Firing costs, misallocation, and aggregate productivity

José-María Da-Rocha, Diego Restuccia and Marina Tavares
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Jose Maria Da Rocha

Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 2019, vol. 98, issue C, 60-81

Abstract: We study the impact of firing costs on aggregate total factor productivity (TFP) in a dynamic general-equilibrium framework where the evolution of establishment-level productivity is not invariant to the policy. Firing costs not only generate static factor misallocation, but also distort the selection of establishment’s growth by size, contributing to larger aggregate TFP losses. Numerical experiments indicate that firing costs equivalent to 5 year’s wages imply a reduction in TFP of more than 20%. Factor misallocation accounts for 20% of the productivity loss, whereas the remaining 80% arises from distorted selection in the productivity process.

Keywords: Firing costs; Inaction; Misallocation; Establishments; Productivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E1 E6 O1 O4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Firing Costs, Misallocation, and Aggregate Productivity (2016)
Working Paper: Firing Costs, Misallocation, and Aggregate Productivity (2016)
Working Paper: Firing Costs, Misallocation, and Aggregate Productivity (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:dyncon:v:98:y:2019:i:c:p:60-81

DOI: 10.1016/j.jedc.2018.09.005

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