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The Effectiveness of Hiring Credits

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  • Pierre Cahuc

    (X - École polytechnique, ENSAE Paris - École Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Économique, CREST - Centre de Recherche en Economie et Statistique [Bruz] - ENSAI - Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Analyse de l'Information [Bruz])

  • Stéphane Carcillo

    (ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Thomas Le Barbanchon

    (CREST - Centre de Recherche en Économie et Statistique - ENSAI - Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Analyse de l'Information [Bruz] - X - École polytechnique - ENSAE Paris - École Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Économique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the effectiveness of hiring credits. Using comprehensive administrative data, we show that the French hiring credit, implemented during the Great Recession, had significant positive employment effects and no effects on wages. Relying on the quasi-experimental variation in labor cost triggered by the hiring credit, we estimate a structural search and matching model. Simulations of counterfactual policies show that the effectiveness of the hiring credit relied to a large extent on three features: it was nonanticipated, temporary and targeted at jobs with rigid wages. We estimate that the cost per job created by permanent hiring credits, either countercyclical or time-invariant, in an environment with flexible wages would have been much higher.

Suggested Citation

  • Pierre Cahuc & Stéphane Carcillo & Thomas Le Barbanchon, 2017. "The Effectiveness of Hiring Credits," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03393157, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:spmain:hal-03393157
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://sciencespo.hal.science/hal-03393157
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