Research
Publications and Accepted Papers
In the Land of AKM: Explaining the Dynamics of Wage Inequality in France
with Damien Babet and Olivier Godechot. Forthcoming at Journal of Labor Economics. Published Version -- Replication Package
Narrowing Industry Wage Premiums and the Decline in the Gender Wage Gap
with Alexandra Roulet and Mark Stabile. Labour Economics, Volume 94, June 2025. Published Version
Working Papers
Firms and the Gender Wage Gap: A Comparison of Eleven Countries
with Antoine Bertheau (co-lead), Alexander Hijzen (co-lead), Astrid Kunze (co-lead), Cesar Barreto, Dogan Gülümser, Marta Lachowska, Anne Sophie Lassen, Salvatore Lattanzio, Benjamin Lochner, Stefano Lombardi, Jordy Meekes, Balázs Muraközy, and Oskar Nordström Skans.
Submitted. Paper -- NBER SI 2025 Talk
Abstract: We quantify the role of gender-specific firm wage premiums in explaining the private-sector gender gap in hourly wages using a harmonized research design across 11 matched employer-employee datasets—ten European countries and Washington State, USA. These premiums contribute to the gender wage gap through two channels: women's concentration in lower-paying firms (sorting) and women receiving lower premiums than men within the same firm (pay-setting). We find that firm wage premiums account for 10 to 30 percent of the gender wage gap. While both mechanisms matter, sorting is the predominant driver of the firm contribution to the gender wage gap in most countries. We document three patterns that are broadly consistent across countries: (1) women's sorting into lower-paying firms increases with age; (2) women are more concentrated in low-paying firms with a high share of part-time workers; and (3) women receive about 90 percent of the rents that men receive from firm surplus gains.
Dignity by Decree? The Employment and Wage Effects of Restricting Fixed-Term Contracts
with Matteo Sartori and Giuseppe Grasso.
Submitted. Paper
Abstract: The Dignity Decree was a 2018 reform aimed at restricting the use of fixed-term contracts in the Italian labor market. We examine how this regulatory intervention affected firm-level employment dynamics and worker wages. We find negligible disemployment effects and a significant shift in contract composition: firms more exposed to the reform substantially reduced their use of fixed-term contracts, offsetting the decrease with an increase in permanent employment, primarily through the conversion of existing temporary jobs. We further document a sizeable decline in the post-conversion wage for workers transitioning from fixed-term to permanent contracts compared to pre-reform levels.
Work in Progress
Why Do Firms Use Fixed-Term Contracts?
with Matteo Sartori and Eliana Viviano
Abstract: This paper examines why Italian firms rely on fixed-term contracts (FTCs) and quantifies the relative importance of seasonal needs, worker screening, and buffer‑stock motives. Using matched employer–employee data for 2013–2017 merged with firm‑level balance‑sheet information, we show that two ex‑ante contract features — the seasonal label and the initial duration — are highly informative of firms’ hiring intentions. Use of seasonal contracts is limited and concentrated in a narrow set of sectors, while longer initial durations strongly predict conversion into permanent jobs, reflecting screening behavior driven mainly by firm‑specific factors. In contrast, most FTCs are short, non‑seasonal, and concentrated in firms facing lower productivity and higher revenue volatility, consistent with buffer‑stock adjustment. A clustering exercise confirms that about 7 percent of firms predominantly use seasonal contracts, one third use FTCs for screening, and roughly 60 percent rely on them to manage uncertainty. These findings highlight contract duration as a key policy-relevant margin and help shed light on structural factors that may contribute to Italy’s stagnating productivity.
The Graying Job Ladder: The Role of Ageing for Reallocation and Growth
with Jonas Fluchtmann, Patrick Bennett, Alexander Hijzen, Eliana Viviano, Cesar Barreto, Felipe Bento Caires, Lucas Chen, Jose Garcia-Louzao, Dogan Gülümser, Salvatore Lattanzio, Benjamin Lochner, Stefano Lombardi, Tahsin Mehdi, Jordy Meekes, Balázs Muraközy, Kjell Salvanes, Oskar Nordström Skans, Rune Vejlin, Wouter Zwysen
Abstract: This paper analyses how workforce ageing has tended to slow aggregate wage and productivity growth by dampening growth-enhancing job reallocation. Using linked employer-employee data for 17 countries, we offer three key insights. First, growth-enhancing job reallocation accounts for about a fifth of aggregate wage and productivity growth. This process is mainly driven by job-to-job mobility ("job ladder") of younger workers. Second, since older workers are less mobile than younger workers, they contribute less to growth-enhancing job reallocation. Third, given the rising employment share of older workers, workforce ageing has depressed aggregate wage and productivity growth through growth-enhancing job reallocation. A shift–share decomposition shows that this amounts to 0.12 percentage points lower annual aggregate wage and productivity growth over the 2000s and 2010s.