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Good Firms, Worker Flows and Productivity

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  • Serafinelli, Michel

Abstract

I present direct evidence on the role of firm-to-firm labor mobility in enhancing the productivity of firms located near highly productive firms. Using matched employer-employee and balance sheet data for the Veneto region of Italy, I identify a set of high-wage firms (HWF) and show they are more productive than other firms. I then show that hiring a worker with HWF experience increases the productivity of other (non-HWF) firms. A simulation indicates that worker flows explain 10-15 percent of the productivity gains experienced by other firms when HWFs in the same industry are added to a local labor market.

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  • Serafinelli, Michel, 2013. "Good Firms, Worker Flows and Productivity," MPRA Paper 47508, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:47508
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    6. Michèle A. Weynandt, 2014. "Selective Firing and Lemons," NRN working papers 2014-05, The Austrian Center for Labor Economics and the Analysis of the Welfare State, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    7. Elena Grinza, 2016. "Replacing Workers: Is It a Boon or a Bane for Firm Productivity?," Working papers 034, Department of Economics and Statistics (Dipartimento di Scienze Economico-Sociali e Matematico-Statistiche), University of Torino.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    productivity; agglomeration advantages; linked employer-employee data; labor mobility.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • R2 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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