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Heterogeneous labour market response to monetary policy: small versus large firms

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  • Singh, Aarti
  • Suda, Jacek
  • Zervou, Anastasia

Abstract

We study the effects of monetary policy shocks on the growth rates of hiring, employment and earnings of new hires across firms of different sizes. We find that contractionary and expansionary monetary policy shocks have different effects on hiring and employment growth for small and large firms. Relative to large firms, small firms are less responsive to contractionary monetary policy shocks while they are more responsive to expansionary shocks. We also find that, as a consequence of monetary policy shocks, the earnings of new hires changes, and this wage effect depends on the sign of the shock and the size of the firms. We use a heterogeneous firm model with a working capital constraint, an upward sloping marginal cost curve and a financial accelerator effect, and augment it with the wage effect. We find that our empirical results are consistent with the model as long as the combined effect due to varying steepness of the marginal cost curve and the wage effect is stronger than the financial accelerator channel.

Suggested Citation

  • Singh, Aarti & Suda, Jacek & Zervou, Anastasia, 2021. "Heterogeneous labour market response to monetary policy: small versus large firms," Working Papers 2021-07, University of Sydney, School of Economics, revised Nov 2021.
    • Handle: RePEc:syd:wpaper:2021-07
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Heterogeneous firms; financing constraints; labour market; monetary policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance

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