IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ces/ceswps/_11056.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Digital Technologies and Firms’ Employment and Training

Author

Listed:
  • Mauro Caselli
  • Edwin Fourrier-Nicolai
  • Andrea Fracasso
  • Sergio Scicchitano

Abstract

This study examines the causal influence of digital technologies, specifically operational (ODT) and information digital technologies (IDT), on firms’ employment structure using Italian firm-level data. It employs a unique empirical approach, constructing instrumental variables based on predetermined employment composition and global technological progress, proxied by patents. Findings indicate that IDT investment positively affects employment, favoring a skilled, IT-competent workforce, as supported by firms’ training and recruitment plans. Conversely, ODT investment does not significantly alter total employment but skews the workforce towards temporary contracts. The study contributes methodologically by distinguishing between ODT and IDT and highlighting nuanced employment dynamics within firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Mauro Caselli & Edwin Fourrier-Nicolai & Andrea Fracasso & Sergio Scicchitano, 2024. "Digital Technologies and Firms’ Employment and Training," CESifo Working Paper Series 11056, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11056
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp11056.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jay Dixon & Bryan Hong & Lynn Wu, 2021. "The Robot Revolution: Managerial and Employment Consequences for Firms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(9), pages 5586-5605, September.
    2. David Klenert & Enrique Fernández-Macías & José-Ignacio Antón, 2023. "Do robots really destroy jobs? Evidence from Europe," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 44(1), pages 280-316, February.
    3. Koster, Hans & Acemoglu, Daron & Ozgen, Ceren, 2023. "Robots and Workers: Evidence from the Netherlands," CEPR Discussion Papers 17993, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Patrick Kline & Christopher R. Walters, 2016. "Evaluating Public Programs with Close Substitutes: The Case of HeadStart," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(4), pages 1795-1848.
    5. Michele Battisti & Christian Dustmann & Uta Schönberg, 2023. "Technological and Organizational Change and the Careers of Workers," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 21(4), pages 1551-1594.
    6. Giovanni Dosi & Dario Guarascio & Andrea Ricci & Maria Enrica Virgillito, 2021. "Neodualism in the Italian business firms: training, organizational capabilities, and productivity distributions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 167-189, June.
    7. Consoli, Davide & Marin, Giovanni & Rentocchini, Francesco & Vona, Francesco, 2023. "Routinization, within-occupation task changes and long-run employment dynamics," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(1).
    8. Richard Blundell & Monica Costa Dias, 2009. "Alternative Approaches to Evaluation in Empirical Microeconomics," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 44(3).
    9. Domini, Giacomo & Grazzi, Marco & Moschella, Daniele & Treibich, Tania, 2021. "Threats and opportunities in the digital era: Automation spikes and employment dynamics," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(7).
    10. James Harrigan & Ariell Reshef & Farid Toubal, 2021. "The March of the Techies: Job Polarization Within and Between Firms," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-02973332, HAL.
    11. Harrigan, James & Reshef, Ariell & Toubal, Farid, 2021. "The March of the Techies: Job Polarization Within and Between Firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(7).
    12. Andy Feng & Georg Graetz, 2020. "Training Requirements, Automation, and Job Polarisation," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 130(631), pages 2249-2271.
    13. Daron Acemoglu & Pascual Restrepo, 2019. "Automation and New Tasks: How Technology Displaces and Reinstates Labor," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 33(2), pages 3-30, Spring.
    14. Guido W. Imbens & Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2009. "Recent Developments in the Econometrics of Program Evaluation," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 5-86, March.
    15. Daron Acemoglu & Pascual Restrepo, 2020. "Robots and Jobs: Evidence from US Labor Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(6), pages 2188-2244.
    16. de Vries, Gaaitzen J. & Gentile, Elisabetta & Miroudot, Sébastien & Wacker, Konstantin M., 2020. "The rise of robots and the fall of routine jobs," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    17. Arianna Martinelli & Andrea Mina & Massimo Moggi, 2021. "The enabling technologies of industry 4.0: examining the seeds of the fourth industrial revolution [Mapping innovation dynamics in the Internet of Things domain: evidence from patent analysis]," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 30(1), pages 161-188.
    18. Davide Dottori, 2021. "Robots and employment: evidence from Italy," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 38(2), pages 739-795, July.
    19. Wolfgang Dauth & Sebastian Findeisen & Jens Suedekum & Nicole Woessner, 2021. "The Adjustment of Labor Markets to Robots [“Skills, Tasks and Technologies: Implications for Employment and Earnings]," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 19(6), pages 3104-3153.
    20. Ekaterina Prytkova & Fabien Petit & Deyu Li & Sugat Chaturvedi & Tommaso Ciarli, 2024. "The Employment Impact of Emerging Digital Technologies," CEPEO Working Paper Series 24-01, UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, revised Feb 2024.
    21. Alessandra Bonfiglioli & Rosario Crinò & Harald Fadinger & Gino Gancia, 2020. "Robot Imports and Firm-Level Outcomes," CESifo Working Paper Series 8741, CESifo.
    22. Mario Benassi & Elena Grinza & Francesco Rentocchini & Laura Rondi, 2022. "Patenting in 4IR technologies and firm performance [Robots and jobs: evidence from US labor markets]," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 31(1), pages 112-136.
    23. Culot, Giovanna & Nassimbeni, Guido & Orzes, Guido & Sartor, Marco, 2020. "Behind the definition of Industry 4.0: Analysis and open questions," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    24. Won-Sik Hwang & Ho-Sung Kim, 2022. "Does the adoption of emerging technologies improve technical efficiency? Evidence from Korean manufacturing SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(2), pages 627-643, August.
