Welfare-to-work outcomes: The role of the employer

This paper sets out to explore the role of the employer in successful welfa re-to-work transitions. We demonstrate the uses of administrative records i n identifying the types of firms that repeatedly hire welfare recipients. W e also develop sets of criteria to identify "successful" outcomes. Our resu lts suggest that there is substantial untapped potential for using administ rative data to identify not simply which industries hire welfare recipients but those that are most likely to provide recipients with long-lasting job s, or jobs accompanied by sustained removal from welfare dependency.