Labour Turnover and Firm Performance

Abstract

We explore the impact of labour turnover on firm performance by analysing the predictions of an extension of the efficiency wage model of Salop (1979) developed by Garino and Martin (2007), which separates incumbent and newly hired workers in the production function. Within this theoretical framework, an exogenous increase in the turnover rate can increase profits if firms do not choose wages unilaterally. We test the theoretical predictions of the model using UK cross-section establishment-level data, the 2004 Workplace and Employee Relations Survey. In accordance with our theoretical priors, the empirical results support the standard inverse relationship between the quit rate and firm performance where firms unilaterally choose the wage and generally support a positive relationship between firm performance and the quit rate where trade unions influence wage setting