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Social networks and labour productivity in Europe: an empirical investigation

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Abstract

This paper uses firm-level data recorded in the Amadeus database to investigate the distribution of labour productivity in different European countries. We find that the upper tail of the empirical productivity distributions follows a decaying power-law, whose exponent α is obtained by a semi-parametric estimation technique recently developed by Clementi et al. [Physica A 370(1):49–53, 2006]. The emergence of “fat tails” in productivity distribution has already been detected in Di Matteo et al. [Eur Phys J B 47(3):459–466, 2005] and explained by means of a model of social network. Here we show that this model is tested on a broader sample of countries having different patterns of social network structure. These different social attitudes, measured using a social capital indicator, reflect in the power-law exponent estimates, verifying in this way the existence of linkages among firms’ productivity performance and social network.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Polytechnic University of Marche, Piazzale R. Martelli 8, 60121, Ancona, Italy

    C. Di Guilmi, F. Clementi & M. Gallegati

  2. Applied Mathematics, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, The Australian National University, Canberra, 0200, Australia

    C. Di Guilmi, F. Clementi & T. Di Matteo

Authors
  1. C. Di Guilmi
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  2. F. Clementi
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  3. T. Di Matteo
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  4. M. Gallegati
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Correspondence to C. Di Guilmi.

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Di Guilmi, C., Clementi, F., Di Matteo, T. et al. Social networks and labour productivity in Europe: an empirical investigation. J Econ Interac Coord 3, 43–57 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11403-008-0034-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11403-008-0034-6

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