Making Do With Less: Working Harder During Recessions

Edward Lazear, Kathryn Shaw and Christopher Stanton

No 19328, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

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.

JEL-codes: E23 E24 E32 J20 J23 J24 M5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013-08
Note: LS
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (24)

Published as Making Do With Less: Working Harder during Recessions , Edward P. Lazear, Kathryn L. Shaw, Christopher Stanton. in Labor Markets in the Aftermath of the Great Recession , Card and Mas. 2016
Published as Edward P. Lazear & Kathryn L. Shaw & Christopher Stanton, 2016. "Making Do with Less: Working Harder during Recessions," Journal of Labor Economics, vol 34(S1), pages S333-S360.

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Journal Article: Making Do with Less: Working Harder during Recessions (2016)
Working Paper: Making Do With Less: Working Harder During Recessions (2014)
Working Paper: Making do with less: working harder during recessions (2014)
Working Paper: Making do with less: working harder during recessions (2014)
Chapter: Making Do With Less: Working Harder during Recessions (2013)
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