About
I am a university lecturer in the Department of Economics at the University of Turku. My research interests include macroeconomics, economic growth, and firm dynamics.
My CV
Email: eeanma@utu.fi
Working Papers
Economic Growth through Worker Reallocation: The Role of Knowledge Spillovers
Abstract
I explore the role of knowledge diffusion among producers as a driver of productivity growth. By estimating a reduced form model with Finnish employer-employee data, I find evidence that employing workers from more efficient establishments enhances productivity. To understand the aggregate impact of the finding, I develop an endogenous growth model that incorporates the transmission of knowledge through worker reallocation. The calibrated model reveals that knowledge spillovers can increase aggregate productivity growth by 0.19 percentage points and significantly impact output. Moreover, I establish that this mechanism can exacerbate the adverse impact of firing costs on aggregate outcomes.
Uncertainty, Misallocation and the Life-cycle Growth of Firms
with Oskari Vähämaa
Abstract
We propose a decomposition of static misallocation that distinguishes between idiosyncratic uncertainty and ex ante misallocation generated by tax-like distortions. Using profits-to-wage-bill ratios and value-added-to-wage-bill ratios, we can identify the two sources of misallocation. In the comprehensive Finnish firm-level data, uncertainty accounts for 41% of aggregate misallocation and has a strong decreasing age-dependent trend in it. We show that our results are quantitatively consistent with a life-cycle model of firm growth that incorporates learning. According to the dynamic model, uncertainty suppresses output by 8-12%, while ex ante misallocation has a 40% negative effect on output.
Furloughs, Employment and Worker Reallocation
with Niku Määttänen & Oskari Vähämaa
Abstract
Are furlough schemes useful from the perspective of aggregate employment and productivity under normal business cycle conditions? To address this question, we first analyze administrative data from Finland, where a furlough scheme has been in place long before the COVID-19 pandemic, documenting key patterns in furlough use and their relationship to job creation and destruction. We then incorporate a furlough option into a model of firm dynamics with hiring and layoff costs and frictional unemployment, calibrating it to replicate the observed furlough and broader labor market reallocation patterns. In the model, maximizing aggregate consumption calls for moderately limiting layoffs with a small layoff tax, reflecting a trade-off between higher aggregate employment and the productivity-enhancing reallocation of workers across firms. In contrast, the furlough option consistently reduces aggregate consumption, as furloughs do little to facilitate worker reallocation and do not significantly substitute for layoffs. Consequently, it would be optimal to eliminate the furlough option altogether. We also provide empirical evidence corroborating the model’s implication that firms rarely use furloughs as a substitute for layoffs.
Work in Progress
Earnings Dynamics with On-the-job Learning
with Heikki Kauppi & Timo Virtanen