Mariacristina Piva

The Skill Bias: Comparative evidence and an econometric test

Many empirical studies have shown how technological change, organisational change and globalisation can be alternatively (or jointly) seen as causes of skill bias. In this paper, after discussing some evidence on the G7 countries which shows a clear upskilling trend in manufacturing industries over the 1980s, an illustrative example is provided.The panel analysis of a sample of 488 Italian manufacturing firms shows how the upskilling trend of employment is a function of the reorganisational strategy adopted by firms, while technological change and FDI seem to play negligible roles.

The role of skills as a major driver of corporate R&D

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of RD therefore, adequate education and training policies may indirectly induce an increase in corporate R&D investment. In terms of managerial implications, this means that HRM may be seen as an indirect strategy for improving a firms R&D effort and ultimately for improving its performance through innovation. Originality/value - While there is a well-established literature investigating the so-called Skill Biased Technological Change, few microeconomic empirical studies have been devoted to test the reverse relationship. The paper aims to fill this gap, testing whether higher skills may induce higher R&D expenditures.

Technological change and employment: some micro evidence from Italy

Consistently with previous evidence of the microeconomic literature on the subject and applying GMM-SYS on a unique Italian panel dataset, this study finds a significant – although small in size – positive relationship between innovation and employment at the firms level in the 1990s.

The determinants of the skill bias in Italy: R&D, organisation or globalisation?

In this study three possible determinants of the increase in the ratio between skilled and unskilled workers are tested together: R&D, organisational change, and foreign direct investment. After analysing the literature, these hypotheses are jointly tested using a SUR estimate. The results – regarding a panel of 488 Italian manufacturing firms over the period 1989–1997 – suggest the statistical significance of the impact of organisational change, while they tend to exclude a direct relation between R&D spending and skill upgrading. With reference to FDIs, the nature of the data and the results do not permit the exclusion of their possible influence.

The Transatlantic Productivity Gap: Is R&D the Main Culprit?

The literature has pointed to different causes to explain the productivity gap between Europe and United States in the last decades. This paper tests the hypothesis that the lower European productivity performance in comparison with the US can be explained not only by a lower level of corporate RD however – using different estimation techniques - the R&D coefficients for the US firms always turn out to be significantly higher. To see to what extent these transatlantic differences may be related to the different sectoral structures in the US and the EU, we differentiated the analysis by sectors. The result is that both in manufacturing, services and high-tech sectors US firms are more efficient in translating their R&D investments into productivity increases.

The Impact of Technology Transfer on Employment and Income Distribution in Developing Countries: A Survey of Theoretical Models and Empirical Studies

Reviews theoretical models of technology transfer, identifies measurement problems and analyses its positive and negative consequences in developing countries. Examines empirical studies on the impact of technology transfer on productivity, employment and income distribution.

How do young innovative companies innovate

This paper discusses the determinants of product innovation in young innovative companies (YICs) by looking at in-house and external RD however, innovation intensity in the YICs is mainly dependent on embodied technical change from external sources, while − in contrast with the incumbent firms − in-house R&D does not play a significant role.

Demand-pulled innovation under liquidity constraints

Using a panel of 211 Italian manufacturing firms for 1995–2001 and the Least Squares Dummy Variable Corrected (LSDVC) estimator recently discussed in the econometric literature, it is shown that demand-pull innovation is particularly significant in liquidity-constrained companies in both the short run and long run.

Productivity Gains from R&D Investment: Are High-Tech Sectors Still Ahead?

Our aim is to investigate the relationship between a firms R&D expenditures and its productivity, looking at sectoral peculiarities. We use a unique longitudinal database consisting of 1809 US and European manufacturing and service firms over the period 1990–2008. Our main findings can be summarised as follows. Consistently with previous literature, the knowledge stock has a significant positive impact on a firms productivity. More interestingly, the coefficient turns out to be significantly larger in the R&D-user services and high-tech manufacturing sectors than in the non-high-tech manufacturing sectors. Contrary to the ‘latecomer advantage’ approach, these outcomes suggest that firms in high-tech sectors are still ahead in terms of impact on productivity of R&D investments.

The productivity impact of R&D investment: are high-tech sectors still ahead?

Our aim is to investigate the relationship between a firms R&D expenditures and its productivity, looking at sectoral peculiarities. We use a unique longitudinal database consisting of 1809 US and European manufacturing and service firms over the period 1990–2008. Our main findings can be summarised as follows. Consistently with previous literature, the knowledge stock has a significant positive impact on a firms productivity. More interestingly, the coefficient turns out to be significantly larger in the R&D-user services and high-tech manufacturing sectors than in the non-high-tech manufacturing sectors. Contrary to the ‘latecomer advantage’ approach, these outcomes suggest that firms in high-tech sectors are still ahead in terms of impact on productivity of R&D investments.