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Is Innovation Destroying Jobs? Firm-Level Evidence from the EU

Author

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  • Mariacristina Piva

    (Department of Economic Policy , Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 29122 Piacenza, Italy)

  • Marco Vivarelli

    (Department of Economic Policy, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Milano, Italy
    UNU-MERIT, 6211 Maastricht, The Netherlands
    IZA, 53113 Bonn, Germany)

Abstract

Using a unique firm-level database comprising the top European R&D investors over the period 2002–2013 and running LSDVC estimates, this study finds a significant labor-friendly impact of R&D expenditures. However, this positive employment effect appears limited in magnitude and entirely due to the medium- and high-tech sectors, while no effect can be detected in the low-tech industries. From a policy point of view, this outcome supports the EU2020 strategy but—taking into account that most European economies are specialized in low-tech activities—is also worrying in terms of future perspectives of the European labor market.

Suggested Citation

  • Mariacristina Piva & Marco Vivarelli, 2018. "Is Innovation Destroying Jobs? Firm-Level Evidence from the EU," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-16, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:4:p:1279-:d:142412
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    Cited by:

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    2. Rajarshi Majumder, 2018. "Technology and Labour Market: Insights from Indian Manufacturing Sector," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 61(2), pages 321-338, June.
    3. Başak Dalgıç & Burcu Fazlıoğlu & Aytekin Güven, 2023. "Innovation, employment and market structure: firm level evidence from Turkey," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 65(3), pages 1385-1407, September.
    4. Moniba Sana & Um E Ammara Kousar & Aneela Akhtar Chattha, 2024. "Globalization and Labor Market: A Systematic Review of the Literature," Bulletin of Business and Economics (BBE), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 13(1), pages 892-900.
    5. Hongjun Guan & Zhen Zhang & Aiwu Zhao & Jinyuan Jia & Shuang Guan, 2019. "Research on Innovation Behavior and Performance of New Generation Entrepreneur Based on Grounded Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-19, May.
    6. Luigi Aldieri & Concetto Paolo Vinci, 2018. "Green Economy and Sustainable Development: The Economic Impact of Innovation on Employment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-11, October.
    7. Rodrigo Luiz Morais-da-Silva & Eduardo Guedes Villar & Germano Glufke Reis & Hermes Sanctorum & Carla Forte Maiolino Molento, 2022. "The expected impact of cultivated and plant-based meats on jobs: the views of experts from Brazil, the United States and Europe," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-14, December.
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    9. Giacomo Damioli & Vincent Van Roy & Daniel Vertesy, 2021. "The impact of artificial intelligence on labor productivity," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 11(1), pages 1-25, March.
    10. Novakova, Lucia, 2020. "The impact of technology development on the future of the labour market in the Slovak Republic," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    11. Chandan Sharma & Ritesh Kumar Mishra, 2023. "Imports, technology, and employment: Job creation or creative destruction," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(1), pages 152-170, January.
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    13. Su, Chi-Wei & Yuan, Xi & Umar, Muhammad & Lobonţ, Oana-Ramona, 2022. "Does technological innovation bring destruction or creation to the labor market?," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    14. Gupta, Ashish, 2024. "Impact of innovation on employment: A review of literature," MPRA Paper 120383, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    R&D; innovation; employment; firm-level analysis; EU;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • O52 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Europe

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