IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/mtk/febawb/103.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Structural Change And Labour Productivity Of Firms: Do Changes In The Age And Wage Structure Of Employees Matter?

Author

Listed:
  • Liis Roosaar
  • Jaan Masso
  • Urmas Varblane

Abstract

This paper aims to clarify how changes in the age and wage composition of the labour force are related to the productivity of firms over the business cycle. Based on a matched employer-employee database of Estonian firms from 2006–2014, we decompose changes in the labour force and distinguish between hired, separated and staying workers. Considering the age and wage of workers, we link changes in the labour force to changes in productivity. Using fixed effect panel data analysis we indicate that among high-waged employees middle-aged are the most productive, the productivity decreases with age but remains higher for old compared to young. the increase in labour productivity is supported by the decreasing share of employees with the lowest productivity. The share of high-income employees was reduced in the crisis and later mostly low-income employees were hired. In addition, structural changes have accelerated the process of ageing. There are, however, sector-specific differences because in knowledge intensive services, ageing is not as prevalent as in industry. We also show that labour productivity is higher in the youngest quartile than in the oldest quartile of enterprises in all four periods.

Suggested Citation

  • Liis Roosaar & Jaan Masso & Urmas Varblane, 2017. "The Structural Change And Labour Productivity Of Firms: Do Changes In The Age And Wage Structure Of Employees Matter?," University of Tartu - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Working Paper Series 103, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu (Estonia).
    • Handle: RePEc:mtk:febawb:103
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.mtk.ut.ee/sites/default/files/mtk/RePEc/mtk/febpdf/febawb103.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thierry Lallemand & François Rycx, 2009. "Are Older Workers Harmful for Firm Productivity?," De Economist, Springer, vol. 157(3), pages 273-292, September.
    2. Chad Syverson, 2011. "What Determines Productivity?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(2), pages 326-365, June.
    3. Bernanke, Ben S & Parkinson, Martin L, 1991. "Procyclical Labor Productivity and Competing Theories of the Business Cycle: Some Evidence from Interwar U.S. Manufacturing Industries," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(3), pages 439-459, June.
    4. Jan Ours, 2009. "Will You Still Need Me: When I’m 64?," De Economist, Springer, vol. 157(4), pages 441-460, December.
    5. Mahlberg, Bernhard & Freund, Inga & Crespo Cuaresma, Jesús & Prskawetz, Alexia, 2013. "Ageing, productivity and wages in Austria," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 5-15.
    6. Marc J. Melitz & Sašo Polanec, 2015. "Dynamic Olley-Pakes productivity decomposition with entry and exit," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 46(2), pages 362-375, June.
    7. Ilmakunnas, Pekka & Maliranta, Mika, 2007. "Aging, Labor Turnover and Firm Performance," Discussion Papers 1092, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    8. Miss Catriona Purfield & Mr. Christoph B. Rosenberg, 2010. "Adjustment Under a Currency Peg: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania During the Global Financial Crisis 2008-09," IMF Working Papers 2010/213, International Monetary Fund.
    9. John R. Baldwin & Wulong Gu, 2006. "Plant turnover and productivity growth in Canadian manufacturing," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 15(3), pages 417-465, June.
    10. Uschi Backes-Gellner & Stephan Veen, 2013. "Positive Effects of Ageing and Age-Diversity in Innovative Companies - Large Scale Evidence on Company Productivity," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0093, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    11. Masso, Jaan & Eamets, Raul & Philips, Kaia, 2004. "Creative Destruction and Transition: The Effects of Firm Entry and Exit on Productivity Growth in Estonia," IZA Discussion Papers 1243, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Ija Trapeznikova, 2017. "Employment Adjustment And Labor Utilization," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 58, pages 889-922, August.
    13. Olley, G Steven & Pakes, Ariel, 1996. "The Dynamics of Productivity in the Telecommunications Equipment Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(6), pages 1263-1297, November.
    14. Archibugi, Daniele & Filippetti, Andrea & Frenz, Marion, 2013. "Economic crisis and innovation: Is destruction prevailing over accumulation?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 303-314.
    15. Lee, Jong-Wha & Lee, Hanol, 2016. "Human capital in the long run," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 147-169.
    16. 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.
    17. Pekka Ilmakunnas & Mika Maliranta, 2003. "The turnover of jobs and workers in a deep recession: evidence from the Finnish business sector," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 24(3), pages 216-246, May.
    18. Liis Roosaar & Pille Mõtsmees & Urmas Varblane, 2014. "Occupational mobility over the business cycle," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 35(6), pages 873-897, August.
    19. 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.
    20. Massimo Del Gatto & Adriana Di Liberto & Carmelo Petraglia, 2011. "Measuring Productivity," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(5), pages 952-1008, December.
    21. V. Vandenberghe, 2011. "Boosting the Employment Rate of Older Men and Women," De Economist, Springer, vol. 159(2), pages 159-191, June.
    22. Stephan Kampelmann & François Rycx, 2012. "Are Occupations Paid What They are Worth? An Econometric Study of Occupational Wage Inequality and Productivity," De Economist, Springer, vol. 160(3), pages 257-287, September.
    23. Mika Maliranta & Pekka Ilmakunnas, 2005. "Decomposing productivity and wage effects of intraestablishment labor restructuring," Labor and Demography 0511003, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    24. Christian Göbel & Thomas Zwick, 2012. "Age and Productivity: Sector Differences," De Economist, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 35-57, March.
    25. Cheryl L. Maranto & Robert C. Rodgers, 1984. "Does Work Experience Increase Productivity? A Test of the On-The-Job Training Hypothesis," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 19(3), pages 341-357.
    26. Liina Malk, 2014. "Relaxation of employment protection and labour reallocation," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 35(6), pages 898-926, August.
    27. Mark Doms & Eric J. Bartelsman, 2000. "Understanding Productivity: Lessons from Longitudinal Microdata," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(3), pages 569-594, September.
    28. Jianmin Tang & Carolyn MacLeod, 2006. "Labour force ageing and productivity performance in Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 39(2), pages 582-603, May.
    29. Jaan Masso & Kerly Krillo, 2011. "Labour Markets In The Baltic States During The Crisis 2008-2009: The Effect On Different Labour Market Groups," University of Tartu - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Working Paper Series 79, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu (Estonia).
    30. 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.
    31. Stephan Veen, 2008. "Demographischer Wandel, alternde Belegschaften und Betriebsproduktivitaet," Books, Rainer Hampp Verlag, edition 1, number 9783866183063.
    32. Zvi Griliches & Haim Regev, 1992. "Productivity and Firm Turnover in Israeli Industry: 1979-1988," NBER Working Papers 4059, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    33. Jaanika Meriküll, 2011. "Labour market mobility during a recession : the case of Estonia," Bank of Estonia Working Papers wp2011-01, Bank of Estonia, revised 22 Feb 2011.
    34. Bernhard Mahlberg & Inga Freund & Alexia Prskawetz, 2013. "Ageing, productivity and wages in Austria: sector level evidence," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 40(4), pages 561-584, November.
    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. Konstantins Benkovskis & Olegs Tkacevs, 2019. "Getting Old Is No Picnic? Sector-Specific Relationship Between Workers Age and Firm Productivity," Discussion Papers 2019/03, Latvijas Banka.

