Advanced Search
MyIDEAS: Login

Employment regulations through the eyes of employers - do they matter and how do firms respond to them?

Contents:

Author Info

  • Pierre, Gaelle
  • Scarpetta, Stefano

Abstract

The authors present evidence on how employers perceive labor regulations and react when these are perceived to constrain the operation of their firm. They draw from harmonized surveys of (up to) 17,000 firms around the world and compare employers'responses with actual labor legislation. The authors find that employers'concerns about labor regulations are closely matched by the relative stringency of de jure labor laws. Countries that have, from an international perspective, tight labor regulations tend to have higher proportions of employers reporting these regulations as severe constraints. But not all firms are affected in the same way by onerous labor regulations. Medium sized firms are those whose business and prospects for growth are most negatively affected. Similarly, innovating firms are disproportionally affected by tight labor regulations. There is also clear evidence in the data that firms facing tight regulations invest more in training and make greater use of temporary employment. Small firms mainly rely on temporary employment, while medium and large firms, as well as innovating firms, tend to rely more on on-the-job training if labor regulations make hiring and firing very costly.

Download Info

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
File URL: http://www-wds.worldbank.org/servlet/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2005/02/09/000012009_20050209154132/Rendered/PDF/WPS3463.pdf
Download Restriction: no

Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by The World Bank in its series Policy Research Working Paper Series with number 3463.

as in new window
Length:
Date of creation: 01 Dec 2004
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:3463

Contact details of provider:
Postal: 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20433
Phone: (202) 477-1234
Email:
Web page: http://www.worldbank.org/
More information through EDIRC

Related research

Keywords: Health Monitoring&Evaluation; Environmental Economics&Policies; Public Health Promotion; Labor Policies; Labor Management and Relations; Environmental Economics&Policies; Labor Management and Relations; Health Monitoring&Evaluation; Labor Standards; Banks&Banking Reform;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

