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Firm Pay Dynamics

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  • Engbom, Niklas
  • Moser, Christian

Abstract

We study the nature of firm pay dynamics using matched employer-employee data from Sweden, including rich, administrative firm financial data. To this end, we propose and estimate a statistical model that extends the seminal framework by Abowd, Kramarz, and Margolis (1999a, henceforth AKM) to flexibly account for time-varying firm pay policies. We validate our approach by showing that firm-year pay variation is systematically related to firm financial performance. Subsequently, we apply our methodology to assess the role of firm pay dynamics in accounting for a rise in earnings inequality in Sweden, to investigate the properties of the distribution of within-firm pay differences over time, to measure the degree of firm pay mobility, and to quantify the relative contribution of ex-ante versus ex-post heterogeneity towards firm pay differences over the firm life cycle. We conclude that no more than two thirds of firm pay heterogeneity are permanent, with persistent and transitory fluctuations in firm pay constituting the remainder.

Suggested Citation

  • Engbom, Niklas & Moser, Christian, 2020. "Firm Pay Dynamics," MPRA Paper 98477, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:98477
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    2. Moser, Christian & Saidi, Farzad & Wirth, Benjamin & Wolter, Stefanie, 2020. "Credit Supply, Firms, and Earnings Inequality," MPRA Paper 100371, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Barth, Erling & Roed, Marianne & Schone, Pal & Umblijs, Janis, 2020. "How Robots Change Within-Firm Wage Inequality," IZA Discussion Papers 13605, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wage Determination; Mobility; Worker and Firm Heterogeneity; Two-Way Fixed Effects Model; AKM; Firm Dynamics; Inequality Trends; Income Risk; Insurance within the Firm;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups

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