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The Impact of Firing Costs on Turnover and Unemployment: Evidence from the Colombian Labour Market Reform

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Author Info
Adriana Kugler
Abstract

Reductions in firing costs are often advocated as a way of increasing the dynamism of labour markets in both developed and less developed countries. Evidence from Europe and the U.S. on the impact of firing costs has, however, been mixed. Moreover, legislative changes both in Europe and the U.S. have been limited. This paper, instead, examines the impact of the Colombian Labour Market Reform of 1990, which substantially reduced dismissal costs. I estimate the incidence of a reduction in firing costs on worker turnover by exploiting the temporal change in the Colombian labour legislation as well as the variability in coverage between formal and informal sector workers. Using a grouping estimator to control for common aggregate shocks and selection, I find that the exit hazard rates into and out of unemployment increased after the reform by over 1\% for formal workers (covered by the legislation) relative to informal workers (uncovered). The increase of the hazards implies a net decrease in unemployment of a third of a percentage point, which accounts for about one quarter of the fall in unemployment during the period of study. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 1999

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1023/A:1008711819429
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Publisher Info
Article provided by Springer in its journal International Tax and Public Finance.

Volume (Year): 6 (1999)
Issue (Month): 3 (August)
Pages: 389-410
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Handle: RePEc:kap:itaxpf:v:6:y:1999:i:3:p:389-410

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Related research
Keywords: firing costs worker turnover exit hazard rates grouping estimators selection biases labour market reform

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  1. Adriana Kugler & Juan F. Jimeno & Virginia Hernanz, 2002. "Employment Consequences of Restrictive Permanent Contracts: Evidence from Spanish Labor Market Reforms," Economics Working Papers 651, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Ichino, Andrea & Riphahn, Regina T., 2001. "The Effect of Employment Protection on Worker Effort. A Comparison of Absenteeism During and After Probation," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo GmbH. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Goldberg, Pinelopi Koujianou & Pavcnik, Nina, 2003. "The Response of the Informal Sector to Trade Liberalization," CEPR Discussion Papers 3874, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Attanasio, Orazio & Goldberg, Pinelopi & Pavcnik, Nina, 2003. "Trade Reforms and Wage Inequality in Colombia," CEPR Discussion Papers 4023, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg & Nina Pavcnik, 2005. "The Effects of the Colombian Trade Liberalization on Urban Poverty," NBER Working Papers 11081, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Kugler, Adriana D. & Pica, Giovanni, 2005. "Effects of Employment Protection on Worker and Job Flows: Evidence from the 1990 Italian Reform," CEPR Discussion Papers 5256, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Pinelopi K. Goldberg & Nina Pavcnik, 2001. "Trade Protection and Wages: Evidence from the Colombian Trade Reforms," NBER Working Papers 8575, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Kugler, Adriana D. & Kugler, Maurice, 2003. "The Labour Market Effects of Payroll Taxes in a Middle-Income Country: Evidence from Colombia," CEPR Discussion Papers 4046, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. A. Kugler, M. Kugler, 2008. "Labour Market Effects of Payroll Taxes in Developing Countries: Evidence from Colombia," Working Papers eg0056, Wilfrid Laurier University, Department of Economics, revised 2008. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Joshua Angrist & Eric Bettinger & Erik Bloom & Elizabeth King & Michael Kremer, 2001. "Vouchers for Private Schooling in Colombia: Evidence from a Randomized Natural Experiment," NBER Working Papers 8343, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  11. Goldberg, Pinelopi Koujianou & Pavcnik, Nina, 2003. "Trade, Wages and the Political Economy of Trade Protection: Evidence from the Colombian Trade Reforms," CEPR Discussion Papers 3877, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Kugler, Adriana D., 2002. "From Severance Pay to Self-Insurance: Effects of Severance Payments Savings Accounts in Colombia," CEPR Discussion Papers 3197, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Lawrence M. Kahn, 2007. "Employment Protection Reforms, Employment and the Incidence of Temporary Jobs in Europe: 1995-2001," IZA Discussion Papers 3241, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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