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Published: 2012
Authors: Richard Fabling, Dave Maré
This paper examines the dynamics of employment adjustment in New Zealand, focusing on the response of firms to the 2008/09 Global Financial Crisis.
We use data from Statistics New Zealand"s prototype Longitudinal Business Database (LBD) to examine firms' employment responses to output shocks before and after the crisis, and to investigate variations in job and worker flows. We discuss the resilience of the NZ labour market to economic shocks, and the possible role of labour market policy settings. Finally, we discuss preliminary findings on the differential impact of labour market adjustment on workers - by earnings level, age, gender, and tenure - and outline potential further work along these lines.
Our analysis of firm microdata highlights three key features of New Zealand labour market adjustment to the 2008/09 crisis.
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