Big shock, slow growth and the dynamics of aggregate labour demand with firing costs

Abstract

SummaryThis paper studies the dynamic properties of the labour demand model with non convex adjustment costs proposed by Bentolila and Bertola [1990]. With this model we evaluate the importance of the firing costs, following a great shock, for the dynamics of adjustment of the aggregated labour demand of a stationary state to an other. The model is calibrated on the French economy, and studies the transition following the shock of 1973-74,–i.e. a shock on the price of oil as well as the transition from a rapid and stable growth to a slow and uncertain one. We show that in this case, a drastic reduction of the firing costs when the shock occurs does not allow to modify substantially the path of the economy.