Firm Productivity, Workforce Age, and Vocational Training in Austria

LABOUR MARKETS AND DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE, C. Ochsen, M. Kuhn, eds., VS Verlag, 2009

Posted: 6 Feb 2012

See all articles by Bernhard Mahlberg

Bernhard Mahlberg

Vienna University of Economics and Business - Institute for Production Management; Institute for Industrial Research (IWI)

Alexia Prskawetz

Austrian Academy of Sciences - Vienna Institute of Demography

Inga Freund

University of Vienna - Vienna Institute of Demography

Date Written: February 6, 2009

Abstract

Controlling for training effort at the firm level as well as for firm-specific characteristics we assess the relation between the firm’s productivity level and the age composition of its employees using a matched employer-employee data set for Austria. Our aim is to test whether the hump-shaped age profile of the employees’ age structure on labour productivity that we found in previous studies is robust once we control for training intensity. We find a simultaneous, negative productivity effect of the share of young workers and old workers on labour productivity in sample of small as well as in sample of large firms. Furthermore it turns out that training intensity is an important variable for labour productivity.

Keywords: age-productivity profile, employer-employee data, vocational training

JEL Classification: J20, L20

Suggested Citation

Mahlberg, Bernhard and Mahlberg, Bernhard and Fürnkranz-Prskawetz, Alexia and Freund, Inga, Firm Productivity, Workforce Age, and Vocational Training in Austria (February 6, 2009). LABOUR MARKETS AND DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE, C. Ochsen, M. Kuhn, eds., VS Verlag, 2009 , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1999360

Bernhard Mahlberg (Contact Author)

Vienna University of Economics and Business - Institute for Production Management ( email )

Welthandelsplatz 1
Building D2, Entrance C, 3rd floor
Vienna, 1020
Austria
+43 1 313 36 - 5615 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.wu.ac.at/en/prodmanengl/

Institute for Industrial Research (IWI) ( email )

Mittersteig 10/4
Vienna, 1050
Austria
+43 1 513 44 11 0 (Phone)
+43 1 513 44 11 2099 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.iwi.ac.at/

Alexia Fürnkranz-Prskawetz

Austrian Academy of Sciences - Vienna Institute of Demography ( email )

Prinz Eugenstr. 8-10
Vienna, 1040
Austria

Inga Freund

University of Vienna - Vienna Institute of Demography ( email )

Prinz Eugenstr. 8-10
Vienna, 1040
Austria

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Abstract Views
384
PlumX Metrics