IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ecj/econjl/v117y2007i521p279-301.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Job Flow Dynamics and Firing Restrictions: Evidence from Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Julián Messina
  • Giovanna Vallanti

Abstract

We exploit homogeneous firm level data of manufacturing and non-manufacturing industries to study the impact of firing restrictions on job flow dynamics across 14 European countries. Our results suggest that more stringent firing laws dampen the response of job destruction to the cycle, thus making job turnover less counter-cyclical. Moreover, stricter EPL reduces both the creation and destruction of jobs in declining sectors relative to expanding sectors, implying that faster trend growth attenuates the impact of firing costs on firm's hiring and firing decisions. Copyright 2007 The Author(s). Journal compilation Royal Economic Society 2007.

Suggested Citation

  • Julián Messina & Giovanna Vallanti, 2007. "Job Flow Dynamics and Firing Restrictions: Evidence from Europe," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(521), pages 279-301, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecj:econjl:v:117:y:2007:i:521:p:279-301
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bertola, Giuseppe & Rogerson, Richard, 1997. "Institutions and labor reallocation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 1147-1171, June.
    2. Mortensen, Dale & Pissarides, Christopher, 2011. "Job Creation and Job Destruction in the Theory of Unemployment," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 1, pages 1-19.
    3. Giuseppe Bertola, 2004. "A Pure Theory of Job Security and Labour Income Risk," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 71(1), pages 43-61.
    4. Blanchard, Olivier & Wolfers, Justin, 2000. "The Role of Shocks and Institutions in the Rise of European Unemployment: The Aggregate Evidence," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(462), pages 1-33, March.
    5. John Baldwin & Timothy Dunne & John Haltiwanger, 1998. "A Comparison Of Job Creation And Job Destruction In Canada And The United States," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(3), pages 347-356, August.
    6. Pedro Portugal & Olivier Blanchard, 2001. "What Hides Behind an Unemployment Rate: Comparing Portuguese and U.S. Labor Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(1), pages 187-207, March.
    7. Steven J. Davis & John C. Haltiwanger & Scott Schuh, 1998. "Job Creation and Destruction," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262540932, December.
    8. Alfred Stiglbauer & Florian Stahl & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer & Josef Zweimüller, 2003. "Job Creation and Job Destruction in a Regulated Labor Market: The Case of Austria," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 30(2), pages 127-148, June.
    9. Konings, Jozef, 1995. "Job Creation and Job Destruction in the UK Manufacturing Sector," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 57(1), pages 5-24, February.
    10. Juan J. Dolado & Ramón Gómez, 1995. "Creación y destrucción de empleo en el sector privado manufacturero español: un análisis descriptivo," Investigaciones Economicas, Fundación SEPI, vol. 19(3), pages 371-393, September.
    11. Schivardi, Fabiano & Torrini, Roberto, 2004. "Threshold effects and firm size: the case of firing costs," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 19956, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    12. Juan J. Dolado & Marcel Jansen & Juan F. Jimeno, 2005. "Dual employment protection legislation: a framework for analysis," Working Papers 0510, Banco de España.
    13. Justin Wolfers, 2005. "Measuring the Effects of Employment Protection on Job Flows: Evidence from Seasonal Cycles," Computing in Economics and Finance 2005 98, Society for Computational Economics.
    14. Garibaldi, Pietro, 1998. "Job flow dynamics and firing restrictions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 245-275, February.
    15. Samuel Bentolila & Giuseppe Bertola, 1990. "Firing Costs and Labour Demand: How Bad is Eurosclerosis?," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 57(3), pages 381-402.
    16. Boeri, Tito & Cramer, Ulrich, 1992. "Employment growth, incumbents and entrants : Evidence from Germany," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 545-565, December.
    17. Juan J Dolado & Carlos Garcia--Serrano & Juan F. Jimeno, 2002. "Drawing Lessons From The Boom Of Temporary Jobs In Spain," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(721), pages 270-295, June.
    18. Christopher L. Foote, 1998. "Trend Employment Growth and the Bunching of Job Creation and Destruction," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(3), pages 809-834.
    19. Pietro Garibaldi & Lia Pacelli & Andrea Borgarello, 2004. "Employment Protection Legislation and the Size of Firms," Giornale degli Economisti, GDE (Giornale degli Economisti e Annali di Economia), Bocconi University, vol. 63(1), pages 33-68, April.
    20. Steven J. Davis & John Haltiwanger, 1990. "Gross Job Creation and Destruction: Microeconomic Evidence and Macroeconomic Implications," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1990, Volume 5, pages 123-186, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    21. Caballero, Ricardo J & Hammour, Mohamad L, 1994. "The Cleansing Effect of Recessions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(5), pages 1350-1368, December.
