[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp13681.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Employment Reallocation over the Business Cycle: Evidence from Danish Data

Author

Listed:
  • Bertheau, Antoine

    (NHH Bergen,Norway)

  • Bunzel, Henning

    (Aarhus University)

  • Vejlin, Rune Majlund

    (Aarhus University)

Abstract
We present new evidence on how employment growth varies across firm types (size, productivity, and wage) and over the business cycle using Danish data covering almost 30 years. We decompose net employment growth into two recruitment margins: net hirings from/to employment (poaching) and net hirings from nonemployment. High-productivity firms are the most growing firms due to poaching. High wage firms poach almost as many workers, but shed an almost equal amount to non-employment. Large firms do not poach workers from smaller firms. In terms of employment cyclicality, we find that low-productive and low-wage firms shed proportionally more jobs in recessions. We relate our findings to recent models of employment fluctuations that jointly analyze worker and firm dynamics.

Suggested Citation

  • Bertheau, Antoine & Bunzel, Henning & Vejlin, Rune Majlund, 2020. "Employment Reallocation over the Business Cycle: Evidence from Danish Data," IZA Discussion Papers 13681, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13681
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp13681.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Melvyn G. Coles & Dale T. Mortensen, 2016. "Equilibrium Labor Turnover, Firm Growth, and Unemployment," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 84, pages 347-363, January.
    2. John Haltiwanger & Henry Hyatt & Erika McEntarfer, 2018. "Who Moves Up the Job Ladder?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(S1), pages 301-336.
    3. Adrien Bilal & Niklas Engbom & Simon Mongey & Giovanni L. Violante, 2022. "Firm and Worker Dynamics in a Frictional Labor Market," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 90(4), pages 1425-1462, July.
    4. Tania Babina & Wenting Ma & Christian Moser & Paige P. Ouimet & Rebecca Zarutskie, 2019. "Pay, Employment, and Dynamics of Young Firms," Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute Working Papers 21, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    5. Julian di Giovanni & Andrei A. Levchenko & Isabelle Mejean, 2014. "Firms, Destinations, and Aggregate Fluctuations," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 82(4), pages 1303-1340, July.
    6. Andreas I. Mueller, 2017. "Separations, Sorting, and Cyclical Unemployment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(7), pages 2081-2107, July.
    7. Shigeru Fujita & Giuseppe Moscarini & Fabien Postel-Vinay, 2024. "Measuring Employer-to-Employer Reallocation," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 16(3), pages 1-51, July.
    8. Steven J. Davis & John Haltiwanger, 1990. "Gross Job Creation and Destruction: Microeconomic Evidence and Macroeconomic Implications," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1990, Volume 5, pages 123-186, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Rasmus Lentz & Dale T. Mortensen, 2008. "An Empirical Model of Growth Through Product Innovation," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 76(6), pages 1317-1373, November.
    10. Van Reenen, John, 2018. "Increasing differences between firms: market power and the macro-economy," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 91698, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. David Card & Ana Rute Cardoso & Joerg Heining & Patrick Kline, 2018. "Firms and Labor Market Inequality: Evidence and Some Theory," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(S1), pages 13-70.
    12. Michael W. L. Elsby & Bart Hobijn & Ayşegül Şahin, 2013. "Unemployment Dynamics in the OECD," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(2), pages 530-548, May.
    13. Leo Kaas & Philipp Kircher, 2015. "Efficient Firm Dynamics in a Frictional Labor Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(10), pages 3030-3060, October.
    14. Brown, Charles & Medoff, James, 1989. "The Employer Size-Wage Effect," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(5), pages 1027-1059, October.
    15. Robert Shimer, 2012. "Reassessing the Ins and Outs of Unemployment," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 15(2), pages 127-148, April.
    16. Guido Menzio & Shouyong Shi, 2011. "Efficient Search on the Job and the Business Cycle," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 119(3), pages 468-510.
    17. Daniel Borowczyk-Martins & Etienne Lalé, 2019. "Employment Adjustment and Part-Time Work: Lessons from the United States and the United Kingdom," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(1), pages 389-435, January.
    18. Clémence Lenoir & Julien Martin & Isabelle Mejean, 2023. "Search Frictions in International Goods Markets," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 21(1), pages 326-366.
    19. Lucia Foster & Cheryl Grim & John Haltiwanger, 2016. "Reallocation in the Great Recession: Cleansing or Not?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(S1), pages 293-331.
    20. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/59cr4u3mmr9pobrceptvua5g8c is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Jespersen, Svend T. & Munch, Jakob R. & Skipper, Lars, 2008. "Costs and benefits of Danish active labour market programmes," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 859-884, October.
    22. Sophie Osotimehin, 2019. "Aggregate productivity and the allocation of resources over the business cycle," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 32, pages 180-205, April.
    23. Giuseppe Moscarini & Fabien Postel-Vinay, 2012. "The Contribution of Large and Small Employers to Job Creation in Times of High and Low Unemployment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(6), pages 2509-2539, October.
    24. Torben M. Andersen & Michael Svarer, 2007. "Flexicurity: Labour Market Performance in Denmark," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 53(3), pages 389-429, September.
    25. Karen Geurts, 2016. "Longitudinal firm-level data: problems and solutions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(3), pages 425-445, March.
