IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/iab/iabzaf/v44i4p321-338.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Separating wheat and chaff: age-specific staffing strategies and innovative performance at the firm level

Author

Listed:
  • Frosch, Katharina

    (Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich ; Max-Planck-Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock)

  • Göbel, Christian
  • Zwick, Thomas

    (ZEW)

Abstract

"Adopting a dynamic perspective, this paper investigates age-related staffing patterns in German establishments and their effect on innovative performance. First, we investigate how establishments achieve the necessary workforce rejuvenation - from the inflow of younger or from outflows of older workers. In addition, we explore whether certain staffing patterns are more likely to appear under different economic regimes. In a second step, we analyze whether an establishment's innovative performance is related to the staffing patterns it experiences. The analysis of linked-employer-employee data shows that most of the 585 German establishments covered rejuvenate by inflows of younger workers. Half of the establishments also use the outflow of older workers. Furthermore, workforces are more likely to become more age-heterogeneous in growing establishments. Finally, we do not find evidence that a youth-centered human resource strategy (always) fosters innovation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Suggested Citation

  • Frosch, Katharina & Göbel, Christian & Zwick, Thomas, 2011. "Separating wheat and chaff: age-specific staffing strategies and innovative performance at the firm level," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 44(4), pages 321-338.
    • Handle: RePEc:iab:iabzaf:v:44:i:4:p:321-338
    DOI: 10.1007/s12651-011-0091-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12651-011-0091-5
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12651-011-0091-5?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
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Francesco Daveri & Mika Maliranta, 2007. "Age, seniority and labour costs: lessons from the Finnish IT revolution [‘Vertical integration and distance to frontier’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 22(49), pages 118-175.
    2. Burgess, Simon & Lane, Julia & Stevens, David, 1997. "The Reallocation of Labour and the Lifecycle of Firms," CEPR Discussion Papers 1713, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Joachim Wagner, 2010. "The Research Potential of New Types of Enterprise Data based on Surveys from Official Statistics in Germany," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 130(1), pages 133-142.
    4. Burgess, Simon & Lane, Julia & Stevens, David, 2000. "Job Flows, Worker Flows, and Churning," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(3), pages 473-502, July.
    5. Daniel S. Hamermesh & Wolter H. J. Hassink & Jan C. Van Ours, 1996. "Job Turnover and Labor Turnover: A taxinomy of Employment Dynamics," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 41-42, pages 21-40.
    6. Malmberg, Bo & Lindh, Thomas & Halvarsson, Max, 2005. "Productivity consequences of workforce ageing - Stagnation or a Horndal effect?," Arbetsrapport 2005:17, Institute for Futures Studies.
    7. repec:eme:rlepps:v:18:y:1999:i:1999:p:303-330 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Gary S. Becker, 1962. "Investment in Human Capital: A Theoretical Analysis," NBER Chapters, in: Investment in Human Beings, pages 9-49, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. McGahan, Anita M. & Silverman, Brian S., 2001. "How does innovative activity change as industries mature?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 19(7), pages 1141-1160, July.
    10. Criscuolo, Chiara & Haskel, Jonathan E. & Slaughter, Matthew J., 2010. "Global engagement and the innovation activities of firms," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 191-202, March.
    11. Jovanovic, Boyan, 1979. "Job Matching and the Theory of Turnover," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(5), pages 972-990, October.
    12. David H. Autor & Frank Levy & Richard J. Murnane, 2003. "The skill content of recent technological change: an empirical exploration," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue Nov.
    13. Vegard Skirbekk, 2004. "Age and Individual Productivity: A Literature Survey," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 2(1), pages 133-154.
    14. Abowd, John M. & Kramarz, Francis, 2003. "The costs of hiring and separations," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(5), pages 499-530, October.
    15. Göbel, Christian & Zwick, Thomas, 2009. "Age and productivity: evidence from linked employer employee data," ZEW Discussion Papers 09-020, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    16. Rita Asplund, 2005. "The Provision and Effects of Company Training: A Brief Review of the Literature," Nordic Journal of Political Economy, Nordic Journal of Political Economy, vol. 31, pages 47-73.
    17. Jenny Meyer, 2010. "Does Social Software Support Service Innovation?," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 289-311.
    18. Mika Maliranta & Pierre Mohnen & Petri Rouvinen, 2009. "Is inter-firm labor mobility a channel of knowledge spillovers? Evidence from a linked employer--employee panel," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 18(6), pages 1161-1191, December.
    19. Burgess, Simon & Lane, Julia & Stevens, David, 2000. "The Reallocation of Labour and the Lifecycle of Firms," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 62(0), pages 885-907, Special I.
    20. Huergo, Elena & Jaumandreu, Jordi, 2004. "Firms' age, process innovation and productivity growth," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 541-559, April.
    21. O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), 1999. "Handbook of Labor Economics," Handbook of Labor Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 3, number 3.
    22. Pierre Cahuc & Patrick Sevestre & Hélène Zajdela, 1990. "Négociations salariales et segmentation du marché du travail," Économie et Prévision, Programme National Persée, vol. 92(1), pages 43-50.
    23. Birgit Verworn & Christiane Hipp, 2009. "Does the ageing workforce hamper the innovativeness of firms? (No) evidence from Germany," International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 9(2/3), pages 180-197.
    24. Alexia Prskawetz & Thomas Fent, 2007. "Workforce Ageing And The Substitution Of Labour: The Role Of Supply And Demand Of Labour In Austria," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(1), pages 95-126, February.
    25. Jérôme Vandenbussche & Philippe Aghion & Costas Meghir, 2006. "Growth, distance to frontier and composition of human capital," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 97-127, June.
    26. repec:adr:anecst:y:1996:i:41-42:p:02 is not listed on IDEAS
    27. Ilmakunnas, Pekka & Maliranta, Mika, 2007. "Aging, Labor Turnover and Firm Performance," Discussion Papers 1092, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    28. Daniel, Kirsten & Heywood, John S., 2007. "The determinants of hiring older workers: UK evidence," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 35-51, January.
    29. Hutchens, Robert, 1986. "Delayed Payment Contracts and a Firm's Propensity to Hire Older Workers," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 4(4), pages 439-457, October.
    30. Ross Guest, 2007. "Can OECD Countries Afford Demographic Change?," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 40(2), pages 149-164, June.
    31. Davis, Steven J. & Haltiwanger, John, 1999. "Gross job flows," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 41, pages 2711-2805, Elsevier.
    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. John S. Heywood & Uwe Jirjahn, 2015. "The German Labor Market for Older Workers in Comparative Perspective," Research Papers in Economics 2015-02, University of Trier, Department of Economics.
    2. John S. Heywood & Uwe Jirjahn, 2016. "The hiring and employment of older workers in Germany: a comparative perspective [Die Beschäftigung und Neueinstellung älterer Arbeitnehmer in Deutschland: Eine vergleichende Perspektive]," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 49(4), pages 349-366, December.
    3. Göbel, Christian & Zwick, Thomas, 2013. "Are personnel measures effective in increasing productivity of old workers?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 80-93.

