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Skill Dispersion and Firm Productivity: An Analysis with Employer-Employee Matched Data

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Author Info
Susana Iranzo
Fabiano Schivardi
Elisa Tosetti

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Abstract

We study the relation between workers' skill dispersion and firm productivity using a unique data set of Italian manufacturing firms with individual records on all their workers. Our measure of skill is the individual worker's effect from a wage equation. We find that a firm's productivity is positively related to skill dispersion within occupational status groups (production and nonproduction workers) and negatively related to skill dispersion between these groups. Consistently, most of the overall skill dispersion is within and not between firms. These findings are consistent with some recent hierarchical models of the firms' organizational structure. (c) 2008 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved..

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File URL: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/587091
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Publisher Info
Article provided by University of Chicago Press in its journal Journal of Labor Economics.

Volume (Year): 26 (2008)
Issue (Month): 2 (04)
Pages: 247-285
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Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlabec:v:26:y:2008:i:2:p:247-285

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References listed on IDEAS
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Matilde Bombardini & Giovanni Gallipoli & Germán Pupato, 2009. "Skill Dispersion and Trade Flows," NBER Working Papers 15097, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Hannu Piekkola, 2006. "Tax cuts and employment: Evidence from Finnish linked employer-employee data," Discussion Papers 1041, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy. [Downloadable!]
  3. Øivind A. Nilsen, Arvid Raknerud, Marina Rybalka and Terje Skjerpen, 2008. "Skill Composition: Exploring a Wage-based Skill Measure," Discussion Papers 531, Research Department of Statistics Norway. [Downloadable!]
  4. M. Pitzalis & Isabella Sulis & Mariano Porcu, 2008. "Differences of Cultural Capital among Students in Transition to University. Some First Survey Evidences," Working Paper CRENoS 200805, Centre for North South Economic Research, University of Cagliari and Sassari, Sardinia. [Downloadable!]
  5. Gerardo Marletto, 2007. "Crossing The Alps: Three Transport Policy Options," Working Paper CRENoS 200712, Centre for North South Economic Research, University of Cagliari and Sassari, Sardinia. [Downloadable!]
  6. Michelacci, Claudio & Schivardi, Fabiano, 2008. "Does Idiosyncratic Business Risk Matter?," CEPR Discussion Papers 6910, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Thierry Lallemand & François Rycx, 2008. "Are young and old workers harmful for firm productivity?," Working Papers DULBEA 09-02.RS, Université libre de Bruxelles, Department of Applied Economics (DULBEA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Yu, Li & Orazem, Peter, 2008. "Human Capital, Complex Technologies, Firm size and Wages: A Test of the O-Ring Production Hypotheses," Staff General Research Papers 12992, Iowa State University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  9. Uschi Backes-Gellner & Stephan Veen, 2008. "The Impact of Workforce Age Heterogeneity on Company Productivity," Working Papers 0078, University of Zurich, Institute for Strategy and Business Economics (ISU), revised Sep 2009. [Downloadable!]
  10. Isabella Sulis & Mariano Porcu, 2008. "Assessing the Effectiveness of a Stochastic Regression Imputation Method for Ordered Categorical Data," Working Paper CRENoS 200804, Centre for North South Economic Research, University of Cagliari and Sassari, Sardinia. [Downloadable!]
  11. OA. Carboni & G. Medda, 2007. "Government Size and the Composition of Public Spending in a Neoclassical Growth Model," Working Paper CRENoS 200701, Centre for North South Economic Research, University of Cagliari and Sassari, Sardinia. [Downloadable!]
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