Earnings dynamics and firm-level shocks

Arbeitspapier

We use matched employer-employee data from Sweden to study the role of the firm in affecting the stochastic properties of wages. Our model accounts for endogenous participation and mobility decisions. We find that firm-specific permanent productivity shocks transmit to individual wages, but the effect is mostly concentrated among the high-skilled workers. For low-skilled the pass-through is similar for temporary and permanent firm-level shocks and the magnitude smaller. The updates to worker-firm specific match effects over the life of a firm-worker relationship are small. Substantial growth in earnings variance over the life cycle for high-skilled workers is driven by firms. In particular, cross-sectional wage variances by age 55 are roughly one-third higher relative to a scenario with no pass-through of firm shocks onto wages.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IFS Working Paper ; No. W21/33

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; National Government Expenditures and Health ; Social Security and Public Pensions ; Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health ; Retirement; Retirement Policies
• Subject: Income process ; Wage dynamics ; Firm dynamics

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Friedrich, Benjamin ; Laun, Lisa ; Meghir, Costas ; Pistaferri, Luigi
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)
• (where): London
• (when): 2021

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.1920/wp.ifs.2021.3321
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/249688
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET