IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/reveco/v96y2024ipas1059056024005409.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Economic policy uncertainty and the demand for labor: Evidence from the online job postings of Chinese firms

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Mingyan
  • Tang, Xuepeng
  • Yu, Linhui

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on labor demand. Using data from a Chinese online job posting site, this study empirically investigates how EPU affects firms' hiring behavior. The results suggest that EPU has overall negative effects. Firms tend to reduce job postings in times of increasing policy uncertainty. More particularly, the demand for skills such as teamwork, personnel management, project management, and customer service declines, while individual qualities become more important to enterprises. The study also reveals that there is a positive relationship between EPU and the educational background required in firms' job ads. Further analysis indicates that non-state-owned enterprises, those with poor internal control quality, smaller scale, greater industry competitiveness, and those in non-high-tech industries are more significantly affected by EPU in hiring. This research provides empirical support and policy recommendations for the government to maintain employment stability and stimulate enterprise labor demand.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Mingyan & Tang, Xuepeng & Yu, Linhui, 2024. "Economic policy uncertainty and the demand for labor: Evidence from the online job postings of Chinese firms," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:96:y:2024:i:pa:s1059056024005409
    DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2024.103548
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059056024005409
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.iref.2024.103548?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Huang, Yun & Luk, Paul, 2020. "Measuring economic policy uncertainty in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    2. Kleibergen, Frank & Paap, Richard, 2006. "Generalized reduced rank tests using the singular value decomposition," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 133(1), pages 97-126, July.
    3. Mincer, Jacob & Polachek, Solomon, 1974. "Family Investment in Human Capital: Earnings of Women," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(2), pages 76-108, Part II, .
    4. Samuel Bentolila & Marcel Jansen & Gabriel Jiménez, 2018. "When Credit Dries Up: Job Losses in the Great Recession," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 16(3), pages 650-695.
    5. Wang, Yizhong & Chen, Carl R. & Huang, Ying Sophie, 2014. "Economic policy uncertainty and corporate investment: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 227-243.
    6. Ting Chen & James Kai-sing Kung, 2019. "Busting the “Princelings”: The Campaign Against Corruption in China’s Primary Land Market," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(1), pages 185-226.
    7. Zhangkai Huang & Lixing Li & Guangrong Ma & Lixin Colin Xu, 2017. "Hayek, Local Information, and Commanding Heights: Decentralizing State-Owned Enterprises in China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(8), pages 2455-2478, August.
    8. Cull, Robert & Xu, Lixin Colin & Zhu, Tian, 2009. "Formal finance and trade credit during China's transition," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 173-192, April.
    9. Daniel S. Hamermesh & Gerard A. Pfann, 1996. "Adjustment Costs in Factor Demand," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 34(3), pages 1264-1292, September.
    10. Cui, Xin & Wang, Chunfeng & Liao, Jing & Fang, Zhenming & Cheng, Feiyang, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty exposure and corporate innovation investment: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    11. Cull, Robert & Li, Wei & Sun, Bo & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2015. "Government connections and financial constraints: Evidence from a large representative sample of Chinese firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 271-294.
    12. Scott R. Baker & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis, 2016. "Measuring Economic Policy Uncertainty," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(4), pages 1593-1636.
    13. Poncet, Sandra & Steingress, Walter & Vandenbussche, Hylke, 2010. "Financial constraints in China: Firm-level evidence," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 411-422, September.
    14. Ufuk Akcigit & Salomé Baslandze & Francesca Lotti, 2023. "Connecting to Power: Political Connections, Innovation, and Firm Dynamics," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 91(2), pages 529-564, March.
    15. Campello, Murillo & Gao, Janet, 2017. "Customer concentration and loan contract terms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(1), pages 108-136.
    16. Amihud, Yakov & Lev, Baruch & Travlos, Nickolaos G, 1990. "Corporate Control and the Choice of Investment Financing: The Case of Corporate Acquisitions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(2), pages 603-616, June.
    17. Duygan-Bump, Burcu & Levkov, Alexey & Montoriol-Garriga, Judit, 2015. "Financing constraints and unemployment: Evidence from the Great Recession," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 89-105.