    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. Frosch, Katharina & Göbel, Christian & Zwick, Thomas, 2011. "Separating wheat and chaff: age-specific staffing strategies and innovative performance at the firm level," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 44(4), pages 321-338.
    2. Pekka Ilmakunnas & Mika Maliranta, 2005. "Worker inflow, outflow, and churning," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(10), pages 1115-1133.
    3. Sandrine Levasseur, 2008. "Progrès technologique et employabilité des seniors," Revue de l'OFCE, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 0(3), pages 155-184.
    4. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/6144 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Ricardo Mamede, 2009. "Toward an integrated approach to industry dynamics and labor mobility," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 18(1), pages 139-163, February.
    6. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/9825 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Schneider, Lutz, 2011. "Zum Einfluss von Alter und Erfahrung auf Produktivitäts- und Lohnprofile - Befunde einer Linked-Employer-Employee-Analyse," VfS Annual Conference 2011 (Frankfurt, Main): The Order of the World Economy - Lessons from the Crisis 48728, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    8. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/6144 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Pekka Ilmakunnas & Mika Maliranta, 2016. "How does the age structure of worker flows affect firm performance?," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 43-62, August.
    10. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/6144 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Börsch-Supan, Axel & Weiss, Matthias, 2016. "Productivity and age: Evidence from work teams at the assembly line," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 7(C), pages 30-42.
    12. Bergin, Adele, 2009. "Job Mobility in Ireland," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 40(1), pages 15-47.
    13. C. Sofia Machado & Miguel Portela, 2011. "Age and opportunities for promotion," NIPE Working Papers 03/2011, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
    14. Böckerman, Petri & Kauhanen, Antti & Maliranta, Mika, 2012. "ICT and occupation-based measures of organisational change: Firm and employee outcomes," MPRA Paper 43302, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Gielen, Anne C. & van Ours, Jan C., 2006. "Age-specific cyclical effects in job reallocation and labor mobility," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 493-504, August.
    16. van Ours, J.C. & Stoeldraijer, L., 2010. "Age, Wage and Productivity," Other publications TiSEM 1521c170-405f-41a4-9bd0-c, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    17. Thierry Lallemand & François Rycx, 2009. "Are Older Workers Harmful for Firm Productivity?," De Economist, Springer, vol. 157(3), pages 273-292, September.
    18. van Ours, Jan C. & Stoeldraijer, Lenny, 2010. "Age, wage and productivity," CEPR Discussion Papers 7713, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. Katharina Frosch, 2009. "Do only new brooms sweep clean? A review on workforce age and innovation," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2009-005, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    20. Grinza, Elena & Quatraro, Francesco, 2019. "Workers’ replacements and firms’ innovation dynamics: New evidence from Italian matched longitudinal data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    21. Thierry Lallemand & François Rycx, 2009. "Are young and old workers harmful for firm productivity?," DULBEA Working Papers 09-02.RS, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    22. Nobuhiro Kiyotaki & Ricardo Lagos, 2007. "A Model of Job and Worker Flows," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 115(5), pages 770-819, October.
    23. Bergemann, Annette & Mertens, Antje, 2004. "Job Stability Trends, Layoffs, and Transitions to Unemployment: An Empirical Analysis for West Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 1368, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    24. Zsolt Csáfordi & László Lőrincz & Balázs Lengyel & Károly Miklós Kiss, 2020. "Productivity spillovers through labor flows: productivity gap, multinational experience and industry relatedness," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 86-121, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bundesrepublik Deutschland ; Beschäftigtenstruktur ; Entlassungen ; human resource management ; IAB-Linked-Employer-Employee-Datensatz ; Innovationsfähigkeit ; ältere Arbeitnehmer ; Altern ; altersspezifische Faktoren ; Altersstruktur ; Personaleinstellung ; Personalpolitik ; 2000-2003;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M51 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Firm Employment Decisions; Promotions
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • 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:iab:iabzaf:v:44:i:4:p:321-338. 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: IAB, Geschäftsbereich Wissenschaftliche Fachinformation und Bibliothek (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iabbbde.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.