IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/respol/v49y2020i7s004873332030144x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

When labour market rigidities are useful for innovation. Evidence from German IAB firm-level data

Author

Listed:
  • Hoxha, Sergei
  • Kleinknecht, Alfred

Abstract

Supply-side economists made numerous pleas for removing labour market rigidities through ‘structural reforms’. From a Schumpeterian viewpoint, however, one can argue that labour market rigidities create useful incentives for innovation. Our estimates on German panel data (2007–2015) support the Schumpeterian view. Using the taxonomy of industries by Peneder (2010) we find that evidence of the Schumpeterian view is particularly strong in R&D intensive manufacturing industries, as well as in service industries with high degrees of cumulativeness of knowledge. Evidence of the Schumpeterian view is weaker in low-technology industries and in start-ups when firms rely more on generally available knowledge rather than on firm-specific and tacit knowledge accumulated in the past.

Suggested Citation

  • Hoxha, Sergei & Kleinknecht, Alfred, 2020. "When labour market rigidities are useful for innovation. Evidence from German IAB firm-level data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(7).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:49:y:2020:i:7:s004873332030144x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2020.104066
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004873332030144X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.respol.2020.104066?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

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

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrea Bassanini & Luca Nunziata & Danielle Venn, 2009. "Job protection legislation and productivity growth in OECD countries [Appropriate growth policy: a unifying framework]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 24(58), pages 349-402.
    2. George A. Akerlof & Janet L. Yellen, 1990. "The Fair Wage-Effort Hypothesis and Unemployment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 105(2), pages 255-283.
    3. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/4h9cnu4n2k8tfri093jil1d739 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Mirella DAMIANI & Fabrizio POMPEI & Andrea RICCI, 2016. "Temporary employment protection and productivity growth in EU economies," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 155(4), pages 587-622, December.
    5. Lorenz, Edward, 1999. "Trust, Contract and Economic Cooperation," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 23(3), pages 301-315, May.
    6. Luca Pieroni & Fabrizio Pompei, 2008. "Evaluating innovation and labour market relationships: the case of Italy," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 32(2), pages 325-347, March.
    7. Agell, Jonas, 1999. "On the Benefits from Rigid Labour Markets: Norms, Market Failures, and Social Insurance," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 109(453), pages 143-164, February.
    8. Lorenzo Cappellari & Carlo Dell’Aringa & Marco Leonardi, 2012. "Temporary Employment, Job Flows and Productivity: A Tale of Two Reforms," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 122(562), pages 188-215, August.
    9. Peneder, Michael, 2010. "Technological regimes and the variety of innovation behaviour: Creating integrated taxonomies of firms and sectors," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 323-334, April.
    10. G Dosi & M C Pereira & A Roventini & M E Virgillito, 2018. "Causes and consequences of hysteresis: aggregate demand, productivity, and employment," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(6), pages 1015-1044.
    11. Viral V. Acharya & Ramin P. Baghai & Krishnamurthy V. Subramanian, 2013. "Labor Laws and Innovation," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(4), pages 997-1037.
    12. Spyros Arvanitis, 2005. "Modes of labor flexibility at firm level: Are there any implications for performance and innovation? Evidence for the Swiss economy," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 14(6), pages 993-1016, December.
    13. Andrea Ichino & Regina T. Riphahn, 2005. "The Effect of Employment Protection on Worker Effort: Absenteeism During and After Probation," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 3(1), pages 120-143, March.
    14. Alfred Kleinknecht & Kees Van Montfort & Erik Brouwer, 2002. "The Non-Trivial Choice between Innovation Indicators," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(2), pages 109-121.
