In this paper we analyze the pattern of employment adjustment at the plant level using a rich data set for Norway. We first document the stylized facts about employment changes in small and large plants. The data reveals important differences across size classes. In particular, episodes of zero...

When job matching is important, we show that firms will pay for general training under very weak conditions. The key ingredient in our model is the idea that it is more costly to screen skilled workers than it is to screen unskilled ones. In equilibrium, this 'softens' competition for trained...

This paper investigates the differences in the matching process of job seekers and vacancies to be filled between different educational and occupational groups. To investigate this issue, matching functions are estimated across different occupations and educational cohorts, that is, on an even...

In a "fixed-effect" panel data model with a nonparametric regression function \rho(x_{it}), the usual first-differencing yields a nonparametric regression function \mu(x_{it},x_{i,t+1}) with the restriction \mu(x_{it},x_{i,t+1}) = \rho(x_{i,t+1}) - \rho(x_{it}). Although \mu(x_{it},x_{i,t+1})...

The purpose of this paper is to study very early retirement as an indicator for bad health, with focus on a comparison between the two language groups in Finland. Extensive longitudinal data are analysed with the help of random effects probit models. As expected from previous studies of...

This paper investigates the existence of the bank-lending channel in the transmission of monetary policy using Portuguese micro bank data. In contrast to the conventional approach, which addresses the identification issue by resorting to reduced form equations for bank credit with variables in...