The Impact of State Paid Leave Laws on Firms and Establishments: Evidence from the First Three States

46 Pages Posted: 23 May 2024 Last revised: 23 May 2024

See all articles by Kristin Butcher

Kristin Butcher

Wellesley College

Deniz Civril

Wellesley College

Sari Pekkala Kerr

Wellesley College (WCW)

Date Written: April 29, 2024

Abstract

We use the Longitudinal Business Database to examine the impact of state-level paid parental leave laws in California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island on firms. Our main estimation strategy uses multi-unit firms and compares within-firm changes in outcomes for establishments in treated and untreated states. We find that paid parental leave laws reduce employment in firms' establishments in treated states. We investigate heterogeneity of the effects by pre-mandate share of workers in an industry that were women, and find that there is no systematic evidence that firms reduce employment more in industries with a higher share of women employees.

Keywords: Paid leave, employment, firms, establishments, entry, exit, revenue, productivity

Suggested Citation

Butcher, Kristin and Civril, Deniz and Kerr, Sari Pekkala, The Impact of State Paid Leave Laws on Firms and Establishments: Evidence from the First Three States (April 29, 2024). FRB of Chicago Working Paper No. 2024-12, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4838329 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4838329

Kristin Butcher

Wellesley College ( email )

106 Central St.
Wellesley, MA 02181
United States

Deniz Civril

Wellesley College ( email )

Sari Pekkala Kerr (Contact Author)

Wellesley College (WCW) ( email )

106 Central St.
Wellesley, MA 02181
United States

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