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Targeted wage subsidies and firm performance

Author

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  • Lombardi, Stefano
  • Skans, Oskar Nordström
  • Vikström, Johan

Abstract

This paper studies how targeted wage subsidies affect the performance of the recruiting firms. Using Swedish administrative data from the period 1998–2008, we show that treated firms substantially outperform other recruiting firms after hiring through subsidies, despite identical pre-treatment performance levels and trends in a wide set of key dimensions. The pattern is less clear from 2007 onwards, after a reform removed the involvement of caseworkers from the subsidy approval process. Overall, our results suggest that targeted employment subsidies can have large positive effects on post-match outcomes of the hiring firms, at least if the policy environment allows for pre-screening by caseworkers.

Suggested Citation

  • Lombardi, Stefano & Skans, Oskar Nordström & Vikström, Johan, 2018. "Targeted wage subsidies and firm performance," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 33-45.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:53:y:2018:i:c:p:33-45
    DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2018.04.002
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    Cited by:

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    3. Wapler, Rüdiger & Wolf, Katja & Wolff, Joachim, 2022. "Do active labor market policies for welfare recipients in Germany raise their regional outflow into work?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 550-563.
    4. Annika Nivala, 2024. "(No) Effects of Subsidizing the First Employee: Evidence of a Low Take-up Puzzle Among Firms," Working Papers 23, Finnish Centre of Excellence in Tax Systems Research.
    5. Manelici, Isabela & Pantea, Smaranda, 2021. "Industrial policy at work: Evidence from Romania’s income tax break for workers in IT," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wage subsidies; Labor demand; Firms performance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J08 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics Policies
    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor
    • J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers

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