Financial Implications of the Decision to Increase Reliance on Contingent Labor

摘要

This paper provides the first systematic examination of the financial implications asso- ciated with increased reliance on contingent (i.e., temporary/part-time) labor. Using measures of performance from income statement and balance sheet data, an stock returns, we find that the adoption of this labor practice is associated with superior sub- sequent performance. Concurrently, no increase in systematic risk and standard devia- tion of stock returns is observed. The increase in performance with no concurrent increase in systematic risk and standard deviation of returns perhaps explains the increasing popularity of this labor practice.