References

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.:
as in new window
  1. Bertola, Giuseppe, 1990. "Job security, employment and wages," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 851-879, June.
  2. Acemoglu, Daron & Pischke, Jörn-Steffen, 1996. "Why do Firms Train? Theory and Evidence," CEPR Discussion Papers 1460, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  3. Paolo Epifani, 2002. "Trade Liberalization, Firm Performance and Labor Market Outcomes in the Developing World What Can We Learn From Micro-Level Data?," KITeS Working Papers 138, KITeS, Centre for Knowledge, Internationalization and Technology Studies, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy, revised Feb 2003.
  4. Naercio Menezes-Filho & Helio Zylberstajn & Jose Paulo Chahad & Elaine Pazello, 2002. "Unions and the Economic Performanceof Brazilian Establishments," Research Department Publications 3157, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
  5. Vodopivec, Milan & Worgotter, Andreas & Raju, Dhushyanth, 2003. "Unemployment benefit systems in Central and Eastern Europe : a review of the 1990s," Social Protection Discussion Papers 26307, The World Bank.
  6. Bertola, Giuseppe & Rogerson, Richard, 1997. "Institutions and labor reallocation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 1147-1171, June.
  7. Adriana Kugler & Giovanni Pica, 2003. "Effects of employment protection and product market regulations on the Italian labor market," Economics Working Papers 722, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
  8. Boeri, Tito, 1998. "Enforcement of Employment Security Regulations, On-The-Job Search and Unemployment Duration," CEPR Discussion Papers 1850, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  9. Gerda Dewit & Holger Gorg & Catia Montagna, 2003. "Should I Stay or Should I Go? A Note on Employment Protection, Domestic Anchorage and FDI," Dundee Discussion Papers in Economics 145, Economic Studies, University of Dundee.
  10. Tito Boeri & Juan F. Jimeno, 2003. "The Effects of Employment Protection: Learning from Variable Enforcement," Working Papers 252, IGIER (Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research), Bocconi University.
  11. Kaushik Basu, 1999. "Child Labor: Cause, Consequence, and Cure, with Remarks on International Labor Standards," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(3), pages 1083-1119, September.
  12. Bentolila, Samuel & Bertola, Giuseppe, 1990. "Firing Costs and Labour Demand: How Bad Is Eurosclerosis?," Review of Economic Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(3), pages 381-402, July.
  13. Daron Acemoglu & Robert Shimer, 1998. "Efficient Unemployment Insurance," NBER Working Papers 6686, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  14. Ipek Ilkkaracan & Raziye Selim, 2003. "The role of unemployment in wage determination: further evidence on the wage curve from Turkey," Applied Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 35(14), pages 1589-1598.
  15. Timothy Besley & Robin Burgess, 2002. "Can Labour Regulation Hinder Economic Performance? Evidence from India," STICERD - Development Economics Papers - From 2008 this series has been superseded by Economic Organisation and Public Policy Discussion Papers 33, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE.
  16. François Bourguignon & Francisco H. G. Ferreira & Phillippe G. Leite, 2002. "Ex-ante Evaluation of Conditional Cash Transfer Programs: The Case of Bolsa Escola," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 516, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
  17. Olivier Blanchard & Justin Wolfers, 1999. "The Role of Shocks and Institutions in the Rise of European Unemployment: The Aggregate Evidence," NBER Working Papers 7282, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  18. Harrison, Ann E & Leamer, Edward, 1997. "Labor Markets in Developing Countries: An Agenda for Research," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(3), pages S1-19, July.
  19. Pedro Portugal & Olivier Blanchard, 2001. "What Hides Behind an Unemployment Rate: Comparing Portuguese and U.S. Labor Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(1), pages 187-207, March.
  20. Hugo Hopenhayn, 2004. "Labor Market Policies and Employment Duration. The Effects of Labor Market Reform in Argentina," NBER Chapters, in: Law and Employment: Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean, pages 497-516 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  21. Addison, John T. & Teixeira, Paulino, 2001. "The Economics of Employment Protection," IZA Discussion Papers 381, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  22. Ricardo Paes de Barros & Carlos Henrique Corseuil, 2004. "The Impact of Regulations on Brazilian Labor Market Performance," NBER Chapters, in: Law and Employment: Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean, pages 273-350 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  23. Belot, M.V.K. & Ours, J.C. van, 2000. "Does the Recent Success of some OECD Countries in Lowering their Unemployment Rates lie in the Clever Design of their Labour Market Reforms?," Discussion Paper 2000-40, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
  24. Lora Sabin, 1999. "The development of urban labour markets: China's urban wage curve, 1980-92," The Journal of Development Studies, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 35(3), pages 134-152.
  25. K. Subbarao, 1997. "Public Works as an Anti-Poverty Program: An Overview of Cross-Country Experience," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 79(2), pages 678-683.
  26. Dolado, Juan José & García-Serrano, Carlos & Jimeno, Juan F., . "Drawing Lessons from the Boom of Temporary Jobs in Spain," Open Access publications from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid info:hdl:10016/3263, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.
  27. Jaime Saavedra-Chanduví & Máximo Torero, 2000. "Labor Market Reforms and Their Impact on Formal Labor Demand and Job Market Turnover: The Case of Peru," Research Department Publications 3095, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
  28. Forteza, Alvaro & Rama, Martin, 2001. "Labor market"rigidity"and the success of economic reforms across more than one hundred countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2521, The World Bank.
  29. Terrell, Katherine & Sorm, Vit, 1999. "Labor Market Policies and Unemployment in the Czech Republic," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 33-60, March.
  30. Peter Cappelli & David Neumark, 2001. "External Job Churning and Internal Job Flexibility," NBER Working Papers 8111, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  31. Bertola, Giuseppe, 1991. "Labour Turnover Costs and Average Labour Demand," CEPR Discussion Papers 601, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  32. Haddad, Lawrence James & Adato, Michelle, 2001. "How effectively do public works programs transfer benefits to the poor?," FCND briefs 108, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
  33. Eduardo Zegarra & Renato Ravina, 2003. "Teacher Unionization and the Quality of Education in Peru: An Empirical Evaluation Using Survey Data," Research Department Publications 3167, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
  34. Daron Acemoglu & Jorn-Steffen Pischke, 1998. "Beyond Becker: Training in Imperfect Labor Markets," NBER Working Papers 6740, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  35. Stephen Nickell, 1997. "Unemployment and Labor Market Rigidities: Europe versus North America," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 55-74, Summer.
  36. Di Tella, Rafael & MacCulloch, Robert, 2005. "The consequences of labor market flexibility: Panel evidence based on survey data," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(5), pages 1225-1259, July.
  37. Hopenhayn, Hugo & Rogerson, Richard, 1993. "Job Turnover and Policy Evaluation: A General Equilibrium Analysis," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(5), pages 915-38, October.
  38. Andrea Ichino & Michele Polo & Enrico Rettore, . "Are Judges Biased by Labor Market Conditions?," Working Papers 192, IGIER (Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research), Bocconi University.
  39. Tito Boeri & Michael Burda, 2004. "Preferences for Rigid versus Individualized Wage Setting in Search Economies with Frictions," Working Papers 262, IGIER (Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research), Bocconi University.
  40. Zadia M. Feliciano, 1998. "Does the Minimum Wage Affect Employment in Mexico?," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 24(2), pages 165-180, Spring.
  41. Oecd, 2001. "Codes of Corporate Conduct: Expanded Review of their Contents," OECD Working Papers on International Investment 2001/6, OECD Publishing.
  42. Dolado, Juan José & Bentolila, Samuel, 1994. "Labour Flexibility and Wages : lessons from Spain," Open Access publications from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid info:hdl:10016/3309, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.
  43. Kugler, Adriana & Pica, Giovanni, 2003. "The effects of employment protection and product market regulations on the Italian labor market," Discussion Paper Series In Economics And Econometrics 0310, Economics Division, School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton.
  44. Hoddinott, John, 1996. "Wages and Unemployment in an Urban African Labour Market," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 106(439), pages 1610-26, November.
  45. Alvarez, Fernando & Veracierto, Marcelo, 2001. "Severance payments in an economy with frictions," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 477-498, June.
  46. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald, 1995. "An Introduction to the Wage Curve," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 153-167, Summer.
  47. Martin, Will & Maskus, Keith E, 2001. "Core Labor Standards and Competitiveness: Implications for Global Trade Policy," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(2), pages 317-28, May.
  48. Giuseppe Bertola, 2004. "A Pure Theory of Job Security and Labour Income Risk," Review of Economic Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(1), pages 43-61, 01.
  49. Rawlings, Laura B. & Rubio, Gloria M., 2003. "Evaluating the impact of conditional cash transfer programs : lessons from Latin America," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3119, The World Bank.
  50. Moulton, Brent R, 1990. "An Illustration of a Pitfall in Estimating the Effects of Aggregate Variables on Micro Unit," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 72(2), pages 334-38, May.
  51. O Blanchard & A Landier, 2002. "The Perverse Effects of Partial Labour Market Reform: fixed--Term Contracts in France," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(480), pages F214-F244, June.
  52. MacIsaac, Donna & Rama, Martin, 1997. "Determinants of Hourly Earnings in Ecuador: The Role of Labor Market Regulations," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(3), pages S136-65, July.
  53. Peter Cappelli, 2000. "Examining the Incidence of Downsizing and Its Effect on Establishment Performance," NBER Working Papers 7742, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

