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Knowledge Workers and Firm Capabilities

Author

Listed:
  • Eric Mengus

    (HEC Paris - Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales)

  • Tomasz Michalski

    (HEC Paris - Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales)

Abstract

Specialized knowledge-generating jobs comprise close to one fifth of employment and one fourth of the wage bill in French manufacturing firms. These jobs gained importance over the period 1999- 2015 at the cost of production-related jobs. Conditioning on firm size and shares of management workers, their higher shares in employment at the firm level are correlated with more innovation and intangible capital, greater product complexity, higher total factor productivity and profitability. This suggests that firms use specialized knowledge workers to generate within-firm knowledge and create firm capabilities. Consistently with empirical regularities, we model firms as organizations where efficient production of higher-value added, complex goods requires information acquisition by within-firm knowledge workers to develop capabilities beyond those created by management and hierarchies.

Suggested Citation

  • Eric Mengus & Tomasz Michalski, 2023. "Knowledge Workers and Firm Capabilities," Working Papers hal-04414016, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-04414016
    DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.4328295
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    Cited by:

    1. Xiang Ding & Teresa C. Fort & Stephen J. Redding & Peter K. Schott, 2019. "Structural Change Within Versus Across Firms: Evidence from the United States," Working Papers 2019-9, Princeton University. Economics Department..

    More about this item

    Keywords

    firm organization; complexity; productivity; knowledge generation; capabilities;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • L20 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - General
    • M10 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - General
    • M50 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - General

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