Multilevel discrete-time event history models with applications to the analysis of recurrent employment transitions

Summary

Data on the timing of events such as births, residential moves and changes in
employment status are collected in many longitudinal surveys. These data often
have a highly complex structure, with events of several types occurring
repeatedly over time to an individual and interdependences between different
event processes (e.g. births and employment transitions). The aim of this paper
is to review a general class of multilevel discrete-time event history models
for handling recurrent events and transitions between multiple states. It is
also shown how standard methods can be extended to allow for time-varying
covariates that are outcomes of an event process that is jointly determined with
the process of interest. The considerable potential of these methods for
studying transitions through the life course is illustrated in analyses of the
effect of the presence and age of children on women's employment transitions,
using data from the British Household Panel Survey.