IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/indinn/v32y2025i7p747-771.html

How employees are affected by working in R&D-investing firms

Author

Listed:
  • Yifei Wang

Abstract

Investments in research and development (R&D) are essential for firm success, but how does the experience of working for R&D-investing firms affect individual performance in the labour market? Combining a biennial survey series on R&D investments with a longitudinal matched employer-employee dataset from Statistics Sweden, this study examines the labour market performance of workers in R&D-investing versus non-investing firms. Results show that, on average, highly skilled employees from R&D-investing firms perform better than those from non-investing firms when they switch jobs. This includes higher wage growth and higher probability of career progression. Among this group of employees, no particular interest in entrepreneurial ventures was found. Results of this study strengthen current knowledge of the effects of R&D and provide important implications for policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Yifei Wang, 2025. "How employees are affected by working in R&D-investing firms," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(7), pages 747-771, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:indinn:v:32:y:2025:i:7:p:747-771
    DOI: 10.1080/13662716.2024.2420783
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/13662716.2024.2420783
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/13662716.2024.2420783?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

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rafael A. Corredoira & Lori Rosenkopf, 2010. "Should auld acquaintance be forgot? the reverse transfer of knowledge through mobility ties," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 159-181, February.
    2. Lori Rosenkopf & Paul Almeida, 2003. "Overcoming Local Search Through Alliances and Mobility," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(6), pages 751-766, June.
    3. Lee Fleming & David M. Waguespack, 2007. "Brokerage, Boundary Spanning, and Leadership in Open Innovation Communities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(2), pages 165-180, April.
    4. Ruhm, Christopher J, 1991. "Are Workers Permanently Scarred by Job Displacements?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(1), pages 319-324, March.
    5. Nicholas Bloom & John Van Reenen & Heidi Williams, 2019. "A toolkit of policies to promote innovation," Voprosy Ekonomiki, NP Voprosy Ekonomiki, issue 10.
    6. Bruce Kogut & Udo Zander, 1992. "Knowledge of the Firm, Combinative Capabilities, and the Replication of Technology," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(3), pages 383-397, August.
    7. Andersson, Martin & Baltzopoulos, Apostolos & Lööf, Hans, 2012. "R&D strategies and entrepreneurial spawning," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 54-68.
    8. Christoph Grimpe & Ulrich Kaiser & Wolfgang Sofka, 2019. "Signaling valuable human capital: Advocacy group work experience and its effect on employee pay in innovative firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(4), pages 685-710, April.
    9. Bruce Fallick & Charles A. Fleischman & James B. Rebitzer, 2006. "Job-Hopping in Silicon Valley: Some Evidence Concerning the Microfoundations of a High-Technology Cluster," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(3), pages 472-481, August.
    10. Paul Almeida & Bruce Kogut, 1999. "Localization of Knowledge and the Mobility of Engineers in Regional Networks," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 45(7), pages 905-917, July.
    11. Benjamin A. Campbell, 2013. "Earnings Effects of Entrepreneurial Experience: Evidence from the Semiconductor Industry," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(2), pages 286-304, February.
    12. Hainmueller, Jens, 2012. "Entropy Balancing for Causal Effects: A Multivariate Reweighting Method to Produce Balanced Samples in Observational Studies," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 25-46, January.
    13. Jacobson, Louis S & LaLonde, Robert J & Sullivan, Daniel G, 1993. "Earnings Losses of Displaced Workers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(4), pages 685-709, September.
    14. Bogliacino, Francesco & Piva, Mariacristina & Vivarelli, Marco, 2012. "R&D and employment: An application of the LSDVC estimator using European microdata," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 116(1), pages 56-59.
    15. Jarle Moen, 2005. "Is Mobility of Technical Personnel a Source of R&D Spillovers?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 23(1), pages 81-114, January.
    16. Ulrich Kaiser & Hans C. Kongsted & Keld Laursen & Ann‐Kathrine Ejsing, 2018. "Experience matters: The role of academic scientist mobility for industrial innovation," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(7), pages 1935-1958, July.
    17. Gary S. Becker, 1994. "Summary and Conclusions, Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, Third Edition," NBER Chapters, in: Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, Third Edition, pages 245-256, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Neus Palomeras & Eduardo Melero, 2010. "Markets for Inventors: Learning-by-Hiring as a Driver of Mobility," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 56(5), pages 881-895, May.
    19. Jacques Mairesse, 2008. "Employment, innovation, and productivity: evidence from Italian microdata," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 17(4), pages 813-839, August.
    20. Romer, Paul M, 1990. "Endogenous Technological Change," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 71-102, October.
