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Capital Share Dynamics When Firms Insure Workers

Author

Listed:
  • Barney Hartman-Glaser
  • Hanno Lustig
  • Mindy Z. Xiaolan
Abstract
Although the aggregate capital share of U.S. firms has increased, the firm-level capital share of a typical U.S. firm has decreased. This divergence is due to mega-firms that now produce a larger output share without a proportionate increase in labor compensation. We develop a model in which firms insure workers against firm-specific shocks, where more productive firms allocate more rents to shareholders, while less productive firms endogenously exit. Increasing firm-level risk delays exit and increases the measure of mega-firms, which raises the aggregate capital share while lowering the average firm's capital share. An increase in the level of rents quantitatively magnifies this effect. We present evidence supporting this mechanism.

Suggested Citation

  • Barney Hartman-Glaser & Hanno Lustig & Mindy Z. Xiaolan, 2016. "Capital Share Dynamics When Firms Insure Workers," NBER Working Papers 22651, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22651
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    5. Matteo G. Richiardi & Luis Valenzuela, 2024. "Firm heterogeneity and the aggregate labour share," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 38(1), pages 66-101, March.
    6. Jin‐Hyuk Kim & Nick Vikander, 2023. "Commitment and discretion in contracts: theory and evidence from retirement plans," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 125(2), pages 461-488, April.
    7. Luigi Guiso & Luigi Pistaferri, 2020. "The insurance role of the firm," The Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (The Geneva Association), vol. 45(1), pages 1-23, March.
    8. Bertay, Ata Can & Carreño, José & Huizinga, Harry & Uras, Burak & Vellekoop, Nathanael, 2022. "Technological change and the finance wage premium," SAFE Working Paper Series 361, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
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    10. Simcha Barkai, 2020. "Declining Labor and Capital Shares," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 75(5), pages 2421-2463, October.
    11. Bowen Zheng & Mengjie Zhang & Xuefang Zhang, 2022. "The rise of market power and firms' investment: Evidence from China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(5), pages 4807-4830, December.
    12. Dongya Koh & Raül Santaeulàlia‐Llopis & Yu Zheng, 2020. "Labor Share Decline and Intellectual Property Products Capital," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(6), pages 2609-2628, November.
    13. Hugo Hopenhayn & Julian Neira & Rish Singhania, 2022. "From Population Growth to Firm Demographics: Implications for Concentration, Entrepreneurship and the Labor Share," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 90(4), pages 1879-1914, July.
    14. Loukas Karabarbounis & Brent Neiman, 2019. "Accounting for Factorless Income," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(1), pages 167-228.
    15. Popov, Alexander A. & Steininger, Lea, 2023. "Monetary Policy and Local Industry Structure," Department of Economics Working Paper Series 333, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    16. Émilien Gouin‐Bonenfant, 2022. "Productivity Dispersion, Between‐Firm Competition, and the Labor Share," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 90(6), pages 2755-2793, November.
    17. Yang, Guang-Zhao & Si, Deng-Kui & Ning, Guang-Jie, 2023. "Does digital transformation reduce the labor income share in enterprises?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1526-1538.
    18. Roya Taherifar & Mark J. Holmes & Gazi M. Hassan, 2023. "The drivers of labour share and impact on pay inequality: A firm-level investigation," Working Papers in Economics 23/03, University of Waikato.
    19. Sualihu, Mohammed Aminu & Yawson, Alfred & Yusoff, Iliyas, 2021. "Do analysts’' forecast properties deter suboptimal labor investment decisions? Evidence from Regulation Fair Disclosure," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    20. Schlingemann, Frederik P. & Stulz, René M., 2022. "Have exchange-listed firms become less important for the economy?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(2), pages 927-958.
    21. Matthieu Gomez, 2023. "Decomposing the Growth of Top Wealth Shares," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 91(3), pages 979-1024, May.
    22. Andy Atkeson, 2020. "Alternative Facts Regarding the Labor Share," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 37, pages 167-180, August.
    23. Laura A Harvey & James Rockey, 2020. "The declining fortunes of (most) American workers," University of East Anglia School of Economics Working Paper Series 2020-04, School of Economics, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..
    24. Daniel L. Greenwald & Martin Lettau & Sydney C. Ludvigson, 2019. "How the Wealth Was Won: Factor Shares as Market Fundamentals," NBER Working Papers 25769, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    25. Barkai, Simcha, 2021. "The Decline of the Labor Share is not Explained by the Capitalization of Intellectual Property Products," Working Papers 310, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.

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    JEL classification:

    • E25 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Aggregate Factor Income Distribution
    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General

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