A practical evaluation of employee productivity using a professional data base

The objective of this paper is to carry out a practical evaluation of employee productivity in the United Sates using a the professional data base, namely the ECS Survey on Employee Efficiency (2000/2001) conducted by Watson Wyatt, which includes the responses of 453 organizations covering 1,685,336 employees. To that end, we measure employee productivity of US organizations, differentiated by profit status, industry sector and employee size, using 42 indicators divided into three categories, that is to say, expenses, staffing and turnover ratios. Our findings reveal that new employee strengths will depend upon developing and using the kinds of information and analyzes that can keep workers, educators, employers and employee program administrators abreast or ahead of changing conditions.Employee productivity, Professional data base, expenses ratios, staffing ratios, turnover ratios

EVIDENCE ON THE ROLE OF OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE ON FIRMS’ INNOVATIVE PERFORMANCE

Based on the Knowledge Production Function framework given by Griliches (1979), we slightly modify it so that the innovative output depends upon a set of factors related to the firm internal characteristics and are influenced by the environment. Specifically, regarding the firm internal determinants the effect of the concentration of the ownership, the composition of the boards of directors and the effect of the nature of the ownership (foreign and public) are analyzed. Additionally, in order to capture the determinants of the environment in which the firm operates other variables concerning the internationalization of market, the agglomeration economies and the regional knowledge externalities are also considered. In order to assess the impact of these determinants on the number of patents and models of use awarded by the firm, the discreteness of the latter variable has to be taken into account. We apply Poisson and Negative Binomial models for a more comprehensive evaluation of the hypothesis in a panel of Spanish manufacturing firms. The results show patenting activity is positively favoured by being located in an environment with a high innovative activity, due to the existence of knowledge spillovers and agglomeration economies.Knowledge production function, patents, R&D, ownership, regions

Smart specialisation, regional growth and applications to EU cohesion policy

This paper examines the arguments underpinning the smart specialisation concept, an idea which originally emerged from the sectoral growth literature, and one which has recently been applied with to the regional policy context. The shift from a sectoral to a regional context appears prima facie to be quite straightforward but this paper explains that translating the idea to a regional policy context is rather more complex that it at first appears and implies some changes in both interpretation and implications. The outcomes of this are that in a regional policy setting the smart specialisation logic is seen to be broadly consistent with the overall reforms of EU Cohesion Policy. However, in a regional policy setting there is no reason why ICTs should be prioritised over many forms of intangible capital, and the promotion of technological diversification via entrepreneurship may need to be related to specific sectors or activities.Smart, specialisation, EU, cohesion policy, innovation, sector, place-based

FIRM COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES AND THE LIKELIHOOD OF SURVIVAL - THE SPANISH CASE

This paper, based on the ideas of Jovanovic’s theory (1982), analyses the impact of the main strategies determining the competitive behaviour of firms on their survival rate. We consider those strategies related both to product and price differentiation. Among the former ones, one may think of the specific differentiation due to advertisement and patent expenses or the technological differentiation based on R&D expenses or new production processes. Among the strategies of the second group, some are based on capital accumulation, or advantages of fixed costs such as scale economies or absolute cost advantages thanks to production techniques introduced by experience of by process innovations. The use of these strategies in a set of Spanish manufacturing firms (1990-2001) is analyzed. Firstly, several non-parametric tests for equality of survival functions are computed to check the diversity of survival rates across different competitive characteristics of firms. Secondly, a duration model based on a hazard rate model is estimated to study the impact of the main competitive strategies on firm survival. We find that several aspects on the competitive advantage of the firms play an important role in the likelihood of firm survival. Finally, we also conclude that there exists a different competitive strategy having into account two different size groups of firms.

Ownership Structure and Innovation: Is There a Real Link?