    25. Imbens, Guido W & Angrist, Joshua D, 1994. "Identification and Estimation of Local Average Treatment Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 62(2), pages 467-475, March.
    26. Balsmeier, Benjamin & Woerter, Martin, 2019. "Is this time different? How digitalization influences job creation and destruction," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(8), pages 1-1.
    27. Valeria Cirillo & Lucrezia Fanti & Andrea Mina & Andrea Ricci, 2023. "New digital technologies and firm performance in the Italian economy," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 159-188, January.
    28. Lattanzio, Gabriele & Ma, Yue, 2023. "Cybersecurity risk and corporate innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    29. Daisuke Adachi & Daiji Kawaguchi & Yukiko U. Saito, 2024. "Robots and Employment: Evidence from Japan, 1978–2017," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(2), pages 591-634.
    30. Elena Cefis & Riccardo Leoncini & Luigi Marengo & Sandro Montresor, 2023. "Firms and innovation in the new industrial paradigm of the digital transformation," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 1-16, January.
    31. Nathan Goldschlag & Travis J. Lybbert & Nikolas J. Zolas, 2020. "Tracking the technological composition of industries with algorithmic patent concordances," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(6), pages 582-602, August.
    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. Davide Antonioli & Alberto Marzucchi & Francesco Rentocchini & Simone Vannuccini, 2022. "Robot Adoption and Innovation Activities (last revised: December 2023)," Munich Papers in Political Economy 21, Munich School of Politics and Public Policy and the School of Management at the Technical University of Munich.
    2. Fierro, Luca Eduardo & Caiani, Alessandro & Russo, Alberto, 2022. "Automation, Job Polarisation, and Structural Change," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 499-535.
    3. Davide Antonioli & Alberto Marzucchi & Francesco Rentocchini & Simone Vannuccini, 2024. "Robot Adoption and Product Innovation," GREDEG Working Papers 2024-01, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    4. Jasmine Mondolo, 2022. "The composite link between technological change and employment: A survey of the literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(4), pages 1027-1068, September.
    5. Filippi, Emilia & Bannò, Mariasole & Trento, Sandro, 2023. "Automation technologies and their impact on employment: A review, synthesis and future research agenda," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    6. Caselli, Mauro & Fracasso, Andrea & Scicchitano, Sergio & Traverso, Silvio & Tundis, Enrico, 2021. "Stop worrying and love the robot: An activity-based approach to assess the impact of robotization on employment dynamics," GLO Discussion Paper Series 802, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    7. Arntz, Melanie & Genz, Sabrina & Gregory, Terry & Lehmer, Florian & Zierahn-Weilage, Ulrich, 2024. "De-Routinization in the Fourth Industrial Revolution - Firm-Level Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 16740, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Antonio Ughi & Andrea Mina, 2023. "Digital Advantage: Evidence from a Policy Evaluation of Adoption Subsidies," LEM Papers Series 2023/41, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    9. Klump, Rainer & Jurkat, Anne & Schneider, Florian, 2021. "Tracking the rise of robots: A survey of the IFR database and its applications," MPRA Paper 107909, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Jurkat, Anne & Klump, Rainer & Schneider, Florian, 2023. "Robots and Wages: A Meta-Analysis," EconStor Preprints 274156, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    11. Borsato, Andrea & Lorentz, André, 2023. "The Kaldor–Verdoorn law at the age of robots and AI," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(10).
    12. Dario Guarascio & Alessandro Piccirillo & Jelena Reljic, 2024. "Will robot replace workers? Assessing the impact of robots on employment and wages with meta-analysis," LEM Papers Series 2024/03, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    13. Gan, Jiawu & Liu, Lihua & Qiao, Gang & Zhang, Qin, 2023. "The role of robot adoption in green innovation: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    14. Caselli, Mauro & Fracasso, Andrea & Marcolin, Arianna & Scicchitano, Sergio, 2021. "The reassuring effect of firms' technological innovations on workers' job insecurity," GLO Discussion Paper Series 938, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    15. Montobbio, Fabio & Staccioli, Jacopo & Virgillito, Maria Enrica & Vivarelli, Marco, 2022. "Robots and the origin of their labour-saving impact," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    16. Lionel Fontagné & Ariell Reshef & Gianluca Santoni & Giulio Vannelli, 2024. "Automation, global value chains and functional specialization," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 662-691, May.
    17. Chenhui Ding & Xiaoming Song & Yingchun Xing & Yuxuan Wang, 2023. "Bilateral Effects of the Digital Economy on Manufacturing Employment: Substitution Effect or Creation Effect?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-22, October.
    18. David Autor & Caroline Chin & Anna M. Salomons & Bryan Seegmiller, 2022. "New Frontiers: The Origins and Content of New Work, 1940–2018," NBER Working Papers 30389, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Davide Dottori, 2021. "Robots and employment: evidence from Italy," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 38(2), pages 739-795, July.
    20. Domini, Giacomo & Grazzi, Marco & Moschella, Daniele & Treibich, Tania, 2022. "For whom the bell tolls: The firm-level effects of automation on wage and gender inequality," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(7).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    digital technologies; labour demand; training; firms;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • M51 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Firm Employment Decisions; Promotions
    • M53 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Training
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

    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:ces:ceswps:_11056. 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: Klaus Wohlrabe (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cesifde.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.