Can Paying Firms Quicker Affect Aggregate Employment? / Jean-Noel Barrot, Ramana Nanda.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Barrot, Jean-Noel.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Nanda, Ramana.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w22420.

NBER working paper series no. w22420

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2016.

Summary:

In 2011, the federal government accelerated payments to their small business contractors, spanning virtually every county and industry in the US. We study the impact of this reform on county-sector employment growth over the subsequent three years. Despite firms being paid just 15 days sooner, we find payroll increased 10 cents for each accelerated dollar, with two-thirds of the effect coming from an increase in new hires and the balance from an increase in earnings. Importantly, however, we document substantial crowding out of non-treated firms employment, particularly in counties with low rates of unemployment. Our results highlight an important channel through which financing constraints can be alleviated for small firms, but also emphasize the general-equilibrium effects of large-scale interventions, which can lead to a substantially lower net impact on aggregate outcomes.

Notes:

Print version record

July 2016.