Is labour becoming more or less flexible? Changing dynamic behaviour and asymmetries of labour input in US manufacturing
利用月度时间序列数据估计向量自回归模型，发现1979年后美国制造业中工时变得更灵活而就业灵活性显著下降，尤其在扩张期雇主延迟招聘并更多依赖工时调整来应对产出需求波动。
Have employment and hours become more flexible over time? Vector auto-regressions are estimated using monthly time-series data to generate impulse responses, which reflect the dynamic response of employment and average hours of labour input following a given shock in output demand. A marked change in the US manufacturing sector occurred after 1979. Although there is heterogeneity by industry and asymmetry over the business cycle, hours have become somewhat more and employment considerably less flexible, particularly during expansion phases. Employers are apparently delaying hiring and relying more on using hours as a buffer to absorb fluctuations in output demand. Copyright 2005, Oxford University Press.