Labor reactions to credit deterioration: Evidence from LinkedIn activity

Authors Gortmaker, Jeffers, Lee
Year 2022
Type Working Paper
Abstract We analyze worker reactions to firms' credit deterioration. Using weekly anonymized networking activity on LinkedIn, we show workers initiate more connections immediately following a negative credit event, even at firms far from bankruptcy. Our results suggest that workers are driven by concerns about both unemployment and future prospects at their firm. Heightened networking activity is associated with contemporaneous and future departures, especially at highly-rated firms. Other negative events like missed earnings and equity sell recommendations do not trigger similar reactions. Overall, our results indicate that the latent build-up of connections triggered by credit deterioration represents a source of fragility for firms.
Keywords Network formation, credit deterioration, labor & finance, financial distress, labor fragility
URL https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Papers.cfm?abstract_id=3456285
Tags Archival Empirical  |   Media and Textual Analysis  |   Social Network Structure