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UID:486511ee1663659f10de4ae0eed679bc
CATEGORIES:Seminars
CREATED:20260603T131943
SUMMARY:Lunch Seminar: Anna Vitali - New York University
DESCRIPTION;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:\n\nCauses and Consequences of Labor Utilization: Evidence from Ugandan Fir
 ms\n\n\nAbstract:\nLabor idleness is pervasive in small firms in developing
  countries, yet its causes and consequences remain poorly understood. 
 Using a novel five-year panel of over 1,000 firms in Uganda, we document th
 at firms face substantial and hard-to-predict demand, that capital and labo
 radjustment costs are large, and that labor utilization is low. Firms with 
 more uncertain demand exhibit lower utilization and invest less inon-the-jo
 b training. Guided by these facts, we develop a model of firm input and tra
 ining choices under demand uncertainty. A key mechanism is that training is
  a fixed investment paid upfront, while workers are paid piece-rates only w
 hen utilized, so higher demand uncertainty lowers expectedutilization and r
 educes the returns to training. We estimate the model, identifying key para
 meters via a field experiment offering firms a wage subsidy to recruit and 
 train an additional worker. Counterfactual simulations show that reducing d
 emand uncertainty raises hiring and trainingnearly as much as lowering trai
 ning costs directly, and that the effectiveness of typical development poli
 cies to stimulate firm size,productivity and growth - such as capital grant
 s, management training, and market access interventions - all depend critic
 ally on the uncertainty ofdemand firms face. Our findings highlight a novel
  demand-side mechanism limiting human capital accumulation, firm size, and 
 the effectiveness offirm-targeted policies in low-income settings.\n
DTSTAMP:20260610T030956Z
DTSTART:20260619T130000Z
DTEND:20260619T140000Z
SEQUENCE:0
TRANSP:OPAQUE
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