IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/
MyIDEAS: Login to save this paper or follow this series

The heterogeneous effects of workforce diversity on productivity, wages and profits

Author Info

  • Andrea Garnero
  • François Rycx

Abstract

We estimate the impact of workforce diversity on productivity, wages and productivity-wage gaps (i.e. profits) using detailed Belgian linked employer-employee panel data. Findings, robust to a large set of covariates, specifications and econometric issues, show that educational (age) diversity is beneficial (harmful) for firm productivity and wages. The consequences of gender diversity are found to depend on the technological/knowledge environment of firms. While gender diversity generates significant gains in high-tech/knowledge intensive sectors, the opposite result is obtained in more traditional industries. Overall, findings do not point to sizeable productivity-wage gaps except for age diversity.

Download Info

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: https://dipot.ulb.ac.be/dspace/bitstream/2013/143122/1/wp13015.pdf
Download Restriction: no

Paper provided by ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles in its series Working Papers CEB with number 13-015.

as
in new window

Length: 39 p.
Date of creation: 16 Apr 2013
Date of revision:
Publication status: Published by:
Handle: RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/143122
Contact details of provider: Postal: CP114/03, 42 avenue F.D. Roosevelt, 1050 Bruxelles
Phone: +32 (0)2 650.48.64
Fax: +32 (0)2 650.41.88
Web page: http://difusion.ulb.ac.beEmail:


More information through EDIRC

Keywords: Labour diversity; productivity; wages; linked panel data; GMM;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
  • 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
  • M12 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Personnel Management; Executives; Executive Compensation

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

as in new window
  1. François Rycx & Stephan Kampelmann, 2011. "Are occupations paid what they are worth? An econometric study of occupational wage inequality and productivity," DULBEA Working Papers 11-11, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
  2. van Ark, Bart, 1998. "Productivity," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 171-174, June.
  3. Edward P. Lazear & Sherwin Rosen, 1979. "Rank-Order Tournaments as Optimum Labor Contracts," NBER Working Papers 0401, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  4. Göbel, Christian & Zwick, Thomas, 2011. "Age and productivity: Sector differences?," ZEW Discussion Papers 11-058, ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research.
  5. Laura Giuliano & David I. Levine & Jonathan Leonard, 2011. "Racial Bias in the Manager-Employee Relationship: An Analysis of Quits, Dismissals, and Promotions at a Large Retail Firm," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 46(1), pages 26-52.
  6. James Levinsohn & Amil Petrin, 2003. "Estimating Production Functions Using Inputs to Control for Unobservables," Review of Economic Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(2), pages 317-341, 04.
  7. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
  8. Fidan Ana Kurtulus, 2011. "What Types of Diversity Benefit Workers? Empirical Evidence on the Effects of Co-Worker Dissimilarity on the Performance of Employees," UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers 2011-11, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics.
  9. Vandenberghe, V., 2013. "Are firms willing to employ a greying and feminizing workforce?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 30-46.
  10. Andrea Garnero & Stephan Kampelmann & François Rycx, 2013. "Part-time Work, Wages and Productivity: Evidence from Belgian Matched Panel Data," Working Papers CEB 13-042, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
  11. Haile, Getinet Astatike, 2009. "Unhappy Working with Men? Workplace Gender Diversity and Employee Job-Related Well-Being in Britain: A WERS2004 Based Analysis," IZA Discussion Papers 4077, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  12. Alessandra Cataldi & Stephan Kampelmann & François Rycx, 2011. "Does it pay to be productive ?The case of age groups," Working Papers CEB 11-032, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
  13. Pierpaolo Parrotta & Dario Pozzoli & Mariola Pytlikova, 2014. "The nexus between labor diversity and firm’s innovation," Journal of Population Economics, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 303-364, April.
  14. Pierpaolo Parrotta & Dario Pozzoli & Mariola Pytlikova, 2011. "Does Labor Diversity affect Firm Productivity?," Norface Discussion Paper Series 2011022, Norface Research Programme on Migration, Department of Economics, University College London.
  15. Arellano, Manuel & Bond, Stephen, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," Review of Economic Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 277-97, April.
  16. repec:iso:wpaper:0158 is not listed on IDEAS
  17. Ackerberg, Daniel & Caves, Kevin & Frazer, Garth, 2006. "Structural identification of production functions," MPRA Paper 38349, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  18. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
  19. Judith K. Hellerstein & David Neumark & Kenneth R. Troske, 1996. "Wages, Productivity, and Worker Characteristics: Evidence from Plant-Level Production Functions and Wage Equations," NBER Working Papers 5626, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  20. Judith K. Hellerstein & David Neumark, 1995. "Are Earnings Profiles Steeper Than Productivity Profiles? Evidence from Israeli Firm-Level Data," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 30(1), pages 89-112.
  21. James Levinsohn & Amil Petrin, 2003. "Estimating Production Functions Using Inputs to Control for Unobservables," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 70(2), pages 317-341.
  22. Susana Iranzo & Fabiano Schivardi & Elisa Tosetti, 2008. "Skill Dispersion and Firm Productivity: An Analysis with Employer-Employee Matched Data," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 247-285, 04.
  23. Navon, Guy, 2009. "Human Capital Spillovers in the Workplace: Labor Diversity and Productivity," MPRA Paper 17741, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  24. William J. Carrington & Kristin McCue & Brooks Pierce, 2000. "Using Establishment Size to Measure the Impact of Title VII and Affirmative Action," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 35(3), pages 503-523.
  25. G�nter K Stahl & Martha L Maznevski & Andreas Voigt & Karsten Jonsen, 2010. "Unraveling the effects of cultural diversity in teams: A meta-analysis of research on multicultural work groups," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 41(4), pages 690-709, May.
  26. Amil Petrin & Brian P. Poi & James Levinsohn, 2004. "Production function estimation in Stata using inputs to control for unobservables," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 4(2), pages 113-123, June.
  27. Pekka Ilmakunnas & Seija Ilmakunnas, 2011. "Diversity at the Workplace: Whom Does it Benefit?," De Economist, Springer, vol. 159(2), pages 223-255, June.
  28. Ilke Van Beveren, 2007. "Total factor productivity estimation: A practical review," LICOS Discussion Papers 18207, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, KU Leuven.
  29. Shoba Arun & Thankom Arun, 2002. "ICTs, gender and development: women in software production in Kerala," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(1), pages 39-50.
  30. Vegard Skirbekk, 2003. "Age and individual productivity: a literature survey," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2003-028, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.

as in new window


Cited by:

  1. Parrotta, Pierpaolo & Pozzoli, Dario & Pytlikova, Mariola, 2014. "Labor diversity and firm productivity," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 144-179.
  2. John S. Heywood & Uwe Jirjahn, 2015. "The German Labor Market for Older Workers in Comparative Perspective," Research Papers in Economics 2015-02, University of Trier, Department of Economics.

This item is not listed on Wikipedia, on a reading list or among the top items on IDEAS.

Access and download statistics

When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/143122. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Benoit Pauwels)

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 references are entirely missing, you can add them using this form.

If the full references list an item that is present in RePEc, but the system did not link 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 profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis using RePEc data.