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Labour Market Institutions and Macroeconomic Shocks

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Author Info
Chen, Yu-Fu
Snower, Dennis J.
Zoega, Gylfi

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Abstract

Macroeconomic shocks and labour-market institutions jointly determine employment growth and economic performance. The effect of shocks depends on the nature of these institutions and the effect of institutional change depends on the macroeconomic environment. It follows that a given set of institutions may be appropriate in one epoch and not in another. We derive a dynamic model of labour demand in which the effect of firing costs on labour demand depends on the macroeconomic environment: When the level of macroeconomic activity is expected to drop and/or the trend rate of productivity growth is small, a rise in firing costs affects mainly (and adversely) the hiring decision and not the layoff decision. This makes firing costs harmful to employment when it may appear most appropriate. In contrast, firing costs can raise employment during periods of high growth and poistive shocks. Our hypothesis is supported by empirical results using OECD data.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 3480.

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Date of creation: Aug 2002
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:3480

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Keywords: firing costs hiring and firing real options stochastic demand

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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References listed on IDEAS
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  1. Bertola, Giuseppe, 1990. "Job security, employment and wages," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 851-879, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    Other versions:
  3. Lazear, Edward P, 1990. "Job Security Provisions and Employment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 105(3), pages 699-726, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Bentolila, Samuel & Bertola, Giuseppe, 1990. "Firing Costs and Labour Demand: How Bad Is Eurosclerosis?," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 57(3), pages 381-402, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  19. Maddison, Angus, 1987. "Growth and Slowdown in Advanced Capitalist Economies: Techniques of Quantitative Assessment," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 25(2), pages 649-98, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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(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. Díaz-Vázquez, Pilar & Snower, Dennis, 2003. "On-the-Job Training, Firing Costs and Employment," IZA Discussion Papers 910, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  2. Roger Bjørnstad and Kjartan Øren Kalstad, 2006. "Increased Price Markup from Union Coordination. OECD Panel Evidence," Discussion Papers 470, Research Department of Statistics Norway. [Downloadable!]
  3. Norbert Berthold & Rainer Fehn, 2003. "Unemployment in Germany: Reasons and Remedies," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo GmbH. [Downloadable!]
  4. Yu-Fu Chen & Michael Funke, 2003. "Labour Demand in Germany: An Assessment of Non-Wage Labour Costs," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo GmbH. [Downloadable!]
  5. Herbert Buscher & Christian Dreger & Raul Ramos & Jordi Surinach, 2005. "The Impact of Institutions on the Employment Performance in European Labour Markets," IZA Discussion Papers 1732, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  6. Diaz-Vazquez, Pilar & Snower, Dennis J., 2004. "On-the-Job Training, Firing Costs and Employment," CEPR Discussion Papers 4241, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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