Labour turnover and firm performance

Abstract

We argue that labour turnover can increase profitability, contrary to conventional wisdom. We analyse an extension of the Salop (1979) model of the impact of turnover that differentiates between incumbent and newly hired workers in the production function. An exogenous increase in the turnover rate can increase profits if firms do not choose wages unilaterally. Evidence from UK establishment-level data supports our theoretical priors and suggests that increased turnover can indeed increase profitability.