Working from Home - What is the Effect on Employees' Effort?

This paper investigates how working from home affects employees' work effort. Employees, who have the possibility to work from home, have a high autonomy in scheduling their work and therefore are assumed to have a higher intrinsic motivation. Thus, we expect working from home to positively influence work effort of employees. For the empirical analysis we use the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). To account for self-selection into working locations we use an instrumental variable (IV) estimation strategy. Our empirical results show that working from home has a significantly positive influence on work effort. Moreover, we find that also the frequency of working from home is crucial. The more often employees work from home, the higher is the work effort they provide

Reverse Educational Spillovers at the Firm Level / 2011 + 2016

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine spillover effects across differently educated workers. For the first time, the authors consider “reverse” spillover effects, i.e. spillover effects from secondary-educated workers with dual vocational education and training (VET) to tertiary-educated workers with academic education. The authors argue that, due to structural differences in training methodology and content, secondary-educated workers with VET degrees have knowledge that tertiary academically educated workers do not have. Design/methodology/approach The authors use data from a large employer-employee data set: the Swiss Earnings Structure Survey. The authors estimate ordinary least squares and fixed effects panel-data models to identify such “reverse” spillover effects. Moreover, the authors consider the endogenous workforce composition. Findings The authors find that tertiary-educated workers have higher productivity when working together with secondary-educated workers with VET degrees. The instrumental variable estimations support this finding. The functional form of the reverse spillover effect is inverted-U-shaped. This means that at first the reverse spillover effect from an additional secondary-educated worker is positive but diminishing. Research limitations/implications The results imply that firms need to combine different types of workers because their different kinds of knowledge produce spillover effects and thereby lead to overall higher productivity

Assessing e-Government maturity using country-level data: a fsQCA analysis

Drawing on panel data, we undertake a fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) of the determinants of high levels of the e-Government Development Index (EGDI) in the period ranging from 2003 to 2020. Our analysis showcases multiple pathways to the outcome of interest, thus bypassing partially-conflicting findings regarding the role that human capital plays as a contributor to high EGDI. Furthermore, our analysis leverages the idea of equifinality by showing two models of change working in parallel, namely incremental models of change (typical of developed countries) and punctuated equilibrium models (typical of developing and middle-income countries). This, in turn, shifts the focus of configurational thinking from theorizing a limited number of stable patterns towards utilizing configurations as ways of understanding evolutionary trajectories of change and development. Implications for theory and practice are discussed by shedding a new light on e-Government maturity thanks to the use of fsQCA techniques in a deductive fashion

Kingdon's Multiple Streams Approach in new political contexts: Consolidation, configuration, and new findings

There is a need to conduct more diverse cross-case analyses in the Multiple Streams Approach (MSA) literature which originated in the United States, to show how key concepts, such as a windows-of-opportunity and the role of policy entrepreneurs, manifest in different political contexts. We apply Qualitative Comparative Analysis for a cross-case analysis of a unique dataset representing 20 countries from four continents. This approach allows us to highlight distinct pathways to influencing policies. We identify four configurations for expanding civic spaces and two configurations for changing policies. We identify three findings novel to MSA: there are two distinctive policy entrepreneur roles involving local and international civil society actors; effective entrepreneurship is conditional on strengthening civic voice and creating civic space conducive to advocacy; and, therefore, effective entrepreneurs often must focus on expanding the civic space to discuss policy problems and the technical and political feasibility of policy solution

The relationship between teleworking, traffic and air pollution

Traffic congestion is one of the foremost problems confronted by the urban and suburban tenants of today, which increases vehicle emissions and degrades air quality. Urban planners and policy makers have consequently been always investigating choices to alleviate traffic congestion and to enhance air quality. Teleworking is one option that has received significant consideration and has been studied in the recent past. The aim of the study is to explore the relationship between teleworking, air quality and traffic in Switzerland. The analysis relies on panel individual and household level data over the period 2002–2013. We examine five main air pollutants; the sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ), the ground-level ozone (O 3 ) the nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), the carbon monoxide (CO) and the particulate matter less than 10 μm (PM 10 ). Based on the fixed effects estimates, teleworking reduces traffic volume by 1.9 per cent. Furthermore, the reduction observed on air pollution is higher for NO 2 , CO and PM 10 ranging between 3.3 and 3.7 per cent, followed by O 3 at 2.3 per cent and SO 2 at 2.1 per cent. According to instrumental variable (IV) approach and the two stage least squares (2SLS) method, the effect is higher ranging between 2.6 and 4.1 per cent. The respective reduction on traffic becomes 2.7 per cent. Overall, the main concluding remark of the study is that teleworking can be a promising tool for urban planning and development, focusing at the traffic volume reduction, and the air quality improvement. We further discuss additional policy implications of teleworking and its beneficial effects for the society

How do apprentices moderate the influence of organizational innovation on the technological innovation process?

