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Labor Responses, Regulation, and Business Churn

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  • MARTA ALOI
  • HUW DIXON
  • ANTHONY SAVAGAR

Abstract

We develop a model of sluggish firm entry to explain short‐run labor responses to technology shocks. We show that the labor response to technology and its persistence depend on the degree of returns to labor and the rate of firm entry. Existing empirical results support our theory based on short‐run labor responses across U.S. industries. We derive closed‐form transition paths that show the result occurs because labor adjusts instantaneously while firms are sluggish, and closed‐form eigenvalues show that stricter entry regulation results in slower convergence to steady state. Finally, we show that our theoretical results hold in a quantitative model with capital accumulation and interest rate dynamics.

Suggested Citation

  • Marta Aloi & Huw Dixon & Anthony Savagar, 2021. "Labor Responses, Regulation, and Business Churn," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 53(1), pages 119-156, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jmoncb:v:53:y:2021:i:1:p:119-156
    DOI: 10.1111/jmcb.12694
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D25 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Intertemporal Firm Choice: Investment, Capacity, and Financing
    • E20 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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