    21. Louis S. Jacobson & Robert J. LaLonde & Daniel G. Sullivan, 1993. "Long-term earnings losses of high-seniority displaced workers," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 17(Nov), pages 2-20.
    22. Emelie Hane-Weijman & Rikard H. Eriksson & Martin Henning, 2018. "Returning to work: regional determinants of re-employment after major redundancies," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(6), pages 768-780, June.
    23. Daron Acemoglu, 2002. "Technical Change, Inequality, and the Labor Market," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(1), pages 7-72, March.
    24. Feldman, Maryann P. & Kelley, Maryellen R., 2006. "The ex ante assessment of knowledge spillovers: Government R&D policy, economic incentives and private firm behavior," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 1509-1521, December.
    25. Jacob Rubæk Holm & Bram Timmermans & Christian Richter Østergaard & Alex Coad & Nicola Grassano & Antonio Vezzani, 2020. "Labor mobility from R&D-intensive multinational companies: implications for knowledge and technology transfer," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(5), pages 1562-1584, October.
    26. Gary S. Becker, 1994. "Introduction to the First Edition of Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education," NBER Chapters, in: Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, Third Edition, pages 11-14, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    27. Gary S. Becker, 1994. "Introduction to the Second Edition of Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education," NBER Chapters, in: Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, Third Edition, pages 3-10, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    28. Zvi Griliches, 1998. "R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number gril98-1, August.
    29. Joachim Wagner & Rolf Sternberg, 2004. "Start-up activities, individual characteristics, and the regional milieu: Lessons for entrepreneurship support policies from German micro data," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 38(2), pages 219-240, June.
    30. Aghion, Philippe & Howitt, Peter, 1992. "A Model of Growth through Creative Destruction," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 60(2), pages 323-351, March.
    31. Schweisfurth, Tim G. & Raasch, Christina, 2018. "Absorptive capacity for need knowledge: Antecedents and effects for employee innovativeness," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 687-699.
    32. Jacob Mincer, 1958. "Investment in Human Capital and Personal Income Distribution," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 66(4), pages 281-281.
    33. Chan, William, 1996. "External Recruitment versus Internal Promotion," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(4), pages 555-570, October.
    34. Kaiser, Ulrich & Kongsted, Hans Christian & Rønde, Thomas, 2015. "Does the mobility of R&D labor increase innovation?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 91-105.
    35. David, Paul A. & Hall, Bronwyn H. & Toole, Andrew A., 2000. "Is public R&D a complement or substitute for private R&D? A review of the econometric evidence," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(4-5), pages 497-529, April.
    36. Scott Shane, 2000. "Prior Knowledge and the Discovery of Entrepreneurial Opportunities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 11(4), pages 448-469, August.
    37. Gary S. Becker, 1994. "Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, Third Edition," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck94-1, August.
    38. Grossman, Gene M. & Helpman, Elhanan, 1991. "Trade, knowledge spillovers, and growth," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(2-3), pages 517-526, April.
    39. Lenihan, Helena & McGuirk, Helen & Murphy, Kevin R., 2019. "Driving innovation: Public policy and human capital," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    40. Moshe Buchinsky & Denis Fougère & Francis Kramarz & Rusty Tchernis, 2010. "Interfirm Mobility, Wages and the Returns to Seniority and Experience in the United States," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 77(3), pages 972-1001.
    41. Maarten Goos & Alan Manning & Anna Salomons, 2014. "Explaining Job Polarization: Routine-Biased Technological Change and Offshoring," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(8), pages 2509-2526, August.
    42. Justin Van Der Sluis & Mirjam Van Praag & Wim Vijverberg, 2008. "Education And Entrepreneurship Selection And Performance: A Review Of The Empirical Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(5), pages 795-841, December.
    43. Tania Babina & Sabrina T. Howell, 2024. "Entrepreneurial Spillovers from Corporate R&D," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(2), pages 469-509.
    44. Topel, Robert H, 1991. "Specific Capital, Mobility, and Wages: Wages Rise with Job Seniority," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(1), pages 145-176, February.
    45. Cohen, Wesley M & Klepper, Steven, 1992. "The Anatomy of Industry R&D Intensity Distributions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(4), pages 773-799, September.
    46. Klepper, Steven & Thompson, Peter, 2010. "Disagreements and intra-industry spinoffs," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 526-538, September.
    47. Mansfield, Edwin, 1985. "How Rapidly Does New Industrial Technology Leak Out?," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(2), pages 217-223, December.
    48. Zoltán J. Ács & Pontus Braunerhjelm & David B. Audretsch & Bo Carlsson, 2015. "The knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 7, pages 129-144, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    49. Brian Wu & Anne Marie Knott, 2006. "Entrepreneurial Risk and Market Entry," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(9), pages 1315-1330, September.