    18. Liu, Guanchun & Liu, Yuanyuan & Zhang, Chengsi, 2022. "Tax enforcement and corporate employment: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    19. James Dow & Gary Gorton & Arvind Krishnamurthy, 2005. "Equilibrium Investment and Asset Prices under Imperfect Corporate Control," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(3), pages 659-681, June.
    20. Shen, Chung-Hua & Lin, Chih-Yung & Wang, Yu-Chun, 2015. "Do strong corporate governance firms still require political connection, and vice versa?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 107-120.
    21. Anderson, Ronald C. & Fraser, Donald R., 2000. "Corporate control, bank risk taking, and the health of the banking industry," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 24(8), pages 1383-1398, August.
    22. Jean‐Noël Barrot & Ramana Nanda, 2020. "The Employment Effects of Faster Payment: Evidence from the Federal Quickpay Reform," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 75(6), pages 3139-3173, December.
    23. Cheng, Louis T.W. & Leung, T.Y., 2016. "Government protection, political connection and management turnover in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 160-176.
    24. Cheng, Feiyang & Wang, Chunfeng & Cui, Xin & Wu, Ji & He, Feng, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty exposure and stock price bubbles: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    25. He, Feng & Ma, Yaming & Zhang, Xiaojie, 2020. "How does economic policy uncertainty affect corporate Innovation?–Evidence from China listed companies," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 225-239.
    26. Lyu, Wenjing & Liu, Jin, 2021. "Soft skills, hard skills: What matters most? Evidence from job postings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 300(C).
    27. Xin Cui & Shouyu Yao & Zhenming Fang & Hua Wang, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty exposure and earnings management: evidence from China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(3), pages 3937-3976, September.
    28. Walter Y. Oi, 1962. "Labor as a Quasi-Fixed Factor," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 70(6), pages 538-538.
    29. David Deming & Lisa B. Kahn, 2018. "Skill Requirements across Firms and Labor Markets: Evidence from Job Postings for Professionals," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(S1), pages 337-369.
    30. Cull, Robert & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2005. "Institutions, ownership, and finance: the determinants of profit reinvestment among Chinese firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 117-146, July.
    31. Yu, Linhui & Tang, Xuepeng & Huang, Xianhai, 2023. "Does the business environment promote entrepreneurship?——Evidence from the China Household Finance Survey," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    32. O'Hara, Maureen & Shaw, Wayne, 1990. "Deposit Insurance and Wealth Effects: The Value of Being "Too Big to Fail."," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(5), pages 1587-1600, December.
    33. Yu, Jian & Shi, Xunpeng & Guo, Dongmei & Yang, Longjian, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty (EPU) and firm carbon emissions: Evidence using a China provincial EPU index," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    34. Elizabeth Gutiérrez & Ben Lourie & Alexander Nekrasov & Terry Shevlin, 2020. "Are Online Job Postings Informative to Investors?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(7), pages 3133-3141, July.
    35. Kewei Hou & David T. Robinson, 2006. "Industry Concentration and Average Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(4), pages 1927-1956, August.
    36. Samuel Bentolila & Marcel Jansen & Gabriel Jiménez, 2018. "Erratum: When Credit Dries Up: Job Losses in the Great Recession," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 16(2), pages 560-560.
    37. Kaufman, George G., 2014. "Too big to fail in banking: What does it mean?," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 13(C), pages 214-223.
    38. repec:lic:licosd:22608 is not listed on IDEAS
    39. Wu, Yan & Heerink, Nico, 2016. "Foreign direct investment, fiscal decentralization and land conflicts in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 92-107.
    40. Wu, Yan & Heerink, Nico & Yu, Linhui, 2020. "Real estate boom and resource misallocation in manufacturing industries: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    41. Cull, Robert & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2000. "Bureaucrats, State Banks, and the Efficiency of Credit Allocation: The Experience of Chinese State-Owned Enterprises," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 1-31, March.
    42. Cao, Yuqiang & Hu, Yong & Liu, Qian & Lu, Meiting & Shan, Yaowen, 2023. "Job creation or disruption? Unraveling the effects of smart city construction on corporate employment in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    43. Wang, Yizhong & Wei, Yueling & Song, Frank M., 2017. "Uncertainty and corporate R&D investment: Evidence from Chinese listed firms," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 176-200.
