Skip to main content

Technological Innovations and Labor Demand Using Linked Firm-Level Data

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics
  • 303 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter illustrates how the relationship between technological innovations and labor demand can be analyzed in a cross-country setting by use of harmonized, multilinked, and microaggregated firm-level data. An investigation of the relationship between new market product (market novelty) sales and labor demand (employment) derived from a two-output cost function is used as an example. The example is embedded in recent literature and discussions on data availability, data limitations, and possible estimation methods. Fixed effects estimations reveal that the sales of market novelties have a significant impact on relative employment in the representative manufacturing firm. In contrast, employment in the representative service firm does not benefit from new market products but rather from the intensity with which information and communication technology innovations are used (in this case the proportion of broadband internet connected employees). The results coincide with those in the firm-level literature, but the approach allows inclusion of a broader variety of firm characteristics, such as firm size, international experience, and ICT intensity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Altomonte C, Aquilante T (2012) The EU-EFIGE/Bruegel-unicredit dataset (no. 2012/13). Bruegel working paper

    Google Scholar 

  • Antonucci T, Pianta M (2002) Employment effects of product and process innovation in Europe. Int Rev Appl Econ 16(3):295–307

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Avenyo EK, Konte M, Mohnen P (2019) The employment impact of product innovations in sub-Saharan Africa: firm-level evidence. Res Policy 48(9):103806

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barbieri L, Piva M, Vivarelli M (2019) R&D, embodied technological change, and employment: evidence from Italian microdata. Ind Corp Chang 28(1):203–218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bartelsman E, Hagsten E, Polder M (2018) Micro moments database for cross-country analysis of ICT, innovation, and economic outcomes. J Econ Manag Strategy 27(3):626–648

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bartelsman EJ, Falk M, Hagsten E, Polder M (2019) Productivity, technological innovations and broadband connectivity: firm-level evidence for ten European countries. Eurasian Bus Rev 9(1):25–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baumann J, Kritikos AS (2016) The link between R&D, innovation and productivity: are micro firms different? Res Policy 45(6):1263–1274

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biagi F, Falk M (2017) The impact of ICT and e-commerce on employment in Europe. J Policy Model 39(1):1–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bianchini S, Pellegrino G (2019) Innovation persistence and employment dynamics. Res Policy 48(5):1171–1186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bogliacino F, Vivarelli M (2012) The job creation effect of R&D expenditures. Aust Econ Pap 51(2):96–113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bogliacino F, Piva M, Vivarelli M (2012) R&D and employment: an application of the LSDVC estimator using European microdata. Econ Lett 116(1):56–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bond S, Van Reenen J (2007) Microeconometric models of investment and employment. In: Heckman JJ, Leamer EE (eds) Handbook of econometrics, vol 6, 1st edn. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 4417–4498. Chapter 65

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Borjas GJ, Van Ours JC (2010) Labor economics. McGraw-Hill/Irwin, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Calvino F (2018) Technological innovation and the distribution of employment growth: a firm-level analysis. Ind Corp Chang 28(1):177–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calvino F, Virgillito ME (2018) The innovation-employment nexus: a critical survey of theory and empirics. J Econ Surv 32(1):83–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chambers RG (1988) Applied production analysis: a dual approach. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Cirera X, Sabetti L (2019) The effects of innovation on employment in developing countries: evidence from enterprise surveys. Ind Corp Chang 28(1):161–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ciriaci D, Moncada-Paternò-Castello P, Voigt P (2016) Innovation and job creation: a sustainable relation? Eurasian Bus Rev 6(2):189–213

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crespi G, Tacsir E, Pereira M (2019) Effects of innovation on employment in Latin America. Ind Corp Chang 28(1):139–159

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dachs B, Peters B (2014) Innovation, employment growth, and foreign ownership of firms. Res Policy 43(1):214–223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Di Cintio M, Ghosh S, Grassi E (2017) Firm growth, R&D expenditures and exports: an empirical analysis of Italian SMEs. Res Policy 46(4):836–852

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellguth P, Kohaut S, Möller I (2014) The IAB establishment panel – methodological essentials and data quality. J Labor Mark Res 47(1–2):27–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evangelista R, Vezzani A (2012) The impact of technological and organizational innovations on employment in European firms. Ind Corp Chang 21(4):871–899

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Falk M (2015) Employment effects of technological and organizational innovations: evidence based on linked firm-level data for Austria. J Econ Stat 235(3):268–285

    Google Scholar 

  • Falk M, Hagsten E (2018) Employment impacts of market novelty sales: evidence for nine European countries. Eurasian Bus Rev 8(2):119–137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giuliodori D, Stucchi R (2012) Innovation and job creation in a dual labor market: evidence from Spain. Econ Innov New Technol 21(8):801–813

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goos M, Manning A, Salomons A (2009) Job polarization in Europe. Am Econ Rev 99(2):58–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goos M, Manning A, Salomons A (2014) Explaining job polarization: routine-biased technological change and offshoring. Am Econ Rev 104(8):2509–2526

