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Firing Costs and Productivity: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

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  • Andrea Caggese
  • Ozan Guler
  • Mike Mariathasan
  • Klaas Mulier

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of firing costs on total factor productivity (TFP) and resource allocation. Exploiting heterogeneous changes in firing costs across employee types in Belgium, we find that increasing firing costs reduce firm-level TFP. Firms facing a net increase in firing costs reduce hiring and firing, increase hours worked per employee, adjust the composition of their workforce away from employee types whose firing costs have increased, and rely more on outsourced employees. Instead, we find no evidence of capital-intensive technology adoption. The decline in TFP is smaller for firms with better access to credit.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrea Caggese & Ozan Guler & Mike Mariathasan & Klaas Mulier, 2022. "Firing Costs and Productivity: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Working Papers 1376, Barcelona School of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:bge:wpaper:1376
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    firing costs; employment protection; productivity; misallocation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • E23 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Production
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity

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