IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ilrrev/v63y2010i2p327-339.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Firms' Innovation Activity and Numerical Flexibility

Author

Listed:
  • Amaia Altuzarra
  • Felipe Serrano

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between manufacturing firms' innovation activity (measured by product innovation, process innovation, and R&D activities) and their numerical flexibility (proxied by the rate of fixed-term contracts). Estimates using data from Spain's Survey on Firms' Strategies (EESE) for the years 2000–2002 reveal a non-monotonic relationship: a firm's probability of innovating and carrying out R&D increased as the rate of use of temporary and other non-core workers increased, but only up to a threshold, beyond which this probability decreased.

Suggested Citation

  • Amaia Altuzarra & Felipe Serrano, 2010. "Firms' Innovation Activity and Numerical Flexibility," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 63(2), pages 327-339, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:63:y:2010:i:2:p:327-339
    DOI: 10.1177/001979391006300208
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/001979391006300208
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/001979391006300208?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jesus Ferreiro, 2004. "Decentralized versus centralized collective bargaining: is the collective bargaining structure in Spain efficient?," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(4), pages 695-728.
    2. Andrea Bassanini & Ekkehard Ernst, 2002. "Labour market regulation, industrial relations and technological regimes: a tale of comparative advantage," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 11(3), pages 391-426, June.
    3. Link, Albert N, 1980. "Firm Size and Efficient Entrepreneurial Activity: A Reformulation of the Schumpeter Hypothesis," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 88(4), pages 771-782, August.
    4. Zvi Griliches, 1984. "R&D, Patents, and Productivity," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number gril84-1.
    5. Spyros Arvanitis, 2005. "Modes of labor flexibility at firm level: Are there any implications for performance and innovation? Evidence for the Swiss economy," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 14(6), pages 993-1016, December.
    6. Michie, Jonathan & Sheehan, Maura, 1999. "HRM Practices, R&D Expenditure and Innovative Investment: Evidence from the UK's 1990 Workplace Industrial Relations Survey (WIRS)," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 8(2), pages 211-234, June.
    7. Saint-Paul, Gilles, 2000. "The Political Economy of Labour Market Institutions," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198293323.
    8. John Bound & Clint Cummins & Zvi Griliches & Bronwyn H. Hall & Adam B. Jaffe, 1984. "Who Does R&D and Who Patents?," NBER Chapters, in: R&D, Patents, and Productivity, pages 21-54, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. A. Altuzarra & C. Puerta & F. Serrano, 2007. "Evaluating the Relative Innovative Position of European Union Member Countries: An Empirical Analysis," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(1), pages 175-188.
    10. Beata Smarzynska Javorcik, 2004. "Does Foreign Direct Investment Increase the Productivity of Domestic Firms? In Search of Spillovers Through Backward Linkages," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 605-627, June.
    11. Edward Lorenz & Antoine Valeyre, 2004. "Organisational Change in Europe: National Models or the Diffusion of a New "One Best Way"?," DRUID Working Papers 04-04, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    12. Ichniowski, Casey & Shaw, Kathryn & Prennushi, Giovanna, 1997. "The Effects of Human Resource Management Practices on Productivity: A Study of Steel Finishing Lines," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(3), pages 291-313, June.
    13. Cohen, Wesley M & Levinthal, Daniel A, 1989. "Innovation and Learning: The Two Faces of R&D," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 99(397), pages 569-596, September.
    14. Levin, Richard C & Cohen, Wesley M & Mowery, David C, 1985. "R&D Appropriability, Opportunity, and Market Structure: New Evidence on Some Schumpeterian Hypotheses," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(2), pages 20-24, May.
    15. Elena Huergo & Jordi Jaumandreu, 2004. "How Does Probability of Innovation Change with Firm Age?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 22(3_4), pages 193-207, April.
