IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/intlab/v155y2016i4p535-561.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Productivity in German manufacturing firms: Does fixed-term employment matter?

Author

Listed:
  • Sebastian NIELEN
  • Alexander SCHIERSCH

Abstract

A growing proportion of employees are working under fixed-term contracts. This paper empirically analyzes whether this strategy actually improves firm productivity. To this end, a large dataset of German manufacturing firms and various panel data models are used in order to reveal the expected non-linear effect. Thereby the analysis also takes into account distortions that may result from selection into the use of fixed-term employment. The results of the investigation show that there is no significant effect of fixed-term employment on labor productivity when controlling for the selection effect.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Sebastian NIELEN & Alexander SCHIERSCH, 2016. "Productivity in German manufacturing firms: Does fixed-term employment matter?," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 155(4), pages 535-561, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:intlab:v:155:y:2016:i:4:p:535-561
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/ilr.2016.155.issue-4
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gerfin, Michael & Lechner, Michael & Steiger, Heidi, 2005. "Does subsidised temporary employment get the unemployed back to work? Aneconometric analysis of two different schemes," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(6), pages 807-835, December.
    2. ,, 2003. "Problems And Solutions," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(4), pages 691-705, August.
    3. Susan N. Houseman, 2001. "Why Employers Use Flexible Staffing Arrangements: Evidence from an Establishment Survey," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 55(1), pages 149-170, October.
    4. Antje Mertens & Vanessa Gash & Frances McGinnity, 2007. "The Cost of Flexibility at the Margin. Comparing the Wage Penalty for Fixed‐term Contracts in Germany and Spain using Quantile Regression," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 21(4‐5), pages 637-666, December.
    5. John T. Addison & Christopher J. Surfield, 2008. "Atypical Work and Employment Continuity," Working Paper series 12_08, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis, revised Jan 2008.
    6. Alison L. Booth & Marco Francesconi & Jeff Frank, 2002. "Temporary Jobs: Stepping Stones Or Dead Ends?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(480), pages 189-213, June.
    7. Zwick, Thomas, 2003. "The Impact of ICT Investment on Establishment Productivity," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 184, pages 99-110, April.
    8. Matteo Picchio, 2008. "Temporary Contracts and Transitions to Stable Jobs in Italy," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 22(s1), pages 147-174, June.
    9. Sarah Brown & John G. Sessions, 2005. "Employee Attitudes, Earnings and Fixed-Term Contracts: International Evidence," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 141(2), pages 296-317, July.
    10. Cecilia Albert & Carlos García-Serrano & Virginia Hernanz, 2004. "Firm-provided training and temporary contracts," Spanish Economic Review, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 7(1), pages 67-88, January.
    11. ,, 2003. "Problems And Solutions," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(5), pages 879-883, October.
    12. Lorenzo Cappellari & Carlo Dell'Aringa & Marco Leonardi, 2010. "Flexible Employment, Job Flows and Labour Productivity," DISCE - Quaderni dell'Istituto di Economia dell'Impresa e del Lavoro ieil0060, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).
    13. Boockmann, Bernhard & Hagen, Tobias, 2008. "Fixed-term contracts as sorting mechanisms: Evidence from job durations in West Germany," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 984-1005, October.
    14. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes, 2000. "Work Transitions into and Out of Involuntary Temporary Employment in a Segmented Market: Evidence from Spain," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 53(2), pages 309-325, January.
    15. Elizabeth George, 2003. "External Solutions and Internal Problems: The Effects of Employment Externalization on Internal Workers' Attitudes," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(4), pages 386-402, August.
    16. Melanie K. Jones & Richard J. Jones & Paul L. Latreille & Peter J. Sloane, 2009. "Training, Job Satisfaction, and Workplace Performance in Britain: Evidence from WERS 2004," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 23(s1), pages 139-175, March.
    17. Mirella Damiani & Fabrizio Pompei, 2010. "Labour Protection and Productivity in EU Economies: 1995-2005," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 7(2), pages 373-411, December.
    18. Patrick Puhani, 2000. "The Heckman Correction for Sample Selection and Its Critique," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(1), pages 53-68, February.
    19. Annette Bergmann & Antje Mertens, 2011. "Job Stability Trends, Lay‐offs, and Transitions to Unemployment in West Germany," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 25(4), pages 421-446, December.
    20. ,, 2003. "Problems And Solutions," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(6), pages 1195-1198, December.
    21. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    22. Bentolila, Samuel & Saint-Paul, Gilles, 1992. "The macroeconomic impact of flexible labor contracts, with an application to Spain," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 1013-1047, June.
    23. Wiji Arulampalam & Alison L. Booth & Mark L. Bryan, 2004. "Training in Europe," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 2(2-3), pages 346-360, 04/05.
    24. ,, 2003. "Problems And Solutions," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(1), pages 225-228, February.
    25. Luca Nunziata & Stefano Staffolani, 2007. "Short‐Term Contracts Regulations And Dynamic Labour Demand: Theory And Evidence," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 54(1), pages 72-104, February.
    26. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    27. Alfred Kleinknecht & Remco Oostendorp & Menno Pradhan & C. W. M. Naastepad, 2006. "Flexible Labour, Firm Performance and the Dutch Job Creation Miracle," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(2), pages 171-187.
    28. ,, 2003. "Problems And Solutions," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(2), pages 411-413, April.
    29. Wang, Ruqu & Weiss, Andrew, 1998. "Probation, layoffs, and wage-tenure profiles: A sorting explanation," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(3), pages 359-383, September.
