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Economic policy uncertainty and firms' labor investment decision

Author

Listed:
  • Jian Chu
  • Junxiong Fang

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the impact of economic policy uncertainty on firms' labor investment decision, which includes labor investment level and efficiency, especially human capital allocation. Design/methodology/approach - This paper uses Economic Policy Uncertainty Index for China and Chinese A-share listed firms in the period 2002–2016 to constructs a sample of 20,779 firm-year observations and applies the methods of pooled OLS regressions to do an empirical study. Findings - This paper finds that firms' labor investment is negatively correlated with economic policy uncertainty. And firms' labor investment efficiency (and overinvestment in labor) is positively (negatively) correlated with economic policy uncertainty, which is more significant for non-SOEs and firms with less government intervention. Further, the positive relation between economic policy uncertainty and labor investment efficiency is more significant for labor-intensive firms, firms in competitive industry, firms in developed labor market and firms under strong labor law protection. In addition, economic policy uncertainty induces firms to make adjustment on human capital structure and allocate more employees with high human capital, which eventually helps firms achieve higher total factor productivity. Social implications - The study of this paper indicates that the government needs to consider economic policies' impact on firms when introducing and changing policies and guide firms to improve human capital allocation under different internal and external conditions to finally realize the optimal allocation of social resources. Originality/value - This paper studies the influence of external economic policy environment on firms' labor investment decision, which lacks adequate attention in the literature and indicates that under economic policy uncertainty, firms actively decrease labor demand and increase labor investment efficiency by optimizing human capital allocation.

Suggested Citation

  • Jian Chu & Junxiong Fang, 2020. "Economic policy uncertainty and firms' labor investment decision," China Finance Review International, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 11(1), pages 73-91, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:cfripp:cfri-02-2020-0013
    DOI: 10.1108/CFRI-02-2020-0013
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Zhang, Jiaming & Zou, Yang & Xiang, Yitian & Guo, Songlin, 2023. "Climate change and Japanese economic policy uncertainty: Asymmetric analysis," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    2. Zeng, Qing & Lu, Xinjie & Dong, Dayong & Li, Pan, 2022. "Category-specific EPU indices, macroeconomic variables and stock market return predictability," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    3. Wang, Maolin & Lin, Huiting & Huang, Yehua & Lu, Huiyan, 2023. "Poverty alleviation and firm productivity: Evidence from China's minimum wage system," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    4. Muhammad Nadir Shabbir & Muhammad Usman Arshad & Muhammad Amir Alvi & Kainat Iftikhar, 2022. "Impact of Trade Policy Uncertainty and Sustainable Development on Medical Innovation for Developed Countries: An Application of DID Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-26, December.
    5. Wang, Xinyi & Zhu, Ling & Ji, Mianmian, 2022. "One-site reform of public service and corporate investment," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    6. Peng, Dan & Ji, Y. & Kong, Qunxi, 2023. "OFDI and firms' sustainable productive capacity: Evidence from Chinese industrial firms," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 641-652.
    7. Huang, Zhi-xiong & Li, Xiaozhong & Zhao, Yuheng, 2022. "Stock pledge restrictions and investment efficiency," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    8. Hoang, Dung Phuong & Chu, Lan Khanh & To, Trung Thanh, 2023. "How do economic policy uncertainty, geopolitical risk, and natural resources rents affect economic complexity? Evidence from advanced and emerging market economies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PA).
    9. Wang, Li & Dai, Yunhao & Kong, Dongmin, 2021. "Air pollution and employee treatment," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    10. Xie, Yutang & Cao, Yujia & Li, Xiaotao, 2023. "The importance of trade policy uncertainty to energy consumption in a changing world," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    11. He, Ye & Hu, Weiping & Li, Kunwang & Zhang, Xiao, 2022. "Can real options explain the impact of uncertainty on Chinese corporate investment?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    12. Ling Zhu & Dongmin Kong, 2023. "Revenue pressure of local governments and firm productivity: Evidence from a natural experiment in China," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(3), pages 721-748, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economic policy uncertainty; Labor investment; Labor investment efficiency; Human capital allocation; G31; G38; M51;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • M51 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Firm Employment Decisions; Promotions

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