    15. Federico Lucidi & Alfred Kleinknecht, 2010. "Little innovation, many jobs: An econometric analysis of the Italian labour productivity crisis," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 34(3), pages 525-546.
    16. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/hiaqa97n684boj041a440irqd is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Dan Andrews & Chiara Criscuolo & Peter N. Gal, 2015. "Frontier Firms, Technology Diffusion and Public Policy: Micro Evidence from OECD Countries," OECD Productivity Working Papers 2, OECD Publishing.
    18. Breschi, Stefano & Malerba, Franco & Orsenigo, Luigi, 2000. "Technological Regimes and Schumpeterian Patterns of Innovation," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(463), pages 388-410, April.
    19. Robert Vergeer & Steven Dhondt & Alfred Kleinknecht & Karolus Kraan, 2015. "Will ‘structural reforms’ of labour markets reduce productivity growth? A firm-level investigation," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 12(3), pages 300—317-3, December.
    20. Christopher A. Pissarides, 2000. "Equilibrium Unemployment Theory, 2nd Edition," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262161877, April.
    21. Alfred Kleinknecht & Flore N. van Schaik & Haibo Zhou, 2014. "Is flexible labour good for innovation? Evidence from firm-level data," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 38(5), pages 1207-1219.
    22. Haibo Zhou & Ronald Dekker & Alfred Kleinknecht, 2011. "Flexible labor and innovation performance: evidence from longitudinal firm-level data," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 20(3), pages 941-968, June.
    23. Wachsen, Eva & Blind, Knut, 2016. "More labour market flexibility for more innovation? Evidence from employer–employee linked micro data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(5), pages 941-950.
    24. Peter AUER & Janine BERG & Ibrahim COULIBALY, 2005. "Is a stable workforce good for productivity?," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 144(3), pages 319-343, September.
    25. Lisi, Domenico & Malo, Miguel A., 2017. "The impact of temporary employment on productivity : The importance of sectors' skill intensity," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 50(1), pages 91-112.
    26. Gordon, David M, 1994. "Bosses of Different Stripes: A Cross-National Perspective on Monitoring and Supervision," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(2), pages 375-379, May.
    27. Shapiro, Carl & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1984. "Equilibrium Unemployment as a Worker Discipline Device," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(3), pages 433-444, June.
    28. Mortensen, Dale & Pissarides, Christopher, 2011. "Job Creation and Job Destruction in the Theory of Unemployment," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 1, pages 1-19.
    29. Marian Rizov & Richard Croucher, 2009. "Human resource management and performance in European firms," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 33(2), pages 253-272, March.
    30. 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.
    31. Fabio Berton & Francesco Devicienti & Sara Grubanov-Boskovic, 2016. "Employment protection legislation and mismatch: evidence from a reform," LABORatorio R. Revelli Working Papers Series 151, LABORatorio R. Revelli, Centre for Employment Studies.
    32. Alfred Kleinknecht & Zenlin Kwee & Lilyana Budyanto, 2016. "Rigidities through flexibility: flexible labour and the rise of management bureaucracies," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 40(4), pages 1137-1147.
    33. Scarpetta, Stefano & Tressel, Thierry, 2004. "Boosting productivity via innovation and adoption of new technologies : any role for labor market institutions?," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 29144, The World Bank.
    34. Acemoglu, Daron & Pischke, Jorn-Steffen, 1999. "Beyond Becker: Training in Imperfect Labour Markets," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 109(453), pages 112-142, February.
    35. Boris Hirsch & Steffen Mueller, 2012. "The Productivity Effect of Temporary Agency Work: Evidence from German Panel Data," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 122(562), pages 216-235, August.
    36. George A. Akerlof, 1982. "Labor Contracts as Partial Gift Exchange," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 97(4), pages 543-569.
    37. Amaia Altuzarra & Felipe Serrano, 2010. "Firms' Innovation Activity and Numerical Flexibility," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 63(2), pages 327-339, January.
    38. Akkermans, Dirk & Castaldi, Carolina & Los, Bart, 2009. "Do 'liberal market economies' really innovate more radically than 'coordinated market economies'?: Hall and Soskice reconsidered," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 181-191, February.
