Wage Dynamics along the Life-Cycle of Manufacturing Plants
August 2011
Working Paper Number:
CES-11-24R
Abstract
This paper explores the evolution of average wage paid to employees along the life-cycle of a manufacturing plant in U.S. Average wage starts out low for a new plant and increases along with labor productivity, as the plant survives and ages. As a plant experiences productivity decline and approaches exit, average wage falls, but more slowly than it rises in the case of surviving new plants. Moreover, average wage declines slower than productivity does in failing plants, while it rises relatively faster as productivity increases in surviving new plants. These empirical regularities are studied in a dynamic model of labor quality and quantity choice by plants, where labor quality is reflected in wages. The model's parameters are estimated to assess the costs a plant incurs as it alters its labor quality and quantity in response to changes in its productivity over its life-cycle.
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:
demand,
estimation,
production,
econometric,
manufacturing,
growth,
earnings,
labor productivity,
labor,
productivity wage,
regression,
economically,
revenue,
workforce,
wages productivity,
plant productivity,
productivity plants,
plant,
plant employment,
productivity dynamics,
labor statistics
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Annual Survey of Manufactures,
Bureau of Labor Statistics,
Longitudinal Research Database,
Center for Economic Studies,
Generalized Method of Moments
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