This paper contributes to the literature on non-monetary benefits of Vocational Education and Training (VET) by investigating its influence on a firm’s innovation process. While an increasing number of studies finds positive effects of VET on innovation in firms, the role that apprentices play in this mechanism has largely been unexplored. To analyze this role, we use the distinction between technological and organizational innovation, two complementary forms of innovation. When investigating the initiators of organizational innovation, to date, research has primarily focused on internal and external change agents at upper echelons. We conceptualize apprentices as hybrid (a combination of internal and external) change agents at lower echelons. We examine how apprentices in the Swiss VET system are key to integrating external knowledge (through school-based education) with internal knowledge (through on-the-job training) and moderating the influence of organizational innovation on technological innovation. Drawing on a sample of 1,240 firms from a representative Swiss Innovation Survey, we show that apprentices leverage the positive association between innovations in a firm’s business processes and organization of work with incremental innovations. With the description of a new mechanism that shows the significant role of apprentices on firms’ technological innovation activities and evidence for supportive associations between key variables, we contribute to the understanding of the influence of VET on innovation in firms

Carbon flow assessment and analysis in European countries: potential benefits of CO2-efficient Demand Response programs in interconnected electricity markets

The CO2 emission intensity of electricity use in a country is determined by the combination of generation technologies used to satisfy the demand. In an interconnected electricity network, imports and exports between countries can be a significant contributor to the combination. In this thesis, we employ the Flow Tracing method to assess the carbon flow in the European electricity network based on the information made available by the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E). The resulting data serves as basis for the employment statistical analysis methods, such as correlation, to ascertain whether a connection between electricity prices, CO2 emission intensity, and electricity trade can be identified. Analysis results imply a correlation between price and emissions and determine that trade has a large impact on a countries emission intensity. Moreover, we present a simple optimal scheduling problem with the goal of minimizing CO2 emissions caused by a simple daily task in different European countries. The optimisation is able to reduce the caused CO2 emissions by between 5% and 40%, meaning that there is potential for a Demand Response program to lessen the environmental impact of electricity use.Die CO2 Emissionsintensität der Elektrizitätsnutzung in einem Land wird durch die Kombination der verwendeten Erzeugungstechnologien bestimmt. In verbunden Stromnetzen können Importe und Exporte zwischen den Ländern einen wesentlichen Einfluss auf diese Kombination ausüben. Wir verwenden in dieser Arbeit die Flow-Tracing-Methode, um den Fluss von CO2 im europäischen Stromnetz zu bewerten. Dies basiert auf den Informationen, die vom European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO- E) bereitgestellt werden. Die resultierenden Daten dienen als Grundlage für statistische Analysemethoden, wie zum Beispiel Korrelation, um festzustellen, ob ein Zusammenhang zwischen Strompreisen, CO2 -Emissionsintensität und Elektrizitätshandel identifiziert werden kann. Die Analyseergebnisse implizieren eine Korrelation zwischen Preis und Emissionen. Außerdem zeigen die Daten, dass Elektrizitätshandel einen großen Einfluss auf die Emissionsintensität eines Landes hat. Darüber hinaus präsentieren wir ein einfaches optimales Planungsproblem mit dem Ziel, CO2 -Emissionen zu minimieren, die durch eine einfache tägliche Aufgabe in verschiedenen europäischen Ländern verursacht werden. Die Optimierung ist in der Lage, die verursachten CO2 -Emissionen um zwischen 5% und 40% zu reduzieren, was bedeutet, dass es für ein potenzielles Demand-Response-Programm möglich wäre, die Umweltauswirkungen des Stromverbrauchs zu verringern

How do apprentices moderate the influence of organizational innovation on the technological innovation process?

This paper contributes to the literature on non-monetary benefits of Vocational Education and Training (VET) by investigating its influence on a firm’s innovation process. While an increasing number of studies finds positive effects of VET on innovation in firms, the role that apprentices play in this mechanism has largely been unexplored. To analyze this role, we use the distinction between technological and organizational innovation, two complementary forms of innovation. When investigating the initiators of organizational innovation, to date, research has primarily focused on internal and external change agents at upper echelons. We conceptualize apprentices as hybrid (a combination of internal and external) change agents at lower echelons. We examine how apprentices in the Swiss VET system are key to integrating external knowledge (through school-based education) with internal knowledge (through on-the-job training) and moderating the influence of organizational innovation on technological innovation. Drawing on a sample of 1240 firms from a representative Swiss Innovation Survey, we show that apprentices leverage the positive association between innovations in a firm’s business processes and organization of work with incremental innovations. With the description of a new mechanism that shows the significant role of apprentices on firms’ technological innovation activities and evidence for supportive associations between key variables, we contribute to the understanding of the influence of VET on innovation in firms

Knowledge diffusion through dual-track vocational education and training - a firm level analysis

