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The Shape of Hiring and Separation Costs

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Author Info
Kramarz, Francis () (CREST-INSEE, CEPR and IZA Bonn)
Michaud, Marie-Laure (EUREQua, Université Paris I - Panthéon Sorbonne)

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Abstract

In this article, we estimate the structure of costs of hiring, terminating, and retiring employees in France. We use a representative panel data set of French establishments that contains direct measures of these various costs as well as measures of entries and exits for the years 1992 and 1996. This data set results from the match of two sources: the Wage Structure Survey and the Workforce Movement Questionnaire. We show that the cost of hiring into permanent contracts is larger than the cost of hiring into fixed-term contracts. But these costs are small in comparison to the costs of retiring or terminating workers. Furthermore, collective terminations (dismissal of at least 10 workers during a 30 days period) are much more expensive than individual terminations. Hiring and separations are similar in one aspect: they entail no or little firm-specific fixed cost. Furthermore, termination and hiring costs are concave and induce firms to group their permanent hirings and separations. Retirement costs are linear. These estimates show that regulations imposed by French labor laws significantly affect the structure and the magnitude of these costs.

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Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 1170.

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Length: 39 pages
Date of creation: Jun 2004
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Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1170

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Related research
Keywords: adjustment costs; firm behavior; entry; exit;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior

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References listed on IDEAS
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. Bertola, Giuseppe, 1990. "Job security, employment and wages," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 851-879, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Nickell, Stephen & Layard, Richard, 1999. "Labor market institutions and economic performance," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 46, pages 3029-3084 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Machin, Stephen & Manning, Alan, 1999. "The causes and consequences of longterm unemployment in Europe," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 47, pages 3085-3139 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Heckman, James J, 1979. "Sample Selection Bias as a Specification Error," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 47(1), pages 153-61, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. 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)
  6. Garibaldi, Pietro, 1998. "Job flow dynamics and firing restrictions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 245-275, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Abowd, John M. & Kramarz, Francis, 2003. "The costs of hiring and separations," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(5), pages 499-530, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Heckman, James J & Willis, Robert J, 1977. "A Beta-logistic Model for the Analysis of Sequential Labor Force Participation by Married Women," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 85(1), pages 27-58, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Blanchard, Olivier & Wolfers, Justin, 2000. "The Role of Shocks and Institutions in the Rise of European Unemployment: The Aggregate Evidence," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(462), pages C1-33, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Goux, Dominique & Maurin, Eric & Pauchet, Marianne, 2001. "Fixed-term contracts and the dynamics of labour demand," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 533-552, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Hamermesh, Daniel S, 1989. "Labor Demand and the Structure of Adjustment Costs," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(4), pages 674-89, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
Full references

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. César Alonso-Borrego & Jesús Fernández-Villaverde & José E. Galdón-Sánchez, 2004. "Evaluating Labor Market Reforms: A General Equilibrium Approach," Economics Working Papers we042307, Universidad Carlos III, Departamento de Economía. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Pierre Cahuc & Stéphane Carcillo, 2007. "The Shortcomings of a Partial Release of Employment Protection Laws: The Case of the 2005 French Reform," IMF Working Papers 06/301, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  3. Jian-Ping Zhou, 2006. "Reforming Employment Protection Legislation in France," IMF Working Papers 06/108, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  4. Oivind A. Nilsen & Kjell G. Salvanes & Fabio Schiantarelli, 2003. "Employment Changes, the Structure of Adjustment Costs, and Plant Size," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 586, Boston College Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Julio J. Rotemberg, 2006. "Cyclical wages in a search-and-bargaining model with large firms," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Alessandra Del Boca & Marzio Galeotti & Paola Rota, 2003. "Non-convexities in the Adjustment of Different Capital Inputs: A Firm-level Investigation," Working Papers 2003.35, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Ejarque, Joao & Nilsen, Øivind Anti, 2008. "Identifying Adjustment Costs of Net and Gross Employment Changes," IZA Discussion Papers 3703, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. L'Haridon, Olivier & Malherbe, Franck, 2008. "Employment protection reform in search economies," Les Cahiers de Recherche 910, HEC Paris. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Philip Vermeulen, 2006. "Employment stickiness in small manufacturing firms," Working Paper Series 640, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Langlais, Eric, 2008. "Le "risque judiciaire" et les licenciements en France: le point de vue de l'économie du risque
    [The "judicial risk" and lay-offs in France from the point of view of the economi    ," MPRA Paper 8845, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Pinoli, Sara, 2008. "Screening ex-ante or screening on-the-job? The impact of the employment contract," MPRA Paper 11429, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
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