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Macroeconomic effects of shocks to public employment

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  • Linnemann, Ludger

Abstract

The paper discusses the short-run relation between public and private employment. Empirical evidence is presented suggesting that in aggregate US time series, increases in government employment appear to generate temporarily positive responses of private employment and real output. Unlike in the case of shocks to government spending on goods, this contradicts the predictions of business cycle models based on the neoclassical growth model. It is explored in how far a model which includes the production of useful public services can potentially explain the qualitative properties of the evidence.

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  • Linnemann, Ludger, 2009. "Macroeconomic effects of shocks to public employment," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 252-267, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jmacro:v:31:y:2009:i:2:p:252-267
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    Cited by:

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    2. Vasilev, Aleksandar, 2015. "Macroeconomic effects of public-sector unions," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 29(2), pages 101-126.
    3. Vasilev, Aleksandar, 2016. "Aggregation with a double non-convex labor supply decision: indivisible private- and public-sector hours," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 47, pages 123-133.
    4. Altan Aldan, 2021. "The multiplier effect of public employment on formal employment in the private sector: Evidence from Turkey," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 1016-1031, May.
    5. Aleksandar Vasilev, 2013. "Cyclical and welfare effects of public sector unions in a Real-Business-Cycle model," Working Papers 2013_19, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    6. Eduardo Garzón Espinosa & Bibiana Medialdea García & Esteban Cruz Hidalgo, 2021. "Fiscal Policy Approaches: An Inquiring Look From The Modern Monetary Theory," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(4), pages 999-1022, October.
    7. Vasilev, Aleksandar, 2013. "On the cost of rent-seeking by government bureaucrats in a Real-Business-Cycle framework," SIRE Discussion Papers 2013-84, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    8. Juin‐Jen Chang & Hsieh‐Yu Lin & Nora Traum & Shu‐Chun S. Yang, 2021. "Fiscal Consolidation and Public Wages," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 53(2-3), pages 503-533, March.
    9. Aleksandar Vasilev, 2017. "On the Cost of Opportunistic Behavior in the Public Sector: A General-Equilibrium Approach," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 19(2), pages 565-582, April.
    10. George Economides & Dimitris Papageorgiou & Apostolis Philippopoulos & Vanghelis Vassilatos, 2013. "Smaller Public Sectors in the Euro Area: Aggregate and Distributional Implications," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 59(3), pages 536-558, September.
    11. Steinar Holden & Victoria Sparrman, 2018. "Do Government Purchases Affect Unemployment?," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 120(1), pages 124-158, January.
    12. Lamo, Ana & Pérez, Javier J. & Schuknecht, Ludger, 2013. "Are government wages interlinked with private sector wages?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 697-712.
    13. Bermperoglou, Dimitrios & Pappa, Evi & Vella, Eugenia, 2017. "The government wage bill and private activity," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 21-47.
    14. George Economides & Apostolis Philippopoulos & Petros Varthalitis, 2015. "Incentives to Work and Performance in the Public Sector," CESifo Working Paper Series 5193, CESifo.
    15. Economides, George & Philippopoulos, Apostolis & Vassilatos, Vanghelis, 2014. "Public, or private, providers of public goods? A dynamic general equilibrium study," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 303-327.
    16. Pedro Gomes, 2009. "Labour market effects of public sector employment and wages," 2009 Meeting Papers 313, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    17. Dai, Tiantian & He, Chao & Jiang, Shenyi, 2023. "Talent in the public sector: The role of migration and housing policies," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    18. Vasilev, Aleksandar, 2013. "Essays on Real Business Cycle Modeling and the Public Sector," EconStor Theses, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, number 130522, September.
    19. Attinasi, Maria Grazia & Berardini, Francesco & Palazzo, Alessandra Anna, 2019. "Do public wages in the euro area explain private wage developments? An empirical investigation," Working Paper Series 2231, European Central Bank.

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