Do entry wages increase when severance pay drops? Not in recessions

Pedro Martins

Economics Letters, 2021, vol. 201, issue C

Abstract: Severance pay may generate employment effects if wages are rigid. We study this by analysing a reform introduced during a recession that reduced severance pay for new hires while leaving it unchanged for previously-hired employees. We exploit this grandfathering dimension using a regression-discontinuity approach and long monthly data. We find that entry wages did not increase following the reduction in severance. This suggests that severance adjustments over the business cycle may reduce employment fluctuations.

Keywords: Employment law; Seasonality; Wage rigidity; Portugal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E24 J31 J65 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:201:y:2021:i:c:s0165176521000756

DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2021.109798

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