Making Do with Less: Working Harder during Recessions

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Lazear, Edward P.; Shaw, Kathryn L.; Stanton, Christopher
• 署名单位: Stanford University; Stanford University; University of London; London School Economics & Political Science
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF LABOR ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0734-306X
• DOI: 10.1086/682406
• 发表日期: 2016
• 页码: S333-S360
• 关键词: unemployment; inference

摘要

Why did productivity rise during recent recessions? One possibility is that average worker quality increased. A second is that each incumbent worker produced more. The second effect is termed making do with less. Using data from 2006 to 2010 on individual worker productivity from a large firm, these effects can be measured and separated. For this firm, most of the gain in productivity during the recession was a result of increased effort. Additionally, the increase in effort is correlated with the increase in the local unemployment rate, presumably reflecting the costs of losing a job.