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Making Do With Less: Working Harder During Recessions

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  • Edward P. Lazear
  • Kathryn L. Shaw
  • Christopher Stanton

Abstract

There are two obvious possibilities that can account for the rise in productivity during recent recessions. The first is that the decline in the workforce was not random, and that the average worker was of higher quality during the recession than in the preceding period. The second is that each worker produced more while holding worker quality constant. We call the second effect, "making do with less," that is, getting more effort from fewer workers. Using data spanning June 2006 to May 2010 on individual worker productivity from a large firm, it is possible to measure the increase in productivity due to effort and sorting. For this firm, the second effect--that workers' effort increases--dominates the first effect--that the composition of the workforce differs over the business cycle.

Suggested Citation

  • Edward P. Lazear & Kathryn L. Shaw & Christopher Stanton, 2013. "Making Do With Less: Working Harder During Recessions," NBER Working Papers 19328, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19328
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. A. Colin Cameron & Jonah B. Gelbach & Douglas L. Miller, 2008. "Bootstrap-Based Improvements for Inference with Clustered Errors," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(3), pages 414-427, August.
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    7. Eric Sims & Michael Jason Pries, 2011. "Reallocation and the Changing Nature of Economic Fluctuations," 2011 Meeting Papers 1258, Society for Economic Dynamics.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Michael C. Burda & Katie Genadek & Daniel S. Hamermesh, 2015. "Not Working at Work: Loafing, Unemployment and Labor Productivity," SFB 649 Discussion Papers SFB649DP2015-033, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany.
    2. Edward P. Lazear & Kathryn L. Shaw & Christopher T. Stanton, 2012. "The Value of Bosses," Discussion Papers 12-001, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
    3. John G. Fernald, 2015. "Productivity and Potential Output before, during, and after the Great Recession," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 29(1), pages 1-51.
    4. Thomas Cornelissen & Christian Dustmann & Uta Schönberg, 2017. "Peer Effects in the Workplace," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(2), pages 425-456, February.
    5. Burda, Michael C & Genadek, Katie R. & Hamermesh, Daniel S., 2017. "Non-Work at Work, Unemployment and Labor Productivity," CEPR Discussion Papers 12087, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Kudlyak, Marianna, 2015. "What We Know About Wage Adjustment During the 2007-09 Recession and Its Aftermath," Economic Quarterly, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, issue 3Q, pages 225-244.
    7. McManus, T. Clay & Schaur, Georg, 2016. "The effects of import competition on worker health," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 160-172.
    8. Bellmann, Lutz & Hübler, Olaf, 2014. "Skill Shortages in German Establishments," IZA Discussion Papers 8290, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E23 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Production
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - 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
    • M5 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics

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