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Why Do Firms Offer ‘Employment Protection’?

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  • CHRISTOPHER A. PISSARIDES

Abstract

This paper derives optimal employment contracts when workers are risk‐averse and there are employment and unemployment risks. Without income insurance, consumption rises during employment and falls during unemployment. Optimal employment contracts offer severance compensation and sometimes give notice before dismissal. Severance compensation smooths consumption during employment, and dismissal delays insure partially against the unemployment risk because of moral hazard. During the delay, consumption falls to give incentives to the worker to search for another job. No dismissal delays are optimal if exogenous unemployment compensation is sufficiently generous.

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  • Christopher A. Pissarides, 2010. "Why Do Firms Offer ‘Employment Protection’?," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 77(308), pages 613-636, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:econom:v:77:y:2010:i:308:p:613-636
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0335.2010.00861.x
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    Cited by:

    1. John Martin & Stefano Scarpetta, 2012. "Setting It Right: Employment Protection, Labour Reallocation and Productivity," De Economist, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 89-116, June.
    2. Flórez, Luz A., 2017. "Informal sector under saving: A positive analysis of labour market policies," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 13-26.
    3. Hendrik Dalen & Kène Henkens, 2013. "Dilemmas of Downsizing During the Great Recession: Crisis Strategies of European Employers," De Economist, Springer, vol. 161(3), pages 307-329, September.
    4. Hijzen, Alexander & Mondauto, Leopoldo & Scarpetta, Stefano, 2017. "The impact of employment protection on temporary employment: Evidence from a regression discontinuity design," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 64-76.
    5. Paulo Mota & José Varejão & Paulo Vasconcelos, 2015. "A hysteresis model-based indicator for employment adjustment rigidity," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 42(3), pages 547-569, August.
    6. Bendicta Marzinotto & Ladislav Wintr, 2019. "Employment protection and firm-level job reallocation: Adjusting for coverage," BCL working papers 131, Central Bank of Luxembourg.
    7. Parsons, Donald O., 2016. "Moral-Hazard-Free First-Best Unemployment Insurance," IZA Discussion Papers 9824, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Tomer Ifergane, 2022. "Time to Say Goodbye: The Macroeconomic Implications of Termination Notice," Discussion Papers 2212, Centre for Macroeconomics (CFM).
    9. Evangelia Papapetrou & Pinelopi Tsalaporta, 2017. "Unemployment, Labour Market Institutions, Fiscal Imbalances and credit Constraints: New Evidence on an Active Debate," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 85(4), pages 466-490, July.
    10. Bolli, Thomas & Kemper, Johanna, 2015. "Evaluating the Impact of Employment Protection on Firm-Provided Training in an RDD Framework," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 112895, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    11. Oikonomou, Rigas, 2013. "Optimal Unemployment Insurance with Private Insurance," MPRA Paper 55726, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Parsons, Donald O., 2014. "Job Displacement Insurance: An Overview," IZA Discussion Papers 8223, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Kabátek, Jan & Liang, Ying & Zheng, Kun, 2023. "Are shorter cumulative temporary contracts worse stepping stones? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    14. Conde Ruiz, José Ignacio. & Felgueroso, Florentino. & García Pérez, Jose Ignacio., 2011. "El fondo de capitalización a la austriaca: costes y beneficios de su implantación en España," Economic Reports 06-2011, FEDEA.
    15. Huang, Pinghsun & Huang, Hsin-Yi & Zhang, Yan, 2019. "Do firms hedge with foreign currency derivatives for employees?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(2), pages 418-440.
    16. Li, Guangzhong & Wu, Cen & Zheng, Ying, 2020. "Employee protection and the tax sensitivity of wages: International evidence," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    17. Mazumder, Debojyoti & Santra, Sattwik, 2009. "Unemployment and Inheritance Linkage: A Dynamic General Equilibrium Analysis," MPRA Paper 57161, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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