scholarly journals Firm-Level Shocks and Labor Flows

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikael Carlsson ◽  
Julián Messina ◽  
Oskar Nordström Skans
Keyword(s):  
Production Functions ◽  
Micro Data ◽  
Employment Decisions ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Demand Shocks ◽  
Demand Curves ◽  
Labor Flows ◽  
Level Production ◽  
Physical Productivity

This paper analyzes how labor ows respond to permanent idiosyncratic shifts in rm-level production functions and demand curves using very detailed Swedish micro data. Shocks to rms physical productivity have only modest eects on rm-level employment decisions. In contrast, the paper documents rapid and substantial employment adjustments through hires and separations in response to rm-level demand shocks. The choice of adjustment margin depends on the sign of the shock: rms adjust through increased hires if these shocks are positive and through increased separations if the shocks are negative.

scholarly journals Firm-Level Shocks and Labour Flows*

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikael Carlsson ◽  
Julián Messina ◽  
Oskar Nordström Skans
Keyword(s):  
Production Functions ◽  
Micro Data ◽  
Employment Decisions ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Demand Shocks ◽  
Demand Curves ◽  
Level Production ◽  
Physical Productivity

Abstract We analyse how labour flows respond to permanent idiosyncratic shifts in firm-level production functions and demand curves using very detailed Swedish micro data. Shocks to firms’ physical productivity have only modest effects on firm-level employment decisions. In contrast, we document rapid and substantial employment adjustments through hires and separations in response to firm-level demand shocks. The choice of adjustment margin depends on the sign of the shock: firms adjust through increased hires if these shocks are positive and through increased separations if the shocks are negative.

COMPLEMENTARITY BETWEEN TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE CAPITAL: EVIDENCE FROM JAPANESE FIRM-LEVEL DATA

2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (05) ◽  
pp. 1293-1321
Author(s):  
KAORU HOSONO ◽  
DAISUKE MIYAKAWA ◽  
MIHO TAKIZAWA ◽  
KENTA YAMANOUCHI
Keyword(s):  
Panel Data ◽  
Japanese Firm ◽  
Production Functions ◽  
Intangible Capital ◽  
Capital Investments ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Intangible Investments ◽  
Firm Level Data ◽  
Level Production

Using Japanese firm-level panel data spanning from 2000 to 2013, we estimate industry-level production functions that explicitly take into account the complementarity and substitutability between tangible and intangible capital. The estimation results show that tangible and intangible capitals are complementary in most industries although the degree of complementarity substantially varies across industries. We further find that the relation between tangible and intangible capital in the production function accounts for the relation between firm-level tangible capital and intangible capital investments. Namely, firms’ tangible investments are more strongly positively associated with intangible investments as the degree of the complementarity between the tangible and intangible assets becomes larger. These findings show the necessity to take into account the relation between the dynamics of tangible and intangible capital in terms of their complementarity for precisely understanding the mechanisms governing a firm’s growth.

The End of Multi-Fibre Arrangement and Firm Performance in the Textile Industry: New Evidence

2013 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zara Liaqat
Keyword(s):  
Textile Industry ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Firm Heterogeneity ◽  
Production Functions ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Quality Ladders ◽  
Sectoral Differences ◽  
The Mean ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
Empirical Methodology

Using a sample of 321 textile and clothing companies for the years 1992 to 2010, this paper analyses the effect of quota phase-outs on firm-level efficiency in Pakistan following the end of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA). It highlights sectoral heterogeneity within the manufacturing industry as a result of MFA expiration. The empirical methodology uses the structural techniques proposed by Olley and Pakes (1996), and Levinsohn and Petrin (2003) in order to take care of endogeneity in the estimation of production functions. The results differ for the two industries: MFA expiration lead to an increase in the average productivity of textile producing firms but a significant reduction in the mean productivity of clothing producers. We offer a number of explanations for this outcome, such as a change in the input and product mix, entry by non-exporters in the clothing sector, and sectoral differences in quality ladders. A number of crucial policy lessons can be drawn from the findings of this study. JEL Classification:F13; F14; D24; C14; O19 Keywords: Multi-Fibre Arrangement, Trade Liberalisation, Productivity, Firm Heterogeneity, Simultaneity and Production Functions, Endogeneity of Protection

scholarly journals Using Payroll Tax Variation to Unpack the Black Box of Firm-Level Production

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youssef Benzarti ◽  
Jarkko Harju
Keyword(s):  
Black Box ◽  
Total Output ◽  
Tax Rates ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Payroll Tax ◽  
Payroll Taxes ◽  
Input Factor ◽  
Experimental Variation ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Level Production

Abstract This paper uses quasi-experimental variation in payroll tax rates in Finland to investigate how firms use their input factors. We find that higher payroll tax rates lead to large employment responses and have no effects on employee-level earnings. As payroll taxes increase, firms substitute away from low-skilled, routine and manual workers. Higher firm-level payroll tax rates also slightly decrease the total output of firms. Our results imply that firm-level production and input factor choices are clearly affected by payroll taxes.

A Comment on the Economics of Labor Adjustment: Mind the Gap: Evidence from a Monte Carlo Experiment

2009 ◽  
Vol 99 (5) ◽  
pp. 2258-2266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Bayer
Keyword(s):  
Cost Model ◽  
Simulated Data ◽  
Adjustment Costs ◽  
Adjustment Cost ◽  
Monte Carlo Experiment ◽  
Dynamic Adjustment ◽  
Employment Decisions ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Labor Adjustment ◽  
Productivity Process

This comment addresses a point raised in Russell Cooper and Jonathan Willis (2003, 2004), which discusses whether the “gap approach” is appropriate to describe the adjustment of production factors. They show that this approach to labor adjustment as applied in Ricardo J. Caballero, Eduardo Engel, and John C. Haltiwanger (1997) and Caballero and Engel (1993) can falsely generate evidence in favor of nonconvex adjustment costs, even if costs are quadratic. Simulating a dynamic model of firm-level employment decisions with quadratic adjustment costs and estimating a gap model from the simulated data, they identify two factors producing this spurious evidence: approximating dynamic adjustment targets by static ones, and estimating the static targets themselves. This comment reassesses whether the first factor indeed leads to spurious evidence in favor of fixed adjustment costs. We show that the numerical approximation of the productivity process is pivotal for Cooper and Willis's finding. With more precise approximations of the productivity process, it becomes rare to falsely reject the quadratic adjustment cost model due to the approximation of dynamic targets by static ones. (JEL E24, J3)

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