    26. Burdett, Kenneth & Mortensen, Dale T, 1998. "Wage Differentials, Employer Size, and Unemployment," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 39(2), pages 257-273, May.
    27. Patrick Kline & Neviana Petkova & Heidi Williams & Owen Zidar, 2019. "Who Profits from Patents? Rent-Sharing at Innovative Firms," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(3), pages 1343-1404.
    28. Sophie Osotimehin, 2019. "Aggregate productivity and the allocation of resources over the business cycle," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 32, pages 180-205, April.
    29. John Haltiwanger & Ron S. Jarmin & Javier Miranda, 2013. "Who Creates Jobs? Small versus Large versus Young," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(2), pages 347-361, May.
    30. Jesper Bagger & Rasmus Lentz, 2019. "An Empirical Model of Wage Dispersion with Sorting," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 86(1), pages 153-190.
    31. Nicholas Bloom & Fatih Guvenen & Benjamin S. Smith & Jae Song & Till von Wachter, 2018. "The Disappearing Large-Firm Wage Premium," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 108, pages 317-322, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. John Haltiwanger & Henry Hyatt & Erika McEntarfer & Matthew Staiger, 2025. "Cyclical Worker Flows: Cleansing vs. Sullying," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 55, January.
    2. Benjamin Lochner & Bastian Schulz, 2024. "Firm Productivity, Wages, and Sorting," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(1), pages 85-119.
    3. Bertheau, Antoine & Vejlin, Rune, 2022. "Employer-to-Employer Transitions and Time Aggregation Bias," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    4. Bertheau, Antoine, 2021. "Employer Search Behavior: Reasons for Internal Hiring," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    5. Maibom, Jonas & Vejlin, Rune Majlund, 2021. "Passthrough of Firm Performance to Income and Employment Stability," IZA Discussion Papers 14131, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Kuokštis, Vytautas & Asali, Muhammad & Spurga, Simonas Algirdas, 2022. "Labor market flexibility and exchange rate regimes," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Engbom, Niklas & Moser, Christian & Sauermann, Jan, 2023. "Firm pay dynamics," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 233(2), pages 396-423.
    2. Ryan Michaels & David Ratner & Michael Elsby, 2016. "Vacancy Chains," 2016 Meeting Papers 753, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    3. Henry Hyatt & Erika McEntarfer & John Haltiwanger, 2014. "Cyclical Reallocation of Workers Across Large and Small Employers," 2014 Meeting Papers 735, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    4. Babina, Tania & Ma, Wenting & Moser, Christian & Ouimet, Paige & Zarutskie, Rebecca, 2019. "Pay, Employment, and Dynamics of Young Firms," MPRA Paper 95382, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Bertheau, Antoine & Vejlin, Rune Majlund, 2023. "Job Ladders by Firm Wage and Productivity," IZA Discussion Papers 15872, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Papageorgiou, Theodore, 2018. "Large firms and within firm occupational reallocation," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 184-223.
    7. Cristina Fernández & Roberta García & Paloma Lopez-Garcia & Benedicta Marzinotto & Roberta Serafini & Juuso Vanhala & Ladislav Wintr, 2017. "Firm growth in Europe: An overview based on the COMPNET labour module," BCL working papers 107, Central Bank of Luxembourg.
    8. Daniel Borowczyk-Martins & Etienne Lalé, 2019. "Employment Adjustment and Part-Time Work: Lessons from the United States and the United Kingdom," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(1), pages 389-435, January.
    9. David Berger & Kyle Herkenhoff & Simon Mongey, 2022. "Labor Market Power," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(4), pages 1147-1193, April.
    10. Audra Bowlus & Émilien Gouin‐Bonenfant & Huju Liu & Lance Lochner & Youngmin Park, 2022. "Four decades of Canadian earnings inequality and dynamics across workers and firms," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 13(4), pages 1447-1491, November.
    11. Giuseppe Moscarini & Fabien Postel-Vinay, 2016. "Did the Job Ladder Fail after the Great Recession?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(S1), pages 55-93.
    12. John Haltiwanger & Henry Hyatt & Erika McEntarfer & Matthew Staiger, 2025. "Cyclical Worker Flows: Cleansing vs. Sullying," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 55, January.
    13. Giuseppe Moscarini & Fabien Postel-Vinay, 2013. "Stochastic Search Equilibrium," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 80(4), pages 1545-1581.
    14. Morchio, Iacopo & Moser, Christian, 2018. "The Gender Pay Gap: Micro Sources and Macro Consequences," MPRA Paper 99276, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 24 Mar 2020.
    15. Émilien Gouin‐Bonenfant, 2022. "Productivity Dispersion, Between‐Firm Competition, and the Labor Share," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 90(6), pages 2755-2793, November.
    16. Jaime Arellano-Bover, 2024. "Career Consequences of Firm Heterogeneity for Young Workers: First Job and Firm Size," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(2), pages 549-589.
    17. Tanaka, Satoshi & Warren, Lawrence & Wiczer, David, 2023. "Earnings growth, job flows and churn," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 86-98.
    18. Niklas Engbom, 2019. "Firm and Worker Dynamics in an Aging Labor Market," Working Papers 756, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    19. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/2fecv0pvng8afbbhqcplt7ihf3 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Elías Albagli & Mario Canales & Chad Syverson & Matías Tapia & Juan Wlasiuk, 2020. "Productivity Gaps and Job Flows: Evidence from Censal Microdata," Working Papers Central Bank of Chile 895, Central Bank of Chile.
    21. Moser, Christian & Saidi, Farzad & Wirth, Benjamin & Wolter, Stefanie, 2020. "Credit Supply, Firms, and Earnings Inequality," MPRA Paper 100371, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    worker flows; firm heterogeneity; matched employer-employee data; business cycle; equilibrium search models;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13681. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.