Labor Rationing

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Breza, Emily; Kaur, Supreet; Shamdasani, Yogita
• 署名单位: Harvard University; University of California System; University of California Berkeley; National University of Singapore
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0002-8282
• DOI: 10.1257/aer.20201385
• 发表日期: 2021
• 页码: 3184-3224
• 关键词: implicit contracts; PRODUCTIVITY; unemployment; MARKETS; SEPARATION; INDIA; size

摘要

This paper measures excess labor supply in equilibrium. We induce hiring shocks which employ 24 percent of the labor force in external month-long jobs-in Indian local labor markets. In peak months, wages increase instantaneously and local aggregate employment declines. In lean months, consistent with severe labor rationing, wages and aggregate employment are unchanged, with positive employment spillovers on remaining workers, indicating that over a quarter of labor supply is rationed. At least 24 percent of lean self-employment among casual workers occurs because they cannot find jobs. Consequently, traditional survey approaches mismeasure labor market slack. Rationing has broad implications for labor market analysis.