Cyclical productivity in a model of labor hoarding

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Sbordone, AM
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF MONETARY ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3932
• DOI: 10.1016/S0304-3932(96)01285-8
• 发表日期: 1996
• 页码: 331-361
• 关键词: total factor productivity; Labor hoarding

摘要

This pager develops a dynamic model of labor hoarding to explain two empirical facts, the cyclical behavior of total factor productivity and the dynamic correlations of sectoral productivity with aggregate variables. The model features convex costs of adjusting the labor force, which induce firms to vary the intensity of labor utilization over the cycle. In particular, cyclical variations in labor 'effort' take place as a response to expected future changes in industry conditions. I test the restrictions imposed by the model for several two-digit manufacturing industries under different assumptions about market structure and returns to scale. Then, using the assumption that aggregate variables carry information about future changes in industry conditions, I simulate the model's dynamic response of hours and productivity to aggregate innovations and compare them to those estimated from the data.