IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pas/papers/2021-06.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Labour Regulation Shift and Labour Intensive Manufacturing

Author

Listed:
  • Nurina Merdikawati
  • Sarah Xue Dong

Abstract

This paper analyses the relationship between a significant shift to more stringent labour market regulations in Indonesia in the early 2000s and changes in employment patterns in the manufacturing sector. While this regulation shift has been associated with a notable decline in employment in labour intensive production in Indonesian manufacturing in the last two decades, there is little rigorous evidence to support the association. This study compares plants in labour intensive and non-labour intensive manufacturing industries over time, and use difference-in-difference method to analyse different employment trends between these two groups around the time of the labour regulation change. The findings indicate that that employment in plants in labour intensive manufacturing declined by 4 to 14 percent relative to plants in non-labour intensive manufacturing around the time of the labour regulation change. This pattern is robust to using different measures of labour intensity, and to controlling for other policies that can affect different industries differently during the same period including trade liberalisation, China’s ascension to WTO and changes in Multi Fibre Agreement.

Suggested Citation

  • Nurina Merdikawati & Sarah Xue Dong, 2021. "Labour Regulation Shift and Labour Intensive Manufacturing," Departmental Working Papers 2021-06, The Australian National University, Arndt-Corden Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:pas:papers:2021-06
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://acde.crawford.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/publication/acde_crawford_anu_edu_au/2021-03/acde_td_merdikawati_and_dong_2021_06.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Luis Garicano & Claire Lelarge & John Van Reenen, 2016. "Firm Size Distortions and the Productivity Distribution: Evidence from France," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(11), pages 3439-3479, November.
    2. Caballero, Ricardo J. & Cowan, Kevin N. & Engel, Eduardo M.R.A. & Micco, Alejandro, 2013. "Effective labor regulation and microeconomic flexibility," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 92-104.
    3. James J. Heckman & Carmen Pagés, 2004. "Law and Employment: Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number heck04-1, June.
    4. Melanie Khamis, 2013. "Does the minimum wage have a higher impact on the informal than on the formal labour market? Evidence from quasi-experiments," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(4), pages 477-495, February.
    5. Giuseppe Bertola & Francine Blau & Lawrence Kahn, 2007. "Labor market institutions and demographic employment patterns," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 20(4), pages 833-867, October.
    6. Freeman, Richard B., 2010. "Labor Regulations, Unions, and Social Protection in Developing Countries," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Dani Rodrik & Mark Rosenzweig (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 4657-4702, Elsevier.
    7. Paul H. Malatesta & Kathryn L. DeWenter, 2001. "State-Owned and Privately Owned Firms: An Empirical Analysis of Profitability, Leverage, and Labor Intensity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(1), pages 320-334, March.
    8. Feldmann, Horst, 2009. "The unemployment effects of labor regulation around the world," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 76-90, March.
    9. Marco Leonardi & Giovanni Pica, 2013. "Who Pays for it? The Heterogeneous Wage Effects of Employment Protection Legislation," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 123(12), pages 1236-1278, December.
    10. Haryo Aswicahyono & Hal Hill & Dionisius Narjoko, 2010. "Industrialisation after a Deep Economic Crisis: Indonesia," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(6), pages 1084-1108.
    11. Djankov, Simeon & Ramalho, Rita, 2009. "Employment laws in developing countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 3-13, March.
    12. Majlesi, Kaveh, 2016. "Labor market opportunities and women's decision making power within households," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 34-47.
    13. Jinjarak, Yothin & Naknoi, Kanda, 2011. "Competition, Labor Intensity, and Specialization: Structural Changes in Postcrisis Asia," ADB Economics Working Paper Series 289, Asian Development Bank.
    14. Irene Brambilla & Amit K. Khandelwal & Peter K. Schott, 2010. "China's Experience under the Multi-Fiber Arrangement (MFA) and the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC)," NBER Chapters, in: China's Growing Role in World Trade, pages 345-387, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Almeida, Rita K. & Poole, Jennifer P., 2017. "Trade and labor reallocation with heterogeneous enforcement of labor regulations," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 154-166.
    16. Chris Manning & Kurnya Roesad, 2007. "The Manpower Law of 2003 and its implementing regulations: Genesis, key articles and potential impact," Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(1), pages 59-86.
