How Substitutable Are Workers? Evidence from Worker Deaths / Simon Jäger, Jörg Heining.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jäger, Simon.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Heining, Jörg.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w30629.

NBER working paper series no. w30629

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2022.

Summary:

We estimate how exogenous worker exits affect firms' demand for incumbent workers and new hires. Drawing on administrative data from Germany, we analyze 34,000 unexpected worker deaths, which, on average, raise the remaining workers' wages and retention probabilities. The average effect masks substantial heterogeneity: Coworkers in the same occupation as the deceased see positive wage effects; coworkers in other occupations experience wage decreases when a high-skilled or specialized worker dies. Our findings imply substantial replacement costs, which are larger in thin markets and when skills are specialized.

Notes:

Print version record

November 2022.