    39. Eric J. Bartelsman & Pieter A. Gautier & Joris Wind, 2016. "Employment Protection, Technology Choice, And Worker Allocation," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 57, pages 787-826, August.
    40. Storm, Servaas & Naastepad, C. W. M., 2012. "Macroeconomics Beyond the NAIRU," Economics Books, Harvard University Press, number 9780674062276, Spring.
    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. 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.
    2. Cetrulo, Armanda & Cirillo, Valeria & Landini, Fabio, 2022. "Organized Labour and R&D: Evidence from Italy," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1195, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Damiani, Mirella & Pompei, Fabrizio & Kleinknecht, Alfred, 2020. "When robots do (not) enhance job quality: The role of innovation regimes," MPRA Paper 103059, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Claudius Gräbner & Anna Hornykewycz, 2022. "Capability accumulation and product innovation: an agent-based perspective," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 87-121, January.
    5. Igor Fedotenkov & Virmantas Kvedaras & Miguel Sanchez-Martinez, 2024. "Employment protection and labour productivity growth in the EU: skill-specific effects during and after the Great Recession," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 51(1), pages 209-262, February.
    6. Aistleitner, Matthias & Gräbner, Claudius & Hornykewycz, Anna, 2021. "Theory and empirics of capability accumulation: Implications for macroeconomic modeling," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(6).
    7. Cirillo, Valeria & Fanti, Lucrezia & Mina, Andrea & Ricci, Andrea, 2023. "The adoption of digital technologies: Investment, skills, work organisation," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 89-105.
    8. Taymaz, Erol & Voyvoda, Ebru & Yilmaz, Kamil, 2024. "Is there a virtuous cycle between wages and productivity? Turkish experience after the transition to democracy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    9. F. Landini & C. Franco, 2020. "Organizational Drivers of Innovation: The Role of Workforce Agility," Economics Department Working Papers 2020-EP01, Department of Economics, Parma University (Italy).
    10. Jasmin Joecks & Kerstin Pull & Katrin Scharfenkamp, 2023. "Women directors and firm innovation: The role of women directors' representative function," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(2), pages 1203-1214, March.
    11. Franco, Chiara & Landini, Fabio, 2022. "Organizational drivers of innovation: The role of workforce agility," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(2).
    12. Yu Liu & Mingde Jia, 2023. "The Impact of Population Aging on Green Innovation: An Empirical Analysis Based on Inter-Provincial Data in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-18, February.
    13. Deborah Giustini, 2021. "The Impact Of Labour Market Trends On The Employment Of R&D Personnel: A Literature Review," HSE Working papers WP BRP 117/STI/2021, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    14. Valeria Cirillo & Lucrezia Fanti & Andrea Mina & Andrea Ricci, 2021. "Digitalizing Firms: Skills, Work Organization and the Adoption of New Enabling Technologies," LEM Papers Series 2021/04, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    15. Mehmet Güney Celbiş & Pui-Hang Wong & Karima Kourtit & Peter Nijkamp, 2021. "Innovativeness, Work Flexibility, and Place Characteristics: A Spatial Econometric and Machine Learning Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-29, December.
    16. Tan, Youchao & Liu, Xiumei & Sun, Hanwen & Zeng, Cheng(Colin), 2022. "Population ageing, labour market rigidity and corporate innovation: Evidence from China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(2).
    17. Mario Pianta & Jelena Reljic, 2022. "The good jobs-high innovation virtuous circle," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 39(3), pages 783-811, October.
    18. Limin Gao & Sajid Anwar, 2024. "Labour market rigidity and firm innovation," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(2), pages 237-257, June.
    19. Chengde You & Huishan Qiu & Zhuojie Pi & Mengyuan Yu, 2023. "Sustainable Enterprise Development in the Manufacturing Sector: Flexible Employment and Innovation in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-30, May.
    20. Chih-Hai Yang, 2023. "R&D responses to labor cost shock in China: does firm size matter?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(4), pages 1773-1793, December.

