Publications
Publications
- 2021
- HBS Working Paper Series
Accounting for Employment Impact at Scale
By: Adel Fadhel, Katie Panella, Ethan Rouen and George Serafeim
Abstract
Using new data on workforce composition and wages, we systematically measure the employment impact at U.S. firms from 2008 to 2020, including 2,682 unique firms and 22,322 firm-year observations. We document significant variation across industries and firms within each industry suggesting substantial heterogeneity of firm human capital strategies. Employment impact is moderately associated with lower employee turnover and higher firm valuation, while firms that have higher sales and invest more in innovation exhibit higher employment impact. Our results collectively demonstrate the feasibility and value of employment impact accounting.
Keywords
Impact Accounting; ESG; Employee Turnover; Wages; Employment; Measurement and Metrics; Human Capital; Diversity; United States
Citation
Fadhel, Adel, Katie Panella, Ethan Rouen, and George Serafeim. "Accounting for Employment Impact at Scale." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 22-018, December 2021.