IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-03182320.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The effects of innovation on employment in developing countries : evidence from enterprise surveys

Author

Listed:
  • Xavier Cirera
  • Leonard Sabetti

    (CERDI - Centre d'Études et de Recherches sur le Développement International - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne)

Abstract

This article sheds light on the direct impact of technological as well as organizational innovation on firm-level employment growth using a global sample of over 15,000 firms in developing countries. The main findings suggest that new sales associated with product innovation are produced, on average, with just as much or higher levels of labor intensity than old products. However, the additionality to employment decreases with productivity, proxied by income per capita. In line with other studies, process innovation does not impact the additionality of employment, but there is some evidence of automation reducing the impact of product innovation on employment.

Suggested Citation

  • Xavier Cirera & Leonard Sabetti, 2019. "The effects of innovation on employment in developing countries : evidence from enterprise surveys," Post-Print hal-03182320, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03182320
    DOI: 10.1093/icc/dty061
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://uca.hal.science/hal-03182320
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://uca.hal.science/hal-03182320/document
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1093/icc/dty061?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. Brown, J David & Earle, John S & Lup, Dana, 2005. "What Makes Small Firms Grow? Finance, Human Capital, Technical Assistance, and the Business Environment in Romania," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(1), pages 33-70, October.
    2. Xavier Cirera & Leonard Sabetti, 2019. "The effects of innovation on employment in developing countries: evidence from enterprise surveys," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 28(1), pages 161-176.
    3. Jose Miguel Benavente & Rodolfo Lauterbach, 2008. "Technological innovation and employment: complements or substitutes?," The European Journal of Development Research, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 20(2), pages 318-329.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. Victoria Castillo & Alessandro Maffioli & Sofía Rojo & Rodolfo Stucchi, 2014. "The effect of innovation policy on SMEs’ employment and wages in Argentina," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 387-406, February.
    7. Gustavo Crespi & Ezequiel Tacsir & Mariano Pereira, 2019. "Effects of innovation on employment in Latin America," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 28(1), pages 139-159.
    8. Tor Jakob Klette & Samuel Kortum, 2004. "Innovating Firms and Aggregate Innovation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(5), pages 986-1018, October.
    9. Dachs, Bernhard & Peters, Bettina, 2014. "Innovation, employment growth, and foreign ownership of firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 214-232.
    10. Vivarelli, Marco, 2012. "Innovation, Employment and Skills in Advanced and Developing Countries: A Survey of the Literature," IZA Discussion Papers 6291, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Flavio Calvino & Maria Enrica Virgillito, 2018. "The Innovation†Employment Nexus: A Critical Survey Of Theory And Empirics," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 83-117, February.
    12. John Haltiwanger & Ron S. Jarmin & Javier Miranda, 2013. "Who Creates Jobs? Small versus Large versus Young," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(2), pages 347-361, May.
    13. Sophia Rabe-Hesketh & Anders Skrondal, 2012. "Multilevel and Longitudinal Modeling Using Stata, 3rd Edition," Stata Press books, StataCorp LP, edition 3, number mimus2, March.
    14. Vivarelli, Marco & Audretsch, David, 1998. "The Link between the Entry Decision and Post-Entry Performance: Evidence from Italy," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 7(3), pages 485-500, September.
    15. Bruce Tether, 2003. "The sources and aims of innovation in services: Variety between and within sectors," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(6), pages 481-505.
    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. Avenyo, Elvis Korku & Konte, Maty & Mohnen, Pierre, 2019. "The employment impact of product innovations in sub-Saharan Africa: Firm-level evidence," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    2. Blessing Atwine & Ibrahim Mike Okumu & John Bosco Nnyanzi, 2023. "What drives the dynamics of employment growth in firms? Evidence from East Africa," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-25, December.
    3. Ayoki, Milton & Tumwebaze, Henry & Bbaale, Edward, 2018. "Innovation and employment in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Uganda Microdata," MPRA Paper 109278, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Avom, Désiré & Dadegnon, Aimé Kocou & Igue, Charlemagne Babatoundé, 2021. "Does digitalization promote net job creation? Empirical evidence from WAEMU countries," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(8).
    5. Romanus Osabohien & Haoma Worgwu & Syed Kashif Rafi & Oluwasogo Adediran & Oluwatoyin Matthew & Busayo Aderounmu, 2022. "Impact of business innovation on future employment in Nigeria," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(8), pages 3795-3806, December.
    6. Juthathip Jongwanich & Archanun Kohpaiboon & Ayako Obashi, 2020. "Technological Advancement, Import Penetration, and Labour Markets: Evidence from Thai Manufacturing," Working Papers DP-2020-09, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
    7. Paola Azar, 2020. "Politics as a determinant of primary school provision The case of Uruguay, 1914-1954," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 20-07, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    8. Xavier Cirera & Leonard Sabetti, 2019. "The effects of innovation on employment in developing countries: evidence from enterprise surveys," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 28(1), pages 161-176.
    9. Gaygysyz Ashyrov & Helery Tasane, 2024. "The roles of foreign and domestic ownership in the corruption–firm innovation nexus," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 76(1), pages 167-202, January.
    10. Ibrahim Mike Okumu & Edward Bbaale & Madina Mwagale Guloba, 2019. "Innovation and employment growth: evidence from manufacturing firms in Africa," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-27, December.
    11. Delera, Michele & Pietrobelli, Carlo & Calza, Elisa & Lavopa, Alejandro, 2022. "Does value chain participation facilitate the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies in developing countries?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    12. Rajeev K. Goel & Michael A. Nelson, 2022. "Employment effects of R&D and process innovation: evidence from small and medium-sized firms in emerging markets," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 12(1), pages 97-123, March.
    13. De Nicola,Francesca & Chen,Pinyi, 2022. "The Returns to Innovation in East Asia : The Role of the Business Environment and Firms' Characteristics," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9921, The World Bank.
    14. Porath, Daniel & Nabachwa, Sarah & Agasha, Ester & Kijjambu, Nsambu Frederick, 2021. "Innovation and employment in Sub-Saharan Africa," UASM Discussion Paper Series 10/2021, University of Applied Sciences Mainz.
    15. Carlos Bianchi & Hugo Laguna, 2020. "Firm’s innovation strategies and employment: new evidence from Uruguay," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 20-06, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    16. Santos, Anabela Marques & Barbero, Javier & Salotti, Simone & Conte, Andrea, 2023. "Job creation and destruction in the digital age: Assessing heterogeneous effects across European Union countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    17. Juthathip Jongwanich & Archanun Kohpaiboon & Ayako Obashi, 2020. "Technological Advancement, Import Penetration, and Labour Markets: Evidence from Thai Manufacturing," Working Papers ERIA-DP-2020-09, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
    18. Keraga, Mezid N. & Stephan, Andreas, 2023. "Does innovation stimulate employment in Africa? New firm-level evidence from the Worldbank Enterprise Survey," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 494, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.

