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Does the ageing workforce hamper the innovativeness of firms? (No) evidence from Germany

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  • Birgit Verworn
  • Christiane Hipp

Abstract

Due to demographic changes, the personnel structure of the workforce in countries like Germany and Japan will change considerably in the next few years. At the same time, companies need creative and skilled human resources to innovate. We analysed data from the 2001 German Community Innovation Survey to explore the impact of personnel structure (share of older employees, skills shortages, share of highly skilled employees) on innovation input and output. Overall, we did not find support for a negative effect of a high share of older employees in a company on innovation output. However, companies with a high share of older employees tended to invest less in further training (considered innovation input). This contradicts the call for lifelong learning. In accordance with our propositions, a high share of highly skilled employees had a positive effect on innovation input and output. Companies which experienced skills shortages were more likely to invest in further training. However, they were, somewhat surprisingly, more innovative than companies which did not suffer from skills shortages.

Suggested Citation

  • Birgit Verworn & Christiane Hipp, 2009. "Does the ageing workforce hamper the innovativeness of firms? (No) evidence from Germany," International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 9(2/3), pages 180-197.
    • Handle: RePEc:ids:ijhrdm:v:9:y:2009:i:2/3:p:180-197
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Frosch, Katharina & Göbel, Christian & Zwick, Thomas, 2011. "Separating wheat and chaff: age-specific staffing strategies and innovative performance at the firm level," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 44(4), pages 321-338.
    2. Stracke, Stefan & Maack, Klaus, 2013. "Transfer guter Praxis - Ansätze zur Lösung demografischer Herausforderungen in der Ernährungsindustrie," Study / edition der Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Düsseldorf, volume 127, number 282, March.
    3. Schimke, Antje, 2014. "Aging workforce and firm growth in the context of "extreme" employment growth events," Working Paper Series in Economics 54, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Department of Economics and Management.
    4. Schimke, Antje, 2014. "Ageing workforce and firm growth in the context of “extreme” employment growth events," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 86-100.
    5. Jisung Park & Seongsu Kim, 2015. "The differentiating effects of workforce aging on exploitative and exploratory innovation: The moderating role of workforce diversity," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 481-503, June.
    6. Jerzy Rosinski, 2012. "Attitudes of the IT staff against employing organization as a challenge for the development of IT businesses (Postawy pracownikow branzy IT wobec zatrudniajacych organizacji jako wyzwanie dla rozwoju ," Problemy Zarzadzania, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Management, vol. 10(38), pages 229-247.
    7. Maja Rožman & Polona Tominc & Katja Crnogaj, 2022. "Healthy and Entrepreneurial Work Environment for Older Employees and Its Impact on Work Engagement during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-15, April.
    8. Schimke, Antje, 2012. "Entrepreneurial aging and employment growth in the context of extreme growth events," Working Paper Series in Economics 39, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Department of Economics and Management.

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