Working Paper

Sand in the wheels of the labor market: the effect of firing costs on employment

Abstract: This paper examines the effects of firing costs in a dynamic general equilibrium model where firms face stochastic demand. It derives analytically two simple closed-form equations, one for the supply of labor, the other for its demand. These equations determine the comparative static effects of changes in firing costs on the labor market. When negative shocks are more likely to occur than positive shocks, and when the frequency of these shocks is high, firing costs have a substantial negative impact on aggregate employment. In addition, product market integration, as it has occurred in the formation of the European Union, induces firms to be more wary of future possible downturns and therefore intensifies the negative consequences of firing costs.

Keywords: Labor market - Europe; Labor economics; Labor policy - Europe;

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.)

Part of Series: International Finance Discussion Papers

Publication Date: 2004

Number: 796