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A Good Worker is Hard to Find: Skills Shortages in New Zealand Firms

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  • Mok, Penny

    (The New Zealand Treasury)

  • Mason, Geoff

    (National Institute of Economic and Social Research)

  • Stevens, Philip

    (Ministry of Economic Development, New Zealand)

  • Timmins, Jason

    (Department of Labour)

Abstract

This paper examines the determinants of firms’ skill shortages, using a specially-designed survey, the Business Strategy and Skills (BSS) module of the Business Operations Survey. We combine the BSS module with additional data on firms in the Statistics New Zealand’s prototype Longitudinal Business Database (LBD). We focus on vacancies that were hard-to-fill because the applicants lacked the necessary skills, qualification or experience - which we define as skill-related reasons (skill shortage vacancies). We also contrast these with vacancies that were hard-to-fill for non-skill-related reasons.

Suggested Citation

  • Mok, Penny & Mason, Geoff & Stevens, Philip & Timmins, Jason, 2012. "A Good Worker is Hard to Find: Skills Shortages in New Zealand Firms," Occasional Papers 12/5, Ministry of Economic Development, New Zealand.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:nzmedo:2012_005
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    Cited by:

    1. Richard Fabling & David C. Maré, 2016. "Firm-Level Hiring Difficulties: Persistence, Business Cycle And Local Labour Market Influences," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 37(2), pages 179-210, June.
    2. Groiss, Martin & Sondermann, David, 2023. "Help wanted: the drivers and implications of labour shortages," Working Paper Series 2863, European Central Bank.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    skill shortages; hard-to-fill vacancies; Business Operations Survey; Heckman Selection model;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • 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
    • L60 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - General

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