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Employment Protection and High-Tech Aversion

Author

Listed:
  • Roberto M. Samaniego

    (George Washington University)

Abstract

Do institutional firing costs slow the diffusion of information and communications technology (ICT)? The paper develops a model in which, as the technology at a given plant drops behind the best practice, it optimally reduces its workforce. As a result, firing costs are particularly detrimental to profits in industries in which the rate of technical change is rapid - such as ICT - and countries with high firing costs specialize in industries in which technical change is sluggish. The paper suggests that industry composition is a new channel through which labor market regulation might impact macroeconomic aggregates. (Copyright: Elsevier)

Suggested Citation

  • Roberto M. Samaniego, 2006. "Employment Protection and High-Tech Aversion," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 9(2), pages 224-241, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:issued:v:9:y:2006:i:2:p:224-241
    DOI: 10.1016/j.red.2005.10.002
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Samaniego, Roberto M., 2008. "Can technical change exacerbate the effects of labor market sclerosis," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 497-528, February.
    2. repec:ucp:bknber:9780226304557 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Giuseppe Nicoletti & Stefano Scarpetta & Olivier Boylaud, 2000. "Summary Indicators of Product Market Regulation with an Extension to Employment Protection Legislation," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 226, OECD Publishing.
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    9. David H. Autor & Frank Levy & Richard J. Murnane, 2003. "The skill content of recent technological change: an empirical exploration," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue Nov.
    10. Samaniego, Roberto M., 2006. "Do Firing Costs Affect The Incidence Of Firm Bankruptcy?," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(4), pages 467-501, September.
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    23. Samaniego, Roberto M., 2006. "Organizational capital, technology adoption and the productivity slowdown," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(7), pages 1555-1569, October.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Employment protection; Firing costs; Rate of technical change; Information and communications technology; Industry composition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J32 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions
    • J65 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment Insurance; Severance Pay; Plant Closings
    • L16 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Industrial Organization and Macroeconomics; Macroeconomic Industrial Structure
    • L63 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Microelectronics; Computers; Communications Equipment
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy

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