Wage Dynamics Along the Life-Cycle of Manufacturing Plants.

摘要

This paper explores the evolution of wages along the life-cycle of U.S. manufacturing plants. Real wages start out low for new plants, and increase along with productivity as plants survive and age. As plants experience productivity decline and approach exit, real wages fall. However, for failing plants real wages do not fall as quickly as they rise in the case of new entrants. These empirical regularities are captured in a dynamic model of labor quality and quantity choice by plants subject to adjustment costs in wages and employment. The models parameters are estimated to assess the magnitude of adjustment costs and the degree of asymmetry in the cost of upward versus downward adjustments.