    16. Jesus Ferreiro & Felipe Serrano, 2001. "The Spanish Labour Market: Reforms and consequences," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(1), pages 31-53.
    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. Bakyt Beknazarov & Roza Niyazbekova & Ussen Amirseitov & Aiganym Kokenova & Marzhan Daurbayeva & Madina Aitkazina, 2020. "Development of entrepreneurship and forms of self-employment in the innovative sectors of the economy," Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, VsI Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, vol. 8(2), pages 209-228, December.
    2. Garima Sharma & Pravin Kumar, 2021. "An Analysis of Causal Relationships Among the Factors Affecting the Performance of a Service Organization," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(1), pages 21582440219, March.
    3. David Urbano & Andreu Turro & Sebastian Aparicio, 2020. "Innovation through R&D activities in the European context: antecedents and consequences," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(5), pages 1481-1504, October.
    4. Grassi, Emanuele & Di Cintio, Marco, 2012. "Uncertainty, flexible labour relations and R&D expenditure," MPRA Paper 37646, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Nicole Torka & Jan Kees Looise & Stefan Zagelmeyer, 2011. "Ordinary Atypical Workers, Participation within the Firm and Innovation: A Theoretical Endeavor and Empirical Outlook," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 22(3), pages 221-239.
    6. repec:aia:aiaswp:wp115 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Moro, Andrea & Maresch, Daniela & Ferrando, Annalisa & Udell, Gregory F., 2022. "Funding innovation and the regulatory environment – The role of employment protection legislation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 745-756.
    8. Stirpe, Luigi & Bonache, Jaime & Revilla, Antonio, 2014. "Differentiating the workforce: The performance effects of using contingent labor in a context of high-performance work systems," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(7), pages 1334-1341.
    9. Chengde You & Huishan Qiu & Zhuojie Pi & Mengyuan Yu, 2023. "Sustainable Enterprise Development in the Manufacturing Sector: Flexible Employment and Innovation in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-30, May.
    10. Nicole Torka & Jan Kees Looise & Stefan Zagelmeyer, 2011. "Ordinary Atypical Workers, Participation within the Firm and Innovation: A Theoretical Endeavor and Empirical Outlook," management revue. Socio-economic Studies, Rainer Hampp Verlag, vol. 22(3), pages 221-239.
    11. Armanda Cetrulo & Valeria Cirillo & Dario Guarascio, 2018. "Weaker jobs, weaker innovation. Exploring the temporary employment-product innovation nexus," LEM Papers Series 2018/06, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    12. Alfred Kleinknecht, 2017. "Supply-side labour market reforms: a neglected cause of the productivity crisis," Working Papers 0027, ASTRIL - Associazione Studi e Ricerche Interdisciplinari sul Lavoro.
    13. Antonio ALOISI & Valerio DE STEFANO, 2020. "Regulation and the future of work: The employment relationship as an innovation facilitator," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 159(1), pages 47-69, March.
    14. Andrés J. Marchante Mera & Alejandro García Pozo & José Luis Sánchez Ollero, 2017. "Flexibilidad Laboral Y Productividad En El Sector De Alojamiento De Andalucia," Revista de Estudios Regionales, Universidades Públicas de Andalucía, vol. 1, pages 17-41.
    15. Perone, Gaetano, 2024. "The relationship between labor market institutions and innovation in 177 European regions over the period 2000–2015," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 128-149.
    16. Hoxha, Sergei & Kleinknecht, Alfred, 2020. "When labour market rigidities are useful for innovation. Evidence from German IAB firm-level data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(7).
    17. Kato, Masatoshi & Zhou, Haibo, 2018. "Numerical labor flexibility and innovation outcomes of start-up firms: A panel data analysis," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 15-27.
    18. Dughera, Stefano & Quatraro,Francesco & Ricci,Andrea & Vittori,Claudia, 2021. "For the rest of our lives: Flexibility and innovation in Italy," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis LEI & BRICK - Laboratory of Economics of Innovation "Franco Momigliano", Bureau of Research in Innovation, Complexity and Knowledge, Collegio 202102, University of Turin.