    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. François Rycx & Yves Saks & Ilan Tojerow, 2015. "Does Education Raise Productivity and Wages Equally? The Moderating Roles of Age, Gender and Industry," Working Paper Research 281, National Bank of Belgium.
    2. Kim, Hoolda & Song Lee, Bun, 2023. "Aging workforce, wages, and productivity: Do older workers drag productivity down in Korea?," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 24(C).
    3. Rycx, François & Saks, Yves & Tojerow, Ilan, 2016. "Misalignment of Productivity and Wages across Regions? Evidence from Belgian Matched Panel Data," IZA Discussion Papers 10336, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Romina Giuliano & Stephan Kampelmann & Benoît Mahy & François Rycx, 2017. "Short Notice, Big Difference? The Effect of Temporary Employment on Firm Competitiveness across Sectors," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 55(2), pages 421-449, June.
    5. Stephan Kampelmann & Benoit Mahy & François Rycx & Guillaume Vermeylen, 2016. "Who is your perfect match? Educational norms, educational mismatch and firm profitability," Working Papers CEB 16-050, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    6. Benoît Mahy & François Rycx & Guillaume Vermeylen & Mélanie Volral, 2018. "Productivity, wages and profits: Does firms’ position in the value chain matter?," Working Paper Research 358, National Bank of Belgium.
    7. Igor Fedotenkov & Anneleen Vandeplas, 2021. "The Implications of Ageing for Business Dynamics," LICOS Discussion Papers 42821, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, KU Leuven.
    8. Benoît Mahy & François Rycx & Guillaume Vermeylen & Mélanie Volral, 2022. "Productivity and wage effects of firm‐level upstreamness: Evidence from Belgian linked panel data," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(7), pages 2222-2250, July.
    9. 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.
    10. Christian Pfeifer & Joachim Wagner, 2014. "Age and gender effects of workforce composition on productivity and profits: Evidence from a new type of data for German enterprises," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 8(1), March.
    11. Daan Freeman & Leon Bettendorf & Harro van Heuvelen & Gerdien Meijerink, 2021. "The contribution of business dynamics to productivity growth in the Netherlands," CPB Discussion Paper 427, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    12. Florin Maican & Matilda Orth, 2017. "Productivity Dynamics and the Role of ‘Big-Box’ Entrants in Retailing," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(2), pages 397-438, June.
    13. Carlos Carreira & Paulino Teixeira, 2016. "Entry and exit in severe recessions: lessons from the 2008–2013 Portuguese economic crisis," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(4), pages 591-617, April.
    14. Roberto Gabriele & Enrico Tundis & Enrico Zaninotto, 2018. "Ageing workforce and productivity: the unintended effects of retirement regulation in Italy," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 35(1), pages 163-182, April.
    15. 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.
    16. Maican, Florin & Orth, Matilda, 2015. "A dynamic analysis of entry regulations and productivity in retail trade," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 67-80.
    17. Giacomo Domini & Daniele Moschella, 2018. "Reallocation and productivity during the Great Recession:evidence from French manufacturing firms," LEM Papers Series 2018/11, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    18. Pfeifer, Christian & Wagner, Joachim, 2012. "Age and Gender Composition of the Workforce, Productivity and Profits: Evidence from a New Type of Data for German Enterprises," IZA Discussion Papers 6381, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Carlos Carreira & Paulino Teixeira, 2016. "Entry and exit in severe recessions: lessons from the 2008–2013 Portuguese economic crisis," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(4), pages 591-617, April.
    20. Maican, Florin G., 2012. "From Boom to Bust and Back Again: A dynamic analysis of IT services," Working Papers in Economics 543, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    productivity; labour productivity; ageing; Estonia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • 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
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
    • M51 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Firm Employment Decisions; Promotions

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:mtk:febawb:103. 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: Anne Reino (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/febutee.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.