Large Firms and the Cyclicality of US Labour Productivity

Joshua Brault () and Hashmat Khan ()
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Joshua Brault: Department of Economics, Carleton University, https://carleton.ca/economics/people/brault-joshua/
Hashmat Khan: Department of Economics, Carleton University, https://carleton.ca/economics/people/khan-hashmat-u/

No 21-02, Carleton Economic Papers from Carleton University, Department of Economics

Abstract: We present novel stylized facts on the cyclicality of labour productivity for large and small firms and contrast them with those at the aggregate level. We find that the large- firm output-labour productivity correlation declines by nearly 0.5 from the pre-1985 to post-1985 period, closely resembling the decline of 0.6 in the aggregate annual data. The lead-lag correlation pattern is also similar to that in the aggregate data. We do not find patterns consistent with these facts for small firms. Our findings are of direct relevance to the growing literature on the role of large firms in driving US business cycles.

Keywords: Large Firms; Labour Productivity; Business Cycles (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D22 E24 E32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 22 pages
Date: 2021-03-13
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-eff and nep-mac
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Published: Carleton Economics Papers

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