Knowledge is a key factor for innovation and productivity. Individual knowledge heavily depends on the education an individual has chosen. Therefore the economic outcomes of differences in individuals’ education have a long lasting history in economic research. By distinguishing between two types of education, vocational and academic, researchers link the properties of each educational type to economic outcomes, such as productivity and innovation. Researchers associate academic education with positive effects on innovation and productivity. On the contrary, researchers do not attribute those effects to vocational education, because they typically conceptualize it as an educational type that is very specific and contains knowledge on outdated technologies. This thesis departs from this view on vocational education by analyzing Swiss dual-track vocational education and training (VET), a specific form of vocational education that consists of general knowledge and is embedded in an institutional arrangement that updates knowledge frequently. The second chapter of this thesis analyzes the effect of dual-track VET on firm’s innovations. It conceptualizes dual-track VET as a knowledge diffusion mechanism that updates the knowledge of firms that participate in such training. The results show that firms benefit from participating in dual-track VET by having a higher innovativeness. Knowledge from dual-track VET is an external knowledge source for firms. Firms do not only rely on external knowledge sources, but also on internal knowledge sources, such as their workforce. The workforce covers different educational degrees and thus different knowledge. The third chapter therefore analyzes how firms combine knowledge from differently qualified workers and which human resource management (HRM) practices they apply to induce knowledge flows within the workforce. The empirical analysis reveals that multiple combinations of educational degrees and HRM practices exist that explain superior innovation performance of firms. A taxonomy summarizes the results. This taxonomy contains a mechanistic and an organic type. Two additional types constitute hybrid cases and either rely on a vocational-skill mix or on organizational learning. Interactions among workers might not only influence innovativeness of firms, but also the productivity of interacting workers. Chapter four analyzes educational spillover effects from dual-track VET. The results show a highly robust and statistically significant effect of the number of workers with dual-track VET degrees on the productivity of workers with tertiary degrees. Wissen ist ein zentraler Faktor für Innovation und Produktivität. Das Wissen eines Menschen hängt zu einem grossen Teil vom Bildungsweg ab. Der Einfluss von verschiedenen Bildungsabschlüssen auf ökonomische Kenngrössen ist daher seit langem ein Bestandteil der Ökonomie. Eine verbreitete Differenzierung von Bildung unterscheidet zwischen beruflicher und akademischer Bildung. Beide Bildungstypen haben bestimmte Eigenschaften, die dazu verwendet werden, um den Einfluss des Bildungstyps auf Innovation und Produktivität zu bestimmen. Akademische Bildung wird von verschiedenen Studien ein positiver Einfluss auf Innovation und Produktivität zugeschrieben. Der beruflichen Bildung hingegen werden keine positiven Effekte auf Innovation und Produktivität zugeschrieben. Als Gründe werden eine zu hohe betriebliche Spezifität und ein Fokus auf etablierte Technologien angegeben. Diese Dissertation weicht von der vorherrschenden Sicht auf berufliche Bildung ab, indem sie einen spezifischen Typ der beruflichen Bildung, die duale Berufsbildung in der Schweiz untersucht. Duale Berufsbildung vermittelt Wissen, das in vielen Betrieben eingesetzt werden kann. Zudem verfügt die duale Berufsbildung über Institutionen, die eine ständige Aktualisierung von Ausbildungsinhalten sicherstellen. Im zweiten Kapitel dieser Dissertation wird der Effekt der dualen Berufsbildung auf die Innovationsfähigkeit von Unternehmen untersucht. Die duale Berufsbildung wird dabei als ein Instrument zur Wissensverbreitung konzeptualisiert, das das Wissen aller Unternehmen, die Berufslehren anbieten, aktualisiert. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass das Anbieten von Berufslehren zu einer höheren Innovationsfähigkeit führt. Das Wissen, das aus der dualen Berufslehre stammt, ist eine externe Wissensquelle für Unternehmen. Um innovativ zu sein, verwenden Unternehmen auch interne Wissensquellen. Die Belegschaft eines Unternehmens ist eine solche interne Wissensquelle. Mitarbeiter haben unterschiedliche Bildungsabschlüsse und verfügen daher über unterschiedliches Wissen. Das dritte Kapitel untersucht deshalb, wie Unternehmen unterschiedliches Wissen kombinieren und welche Human Resource Management-Praktiken sie verwenden, um den Wissensfluss zwischen den Mitarbeitern zu fördern. Die Ergebnisse der empirischen Analyse werden in einer Taxonomie zusammengefasst, die zeigt, dass verschiedene Kombinationen von Wissensbestand und Wissensflüssen zu einer besseren Innovationsleistung führen. Die Taxonomie beinhaltet eine mechanistische und eine organische Kombination. Zusätzlich werden zwei weitere Kombinationen identifiziert. Eine Kombination besteht aus Komplementaritäten zwischen Berufsbildung und höherer Berufsbildung, die andere aus organisationalem Lernen. Interaktionen zwischen Mitarbeitern können nicht nur die Innovationsfähigkeit von Unternehmen steigern, sondern auch ihre Produktivität. Im vierten Kapitel wird daher untersucht, ob Mitarbeiter mit einer tertiären Bildung von der Zusammenarbeit mit Mitarbeiter, die eine Berufslehre abgeschlossen haben profitieren. Die Ergebnisse zeigen einen robusten und hoch signifikanten Effekt auf die Produktivität der tertiär gebildeten Mitarbeiter