    17. Utar, Hale & Ruiz, Luis B. Torres, 2013. "International competition and industrial evolution: Evidence from the impact of Chinese competition on Mexican maquiladoras," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 267-287.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Viollaz, Mariana, 2016. "Enforcement of Labor Market Regulations: Heterogeneous Compliance and Adjustment across Gender," MPRA Paper 72000, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Dragos Adascalitei & Sameer Khatiwada & Miguel Á. Malo & Pignatti Moran, 2015. "Employment protection and collective bargaining during the great recession: a comprehensive review of international evidence," Revista de Economía Laboral - Spanish Journal of Labour Economics, Asociación Española de Economía Laboral - AEET, vol. 12, pages 50-87.
    3. Romain Duval & Prakash Loungani, 2021. "Designing Labor Market Institutions in Emerging Market and Developing Economies: A Review of Evidence and IMF Policy Advice," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 63(1), pages 31-83, March.
    4. Betcherman, Gordon, 2014. "Labor market regulations : what do we know about their impacts in developing countries ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6819, The World Bank.
    5. Hasan, Rana & Mehta, Aashish & Sundaram, Asha, 2021. "The effects of labor regulation on firms and exports: Evidence from Indian apparel manufacturing," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 183-200.
    6. Mariana Viollaz, 2018. "Enforcement of labor market regulations: heterogeneous compliance and adjustment across gender," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-28, December.
    7. Wang, Feicheng & Milner, Chris & Scheffel, Juliane, 2021. "Labour market reform and firm-level employment adjustment: Evidence from the hukou reform in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    8. Kaplan, David S., 2009. "Job creation and labor reform in Latin America," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 91-105, March.
    9. Djankov, Simeon & Ramalho, Rita, 2009. "Employment laws in developing countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 3-13, March.
    10. Ulyssea, Gabriel & Ponczek, Vladimir, 2018. "Enforcement of Labor Regulation and the Labor Market Effects of Trade: Evidence from Brazil," IZA Discussion Papers 11783, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Malo, Miguel Á., 2017. "Labour market institutions in small Pacific island countries: Main guidelines for labour market reforms," GLO Discussion Paper Series 100, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    12. Ravi KANBUR & Lucas RONCONI, 2018. "Enforcement matters: The effective regulation of labour," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 157(3), pages 331-356, September.
    13. Shanthi Nataraj & Francisco Perez-Arce & Krishna B. Kumar & Sinduja V. Srinivasan, 2014. "The Impact Of Labor Market Regulation On Employment In Low-Income Countries: A Meta-Analysis," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 551-572, July.
    14. Amrit Amirapu & Michael Gechter, 2020. "Labor Regulations and the Cost of Corruption: Evidence from the Indian Firm Size Distribution," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 102(1), pages 34-48, March.
    15. T. H. Gindling & Nadwa Mossaad & David Newhouse, 2020. "Self-employment earnings premiums/penalties and regulations: evidence from developing economies," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 507-527, August.
    16. Lucas Ronconi & Mercedes Sidders & Benjamin Stanwix, 2016. "The Paradox of Effective Labor Regulation," Working Papers 201605, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    17. Gindling,T. H. & Mossaad,Nadwa & Newhouse,David Locke, 2016. "Earnings premiums and penalties for self-employment and informal employees around the world," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7530, The World Bank.
    18. Parsons, Donald O., 2011. "Mandated Severance Pay and Firing Cost Distortions: A Critical Review of the Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 5776, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Edward Sayre & Yousef Daoud, 2010. "Turnover and Job Tenure for Palestinian Workers, 1998-2008," Working Papers 578, Economic Research Forum, revised 12 Jan 2010.
    20. Per Skedinger, 2010. "Employment Protection Legislation," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13686.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    : Large and medium manufacturing; labour intensive manufacturing; labour regulations; employment; difference-in-difference;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • J08 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics Policies
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • L60 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - General
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology

    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:pas:papers:2021-06. 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: Prema-chandra Athukorala (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/asanuau.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.