This work intends to analyse the influence that several aspects internal to the firm have on the firms? innovative output. Although the theoretical model is based in the literature on innovation, it pays special attention on the impact of ownership structure, as stated by the theory of the agent. We test different hypothesis related to variables which explain how the ownership structure adopted by a firm can lead into different innovative efforts, a topic which has barely been studied so far. We are especially interested in considering the type of control in the firm (national or international), the group of control in the decision making process (owner or contracted managers) and the financing structure. The analysis is made for a sample of Spanish firms given by the Survey of Entrepreneurial Strategies, an annual survey that provides information on Spanish manufacturing firms from 1990 to 1999.

The impact of immigration on the wage structure : Spain 1995-2002

In this paper we estimate the impact of inward migration flows on the Spanish wage structure over the period 1995-2002 by constructing counterfactual wage distributions that provide the wages that would have been observed had individual and job characteristics remain constant over time. Hence, we compute the impact of immigration on the wage distribution from (i) the estimated wage gaps between similar immigrants and native workers and (ii) the changes in the composition of employment associated to the arrival of new immigrants. Overall, we find that (i) the effects of immigration on wage changes are small and only noticeable when job characteristics are included as determinants of wages, and (ii) the correlation between the incidence of immigration in each decile of the wage distribution and the change in native wages not explained by changes in their individual and job characteristics is positive. These results suggest that other factors, besides immigration, should be identified as the key determinants of the wage moderation observed since the early nineties in Spain

The effect of immigration on the employment opportunities of native-born workers : some evidence for Spain

Spain is one of the European countries where immigration flows during the last decade have increased noticeably. The Spanish labor market institutions and the Spanish immigration policy exhibit some peculiarities which may be relevant when analyzing the impact of immigration. This paper provides a first approximation to the labor market effects of immigrants in Spain during the second half of the 1990s, the period in which immigration flows to Spain have accelerated. By using alternative datasets, we estimate both the impact of legal and total immigration flows on the employment rates of native workers, accounting for the possible occupationa l and geographical mobility of immigrants and native-born workers. Using different samples and estimation procedures, we have not found a significant negative effect of immigration on the employment rates of native workers. The corresponding estimated elasticity is low, around -0.1, when considering only legal immigrants, and is not significant when considering both legal and illegal immigrants

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 R&D investment, but also by a lower capacity to translate R&D investment into productivity gains. The proposed microeconometric estimates are based on a unique longitudinal database covering the period 1990-2008 and comprising 1,809 US and European companies for a total of 16,079 observations. Consistent with previous literature, we find robust evidence of a significant impact of R&D on productivity; 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.R&D, productivity, embodied technological change, US, EU

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 R&D investment, but also by a lower capacity to translate R&D investment into productivity gains. The proposed microeconometric estimates are based on a unique longitudinal database covering the period 1990-2008 and comprising 1,809 US and European companies for a total of 16,079 observations. Consistent with previous literature, we find robust evidence of a significant impact of R&D on productivity; 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.R&D, productivity, embodied technological change, US, EU. JEL classification:O33

ERAWATCH Country Reports 2012: The Netherlands

This analytical country report is one of a series of annual ERAWATCH reports produced for EU Member States and Countries Associated to the Seventh Framework Programme for Research of the European Union (FP7). The main objective of the ERAWATCH Annual Country Reports is to characterise and assess the performance of national research systems and related policies in a structured manner that is comparable across countries. The Country Report 2012 builds on and updates the 2011 edition. The report identifies the structural challenges of the national research and innovation system and assesses the match between the national priorities and the structural challenges, highlighting the latest developments, their dynamics and impact in the overall national context. They further analyse and assess the ability of the policy mix in place to consistently and efficiently tackle these challenges. These reports were originally produced in December 2012, focusing on policy developments over the previous twelve months. The reports were produced by independent experts under direct contract with IPTS. The analytical framework and the structure of the reports have been developed by the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies of the Joint Research Centre (JRC-IPTS) and Directorate General for Research and Innovation with contributions from external experts.JRC.J.2-Knowledge for Growt