Firing costs, misallocation, and aggregate productivity

B-Tier
Journal: Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control
Year: 2019
Volume: 98
Issue: C
Pages: 60-81

Score contribution per author:

0.670 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

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.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:dyncon:v:98:y:2019:i:c:p:60-81
Journal Field
Macro
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25