Citations

Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
as in new window

Cited by:
  1. Clark, Andrew E & Postel-Vinay, Fabien, 2005. "Job Security and Job Protection," CEPR Discussion Papers 4927, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  2. Felipe Balmaceda, 2008. "Firm-Provided Training and Labor Market Policies," Documentos de Trabajo 252, Centro de Economía Aplicada, Universidad de Chile.
  3. Giorgio Calcagnini & Germana Giombini & Enrico Saltari, 2009. "Firms’ Investment in the Presence of Labor and Financial Market Imperfections," Working Papers 0901, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Department of Economics, Society & Politics - Scientific Committee - L. Stefanini & G. Travaglini, revised 2009.
  4. Borland, Jeff, 2005. "Impacts of Employment Regulation: Towards an Evaluation Framework," Occasional Papers 06/7, Ministry of Economic Development, New Zealand.
  5. Kaplan, David S., 2008. "Job creation and labor reform in Latin America," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4708, The World Bank.
  6. Danielle Venn, 2009. "Legislation, Collective Bargaining and Enforcement: Updating the OECD Employment Protection Indicators," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 89, OECD Publishing.
  7. Angel-Urdinola, Diego F. & Kuddo, Arvo, 2010. "Key characteristics of employment regulation in the Middle East and North Africa," Social Protection Discussion Papers 55674, The World Bank.
  8. Markus Poschke, 2007. "Employment protection, firm selection, and growth," 2007 Meeting Papers 389, Society for Economic Dynamics.
  9. Seker, Murat, 2012. "Rigidities in Employment Protection and Exporting," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 238-250.
  10. Jan J. Rutkowski & Stefano Scarpetta, 2005. "Enhancing Job Opportunities : Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union," World Bank Publications, The World Bank, number 7408.
  11. Fox, Louise & Oviedo, Ana Maria, 2008. "Institutions and labor market outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4721, The World Bank.

Lists

This item is not listed on Wikipedia, on a reading list or among the top items on IDEAS.

Statistics

Access and download statistics

Corrections

When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:3463

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Roula I. Yazigi).

If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

If references are entirely missing, you can add them using this form.

If the full references list an item that is present in RePEc, but the system did not link to it, you can help with this form.

If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.