    44. Chen, Suyun & Li, Zongze & Han, Binbin & Ma, Hengyun, 2021. "Managerial ability, internal control and investment efficiency," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    45. Huseyin Gulen & Mihai Ion, 2016. "Editor's Choice Policy Uncertainty and Corporate Investment," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(3), pages 523-564.
    46. Xu, Zhaoxia, 2020. "Economic policy uncertainty, cost of capital, and corporate innovation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cui, Xin & Wang, Chunfeng & Sensoy, Ahmet & Liao, Jing & Xie, Xiaochen, 2023. "Economic policy uncertainty and green innovation: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    2. Mo Chen & Xuhua Hu & Jijian Zhang & Zhe Xu & Guang Yang & Zenan Sun, 2023. "Are Firms More Willing to Seek Green Technology Innovation in the Context of Economic Policy Uncertainty? —Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-24, September.
    3. Wen, Qiang & Zhang, Teng, 2022. "Economic policy uncertainty and industrial pollution: The role of environmental supervision by local governments," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    4. Chada, Swechha, 2023. "Economic policy uncertainties and institutional ownership in India," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 27(C).
    5. Rongwu Zhang & Lan Luo & Jianjun Du, 2023. "The influence of fiscal policy uncertainty on corporate total factor productivity: Evidence from Chinese public companies," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(3), pages 532-554, July.
    6. Ma, Yong & Wang, Mengyuan, 2024. "Monetary policy shock and corporate innovation: Evidence from China," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 48(3).
    7. Ito, Asei & Lim, Jaehwan & Zhang, Hongyong, 2023. "Catching the political leader's signal: Economic policy uncertainty and firm investment in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    8. Huang, Ying Sophie & Wu, Jiajia & Guo, Feng, 2022. "Venture capital staging under economic policy uncertainty," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 572-596.
    9. Cui, Xin & Wang, Chunfeng & Liao, Jing & Fang, Zhenming & Cheng, Feiyang, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty exposure and corporate innovation investment: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    10. Shabir, Mohsin & Jiang, Ping & Bakhsh, Satar & Zhao, Zhongxiu, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty and bank stability: Threshold effect of institutional quality and competition," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    11. Jun, Xiao & Huang, Wenwei & Guo, Yiting & Cao, Yuqiang & Lu, Meiting, 2023. "Why does economic policy uncertainty increase firm-level pollutant emission?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    12. Jia, Qiaoyu & Zhou, Jia'nan, 2024. "Does economic policy uncertainty influence executive compensation stickiness? Firm-level evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 562-582.
    13. Wan, Qunchao & Chen, Jin & Yao, Zhu & Yuan, Ling, 2022. "Preferential tax policy and R&D personnel flow for technological innovation efficiency of China's high-tech industry in an emerging economy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    14. Shen, Xieyang & Yang, Sijie & Chen, Yulin & Zeng, Jianyu, 2022. "How does economic policy uncertainty influence managers' learning from peers' stock prices? Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    15. Guan, Jialin & Xu, Huijuan & Huo, Da & Hua, Yechun & Wang, Yunfeng, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty and corporate innovation: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    16. Guangchen Li & Qianlong Ma & Subuhi Khan & Khaoula Aliani, 2023. "Economic policy uncertainty: A new firm‐level measurement and impact on enterprise innovation strategies," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(8), pages 4671-4685, December.
    17. Cao, Yuqiang & Li, Chenglin & Liu, Xinghe & Lu, Meiting & Shan, Yaowen, 2022. "Economic policy uncertainty and debt allocation within business groups," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    18. Vo, Hong & Trinh, Quoc-Dat & Le, Minh & Nguyen, Thuy-Ngan, 2021. "Does economic policy uncertainty affect investment sensitivity to peer stock prices?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 685-699.
    19. Alam, Ahmed W. & Farjana, Ashupta & Houston, Reza, 2023. "Firm investment steering through state-level policy uncertainty," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PC).
    20. He, Lerong & Huang, Liying & Fang, Liting, 2022. "Institutional conditions, economic policy uncertainty and foreign institutional investment in China," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economic policy uncertainty; Labor demand; Skill heterogeneity; Online recruitment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • E60 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - General
    • 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

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:96:y:2024:i:pa:s1059056024005409. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    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 CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc 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 RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620165 .

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

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.