Labor Turnover in the U.s. Federal Bureaucracy

This paper presents an empirical analysis of labor turnover in the U.S. federal bureaucracy. The results indicate that job experience in politically important federal agencies is valued by the private sector. Hence (high-level) bureaucrats employed in these agencies have high turnover probabilities. The analysis also shows that equalization of federal sector and private sector wage rates would lead to a relatively small increase in turnover, but to substantial savings in federal payroll costs.