IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/adr/anecst/y1996i41-42p299-322.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Product Quality and Worker Quality

Author

Listed:
  • John M. Abowd
  • Françis Kramarz
  • Antoine Moreau

Abstract

We study the relation between product quality and worker quality using an economic model that, under certain conditions, provides a direct link between product price, product quality and work force quality. Our measures of product quality are the evolution in the detailed product price relative to its product group and the level of the product price relative to this group. Our worker quality measures are the firm's average person effect and personal characteristics effect from individual wage rates. We find a very weak, generally positive, relation between worker quality and product quality using detailed firm-level data from the French Producer Price Index surveys.

Suggested Citation

  • John M. Abowd & Françis Kramarz & Antoine Moreau, 1996. "Product Quality and Worker Quality," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 41-42, pages 299-322.
    • Handle: RePEc:adr:anecst:y:1996:i:41-42:p:299-322
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20066473
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John M. Abowd & Bruno Crepon & Francis Kramarz & Alain Trognon, 1995. "A La Recherche des Moments Perdus: Covariance Models for Unbalanced Panels with Endogenous Death," NBER Technical Working Papers 0180, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Michael Kremer, 1993. "The O-Ring Theory of Economic Development," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(3), pages 551-575.
    3. John M. Abowd & Francis Kramarz & David N. Margolis, 1999. "High Wage Workers and High Wage Firms," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 67(2), pages 251-334, March.
    4. Berry, Steven & Levinsohn, James & Pakes, Ariel, 1995. "Automobile Prices in Market Equilibrium," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 63(4), pages 841-890, July.
    5. Robert J. Gordon, 1990. "The Measurement of Durable Goods Prices," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number gord90-1.
    6. Nickell, Stephen & Nicolitsas, D., 1994. "Wages," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 51644, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Mark Doms & Timothy Dunne & Kenneth R. Troske, 1997. "Workers, Wages, and Technology," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(1), pages 253-290.
    8. Horst Entorf & Francis Kramarz, 1998. "The Impact Of New Technologies On Wages: Lessons From Matching Panels On Employees And On Their Firms," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(2-4), pages 165-198.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. repec:clu:wpaper:0708-12 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Stern, David I., 2010. "Energy quality," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(7), pages 1471-1478, May.
    3. Unjung Whang, 2016. "Skilled-Labor Intensity Differences Across Firms, Endogenous Product Quality, and Wage Inequality," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 251-292, April.
    4. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pb:p:2629-2710 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. David C. Maré, 2016. "Urban Productivity Estimation with Heterogeneous Prices and Labour," Working Papers 16_21, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    6. Bilanakos, Christos & Heywood, John S. & Sessions, John & Theodoropoulos, Nikolaos, 2018. "Does demand for product quality increase worker training?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 159-177.
    7. Maurice Kugler & Eric Verhoogen, 2008. "The Quality-Complementarity Hypothesis: Theory and New Evidence from Colombia," CID Working Papers 183, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    8. Maurice Kugler & Eric Verhoogen, 2012. "Prices, Plant Size, and Product Quality," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 79(1), pages 307-339.
    9. Bilanakosa, Christos & Heywood, John S. & Sessions, John & Theodoropoulos, Nikolaos, 2017. "Worker Training and Quality Competition," GLO Discussion Paper Series 137, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    10. Jean Gabszewicz & Alessandro Turrini, 1999. "Workers' Skills and Product Selection," Revue Économique, Programme National Persée, vol. 50(3), pages 383-391.
    11. Jean-Marie Cardebat, 2002. "Commerce international et développement, quelles relations ? Une réponse empirique à partir de données de panel," Revue Tiers Monde, Programme National Persée, vol. 43(170), pages 423-446.
    12. Christos Bilanakos & John S. Heywood & John Sessions & Nikolaos Theodoropoulos, 2014. "Worker Training and Competing on Product Quality," University of Cyprus Working Papers in Economics 08-2014, University of Cyprus Department of Economics.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lane, Julia I. & Salmon, Laurie A. & Spletzer, James R., 2007. "Establishment Wage Differentials," Working Papers 403, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    2. Navon, Guy, 2009. "Human Capital Spillovers in the Workplace: Labor Diversity and Productivity," MPRA Paper 17741, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Hugo Castro-Silva & Francisco Lima, 2023. "The struggle of small firms to retain high-skill workers: job duration and the importance of knowledge intensity," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 537-572, February.
    4. Katsuya Takii, 2011. "Persistent Productivity Differences Between Firms," OSIPP Discussion Paper 11E004, Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University.
    5. Merkuryeva, Irina S. & Paramonova, Elena N. & Bitina, Julia M. & Gilchenok, Veronika L., 2006. "Economic analysis based on matched employer-employee data: Methodology of data collection and research," Working Papers 805, Graduate School of Management, St. Petersburg State University.
    6. Haltiwanger, John C. & Lane, Julia I. & Spletzer, James R., 2007. "Wages, productivity, and the dynamic interaction of businesses and workers," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 575-602, June.
    7. Gavilan, Angel, 2012. "Wage inequality, segregation by skill and the price of capital in an assignment model," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(1), pages 116-137.
    8. Michael Kremer & Eric Maskin, 1996. "Wage Inequality and Segregation by Skill," NBER Working Papers 5718, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Pekkarinen, Tuomas, 2002. "Complexity, wages, and the O-ring production function: evidence from Finnish panel data," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 531-546, September.
    10. Pekkarinen, Tuomas, 2004. "Complex Production Processes and Wage Inequality," IZA Discussion Papers 1060, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Jeremy T. Fox, 2010. "Estimating the Employer Switching Costs and Wage Responses of Forward-Looking Engineers," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 28(2), pages 357-412, April.
    12. Josef Falkinger & Volker Grossmann, 2003. "Workplaces in the Primary Economy and Wage Pressure in the Secondary Labor Market," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 159(3), pages 523-544, September.
    13. Gianluca Orefice & Giovanni Peri, 2020. "Immigration and Worker-Firm Matching," Working Papers DT/2020/02, DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation).
    14. Burgess, Simon & Lane, Julia & Stevens, David, 1997. "Jobs, Workers and Changes in Earnings Dispersion," CEPR Discussion Papers 1714, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Bassi, Vittorio & Nyshadham, Anant & Tamayo, Jorge & Adhvaryu, Achyuta, 2020. "No Line Left Behind: Assortative Matching Inside the Firm," CEPR Discussion Papers 14554, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Li Yu & Peter F. Orazem, 2014. "O-Ring production on U.S. hog farms: joint choices of farm size, technology, and compensation," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 45(4), pages 431-442, July.
    17. David Card & Ana Rute Cardoso & Joerg Heining & Patrick Kline, 2018. "Firms and Labor Market Inequality: Evidence and Some Theory," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(S1), pages 13-70.
    18. Philippe Aghion & Antonin Bergeaud & Richard Blundell & Rachel Griffith, 2019. "The Innovation Premium to Soft Skills in Low-Skilled Occupations," Working papers 739, Banque de France.
    19. Alexander Muravyev, 2007. "Firm Size, Wages and Unobserved Skills: Evidence from Dual Job Holdings in the UK," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 681, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    20. Richard G. Newell & Adam B. Jaffe & Robert N. Stavins, 1999. "The Induced Innovation Hypothesis and Energy-Saving Technological Change," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(3), pages 941-975.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:adr:anecst:y:1996:i:41-42:p:299-322. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    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 CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc 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 RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Secretariat General or Laurent Linnemer (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ensaefr.html .

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

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.