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Financing Labor

Author

Listed:
  • Efraim Benmelech
  • Nittai K. Bergman
  • Amit Seru
Abstract
Financial market imperfections can have significant impact on employment decisions of firms. We illustrate the economic importance of this channel by demonstrating that the responsiveness of employment decisions to firms' financial health is quantitatively similar to the much-studied responsiveness of investment decisions to cash-flows. We use a collage of three 'quasi-experiments' used previously in the investment-cash flow and finance-growth literatures to trace the effects of finance on employment. Our results suggest that financial constraints and the availability of credit play an important role in firm-level employment decisions, as well as aggregate unemployment outcomes

Suggested Citation

  • Efraim Benmelech & Nittai K. Bergman & Amit Seru, 2011. "Financing Labor," NBER Working Papers 17144, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17144
    Note: CF EFG LS ME
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    Cited by:

    1. Duygan-Bump, Burcu & Levkov, Alexey & Montoriol-Garriga, Judit, 2015. "Financing constraints and unemployment: Evidence from the Great Recession," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 89-105.
    2. Patrick Reilly, 2016. "Bank Branching Deregulation and High School Graduation," Working Papers 16-29, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    3. Marco Pagano & Giovanni Pica, 2012. "Finance and employment [Credit constraints as a barrier to the entry and post-entry growth of firms]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 27(69), pages 5-55.
    4. Martin Olsson & Joacim Tåg, 2017. "Private Equity, Layoffs, and Job Polarization," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 35(3), pages 697-754.
    5. Nuri Ersahin & Rustom M. Irani, 2015. "Collateral Values and Corporate Employment," Working Papers 15-30, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    6. Popov, Alexander & Zaharia, Sonia, 2017. "Credit market competition and the gender gap: evidence from local labor markets," Working Paper Series 2086, European Central Bank.
    7. Rui Silva, 2013. "Internal Labor Markets And Investment In Conglomerates," Working Papers 13-26, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    8. Popov, Alexander & Rocholl, Jörg, 2015. "Financing constraints, employment, and labor compensation: evidence from the subprime mortgage crisis," Working Paper Series 1821, European Central Bank.
    9. Lee, Seung Jung & Stebunovs, Viktors, 2016. "Bank capital pressures, loan substitutability, and nonfinancial employment," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 44-69.
    10. Kaas, Leo & Pintus, Patrick A. & Ray, Simon, 2016. "Land collateral and labor market dynamics in France," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 202-218.
    11. Boustanifar, Hamid, 2014. "Finance and employment: Evidence from U.S. banking reforms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 343-354.
    12. Paula Garda & Volker Ziemann, 2014. "Economic Policies and Microeconomic Stability: A Literature Review and Some Empirics," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1115, OECD Publishing.
    13. Hamdi Ben-Nasr & Abdullah Alshwer, 2015. "How Informed Stock Trading Can Affect Labor Investment Efficiency," Proceedings of Business and Management Conferences 2304077, International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences.
    14. Ben-Nasr, Hamdi & Alshwer, Abdullah A., 2016. "Does stock price informativeness affect labor investment efficiency?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 249-271.
    15. Fernandes, Ana P. & Ferreira, Priscila, 2017. "Financing constraints and fixed-term employment: Evidence from the 2008-9 financial crisis," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 215-238.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D53 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Financial Markets
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

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