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Fixed-Term Contracts in Europe: A Reassessment in Light of the Importance of Match-Specific Learning

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  • Eva Nagypal

    (Department of Economics, Northwestern University)

Abstract

The use of fixed-term contracts has proliferated during the past decade in many European countries due to the relaxation of their regulation. Policymakers aimed to reduce labor-market rigidities by offering to firms these flexible contracts with little or no dismissal costs but with a finite contract length. The analysis of these contracts has thus far focused on their effect on the overall employment rate. This study high-lights that in the evaluation of fixed-term contracts as policy instruments it is also important to look at their effect on productivity as a function of tenure and on the tenure distribution of employed workers. These two effects jointly determine the policy's overall productivity effect. I show that the liberalization of fixed-term contracts can have a significant effect on the productivity of employment relationships when match-specific learning is important. Moreover, the effect is different depending on the assumption about the nature of the learning process. I distinguish between two kinds of match-specific learning - learning-by-doing and learning about match quality - and show that under learning-by-doing the overall productivity effect is necessarily negative, while under learning about match quality the effect could be either negative or positive depending on how much experimentation improves in the presence of fixed-term contracts. I calibrate the model based on earlier empirical work and find that indeed the productivity effect is positive as output per worker increases by 0.6%.

Suggested Citation

  • Eva Nagypal, 2001. "Fixed-Term Contracts in Europe: A Reassessment in Light of the Importance of Match-Specific Learning," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 0110, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
  • Handle: RePEc:has:discpr:0110
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    File URL: http://econ.core.hu/doc/dp/dp/nagypal.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Florent Fremigacci & Antoine Terracol, 2013. "Subsidized temporary jobs: lock-in and stepping stone effects," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(33), pages 4719-4732, November.
    2. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/1v5orglviq8epaecq1buersvk5 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Nathalie Havet & Xavier Joutard & Alexis Penot, 2019. "Les pratiques d’activité réduite et leurs impacts sur les trajectoires professionnelles : une revue de la littérature," Revue d'économie politique, Dalloz, vol. 129(1), pages 11-47.
    4. Pedro Portugal & José Varejão, 2022. "Why do firms use fixed-term contracts?," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 21(3), pages 401-421, September.
    5. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/1v5orglviq8epaecq1buersvk5 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Fabrizio Colonna & Giulia Giupponi, 2015. "Why do firms hire on a fixed-term basis? Evidence from longitudinal data," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 297, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    7. Ferrari, Filippo, 2011. "Lo sviluppo delle competenze nei contesti precari [Skills development in precariousness: the dark side of flexibility?]," MPRA Paper 33284, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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