Short Job Tenures and Firing Taxes in the Search Theory of Unemployment

This paper studies the effects of firing taxes on the job destruction rate, when probationperiod - or temporary contract - policies are implemented in an otherwise exogenous jobseparation search model. It is shown that contrary to conventional wisdom, firing taxescan amplify the job turnover rate by providing incentives to destroy surviving matches atthe end of the probation period. Moreover, low skill workers are shown to be moreseverely affected while wage inequality across different productivity groups mayincrease.