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hagsten E (2016) Broadband connected employees and labor productivity: a comparative analysis of 14 European countries based on distributed microdata access. Econ Innov New Technol 25(6):613–629

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall BH, Lotti F, Mairesse J (2008) Employment, innovation, and productivity: evidence from Italian microdata. Ind Corp Chang 17(4):813–839

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamermesh DS (1993) Labor demand. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison R, Jaumandreu J, Mairesse J, Peters B (2008) Does innovation stimulate employment? A firm-level analysis using comparable micro-data from four European countries. NBER working paper 14216. NBER, Cambridge, MA

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison R, Jaumandreu J, Mairesse J, Peters B (2014) Does innovation stimulate employment? A firm-level analysis using comparable micro-data from four European countries. Int J Ind Organ 35(1):29–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herstad SJ, Sandven T (2019) A closer look at the relationship between innovation and employment growth at the firm level. J Evol Econ, early view https://doi.org/10.1007/s00191-019-00636-9

  • Horbach J, Rennings K (2013) Environmental innovation and employment dynamics in different technology fields–an analysis based on the German community innovation survey 2009. J Clean Prod 57:158–165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hou J, Huang C, Licht G, Mairesse J, Mohnen P, Mulkay B, ..., Zhen F (2018) Does innovation stimulate employment? Evidence from China, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. Ind Corp Chang 28(1):109–121

    Google Scholar 

  • Lachenmaier S, Rottmann H (2011) Effects of innovation on employment: a dynamic panel analysis. Int J Ind Organ 29(2):210–220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lim J, Lee K (2019) Employment effect of innovation under different market structures: findings from Korean manufacturing firms. Technol Forecast Soc Chang 146:606–615

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mairesse J, Mohnen P (2010) Using innovation surveys for econometric analysis. In: Handbook of the economics of innovation, vol 2. North-Holland, pp 1129–1155, Amsterdam

    Google Scholar 

  • Mastrostefano V, Pianta M (2009) Technology and jobs. Econ Innov New Technol 18(8):729–741

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meriküll J (2010) The impact of innovation on employment: firm-and industry-level evidence from a catching-up economy. East Eur Econ 48(2):25–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meschi E, Taymaz E, Vivarelli M (2016) Globalization, technological change and labor demand: a firm-level analysis for Turkey. Rev World Econ 152(4):655–680

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OECD/European Commission (2018) The measurement of scientific, technological and innovation activities, Oslo manual 2018, Oslo manual: guidelines for collecting and interpreting innovation data, 4th edn. Paris. https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/9789264304604-4-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/9789264304604-4-en

  • Ortiz J, Salas Fumás V (2019) Technological innovation and the demand for labor by firms in expansion and recession. Econ Innov New Technol, early view https://doi.org/10.1080/10438599.2019.1629535

  • Pantea S, Sabadash A, Biagi F (2017) Are ICT displacing workers in the short run? Evidence from seven European countries. Inf Econ Policy 39:36–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pellegrino G, Piva M, Vivarelli M (2019) Beyond R&D: the role of embodied technological change in affecting employment. J Evol Econ 29(4):1151–1171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peters B (2008) Innovation and firm performance: an empirical investigation for German firms, vol 38. Springer Science & Business Media, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Pianta M (2005) Innovation and employment. In: Fagerberg J, Mowery D, Nelson R (eds) Oxford handbook of innovation. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 568–598

    Google Scholar 

  • Romano L (2019) Explaining growth differences across firms: the interplay between innovation and management practices. Struct Chang Econ Dyn 49:130–145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Szczygielski K, Grabowski W, Woodward R (2017) Innovation and the growth of service companies: the variety of firm activities and industry effects. Ind Innov 24(3):249–262

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Triguero A, Córcoles D, Cuerva MC (2014) Persistence of innovation and firm’s growth: evidence from a panel of SME and large Spanish manufacturing firms. Small Bus Econ 43(4):787–804

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ugur M, Awaworyi Churchill S, Solomon E (2018) Technological innovation and employment in derived labor demand models: a hierarchical meta-regression analysis. J Econ Surv 32(1):50–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Reenen J (1997) Employment and technological innovation: evidence from UK manufacturing firms. J Labor Econ 15(2):255–284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Roy V, Vértesy D, Vivarelli M (2018) Technology and employment: mass unemployment or job creation? Empirical evidence from European patenting firms. Res Policy 47(9):1762–1776

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vivarelli M (2013) Technology, employment and skills: an interpretative framework. Eurasian Bus Rev 3(1):66–89

    Google Scholar 

  • Vivarelli M (2014) Innovation, employment and skills in advanced and developing countries: a survey of economic literature. J Econ Issues 48(1):123–154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vivarelli M (2018) Technological change and employment: is Europe ready for the challenge? Eurasian Bus Rev 8(1):13–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martin Falk .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Section Editor information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Falk, M., Hagsten, E. (2020). Technological Innovations and Labor Demand Using Linked Firm-Level Data. In: Zimmermann, K. (eds) Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_170-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_170-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-57365-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-57365-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics