IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hhs/cesisp/0319.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

New firms and labor market entrants: Is there a wage penalty for employment in new firms?

Author

Listed:
  • Nyström, Kristina

    (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology)

  • Elvung, Gulzat Zhetibaeva

    (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology)

Abstract

In this paper, we explore the role of new firms as an entry point to the labor market. Because the vast majority of new firms are short-lived, it is a risky decision to accept employment in a new venture. It can be argued that individuals with little (or no) labor market experience are more willing to accept the high risks associated with employment in new firms. Hence, new firms may work as an entry point to the labor market. Nevertheless, some research concludes that one disadvantage of employment in a new firm is that new firms pay less (Shane, 2009). However, this empirical conclusion is primarily based on literature on the wage penalty of small firms. In this paper, we study whether the wage penalty of employment in a new firm persists if we focus solely on labor market entrants. In the empirical analysis, we employ an employer-employee matched dataset that covers the Swedish population during the period from 1998-2008. We use the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) method to study the wage differences between labor market entrants employed in new and incumbent firms. We find an average wage penalty of 2.9 percent for labor market entrants employed in new firms over the studied period.

Suggested Citation

  • Nyström, Kristina & Elvung, Gulzat Zhetibaeva, 2013. "New firms and labor market entrants: Is there a wage penalty for employment in new firms?," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 319, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0319
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://static.sys.kth.se/itm/wp/cesis/cesiswp319.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arnaud Chevalier & Colm Harmon & Vincent O’ Sullivan & Ian Walker, 2013. "The impact of parental income and education on the schooling of their children," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 2(1), pages 1-22, December.
    2. Ouimet, Paige & Zarutskie, Rebecca, 2014. "Who works for startups? The relation between firm age, employee age, and growth," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(3), pages 386-407.
    3. Oskar Nordström Skans & Per-Anders Edin & Bertil Holmlund, 2009. "Wage Dispersion Between and Within Plants: Sweden 1985-2000," NBER Chapters, in: The Structure of Wages: An International Comparison, pages 217-260, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. A. Smith, Jeffrey & E. Todd, Petra, 2005. "Does matching overcome LaLonde's critique of nonexperimental estimators?," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 125(1-2), pages 305-353.
    5. C. Jeffrey Waddoups, 2007. "Employer Size‐wage Effects in Australia," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 21(4‐5), pages 809-835, December.
    6. Jacob A. Mincer, 1974. "Introduction to "Schooling, Experience, and Earnings"," NBER Chapters, in: Schooling, Experience, and Earnings, pages 1-4, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Udo Brixy & Susanne Kohaut & Claus Schnabel, 2007. "Do Newly Founded Firms Pay Lower Wages? First Evidence from Germany," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 161-171, June.
    8. Knut Gerlach & OLAF HÜBLER, 1998. "Firm Size and Wages in Germany – Trends and Impacts of Mobility," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 25(3), pages 245-261, January.
    9. Sascha O. Becker & Marco Caliendo, 2007. "Sensitivity analysis for average treatment effects," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 7(1), pages 71-83, February.
    10. C. Praag & Peter Versloot, 2007. "What is the value of entrepreneurship? A review of recent research," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 29(4), pages 351-382, December.
    11. Kristina Nyström, 2007. "Patterns and determinants of entry and exit in industrial sectors in Sweden," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 85-110, December.
    12. O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), 1999. "Handbook of Labor Economics," Handbook of Labor Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 3, number 3.
    13. Marco Caliendo & Sabine Kopeinig, 2008. "Some Practical Guidance For The Implementation Of Propensity Score Matching," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 31-72, February.
    14. Peter Fredriksson & Robert H. Topel, 2010. "Wage Determination and Employment in Sweden Since the Early 1990s: Wage Formation in a New Setting," NBER Chapters, in: Reforming the Welfare State: Recovery and Beyond in Sweden, pages 83-126, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Barbara Sianesi, 2004. "An Evaluation of the Swedish System of Active Labor Market Programs in the 1990s," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 133-155, February.
    16. 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.
    17. Jacob A. Mincer, 1974. "Schooling, Experience, and Earnings," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number minc74-1.
    18. Wheaton, William C. & Lewis, Mark J., 2002. "Urban Wages and Labor Market Agglomeration," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 542-562, May.
    19. Taubman, Paul, 1989. "Role of Parental Income in Educational Attainment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(2), pages 57-61, May.
    20. Jeffrey Smith, 2000. "A Critical Survey of Empirical Methods for Evaluating Active Labor Market Policies," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 136(III), pages 247-268, September.
    21. Kristina Nyström, 2012. "Labor mobility and entrepreneurship: who do new firms employ?," Chapters, in: Charlie Karlsson & Börje Johansson & Roger R. Stough (ed.), Entrepreneurship, Social Capital and Governance, chapter 5, pages 102-114, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    22. Kaiser, Ulrich & Malchow-Møller, Nikolaj, 2011. "Is self-employment really a bad experience?: The effects of previous self-employment on subsequent wage-employment wages," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 572-588, September.
    23. Michael Lechner, 2002. "Some practical issues in the evaluation of heterogeneous labour market programmes by matching methods," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 165(1), pages 59-82, February.
    24. Scott Shane, 2009. "Why encouraging more people to become entrepreneurs is bad public policy," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 141-149, August.
    25. Kenneth R. Troske, 1999. "Evidence On The Employer Size-Wage Premium From Worker-Establishment Matched Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 81(1), pages 15-26, February.
