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The intensive margin puzzle and labor market adjustment costs

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  • Wesselbaum, Dennis

Abstract

This paper documents a puzzling fact, namely that there is a significant negative relation between employment protection legislation and the usage of the intensive margin of labor market adjustments. We then make use of a Real Business Cycle model and introduce search and matching frictions as well as adjustment costs along the extensive and the intensive labor market margins. We show that the model is able to replicate the observed pattern, if we assume low firing costs and relatively large hours adjustment costs. Furthermore, the model requires those values to replicate the U.S. business cycle statistics.

Suggested Citation

  • Wesselbaum, Dennis, 2011. "The intensive margin puzzle and labor market adjustment costs," Kiel Working Papers 1701, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:1701
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. repec:wop:calsdi:97-23 is not listed on IDEAS
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    Cited by:

    1. Noritaka Kudoh & Hiroaki Miyamoto, 2021. "General Equilibrium Effects and Labor Market Fluctuations," Working Papers SDES-2021-4, Kochi University of Technology, School of Economics and Management, revised May 2021.
    2. Kudoh, Noritaka & Miyamoto, Hiroaki, 2023. "Do general equilibrium effects matter for labor market dynamics?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    3. Rujin, Svetlana, 2024. "Labor market institutions and technology-induced labor adjustment along the extensive and intensive margins," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    4. Biddle, Jeff E. & Hamermesh, Daniel S., 2024. "Adjusting Labor along the Intensive MarginS," IZA Discussion Papers 17162, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Alexander Herzog-Stein & Patrick Nüß, 2016. "Extensive versus intensive margin over the business cycle: New evidence for Germany and the United States," IMK Working Paper 163-2016, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    6. Temel Taskin, 2013. "Intensive margin and extensive margin adjustments of labor market: Turkey versus United States," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 33(3), pages 2307-2319.
    7. Yannic Stucki & Jacqueline Thomet, 2018. "The effects of firing costs on employment and hours per employee," Diskussionsschriften dp1820, Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft.
    8. Armando Näf & Yannic Stucki & Jacqueline Thomet, 2022. "The Effects of Firing Costs on Labour Market Dynamics," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(354), pages 461-488, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Adjustment Costs; Extensive Margin; Intensive Margin;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C10 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - General
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts

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