    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. Alfred Kleinknecht, 2017. "Supply-side labour market reforms: a neglected cause of the productivity crisis," Working Papers 0027, ASTRIL - Associazione Studi e Ricerche Interdisciplinari sul Lavoro.
    2. Armanda Cetrulo & Dario Guarascio, 2018. "Weaker Jobs, Weaker Innovation. Exploring The Temporary Employment-Product Innovation Nexus," Working Papers 0032, ASTRIL - Associazione Studi e Ricerche Interdisciplinari sul Lavoro.
    3. Sergei Hoxha & Alfred Kleinknecht, 2024. "When structural reforms of labor markets harm productivity. Evidence from the German IAB panel," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 33(3), pages 541-554.
    4. 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.
    5. Robert Vergeer & Steven Dhondt & Alfred Kleinknecht & Karolus Kraan, 2015. "Will ‘structural reforms’ of labour markets reduce productivity growth? A firm-level investigation," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 12(3), pages 300—317-3, December.
    6. Robert VERGEER & Alfred KLEINKNECHT, 2014. "Do labour market reforms reduce labour productivity growth? A panel data analysis of 20 OECD countries (1960–2004)," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 153(3), pages 365-393, September.
    7. Igor Fedotenkov & Virmantas Kvedaras & Miguel Sanchez-Martinez, 2024. "Employment protection and labour productivity growth in the EU: skill-specific effects during and after the Great Recession," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 51(1), pages 209-262, February.
    8. Dughera, Stefano & Quatraro,Francesco & Ricci,Andrea & Vittori,Claudia, 2021. "For the rest of our lives: Flexibility and innovation in Italy," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis LEI & BRICK - Laboratory of Economics of Innovation "Franco Momigliano", Bureau of Research in Innovation, Complexity and Knowledge, Collegio 202102, University of Turin.
    9. Tan, Youchao & Liu, Xiumei & Sun, Hanwen & Zeng, Cheng(Colin), 2022. "Population ageing, labour market rigidity and corporate innovation: Evidence from China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(2).
    10. Michele Capriati & Valeria Cirillo & Marialuisa Divella, 2024. "Productivity slowdown across European regions: does non-standard work matter?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(9), pages 1687-1709, September.
    11. Chengde You & Huishan Qiu & Zhuojie Pi & Mengyuan Yu, 2023. "Sustainable Enterprise Development in the Manufacturing Sector: Flexible Employment and Innovation in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-30, May.
    12. Damiani, Mirella & Pompei, Fabrizio & Kleinknecht, Alfred, 2020. "When robots do (not) enhance job quality: The role of innovation regimes," MPRA Paper 103059, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Kato, Masatoshi & Zhou, Haibo, 2018. "Numerical labor flexibility and innovation outcomes of start-up firms: A panel data analysis," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 15-27.
    14. Alfred Kleinknecht, 2014. "Schaden Strukturreformen des Arbeitsmarkts der Innovation?," Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft - WuG, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik, vol. 40(3), pages 417-428.
    15. Wachsen, Eva & Blind, Knut, 2016. "More labour market flexibility for more innovation? Evidence from employer–employee linked micro data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(5), pages 941-950.
    16. Mario Pianta & Jelena Reljic, 2022. "The good jobs-high innovation virtuous circle," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 39(3), pages 783-811, October.
    17. Riccardo Pariboni & Pasquale Tridico, 2020. "Structural change, institutions and the dynamics of labor productivity in Europe," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 30(5), pages 1275-1300, November.
    18. Larisa Smirnykh, 2016. "Is Flexible Labor Good for Innovation? Evidence from Russian Firm-level Data," Foresight and STI Governance (Foresight-Russia till No. 3/2015), National Research University Higher School of Economics, vol. 10(4), pages 60-70.
    19. Jean‐Pierre Danthine & André Kurmann, 2007. "The Macroeconomic Consequences of Reciprocity in Labor Relations," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 109(4), pages 857-881, December.
    20. Li, Guangzhong & Fujiyama, Keishi & Wu, Cen & Zheng, Ying, 2024. "Employment protection, corporate governance, and labor productivity around the World," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Innovation; Labour market flexibility; Varieties of capitalism;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J53 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Labor-Management Relations; Industrial Jurisprudence
    • M54 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Labor Management
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives

    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:eee:respol:v:49:y:2020:i:7:s004873332030144x. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/respol .

    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.