The Effectiveness of Hiring Credits

92 Pages Posted: 8 Jan 2018

See all articles by Pierre Cahuc

Pierre Cahuc

National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) - National School for Statistical and Economic Administration (ENSAE); Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne - Equipe Universitaire de Recherche en Economie Quantitative (EUREQUA); University of Angers - French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Stéphane Carcillo

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Sciences Po; IZA

Thomas Le Barbanchon

Bocconi university; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the effectiveness of hiring credits. Using comprehensive administrative data, we show that the French hiring credit, implemented during the Great Recession, had significant positive employment effects and no effects on wages. Relying on the quasi-experimental variation in labor cost triggered by the hiring credit, we estimate a structural search and matching model. Simulations of counterfactual policies show that the effectiveness of the hiring credit relied to a large extent on three features: it was non-anticipated, temporary and targeted at jobs with rigid wages. We estimate that the cost per job created by permanent hiring credits, either countercyclical or time-invariant, in an environment with flexible wages would have been much higher.

Keywords: hiring credit, labor demand, search and matching model

JEL Classification: C31, C93, J6

Suggested Citation

Cahuc, Pierre and Carcillo, Stephane and Le Barbanchon, Thomas, The Effectiveness of Hiring Credits. IZA Discussion Paper No. 11248, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3097366 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3097366

Pierre Cahuc (Contact Author)

National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) - National School for Statistical and Economic Administration (ENSAE) ( email )

92245 Malakoff Cedex
France

Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne - Equipe Universitaire de Recherche en Economie Quantitative (EUREQUA) ( email )

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Paris Cedex 13, 75647
France
+33 1 4117 3717 (Phone)
+33 1 4117 3724 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://eurequa.univ-paris1.fr/membres/cahuc/

University of Angers - French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS)

106-112 Boulevard de l'Hopital
75647 Paris Cedex 13
France
+33 4 44 07 82 06 (Phone)
+33 4 44 07 82 02 (Fax)

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Stephane Carcillo

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ( email )

2 rue Andre Pascal
Paris Cedex 16, 75775
France

Sciences Po ( email )

28 rue des Saints peres
Paris, 75007
France

IZA ( email )

Thomas Le Barbanchon

Bocconi university ( email )

Via Sarfatti, 25
Milan, MI 20136
Italy

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
United Kingdom

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