Firm Age, Size, and Employment Dynamics: Evidence from Japanese firms

This study examines the effects of firm age and size on employment dynamics based on large scale panel data from Japan. It contributes to the literature by examining age and size effects on firm-level job creation and job destruction, which have not been clear in previous studies. The empirical results indicate that firm age has significantly negative effects on both job creation and destruction rates; however, firm size has a significantly negative effect on job creation while it has a significantly positive effect on job destruction. The theoretical background of this study is the standard theory on job creation and destruction in labor economics theories, which considers that job creation is determined by expected profit from newly created jobs, and job destruction is determined by whether the job is expected to be profitless. The age and size of firms affect their expected profit and therefore lead to effects on the behaviors of job creation and destruction. Finally, the results are similar for manufacturing firms and service firms.