Input Demand and the Short- and Long-Run Employment Thresholds. An Empirical Analysis for the German Manufacturing Sector

The concept of the "employment threshold" plays an important role in the public discussion of unemployment. The employment threshol d is defined as that growth rate of output which is necessary to keep employment constant despite the continuous rise in labour productivity. It is related to the Okun coefficient which describes the relationship between the changes of output and unemploy ment. Many contributions to this debate give the impression that the employment threshold is more or less a structural characteristic which remains constant over time. In this paper we derive short- and long-run employment thresholds from an input demand sy stem and show empirically that they depend on factor prices. A moderate wage policy leads to a reduction of the output growth which is necessary for an increase in employment.Okun's Law, employment threshold, productivity

Labour Market Institutions and Unemployment. An International Comparison

This paper deals with the effects of labour market institutions on unemployment in a panel of 19 OECD countries for the period 1960 to 2000. In contrast to many other studies, we use long time series and analyze cyclically adjusted trend values of the unemployment rate. Our novel contribution is the estimation of panel models where we allow for heterogeneous effects of institutions on unemployment. Our main results are that on the average a tighter employment protection, a higher tax burden on labour income and a more generous unemployment insurance system increase, whereas a higher centralization of wage negotiations decreases unemployment. The strength of the effects differs considerably between countries.employment protection, labour market institutions, unemployment, international comparison

Employment Effects of Innovation at the Firm Level

This paper analyzes empirically the effects of innovation on employment at the firm levelusing a uniquely long panel dataset of German manufacturing firms. The overall effect ofinnovations on employment often remains unclear in theoretical contributions due to reverseeffects. We distinguish between product and process innovations and introduce in additiondifferent innovation categories. We find clearly positive effects for product and processinnovations on employment growth with the effects for process innovations being slightlyhigher. The effects are stronger in small firms and differ between firms in former West andEast Germany.innovation, labour demand, employment, firm size, panel data

Effects of Innovation on Employment: A Dynamic Panel Analysis

This paper estimates the effect of innovation on employment at the firm level. Our uniquely long innovation panel data set of German manufacturing firms covers more than 20 years and allows us to use various innovation measures. We can distinguish between product and process innovations as well as between innovation inputs and innovation outputs. Using dynamic panel GMM system estimation we find positive effects of innovation on employment. This result is robust to the use of product and process innovations as well as for innovation input and output.innovation, employment, panel data, dynamic panel methods

Labour Market Institutions and Employment Thresholds. An International Comparison

This paper deals with the effects to labour market institutions on labour market performance. We analyse the employment threshold (the minimum growth rate necessaryto keep employment constant) which is an indicator for the labour intensity of production. We show for 17 OECD countries for the period 1971 to 2002 that the strictness of employment protection, the extent of wage bargaining co-ordination and the tax wedge reduce the labour intensity of production and raise the employment threshold.Employment protection, labour market institutions, labour demand, internationaln comparison.

A Micro Data Approach to the Identification of Credit Crunches

This paper presents a micro data approach to the identification of credit crunches. Using a survey among German firms which regularly queries the firms’ assessment of the current willingness of banks to extend credit we estimate the probability of a restrictive credit supply policy by time taking into account the creditworthiness of borrowers. Creditworthiness is approximated by firm–specific factors, e.g. the firms’ assessment of their current business situation and their business expectations. After controlling for the banks’ refinancing costs, which are also likely to affect the supply of loans, we derive a credit crunch indicator, which measures that part of the shift in the willingness to lend that is neither explained by firm-specific factors nor by refinancing costs.credit crunch, loan supply, surveys, nonlinear binary outcome panel-data models

Labour Market Institutions and the Employment Intensity of Output Growth. An International Comparison

This paper deals with the effects of labour market institutions on labour market performance. We analyse as an indicator for the labour intensity of output growth the employment threshold (the minimum growth rate of output necessary to keep employment constant). We show for a sample of 17 OECD countries for the period 1971 to 2002 that the strictness of employment protection raises the employment threshold in all econometric specifications. A higher wage bargaining coordination and a higher tax wedge reduce also the labour intensity of production, although the effects are not significant in all econometric specifications.employment protection, labour market institutions, labour demand, international comparison, employment threshold