What affects the employment rate intensity of growth?

Serie: Documentos de Trabajo. 9517.

Autor: Ana L. Revenga and Samuel Bentolila.

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What affects the employment rate intensity of growth? (1 MB)

Resumen

In this paper we study the link between the employment rate (the employed proportion of the working age population) and output growth. We find that this relationship differs significantly across a sample of 11 OECD countries over the last 30 years. Output elasticities of the employment rate are found to be highest in the US, Canada, and the UK, and lowest in Japan and Austria. We also find that this elasticity is affected by some structural and institutional features, like the share of agriculture in output, the level of firing costs, the degree of inter-union and inter-firm coordination, and the percentage of employees in large firms.