An article co-authored by Irma M. and Robert D. Morris Professor of Economics Derek Jones, Associate Professor of Economics Jeffrey Pliskin, and Matthew Poterba ’12 was recently published online in the Journal of Entrepreneurial and Organizational Diversity. Poterba is currently an analyst in the securities and finance department at Richard Bernstein Advisors.
“How Employment Responds to Changes in Assets at US Banks and Credit Unions” is based on Poterba’s senior thesis research. The article examines how output shocks affect employment levels of banks and credit unions.
Results of the study showed that “credit unions adjust employment upwards in reaction to a positive change in assets by a smaller amount than commercial banks. Credit unions do not cut employment as much as IOFs [investor-owned firms] do when a negative shock occurs to assets.”
These findings of greater employment resiliency in credit unions than in commercial banks complement findings from studies of worker cooperatives and firms with employee ownership. The results also point to the economic potential of credit unions and cooperatives compared to investor-owned firms.