    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. Spyros Arvanitis & Florian Seliger & Tobias Stucki, 2013. "The Relative Importance of Human Resource Management Practices for a Firm's Innovation Performance," KOF Working papers 13-341, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
    2. Konstantakis, Konstantinos N. & Michaelides, Panayotis G. & Papageorgiou, Theofanis, 2014. "Sector size, technical change and stability in the USA (1957-2006): a Schumpeterian approach," MPRA Paper 90037, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Konstantinos Konstantakis & Panayotis G. Michaelides & Theofanis Papageorgiou, 2014. "Sector size, technical change and stability in the USA (1957-2006): a Schumpeterian approach," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 41(10), pages 956-974, October.
    4. Cuervo-Cazurra, Alvaro & Un, C. Annique, 2007. "Regional economic integration and R&D investment," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 227-246, March.
    5. Frederico Rocha & Ana Urraca Ruiz & Bruno Campos, 2006. "Measuring Technological Opportunity: The Brazilian Case," Anais do XXXIV Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 34th Brazilian Economics Meeting] 7, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    6. Un, C. Annique & Cuervo-Cazurra, Alvaro, 2008. "Do subsidiaries of foreign MNEs invest more in R&D than domestic firms?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(10), pages 1812-1828, December.
    7. Chia Lin, CHANG & Stephane, ROBIN, 2004. "Doing R&D and Importing Technology : an Empirical Investigation on Taiwan’s manufacturing firms," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2004006, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    8. Senyuta, Olena & Žigić, Krešimir, 2016. "Managing spillovers: An endogenous sunk cost approach," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 45-64.
    9. Lee, Chang-Yang & Sung, Taeyoon, 2005. "Schumpeter's legacy: A new perspective on the relationship between firm size and R&D," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 914-931, August.
    10. Cohen, Wesley M., 2010. "Fifty Years of Empirical Studies of Innovative Activity and Performance," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 129-213, Elsevier.
    11. Barge-Gil, Andrés & López, Alberto, 2014. "R&D determinants: Accounting for the differences between research and development," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(9), pages 1634-1648.
    12. Jaan Masso & Amaresh K Tiwari, 2021. "Productivity Implications Of R&D, Innovation And Capital Accumulation For Incumbents And Entrants: The Case Of Estonia," University of Tartu - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Working Paper Series 130, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu (Estonia).
    13. Veugelers, Reinhilde, 1997. "Internal R & D expenditures and external technology sourcing," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 303-315, October.
    14. Olof Ejermo & Karin Bergman, 2014. "Services vs. Manufacturing – How Does Foreign and Domestic Sales Impact on Their R&D?," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 367-391, September.
    15. Choi, Mincheol & Lee, Chang-Yang, 2021. "Technological diversification and R&D productivity: The moderating effects of knowledge spillovers and core-technology competence," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    16. Christian Rammer & Dirk Czarnitzki & Alfred Spielkamp, 2009. "Innovation success of non-R&D-performers: substituting technology by management in SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 35-58, June.
    17. Choi, Jin-Uk & Lee, Chang-Yang, 2022. "The differential effects of basic research on firm R&D productivity: The conditioning role of technological diversification," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    18. William Griffiths & Elizabeth Webster, 2009. "What Governs Firm-Level R&D: Internal or External Factors?," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2009n13, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    19. Ushijima, Tatsuo, 2009. "R&D intensity and acquisition and divestiture of corporate assets: Evidence from Japan," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 61(5), pages 415-433, September.
    20. Rocha, Frederico, 1997. "Inter-Firm Technological Cooperation Effects of Absorptive Capacity, Firm-Size and Specialization," UNU-INTECH Discussion Paper Series 1997-07, United Nations University - INTECH.

    More about this item

    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:sae:ilrrev:v:63:y:2010:i:2:p:327-339. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu .

    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.