    50. Rachel Griffith & Stephen Redding & John Van Reenen, 2004. "Mapping the Two Faces of R&D: Productivity Growth in a Panel of OECD Industries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(4), pages 883-895, November.
    51. Loprest, Pamela J, 1992. "Gender Differences in Wage Growth and Job Mobility," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(2), pages 526-532, May.
    52. Coad, Alex & Mathew, Nanditha & Pugliese, Emanuele, 2021. "Positioning firms along the capabilities ladder," MERIT Working Papers 2021-031, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    53. Hogan, Suellen J. & Coote, Leonard V., 2014. "Organizational culture, innovation, and performance: A test of Schein's model," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(8), pages 1609-1621.
    54. Harrison, Rupert & Jaumandreu, Jordi & Mairesse, Jacques & Peters, Bettina, 2014. "Does innovation stimulate employment? A firm-level analysis using comparable micro-data from four European countries," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 29-43.
    55. Schweisfurth, Tim G. & Raasch, Christina, 2018. "Absorptive Capacity for Need Knowledge: Antecedents and Effects for Employee Innovativeness," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 47(4), pages 687-699.
    56. M. Diane Burton & Jesper B. Sørensen & Stanislav D. Dobrev, 2016. "A Careers Perspective on Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 40(2), pages 237-247, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Pontus Braunerhjelm & Ding Ding & Per Thulin, 2018. "The knowledge spillover theory of intrapreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 51(1), pages 1-30, June.
    2. Louise Lindbjerg & Theodor Vladasel, 2021. "Hiring entrepreneurs for innovation," Economics Working Papers 1811, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    3. Kaiser, Ulrich & Kongsted, Hans Christian & Rønde, Thomas, 2015. "Does the mobility of R&D labor increase innovation?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 91-105.
    4. Simeth, Markus & Mohammadi, Ali, 2017. "The impact of open innovation on employee mobility and entrepreneurship," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 449, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    5. Braunerhjelm, Pontus & Ding, Ding & Thulin, Per, 2020. "Labour market mobility, knowledge diffusion and innovation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    6. Cristobal Cheyre & Steven Klepper & Francisco Veloso, 2015. "Spinoffs and the Mobility of U.S. Merchant Semiconductor Inventors," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(3), pages 487-506, March.
    7. Erik Stam, 2013. "Knowledge and entrepreneurial employees: a country-level analysis," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(4), pages 887-898, December.
    8. Benjamin A. Campbell, 2013. "Earnings Effects of Entrepreneurial Experience: Evidence from the Semiconductor Industry," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(2), pages 286-304, February.
    9. Jing Xiao & Åsa Lindholm Dahlstrand, 2023. "Skill-biased acquisitions? Human capital and employee mobility in small technology firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 1219-1247, March.
    10. Chila, Vilma & Devarakonda, Shivaram, 2024. "The effects of firm-specific incentives (stock options) on mobility and employee entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 39(3).
    11. Christoph Grimpe & Wolfgang Sofka & Ulrich Kaiser, 2023. "Competing for digital human capital: The retention effect of digital expertise in MNC subsidiaries," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 54(4), pages 657-685, June.
    12. Gu, Grace & Malik, Samreen & Pozzoli, Dario & Rocha, Vera, 2024. "Worker reallocation, firm innovation, and Chinese import competition," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    13. Bettina Becker, 2013. "The Determinants of R&D Investment: A Survey of the Empirical Research," Discussion Paper Series 2013_09, Department of Economics, Loughborough University, revised Sep 2013.
    14. Simeth, Markus & Mohammadi, Ali, 2022. "Losing talent by partnering up? The impact of R&D collaboration on employee mobility," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(7).
    15. Qiantao Zhang & Chiara Marzocchi & Shiri M. Breznitz, 2025. "Educational diversity and work experience paths towards entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 65(2), pages 1047-1069, August.
    16. Yang, Chia-Hsuan & Nugent, Rebecca & Fuchs, Erica R.H., 2016. "Gains from others’ losses: Technology trajectories and the global division of firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 724-745.
    17. Choi, Mincheol & Lee, Chang-Yang, 2021. "Technological diversification and R&D productivity: The moderating effects of knowledge spillovers and core-technology competence," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    18. Xiao, Jing & Lindholm Dahlstrand, Åsa, 2021. "Skill-biased acquisitions? Human capital and target employee mobility in small technology firms," Papers in Innovation Studies 2021/12, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    19. Miguélez, Ernest & Moreno, Rosina, 2015. "Knowledge flows and the absorptive capacity of regions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 833-848.
    20. Simon Wiederhold, 2012. "The Role of Public Procurement in Innovation: Theory and Empirical Evidence," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 43, October.

    More about this item

    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:taf:indinn:v:32:y:2025:i:7:p:747-771. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CIAI20 .

    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.