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Labor and the Market Value of the Firm

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Author Info
Monika Merz
Eran Yashiv

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Abstract

What role does labor play in a firm's market value? We explore this question using a production-based assetpricing model with frictions in the adjustment of both capital and labor. We posit that hiring of labor is akin toinvestment in capital and that the two interact, with the interaction being a crucial determinant of the time seriesbehavior of market value. We use aggregate U.S. corporate sector data to estimate firms' optimal hiring andinvestment decisions and the consequences for firms' value. The model generates a good fit of the data. Wedecompose the estimated market value, thereby quantifying the link between firms' value and gross hiring flows,employment, gross investment flows, and physical capital. We find that a conventional specification -- quadraticadjustment costs for capital and no hiring costs -- performs poorly. Hiring and investment flows, unlikeemployment and capital stocks, are volatile and both are essential to account for market value volatility. A keyresult is that firms' value embodies the value of hiring and investment over and above the capital stock.

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Paper provided by Centre for Economic Performance, LSE in its series CEP Discussion Papers with number dp0690.

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Date of creation: May 2005
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Handle: RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0690

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Related research
Keywords: production-based asset pricing labor market frictions gross flows Q-model GMM

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomics: Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Capital; Investment; Capacity
E23 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomics: Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Production
E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomics: Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution
G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Steven A. Barnett & Plutarchos Sakellaris, 1999. "A New Look At Firm Market Value, Investment, And Adjustment Costs," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 81(2), pages 250-260, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Simon Gilchrist & Charles P. Himmelberg, 1995. "Evidence on the Role of Cash Flow for Investment," Working Papers 95-01, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Department of Economics.
    Other versions:
  4. Russell Cooper & Joao Ejarque, 2003. "Financial Frictions and Investment: Requiem in Q," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 6(4), pages 710-728, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Shapiro, Matthew D, 1986. "The Dynamic Demand for Capital and Labor," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 101(3), pages 513-42, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. R. Glenn Hubbard & Anil K Kashyap & Toni M. Whited, 1995. "Internal Finance and Firm Investment," NBER Working Papers 4392, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Simon Gilchrist & Charles Himmelberg, 1998. "Investment, Fundamentals and Finance," NBER Working Papers 6652, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Lawrence H. Summers, 1981. "Taxation and Corporate Investment: A q-Theory Approach," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 12(1981-1), pages 67-140. [Downloadable!]
  9. Robert E. Hall, 2002. "Industry Dynamics with Adjustment Costs," NBER Working Papers 8849, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Jason G. Cummins & Kevin A. Hassett & R. Glenn Hubbard, 1995. "A Reconsideration of Investment Behavior Using Tax Reforms as Natural Experiments," NBER Reprints 1946, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  11. Russell W. Cooper & John C. Haltiwanger, 2000. "On the Nature of Capital Adjustment Costs," NBER Working Papers 7925, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Hayashi, Fumio, 1982. "Tobin's Marginal q and Average q: A Neoclassical Interpretation," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(1), pages 213-24, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Razzak, Weshah, 2008. "On The dynamic of search, matching and productivity in New Zealand and Australia," MPRA Paper 8262, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  2. Nick Bloom, 2006. "The Impact of Uncertainty Shocks: Firm Level Estimation and a 9/11 Simulation," CEP Discussion Papers dp0718, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  3. Matthias S. Hertweck, 2006. "Strategic Wage Bargaining, Labor Market Volatility, and Persistence," Economics Working Papers ECO2006/42, European University Institute. [Downloadable!]
  4. Polder, Michael & Verick, Sher, 2004. "Dynamics of Labour and Capital Adjustment - A Comparison of Germany and the Netherlands," IZA Discussion Papers 1212, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  5. Francois Gourio & Anil K Kashyap, 2007. "Investment Spikes: New Facts And A General Equilibrium Exploration," Boston University - Department of Economics - Working Papers Series WP2007-007, Boston University - Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Michael Krause & David Lopez-Salido & Thomas Lubik, 2008. "Inflation Dynamics With Search Frctions: A Structural Econometric Analysis," CAMA Working Papers 2008-06, Australian National University, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Nicholas Bloom, 2007. "The Impact of Uncertainty Shocks," NBER Working Papers 13385, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Yashiv, Eran, 2005. "Evaluating the Performance of the Search and Matching Model," CEPR Discussion Papers 5363, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. M. Scarlato & M. Cenci, 2004. "Innovazione tecnologica e offerta di skills:una simulazione," Computational Economics 0401003, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  10. Parantap Basu, 2006. " Understanding Labour Market Frictions: A Tobin’s Q Approach," CDMA Conference Paper Series 0601, Centre for Dynamic Macroeconomic Analysis. [Downloadable!]
  11. Carlos Thomas, 2006. "Search and Matching Frictions and Optimal Monetary Policy," CEP Discussion Papers dp0743, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  12. Eran Yashiv, 2006. "Evaluating the Performance of the Search and Matching Model," IZA Discussion Papers 1931, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  13. Charlotta Groth, . "Estimating UK capital adjustment costs," Bank of England working papers 258, Bank of England. [Downloadable!]
  14. Parantap Basu, 2007. "Understanding Labour Market Frictions: A Tobin’s Q Approach," Money Macro and Finance (MMF) Research Group Conference 2006 35, Money Macro and Finance Research Group. [Downloadable!]
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