    30. Gabriele Fischer & Florian Janik & Dana Müller & Alexandra Schmucker, 2009. "European Data Watch: The IAB Establishment Panel - Things Users Should Know," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 129(1), pages 133-148.
    31. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Larisa Smirnykh & Andreas Wörgötter, 2013. "Why do Russian Firms Use Fixed-Term and Agency Work Contracts?," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1014, OECD Publishing.
    2. François Rycx & Yves Saks & Ilan Tojerow, 2015. "Does Education Raise Productivity and Wages Equally? The Moderating Roles of Age, Gender and Industry," Working Paper Research 281, National Bank of Belgium.
    3. Kampelmann, Stephan & Mahy, Benoît & Rycx, François & Vermeylen, Guillaume, 2016. "Who Is Your Perfect Match? Educational Norms, Educational Mismatch and Firm Profitability," IZA Discussion Papers 10399, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Calcagnini, Giorgio & Marin, Giovanni & Perugini, Francesco, 2021. "Labour flexibility, internal migration and productivity in Italian regions," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 308-320.
    5. Romina Giuliano & Stephan Kampelmann & Benoît Mahy & François Rycx, 2017. "Short Notice, Big Difference? The Effect of Temporary Employment on Firm Competitiveness across Sectors," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 55(2), pages 421-449, June.
    6. Domenico Lisi & Miguel A. Malo, 2017. "The impact of temporary employment on productivity [Auswirkungen befristeter Beschäftigung auf die Produktivität]," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 50(1), pages 91-112, August.
    7. Alessia Matano, 2022. "Spatial externalities in big cities and duality of the labour market," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(2), pages 471-498, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alexander Schiersch, 2015. "TFP, Labor Productivity and the (Un)observed Labor Input: Temporary Agency Work," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1532, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    2. Schiersch, Alexander, 2016. "Considering the (Un)observed: temporary agency work in productivity estimations," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145749, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    3. Sebastian Nielen & Alexander Schiersch, 2014. "Temporary Agency Work and Firm Competitiveness: Evidence from German Manufacturing Firms," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 365-393, July.
    4. Valeria Cirillo & Andrea Ricci, 2022. "Heterogeneity matters: temporary employment, productivity and wages in Italian firms," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 39(2), pages 567-593, July.
    5. Genevieve Knight & Zhang Wei, 2015. "Isolating the Determinants of Temporary Agency Worker Use by Firms: An Analysis of Temporary Agency Workers in Australian Aged Care," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 18(2), pages 205-237.
    6. Alessio Tomelleri, 2021. "Temporary jobs and increasing inequality for recent cohorts in Italy," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 35(4), pages 500-537, December.
    7. Romina Giuliano & Stephan Kampelmann & Benoît Mahy & François Rycx, 2017. "Short Notice, Big Difference? The Effect of Temporary Employment on Firm Competitiveness across Sectors," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 55(2), pages 421-449, June.
    8. Aleksynska, Mariya, 2018. "Temporary employment, work quality, and job satisfaction," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 722-735.
    9. Domenico Lisi & Miguel A. Malo, 2017. "The impact of temporary employment on productivity [Auswirkungen befristeter Beschäftigung auf die Produktivität]," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 50(1), pages 91-112, August.
    10. Matteo Picchio & Mattia Filomena, 2021. "Are Temporary Jobs Stepping Stones Or Dead Ends? A Meta-Analytical Review Of The Literature," Working Papers 455, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
    11. Stirpe, Luigi & Bonache, Jaime & Revilla, Antonio, 2014. "Differentiating the workforce: The performance effects of using contingent labor in a context of high-performance work systems," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(7), pages 1334-1341.
    12. Elizabeth George & Prithviraj Chattopadhyay & Carmen Kaman Ng, 2016. "The relationship between workgroup blending and perceived organizational inducements: The mediating roles of tasks and relationships," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 41(3), pages 538-562, August.
    13. Ulrich Lichtenthaler & Holger Ernst & Martin Hoegl, 2010. "Not-Sold-Here: How Attitudes Influence External Knowledge Exploitation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(5), pages 1054-1071, October.
    14. George, Elizabeth. & Chattopadhyay, Prithviraj., 2015. "Non-standard work and workers : organizational implications," ILO Working Papers 994883083402676, International Labour Organization.
    15. Coyle-Shapiro, Jacqueline & Morrow, Paula & Kessler, Ian, 2006. "Serving two organizations : exploring the employment relationship of contracted employees," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 2665, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    16. Simon Lloyd D. Restubog & Matthew J. Hornsey & Prashant Bordia & Sarah R. Esposo, 2008. "Effects of Psychological Contract Breach on Organizational Citizenship Behaviour: Insights from the Group Value Model," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(8), pages 1377-1400, December.
    17. Elizabeth George & Prithviraj Chattopadhyay & Lida L. Zhang, 2012. "Helping Hand or Competition? The Moderating Influence of Perceived Upward Mobility on the Relationship Between Blended Workgroups and Employee Attitudes and Behaviors," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(2), pages 355-372, April.
    18. Mehralian, Gholamhossein & Rasekh, Hamid Reza & Akhavan, Peyman & Ghatari, Ali Rajabzadeh, 2013. "Prioritization of intellectual capital indicators in knowledge-based industries: Evidence from pharmaceutical industry," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 209-216.
    19. Yakut, Oguz, 2021. "Implementation of hydraulically driven barrel shooting control by utilizing artificial neural networks," Mathematics and Computers in Simulation (MATCOM), Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 1206-1223.
    20. X. Qin & G. Huang, 2009. "An Inexact Chance-constrained Quadratic Programming Model for Stream Water Quality Management," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 23(4), pages 661-695, March.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production
    • L60 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:intlab:v:155:y:2016:i:4:p:535-561. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ilounch.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.