrease the probability of quitting, while formal education has the opposite effect. Moreover, we find that industry tenure, retail education, and occupational complexity increase the probability of staying in the retail sector.