Credential Inflation, Labor Misallocation, and Firm Total Factor Productivity Loss: An Empirical Study Based on Chinese Listed Companies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54097/wq0v8c09Keywords:
Credential inflation, labor misallocation, total factor productivity, listed firms, mediating effectAbstract
The continuous imbalance between supply and demand in the labor market in recent years has made the credential inflation become more severe. This paper uses the panel data of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2015 to 2024 empirically analyzes the impact of credential inflation on total factor productivity (TFP) of enterprises. The study found that increasing credential inflation is associated with a significant reduction in firm TFP, with labor misallocation played a mediating role inside. The results of heterogeneity analysis show that the efficiency loss of state-owned enterprises and high-tech enterprises is more substantial. Through combing the micro-level firm analysis with the macro resource-misallocation framework, this paper links individual-level wage penalties, firm-level productivity effects, and research on perceived overqualification, providing empirical evidence for optimizing the allocation of labor resources.
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