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Financing Labor
[Corporate debt maturity and the real effects of the 2007 credit crisis]

Author

Listed:
  • Efraim Benmelech
  • Nittai Bergman
  • Amit Seru

Abstract

Financial market imperfections can have significant impact on employment decisions of firms. We illustrate the economic importance of this channel by showing that employment decisions are constrained by firms’ financial health and liquidity. Our main analysis uses a collage of three “quasi-experiments” to trace the effects of finance on employment. The results suggest that financial constraints and the availability of credit play an important role in firm-level employment decisions, as well as aggregate unemployment outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Efraim Benmelech & Nittai Bergman & Amit Seru, 2021. "Financing Labor [Corporate debt maturity and the real effects of the 2007 credit crisis]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 25(5), pages 1365-1393.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:revfin:v:25:y:2021:i:5:p:1365-1393.
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    Cited by:

    1. Duygan-Bump, Burcu & Levkov, Alexey & Montoriol-Garriga, Judit, 2015. "Financing constraints and unemployment: Evidence from the Great Recession," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 89-105.
    2. Marco Pagano & Giovanni Pica, 2012. "Finance and employment [Credit constraints as a barrier to the entry and post-entry growth of firms]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 27(69), pages 5-55.
    3. Nuri Ersahin & Rustom M. Irani, 2015. "Collateral Values and Corporate Employment," Working Papers 15-30, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    4. Martin Olsson & Joacim Tåg, 2017. "Private Equity, Layoffs, and Job Polarization," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 35(3), pages 697-754.
    5. Popov, Alexander & Rocholl, Jörg, 2015. "Financing constraints, employment, and labor compensation: evidence from the subprime mortgage crisis," Working Paper Series 1821, European Central Bank.
    6. Kaas, Leo & Pintus, Patrick A. & Ray, Simon, 2016. "Land collateral and labor market dynamics in France," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 202-218.
    7. Boustanifar, Hamid, 2014. "Finance and employment: Evidence from U.S. banking reforms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 343-354.
    8. Lee, Seung Jung & Stebunovs, Viktors, 2016. "Bank capital pressures, loan substitutability, and nonfinancial employment," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 44-69.
    9. Paula Garda & Volker Ziemann, 2014. "Economic Policies and Microeconomic Stability: A Literature Review and Some Empirics," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1115, OECD Publishing.
    10. Ben-Nasr, Hamdi & Alshwer, Abdullah A., 2016. "Does stock price informativeness affect labor investment efficiency?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 249-271.
    11. Fernandes, Ana P. & Ferreira, Priscila, 2017. "Financing constraints and fixed-term employment: Evidence from the 2008-9 financial crisis," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 215-238.
    12. Patrick Reilly, 2016. "Bank Branching Deregulation and High School Graduation," Working Papers 16-29, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    13. Popov, Alexander & Zaharia, Sonia, 2017. "Credit market competition and the gender gap: evidence from local labor markets," Working Paper Series 2086, European Central Bank.
    14. Rui Silva, 2013. "Internal Labor Markets And Investment In Conglomerates," Working Papers 13-26, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    15. Hamdi Ben-Nasr & Abdullah Alshwer, 2015. "How Informed Stock Trading Can Affect Labor Investment Efficiency," Proceedings of Business and Management Conferences 2304077, International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financial constraints; Labor; Employment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E51 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Money Supply; Credit; Money Multipliers
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G33 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Bankruptcy; Liquidation
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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