• [New Revised Draft!] [Insee Working Paper]

Abstract: We use a newly constructed and quasi-exhaustive matched employer-employee database to study the contribution of firms to wage inequality in France. We implement a simple and tractable correction for the limited mobility bias. Our analysis, covering the period 2002-2019, reveals an increase in between-firm inequality, mainly due to the growing clustering of workers with similar market value. These phenomena are associated with increasing occupational specialization at the firm level. Our results highlight the importance of bias-corrected AKM estimates in capturing the dynamics of wage inequality, and show how both observable job types and unobservable individual characteristics contribute to these patterns.

[New Draft!] 

Abstract: The gender gap in firm wage premiums is well documented, but evidence on its evolution over time and its contribution to declining gender wage gaps remains mixed. Using comprehensive employer-employee data from France, we find that 20\% of the reduction in the gender hourly wage gap between 2002 and 2019 can be attributed to a decline in gender differences arising from the sorting of men and women across firms. Our analysis reveals that this decline is not driven by women gaining access to higher-paying firms within industries, nor by increased female representation in higher-paying industries. Instead, it stems from a narrowing of industry premiums over time. We substantiate these findings through analyses of job mobility patterns and age-period-cohort effects, finding no evidence that, conditional on worker skills, women have become more likely to move to higher-paying firms or industries or that newer cohorts of women are better represented in better-paying firms or industries.

[Old CEPR Discussion Paper] 

Firms create temporary jobs for different reasons: to screen candidates for permanent positions; to cope with seasonal and short-term swings in activity; to increase flexibility in the use of the workforce. We use data on the universe of temporary jobs in Italy between 2013 and 2017 to identify and characterize the firms that engage in these different strategies. Screening is not a primary driver of temporary employment: the conversion rate of fixed-term employment relationships -- 20\% on average -- is strongly predicted by unobserved firms factors and strongly positively correlated with the stated duration of the first contract, a choice that the firm makes before observing the surplus of the match. Seasonality in activity involves a limited (below 20\%) but well-identifiable share of jobs and firms. On the other hand, the use of fixed-term contracts as a buffer to meet flexibility needs is more difficult to characterize: while some firms resort to temporary employment because their revenues are highly volatile, others simply discharge part of their normal business risk onto workers. This may lead to excessive worker turnover. These results have important policy implications for the design and regulation of fixed-term employment contracts.

• Access to Italian Social Security data through VisitINPS Scholars Program

We examine the impact of Italy's 2018 reform tightening legislation on temporary contracts. Analyzing employment and wage dynamics, we find moderate disemployment effects and a significant shift in workforce composition. Exposed firms experienced a substantial reduction in the share of days worked in fixed-term contracts, offset by an increase in permanent employment, primarily through the conversion of existing temporary contracts. Notably, we document a sizeable decline in the starting wages for workers transitioning from fixed-term to permanent contracts compared to pre-reform levels. Our results suggest the existence of some degree of market power on the part of firms, with increased security for the workers being partly compensated by lower wages.

Abstract coming soon!