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Using exogenous shocks on the ability to issue seasoned equity offerings (SEOs), we show SEOs lead to a higher employee skill composition, that is, a lower (higher) proportion of low (high) skilled workers. The decrease in low-skilled workers exceeds the increase in high-skilled workers, resulting in reduced employment at the firm level. These effects are more significant when firms invest more in technology following SEOs and face greater financial constraints before SEOs, suggesting that SEOs relieve budget constraints on technology investments. These findings demonstrate that while external equity financing helps upgrade technology to improve productivity, it has a dark side for low-skilled workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We collect worker month-level panel data from two companies in Beijing for a two-year period before and after the opening of a nearby subway station, which significantly improved public transportation commutes for some workers. We find a significant difference-in-differences increase (12.6% of the standard deviation) in bonus pay, which is strongly correlated to worker-level performance measures, for affected workers relative to unaffected coworkers. We find no evidence that the improved performance is a result of affected workers spending extra time at the workplace. We find suggestive evidence for a relative decline in turnover, consistent with a gain in utility for affected workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]