    22. Gomez-Salvador, Ramon & Messina, Julian & Vallanti, Giovanna, 2004. "Gross job flows and institutions in Europe," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 469-485, August.
    23. Boeri, Tito, 1996. "Is Job Turnover Countercyclical?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(4), pages 603-625, October.
    24. Steven J. Davis & John Haltiwanger, 1992. "Gross Job Creation, Gross Job Destruction, and Employment Reallocation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(3), pages 819-863.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pb:p:2711-2805 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Guertzgen, Nicole, 2007. "Job and Worker Reallocation in German Establishments: The Role of Employers? Wage Policies and Labour Market Institutions," ZEW Discussion Papers 07-084, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    3. Ravi Balakrishnan, 2001. "The interaction of firing costs and on-the-job search: an application of a search theoretic model to the Spanish labour market," Working Papers 0102, Banco de España.
    4. Jonas D. M. Fisher & Jeffrey R. Campbell, 2000. "Aggregate Employment Fluctuations with Microeconomic Asymmetries," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(5), pages 1323-1345, December.
    5. Gartell, Marie & Jans, Ann-Christin & Persson, Helena, 2010. "The importance of education for the reallocation of labor: Evidence from Swedish linked employer-employee data 1986-2002," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 206-214, January.
    6. Martin-Barroso, David & Nuñez-Serrano, Juan Andres & Turrion, Jaime & Velazquez, Francisco J., 2011. "The European Map of Job Flows," MPRA Paper 33602, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2011.
    7. Arai, Mahmood & Heyman, Fredrik, 2000. "Permanent and Temporary Labour: Job and Worker Flows in Sweden, 1989-1998," Working Papers 71, National Institute of Economic Research.
    8. Michaela Fuchs & Antje Weyh, 2010. "The determinants of job creation and destruction: plant-level evidence for Eastern and Western Germany," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 37(4), pages 425-444, November.
    9. Pinto, Eugénio, 2011. "Firms' relative sensitivity to aggregate shocks and the dynamics of gross job flows," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 111-119, January.
    10. Carlos Carreira & Paulino Teixeira, 2008. "Internal and external restructuring over the cycle: a firm-based analysis of gross flows and productivity growth in Portugal," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 29(3), pages 211-220, June.
    11. Garibaldi, Pietro, 1998. "Job flow dynamics and firing restrictions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 245-275, February.
    12. Andersson, Fredrik, 1999. "Job flows in Swedish manufacturing 1972-1996," Working Paper Series 1999:4, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    13. Catherine Armington & Alicia Robb & Zoltan J Acs, 1999. "Measures Of Job Flow Dynamics In The U.S.," Working Papers 99-1, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    14. Gartell, Marie & Jans, Ann-Christin & Persson, Helena, 2007. "The importance of education for the reallocation of labor: evidence from Swedish linked employer-employee data 1986-2002," Working Paper Series 2007:14, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    15. Eugénio Pinto, 2009. "Firms' relative sensitivity to aggregate shocks and the dynamics of gross job flows," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2009-02, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    16. Carlos Díaz-Moreno & José E. Galdón-Sánchez, 2000. "Job creation, job destruction and the dynamics of Spanish firms," Investigaciones Economicas, Fundación SEPI, vol. 24(3), pages 545-561, September.
    17. Harald Dale-Olsen & Dag Rønningen, 2000. "The Importance of Definitions of Data and Observation Frequen-cies for Job and Worker Flows - Norwegian Experiences 1996-1997," Discussion Papers 278, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    18. Pierrette Heuse & Yves Saks, 2009. "Labour flows in Belgium," Working Paper Research 162, National Bank of Belgium.
    19. Giovanni Gallipoli & Gianluigi Pelloni, 2013. "Macroeconomic Effects of Job Reallocations: A Survey," Review of Economic Analysis, Digital Initiatives at the University of Waterloo Library, vol. 5(2), pages 127-176, December.
    20. Ahrens, Steffen & Wesselbaum, Dennis, 2009. "On the introduction of firing costs," Kiel Working Papers 1559, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    21. Laeven, Luc & McAdam, Peter & Popov, Alexander, 2023. "Credit shocks, employment protection, and growth:firm-level evidence from spain," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
    • J68 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Public Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ecj:econjl:v:117:y:2007:i:521:p:279-301. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley-Blackwell Digital Licensing or Christopher F. Baum (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/resssea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.