    26. Kenneth R. Troske & Kimberly Bayard, 1999. "Examining the Employer-Size Wage Premium in the Manufacturing, Retail Trade, and Service Industries Using Employer-Employee Matched Data," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 99-103, May.
    27. Richard B. Freeman & Birgitta Swedenborg & Robert Topel, 2010. "Reforming the Welfare State: Recovery and Beyond in Sweden," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number free05-1.
    28. Daniel Millimet, 2005. "Job search skills, employer size and wages," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(2), pages 95-100.
    29. Richard B. Freeman & Birgitta Swedenborg & Robert H. Topel, 2010. "Introduction to "Reforming the Welfare State: Recovery and Beyond in Sweden"," NBER Chapters, in: Reforming the Welfare State: Recovery and Beyond in Sweden, pages 1-23, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    30. Doyle, Orla & Harmon, Colm P. & Walker, Ian, 2005. "The Impact of Parental Income and Education on the Health of their Children," IZA Discussion Papers 1832, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    31. Geroski, P. A., 1995. "What do we know about entry?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 421-440, December.
    32. Freeman, Richard B. & Swedenborg, Birgitta & Topel, Robert H. (ed.), 2010. "Reforming the Welfare State," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226261928.
    33. Assar Lindbeck & Dennis J. Snower, 2001. "Insiders versus Outsiders," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 165-188, Winter.
    34. Charles Brown & James L. Medoff, 2003. "Firm Age and Wages," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 21(3), pages 677-698, July.
    35. Jacob A. Mincer, 1974. "Schooling and Earnings," NBER Chapters, in: Schooling, Experience, and Earnings, pages 41-63, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    36. Fredrik Heyman, 2007. "Firm Size or Firm Age? The Effect on Wages Using Matched Employer–Employee Data," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 21(2), pages 237-263, June.
    37. William A. Darity & Patrick L. Mason, 1998. "Evidence on Discrimination in Employment: Codes of Color, Codes of Gender," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 63-90, Spring.
    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. Daniel Fackler & Michaela Fuchs & Lisa Hölscher & Claus Schnabel, 2019. "Do Start-ups Provide Employment Opportunities for Disadvantaged Workers?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 72(5), pages 1123-1148, October.
    2. Dorner, Matthias & Fryges, Helmut & Schopen, Kathrin, 2017. "Wages in high-tech start-ups – Do academic spin-offs pay a wage premium?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 1-18.
    3. Bellmann, Lisa & Brixy, Udo, 2018. "Hiring by start-ups and regional labor supply," IAB-Discussion Paper 201818, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    4. Kristina Nyström & Gulzat Zhetibaeva Elvung, 2015. "New Firms as Employers: The Wage Penalty for Voluntary and Involuntary Job Switchers," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 29(4), pages 348-366, December.
    5. Knutsson, Polina, 2018. "Sorting on Unobserved Skills into New Firms," Working Papers 2018:38, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    6. Brixy, Udo & Brunow, Stephan & D'Ambrosio, Anna, 2017. "Ethnic diversity in start-ups and its impact on innovation," IAB-Discussion Paper 201725, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    7. Bauermann, Tom, 2020. "Governmental policies to reduce unemployment during recessions: Insights from an ABM," Ruhr Economic Papers 847, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    8. Pawel Adrjan, 2018. "Risky Business? Earnings Prospects of Employees at Young Firms," Economics Series Working Papers 852, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    9. Daniel Fackler & Lisa Hölscher & Claus Schnabel & Antje Weyh, 2022. "Does working at a start-up pay off?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 2211-2233, April.
    10. Kristina Nyström, 2020. "Entrepreneurship after displacement," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 475-494, February.
    11. 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.
    12. Pankaj C. Patel & Cornelius A. Rietveld, 2023. "Right of association and new business entry: country-level evidence from the market sector," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(3), pages 1161-1177, October.
    13. Brixy, Udo & Murmann, Martin, 2016. "The growth and human capital structure of new firms over the business cycle," IAB-Discussion Paper 201642, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    14. Kwapisz Agnieszka, 2020. "Minimum Wages and Nascent Entrepreneurship in the US," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 20(1), pages 1-15, January.
    15. Díaz-Chao, Ángel & Ficapal-Cusí, Pilar & Torrent-Sellens, Joan, 2017. "Did small and medium enterprises maintain better jobs during the early years of the recession? Job quality multidimensional evidence from Spain," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 396-413.
    16. Kristina Nyström, 2021. "Working for an entrepreneur: heaven or hell?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 919-931, February.
    17. Charlie Karlsson & Peter Warda, 2014. "Entrepreneurship and innovation networks," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 393-398, August.
    18. Flavio Calvino & Chiara Criscuolo & Carlo Menon, 2018. "A cross-country analysis of start-up employment dynamics," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(4), pages 677-698.
    19. Seung Hoon D. Chung & Simon C. Parker, 2023. "Founder affiliations: jobseeker reactions and impact on employee recruitment by start-up ventures," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(1), pages 259-283, June.
    20. Alan Bueno & Ben Hur Francisco Cardoso & Dominik Hartmann & Diogo Ferraz, 2024. "Does small firm dynamics matter for occupation diversity and job quality? Evidence from Brazil," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 1-26, December.
    21. Johan Karlsson, 2021. "Firm size and growth barriers: a data-driven approach," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 1319-1338, October.
    22. Benedikt Schröpf, 2023. "The dynamics of wage dispersion between firms: the role of firm entry and exit," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 57(1), pages 1-29, December.
    23. Welter, Friederike & Levering, Britta & May-Strobl, Eva, 2016. "Mittelstandspolitik im Wandel," IfM-Materialien 247, Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (IfM) Bonn.
    24. Schröpf, Benedikt, 2021. "The dynamics of wage dispersion between firms: The role of firm entry and exit," Discussion Papers 120, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.

