Description

During the pandemic, several countries implemented job retention programs with the goal of preserving human capital and supporting a quick recovery. This work uses administrative records to show the impact of the job retention program in Chile across firms of different industries and sizes. Using a calibrated model based on survey data of households and our administrative register of workers-firms, we then show that the Chilean Employment Protection Law increase aggregate consumption by 0.3% and helped to smooth household consumption during the period between March of 2020 and March of 2021.