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Catastrophic Job Destruction

Author

Listed:
  • Anabela Carneiro

    (University of Porto)

  • Pedro Portugal

    (Bank of Portugal)

  • Jose Varejão

    (University of Porto)

Abstract

In this article we study the resilience of the Portuguese labor market, in terms of job flows, employment and wage developments, in the context of the current recession. We single out the huge contribution of job destruction, especially due to the closing of existing firms, to the dramatic decline of total employment and increase of the unemployment rate. We also document the very large increase in the incidence of minimum wage earners and nominal wage freezes. We explored three different channels that may have amplified the employment response to the great recession: the credit channel, the wage rigidity channel, and the labor market segmentation channel. We uncovered what we believe is convincing evidence that the severity of credit constraints played a significant role in the current job destruction process. Wage rigidity is seen to be associated with lower net job creation and higher failure rates of firms. Finally, labor market segmentation seemed to have favored a stronger job destruction that was facilitated by an increasing number of temporary workers Dans cet article, nous analysons la résilience du marché du travail portugais, en termes de mouvements de main d’oeuvre, d'emplois et d'évolution des salaires, dans le contexte de la récession actuelle. Nous mettons en évidence la contribution significative des destructions d'emplois, notamment en raison des fermetures d’entreprises, à la baisse importante de l'emploi total et à l'augmentation du taux de chômage. Nous examinons également le très fort accroissement du nombre de travailleurs rémunérés au salaire minimum et le gel des salaires nominaux. Nous explorons trois différentes causes pouvant avoir amplifié la réaction de l'emploi à la grande recession : l’accès au crédit, la rigidité des salaires, et la segmentation du marché du travail. Nous mettons en lumière une preuve, que nous jugeons convaincante, que la rigueur des contraintes de crédit pesant sur les entreprises a joué un rôle important dans le processus actuel de destruction d’emplois. La rigidité des salaires est considérée comme allant de pair avec une création nette d'emplois plus faible et des taux plus élevés de faillite d'entreprises. Enfin, la segmentation du marché du travail semble avoir favorisé des destructions d'emplois plus fortes rendues possibles par un nombre croissant de travailleurs temporaires.

Suggested Citation

  • Anabela Carneiro & Pedro Portugal & Jose Varejão, 2013. "Catastrophic Job Destruction," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 152, OECD Publishing.
    • Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaab:152-en
    DOI: 10.1787/5k408hxxg20x-en
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. John Addison & Mário Centeno & Pedro Portugal, 2009. "Do Reservation Wages Really Decline? Some International Evidence on the Determinants of Reservation Wages," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 1-8, March.
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    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Catastrophic Job Destruction
      by maximorossi in NEP-LTV blog on 2013-10-15 18:40:53

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    Cited by:

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    2. Lilia Aleksanyan & Jean-Pierre Huiban, 2016. "Economic and financial determinants of firm bankruptcy: evidence from the French food industry," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, Springer, vol. 97(2), pages 89-108, September.
    3. Eichengreen, Barry & Jung, Naeun & Moch, Stephen & Mody, Ashoka, 2014. "The Eurozone Crisis: Phoenix Miracle or Lost Decade?," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 39(PB), pages 288-308.
    4. Addison, John T. & Portugal, Pedro & Varejão, José, 2014. "Labor demand research: Toward a better match between better theory and better data," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 4-11.
    5. Dany Brouillette & Olena Kostyshyna & Natalia Kyui, 2018. "Downward nominal wage rigidity in Canada: Evidence from micro-level data," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 51(3), pages 968-1002, August.
    6. Gibson, Heather D. & Hall, Stephen G. & Tavlas, George S., 2014. "Fundamentally Wrong: Market Pricing of Sovereigns and the Greek Financial Crisis," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 39(PB), pages 405-419.
    7. Polito, Vito & Wickens, Michael, 2014. "How the Euro Crisis Evolved and how to Avoid Another: EMU, Fiscal Policy and Credit Ratings," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 39(PB), pages 364-374.
    8. Reichlin, Lucrezia, 2014. "Monetary Policy and Banks in the Euro Area: The Tale of Two Crises," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 39(PB), pages 387-400.
    9. Andrew Garin, 2019. "How Responsive are Wages to Demand within the Firm? Evidence from Idiosyncratic Export Demand Shocks," Working Papers w201902, Banco de Portugal, Economics and Research Department.
    10. Honkapohja, Seppo, 2014. "The Euro Area Crisis: A View from the North," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 39(PB), pages 260-271.
    11. Sónia Cabral & Cláudia Duarte, 2014. "Nominal and real wage rigidity: Does nationality matter?," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-20, December.
    12. Carneiro, Anabela & Portugal, Pedro & Varejão, José, 2014. "Catastrophic job Destruction during the Portuguese Economic Crisis," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 39(PB), pages 444-457.
    13. Addison, John T. & Portugal, Pedro & Vilares, Hugo, 2015. "Unions and Collective Bargaining in the Wake of the Great Recession," IZA Discussion Papers 8943, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. John T. Addison & Pedro Portugal & Hugo Vilares, 2017. "Unions and Collective Bargaining in the Wake of the Great Recession: Evidence from Portugal," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 55(3), pages 551-576, September.
    15. HOSONO Kaoru & TAKIZAWA Miho & TSURU Kotaro, 2014. "The Impact of a Demand Shock on the Employment of Temporary Agency Workers: Evidence from Japan during the global financial crisis," Discussion papers 14046, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    credit constraints; job destruction; segmentation; wage rigidities;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs

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