    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. Kristina Nyström, 2021. "Working for an entrepreneur: heaven or hell?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 919-931, February.
    2. Antoni, Manfred & Janser, Markus & Lehmer, Florian, 2015. "The hidden winners of renewable energy promotion: Insights into sector-specific wage differentials," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 595-613.
    3. Neda Trifkovic, 2015. "Spillover effects of international standards: Work conditions in Vietnamese small and medium enterprises," WIDER Working Paper Series 047, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    4. Kristina Nyström & Gulzat Zhetibaeva Elvung, 2015. "New Firms as Employers: The Wage Penalty for Voluntary and Involuntary Job Switchers," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 29(4), pages 348-366, December.
    5. Torsten Lietzmann & Paul Schmelzer & Jürgen Wiemers, 2017. "Marginal employment for welfare recipients: stepping stone or obstacle?," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 31(4), pages 394-414, December.
    6. Daniel Fackler & Michaela Fuchs & Lisa Hölscher & Claus Schnabel, 2019. "Do Start-ups Provide Employment Opportunities for Disadvantaged Workers?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 72(5), pages 1123-1148, October.
    7. Beatriz Muriel Hernández, 2016. "An Analysis of Firm Characteristics as Earnings Determinants: The Urban Bolivia Case," Development Research Working Paper Series 04/2016, Institute for Advanced Development Studies.
    8. Thierry Lallemand & Robert Plasman & François Rycx, 2007. "The establishment-size wage premium: evidence from European countries," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 34(5), pages 427-451, December.
    9. Florian Lehmer & Joachim Möller, 2010. "Interrelations between the urban wage premium and firm-size wage differentials: a microdata cohort analysis for Germany," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 45(1), pages 31-53, August.
    10. Neda Trifković, 2015. "Spillover Effects of International Standards: Work Conditions in Vietnamese Small and Medium Enterprises," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2015-047, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    11. Marco Caliendo & Michel Clement & Dominik Papies & Sabine Scheel-Kopeinig, 2012. "Research Note ---The Cost Impact of Spam Filters: Measuring the Effect of Information System Technologies in Organizations," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 23(3-part-2), pages 1068-1080, September.
    12. Daniel Fackler & Lisa Hölscher & Claus Schnabel & Antje Weyh, 2022. "Does working at a start-up pay off?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 2211-2233, April.
    13. Erling Barth & James Davis & Richard B. Freeman, 2018. "Augmenting the Human Capital Earnings Equation with Measures of Where People Work," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(S1), pages 71-97.
    14. Dorner, Matthias & Fryges, Helmut & Schopen, Kathrin, 2017. "Wages in high-tech start-ups – Do academic spin-offs pay a wage premium?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 1-18.
    15. Nyström, Kristina, 2015. "Pre- and post-entrepreneurship labor mobility of entrepreneurs and employees in entrepreneurial firms," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 420, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    16. Jacek Liwiński, 2017. "Premia płacowa z kształcenia na studiach podyplomowych," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 5, pages 105-127.
    17. Liane Faltermeier & Awudu Abdulai, 2009. "The impact of water conservation and intensification technologies: empirical evidence for rice farmers in Ghana," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 40(3), pages 365-379, May.
    18. Ganna Vakhitova & Christopher R. Bollinger, 2011. "Labor Market Return to Computer Skills: Using Microsoft Certification to Measure Computer Skills," Discussion Papers 46, Kyiv School of Economics.
    19. Navon, Guy, 2006. "Human Capital Heterogeneity: University Choice and Wages," MPRA Paper 9708, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Michael Weber & Jan Kluge, 2015. "Decomposing the German East-West wage gap," ERSA conference papers ersa15p636, European Regional Science Association.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    new firms; labor market entrants; wage penalty; propensity score matching; average treatment effect;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups

    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:hhs:cesisp:0319. 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: Vardan Hovsepyan (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cekthse.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.