The Impact of R&D on Employment in Europe: A Firm-Level Analysis

Serie

  • DISCE - Quaderni del Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali

Resumen

  • The aim of this paper is to test the employment effect of business R&D expenditures, using a unique longitudinal database covering 677 European manufacturing and service firms over the period 1990-2008. Main result from the whole sample dynamic LSDVC (Least Squared Dummy Variable Corrected) estimate is the labor-friendly nature of companies’ R&D, the coefficient of which turns out to be statistically significant, although not very large in magnitude. However, the positive and significant job creation effect of R&D expenditures is detectable in services and high-tech manufacturing but absent in the more traditional manufacturing sectors. This means that we should not expect positive employment effects from increasing R&D in the majority of industrial sectors. This evidence should be kept in mind by European innovation policy makers having employment as one of their specific aims.

fecha de publicación

  • 2011-10

Enfoque geográfico

Líneas de investigación

  • Employment
  • Innovation
  • LSDVC
  • Manufacturing
  • Services

Issue

  • dises1176