R&D and Employment: Some Evidence from European Microdata

31 Pages Posted: 22 Aug 2011

See all articles by Francesco Bogliacino

Francesco Bogliacino

National University of Colombia - Department of Economics

Mariacristina Piva

Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

Marco Vivarelli

Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Abstract

After discussing theory regarding the consequences of technological change on employment and surveying previous microeconometric literature, our aim with this paper is to test the possible job creation effect of business R&D expenditures, using a unique longitudinal database covering 677 European manufacturing and service firms over the period 1990-2008. The main outcome from the whole sample dynamic LSDVC (Least Squared Dummy Variable Corrected) estimate is the labour-friendly nature of companies’ R&D, the coefficient of which turns out to be statistically significant, although not very large in magnitude. However, the positive and significant impact of R&D expenditures on employment is detectable in services and high-tech manufacturing but absent in the more traditional manufacturing sectors. This means that we should not expect positive employment effects from increasing R&D in the majority of industrial sectors. This is something that should be borne in mind by European innovation policy makers having employment as one of their specific aims.

Keywords: innovation, employment, manufacturing, services, LSDVC

JEL Classification: O33

Suggested Citation

Bogliacino, Francesco and Piva, Mariacristina and Vivarelli, Marco, R&D and Employment: Some Evidence from European Microdata. IZA Discussion Paper No. 5908, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1913615 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1913615

Francesco Bogliacino (Contact Author)

National University of Colombia - Department of Economics ( email )

Carrera 30 Calle 45 Ciudad Universitaria
Bogotá
Colombia

Mariacristina Piva

Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore ( email )

Via Emilia Parmense, 84
Piacenza
Italy

Marco Vivarelli

Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano ( email )

Largo Gemelli 1
Milano, 20123
Italy

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

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