    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. Heijs, Joost & Arenas Díaz, Guillermo & Vergara Reyes, Delia Margarita, 2019. "Impact of innovation on employment in quantitative terms: review of empirical literature based on microdata," MPRA Paper 95326, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Díaz, Guillermo Arenas & Barge-Gil, Andrés & Heijs, Joost, 2020. "The effect of innovation on skilled and unskilled workers during bad times," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 141-158.
    3. Porath, Daniel & Nabachwa, Sarah & Agasha, Ester & Kijjambu, Nsambu Frederick, 2021. "Innovation and employment in Sub-Saharan Africa," UASM Discussion Paper Series 10/2021, University of Applied Sciences Mainz.
    4. Carlos Bianchi & Hugo Laguna, 2020. "Firm’s innovation strategies and employment: new evidence from Uruguay," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 20-06, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    5. Bernhard Dachs & Martin Hud & Christian Köhler & Bettina Peters, 2016. "Employment Effects of Innovations over the Business Cycle: Firm-Level Evidence from European Countries," DEM Discussion Paper Series 16-20, Department of Economics at the University of Luxembourg.
    6. Başak Dalgıç & Burcu Fazlıoğlu & Aytekin Güven, 2023. "Innovation, employment and market structure: firm level evidence from Turkey," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 65(3), pages 1385-1407, September.
    7. Rajeev K. Goel & Michael A. Nelson, 2022. "Employment effects of R&D and process innovation: evidence from small and medium-sized firms in emerging markets," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 12(1), pages 97-123, March.
    8. Avenyo, Elvis Korku & Konte, Maty & Mohnen, Pierre, 2019. "The employment impact of product innovations in sub-Saharan Africa: Firm-level evidence," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    9. Paola Azar, 2020. "Politics as a determinant of primary school provision The case of Uruguay, 1914-1954," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 20-07, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    10. Ramiro de Elejalde & David Giuliodori & Rodolfo Stucchi, 2015. "Employment and Innovation: Firm-Level Evidence from Argentina," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(1), pages 27-47, January.
    11. Giovanni Dosi & Xiaodan Yu, 2017. "Technological catching-up, sales dynamics and employment growth: evidence from China's manufacturing firms," LEM Papers Series 2017/27, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    12. Gustavo Crespi & Ezequiel Tacsir & Mariano Pereira, 2019. "Effects of innovation on employment in Latin America," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 28(1), pages 139-159.
    13. Ugur, Mehmet & Mitra, Arup, 2017. "Technology Adoption and Employment in Less Developed Countries: A Mixed-Method Systematic Review," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 1-18.
    14. Van Roy, Vincent & Vértesy, Dániel & Vivarelli, Marco, 2018. "Technology and employment: Mass unemployment or job creation? Empirical evidence from European patenting firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(9), pages 1762-1776.
    15. Laura Barbieri & Mariacristina Piva & Marco Vivarelli, 2016. "The Employment Impact of Different Forms of Innovation: Evidence from Italian Community Innovation Survey," DISCE - Quaderni del Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali dises1620, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).
    16. Keraga, Mezid N. & Stephan, Andreas, 2023. "Does innovation stimulate employment in Africa? New firm-level evidence from the Worldbank Enterprise Survey," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 494, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    17. Laura Barbieri & Mariacristina Piva & Marco Vivarelli, 2019. "R&D, embodied technological change, and employment: evidence from Italian microdata," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 28(1), pages 203-218.
    18. Fabio Montobbio & Jacopo Staccioli & Maria Enrica Virgillito & Marco Vivarelli, 2022. "The empirics of technology, employment and occupations: lessons learned and challenges ahead," DISCE - Quaderni del Dipartimento di Politica Economica dipe0028, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).
    19. Victoria Castillo & Alessandro Maffioli & Sofía Rojo & Rodolfo Stucchi, 2014. "The effect of innovation policy on SMEs’ employment and wages in Argentina," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 387-406, February.
    20. Swati Mehta, 2016. "Innovation and Employment: A Study of Indian Manufacturing Sector," Millennial Asia, , vol. 7(2), pages 184-206, October.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis

    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:hal:journl:hal-03182320. 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: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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.