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The Financial Channel of Wage Rigidity

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  • Benjamin Schoefer

    (UC Berkeley)

Abstract

Why do firms cut hiring so sharply in recessions? I propose that wage rigidity among incumbent workers forces firms to reduce hiring by squeezing their internal funds. Incumbents' wage rigidity is an irrelevant fixed cost in standard macroeconomic models, which instead rely on wage rigidity among new hires. But much empirical evidence indicates that the wages of new hires, unlike those of incumbents, display little rigidity. I integrate financial constraints and incumbents' wage rigidity -- but flexible wages among new hires -- into the Diamond-Mortensen-Pissarides matching model. The interaction between these two frictions helps the calibrated model account for more than half of hiring fluctuations in the U.S. data. My empirical analyses support the financial channel of wage rigidity. I present new firm-level evidence that employment responds to cash flow shocks, and that internal funds help firms stabilize employment during recessions. Moreover, I calculate that a slight increase in incumbents' wage procyclicality could smooth aggregate profits and internal funds.

Suggested Citation

  • Benjamin Schoefer, 2016. "The Financial Channel of Wage Rigidity," 2016 Meeting Papers 1605, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:sed016:1605
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    Cited by:

    1. Anne Kathrin Funk & Daniel Kaufmann, 2022. "Do Sticky Wages Matter? New Evidence from Matched Firm Survey and Register Data," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(355), pages 689-712, July.
    2. Emmanuel Saez & Benjamin Schoefer & David Seim, 2019. "Payroll Taxes, Firm Behavior, and Rent Sharing: Evidence from a Young Workers' Tax Cut in Sweden," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(5), pages 1717-1763, May.
    3. Yusuf Mercan & Benjamin Schoefer & Petr Sedláček, 2024. "A Congestion Theory of Unemployment Fluctuations," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 16(1), pages 238-285, January.
    4. Daniel Schaefer & Carl Singleton, 2020. "Nominal Wage Adjustments and the Composition of Pay: New Evidence from Payroll Data," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2020-01, Department of Economics, University of Reading.
    5. John Grigsby & Erik Hurst & Ahu Yildirmaz, 2021. "Aggregate Nominal Wage Adjustments: New Evidence from Administrative Payroll Data," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(2), pages 428-471, February.
    6. Effrosnyi Adamopoulou & Luis Diez-Catalan & Ernesto Villanueva, "undated". "Staggered Contracts and Unemployment During Recessions," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2022_379, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    7. Julia Fonseca & Adrien Matray, 2022. "Financial Inclusion, Economic Development, and Inequality: Evidence from Brazil," Working Papers 308, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    8. Natalia Bermudez & Muriel Dejemeppe & Giulia Tarullo, 2023. "Theory and Empirics of Short-Time Work: A Review," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2023018, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    9. Yulia Moiseeva, 2020. "The Interaction between Credit and Labor Market Frictions," Discussion Paper Series, School of Economics and Finance 202007, School of Economics and Finance, University of St Andrews.
    10. Hyejin Ku & Uta Schönberg & Ragnhild C. Schreiner, 2018. "How Do Firms Respond to Place-Based Tax Incentives?," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 1811, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    11. Wix, Carlo, 2017. "The long-run real effects of banking crises: Firm-level investment dynamics and the role of wage rigidity," SAFE Working Paper Series 189, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    12. Omar Barbiero, 2021. "The Valuation Effects of Trade," Working Papers 21-11, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    13. Fonseca, Julia & Matray, Adrien, 2024. "Financial inclusion, economic development, and inequality: Evidence from Brazil," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    14. Matthew Knowles & Mario Lupoli, 2023. "The Nash Wage Elasticity and its Business Cycle Implications," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 240, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E2 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment
    • G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance
    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General

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