TY  - JOUR
AU  - Brown,Charles
AU  - Medoff,James L.
TI  - Firm Age and Wages
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 8552
PY  - 2001
Y2  - October 2001
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w8552
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w8552.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Charles C. Brown
Department of Economics
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI  48109-1220
Tel: 734/763-3036
Fax: 734/647-1186
E-Mail: charlieb@umich.edu

James L. Medoff
Department of Economics
Harvard University
Littauer Center 115
Cambridge, MA  02138
Tel: 617/495-4209
E-Mail: jmedoff@harvard.edu
AB  - In this paper, we analyze the relationship between how long an employer has been in business (firm age) and wages.  Using data from special supplements to the Survey Research Center's monthly Survey of Consumers, we find that firms that have been in business longer pay higher wages (as previous studies have found), but pay if anything lower wages after controlling for worker characteristics.  There is some evidence that the relationship is not monotonic, with wages falling and then rising with years in business.  Older firms provide better fringe benefits and more stable employment, but these differences do not appear very important in understanding the age-wage relationship. Established employers do appear to make greater use of back-loaded compensation, consistent with their higher probability of remaining in business.
ER  -