IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wiw/wiwrsa/ersa10p243.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

How important are plant and regional characteristics for employment dynamics? Plant-level evidence for Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Michaela Fuchs
  • Udo Brixy

Abstract

Empirical research on agglomeration and regional economic growth puts high emphasis on the impact of specialization, diversity, and competition on regional employment dynamics (Glaeser et al. 1992, Henderson et al. 1995, Blien et al. 2006, Fuchs 2009). However, Beugelsdijk (2006) and Raspe/van Oort (2008) argue that this relationship should most profoundly hold at the micro or firm level. This paper centres on the labour demand of individual plants and assesses the influence of regional features in direct contrast to plant-specific characteristics as well as conventional labour-demand determinants. Hence, it contributes to the sparse literature on the importance of regional character-istics for firm performance and additionally integrates research from industrial as well as labour economics. The analysis is based on the IAB Establishment Panel, a comprehensive data set on German plants. For the years from 2004 to 2008 it encompasses observations on roughly 8,000 plants. The regional variables are added on the NUTS3-level. First econometric results confirm the basic hypotheses derived from labour-demand theory: wages exert a significantly negative and output a positive influence on the number of employees. Among the plant-specific characteristics, it is mainly plant size, exporting behaviour and R&D / innovation activities that foster employment. There are also distinctive differences regarding the single sectors. Last but not least, the regional environment plays a decisive role for plant-level labour demand. The size of the region the plant is located in, the degree of sectoral concentration as well as of competition within a sector have a positive and highly significant impact. By contrast, accessibility to highways, specialization, and diversity seem to be of minor relevance

Suggested Citation

  • Michaela Fuchs & Udo Brixy, 2011. "How important are plant and regional characteristics for employment dynamics? Plant-level evidence for Germany," ERSA conference papers ersa10p243, European Regional Science Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa10p243
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www-sre.wu.ac.at/ersa/ersaconfs/ersa10/ERSA2010finalpaper243.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    2. Blien, Uwe & Suedekum, Jens & Wolf, Katja, 2006. "Local employment growth in West Germany: A dynamic panel approach," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 445-458, August.
    3. David Roodman, 2009. "How to do xtabond2: An introduction to difference and system GMM in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 9(1), pages 86-136, March.
    4. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Magnac, Thierry & Robin, Jean-Marc, 2004. "The dynamics of local employment in France," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 217-243, September.
    5. Adam B. Jaffe & Manuel Trajtenberg & Rebecca Henderson, 1993. "Geographic Localization of Knowledge Spillovers as Evidenced by Patent Citations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(3), pages 577-598.
    6. Sjoerd Beugelsdijk, 2007. "The Regional Environment and a Firm’s Innovative Performance: A Plea for a Multilevel Interactionist Approach," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 83(2), pages 181-199, April.
    7. Udo Brixy & Susanne Kohaut & Claus Schnabel, 2007. "Do Newly Founded Firms Pay Lower Wages? First Evidence from Germany," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 161-171, June.
    8. Evans, David S, 1987. "Tests of Alternative Theories of Firm Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 95(4), pages 657-674, August.
    9. repec:jns:jbstat:v:227:y:2007:i:3:p:254-272 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Giorgio Barba Navaretti & Daniele Checchi & Alessandro Turrini, 2003. "Adjusting Labor Demand: Multinational Versus National Firms: A Cross-European Analysis," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 1(2-3), pages 708-719, 04/05.
    11. Daniel S. Hamermesh & Gerard A. Pfann, 1996. "Adjustment Costs in Factor Demand," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 34(3), pages 1264-1292, September.
    12. Thomas J. Holmes & John J. Stevens, 2002. "Geographic Concentration and Establishment Scale," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(4), pages 682-690, November.
    13. Stephen R. Bond, 2002. "Dynamic panel data models: a guide to micro data methods and practice," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 1(2), pages 141-162, August.
    14. Slaughter, Matthew J., 2001. "International trade and labor-demand elasticities," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 27-56, June.
    15. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    16. Encaoua, David & Jacquemin, Alexis, 1980. "Degree of Monopoly, Indices of Concentration and Threat of Entry," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 21(1), pages 87-105, February.
    17. Glaeser, Edward L & Hedi D. Kallal & Jose A. Scheinkman & Andrei Shleifer, 1992. "Growth in Cities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(6), pages 1126-1152, December.
      • Edward L. Glaeser & Hedi D. Kallal & Jose A. Scheinkman & Andrei Shleifer, 1991. "Growth in Cities," NBER Working Papers 3787, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
      • Glaeser, Edward Ludwig & Kallal, Hedi D. & Scheinkman, Jose A. & Shleifer, Andrei, 1992. "Growth in Cities," Scholarly Articles 3451309, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    18. Francesca Fabbri & Jonathan E. Haskel & Matthew J. Slaughter, 2003. "Does Nationality Of Ownership Matter For Labor Demands?," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 1(2-3), pages 698-707, 04/05.
    19. Bernd Görzig & Martin Gornig & Axel Werwatz, 2004. "Ostdeutschland: strukturelle Niedriglohnregion?," DIW Wochenbericht, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 71(44), pages 685-691.
    20. Eckey, Hans-Friedrich & Kosfeld, Reinhold & Türck, Matthias, 2006. "Abgrenzung deutscher Arbeitsmarktregionen," Volkswirtschaftliche Diskussionsbeiträge 81, University of Kassel, Faculty of Economics and Management.
    21. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Magnac, Thierry & Robin, Jean-Marc, 2004. "The dynamics of local employment in France," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 217-243, September.
    22. Gerke J. Hoogstra & Jouke van Dijk, 2004. "Explaining Firm Employment Growth: Does Location Matter?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 22(3_4), pages 179-192, April.
    23. Richard E. Caves, 1998. "Industrial Organization and New Findings on the Turnover and Mobility of Firms," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(4), pages 1947-1982, December.
    24. Michaela Fuchs, 2011. "The determinants of local employment dynamics in Western Germany," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 177-203, February.
    25. David B. Audretsch & Dirk Dohse, 2007. "Location: A Neglected Determinant of Firm Growth," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 143(1), pages 79-107, April.
    26. Stephen Bond, 2002. "Dynamic panel data models: a guide to microdata methods and practice," CeMMAP working papers CWP09/02, Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    27. Raspe, Otto & van Oort, Frank, 2008. "Firm Growth and Localized Knowledge Externalities," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 38(2), pages 1-17.
    28. Thomas J. Holmes & John J. Stevens, 2004. "Geographic concentration and establishment size: analysis in an alternative economic geography model," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(3), pages 227-250, June.
    29. Blien, Uwe & Kirchhof, Kai & Ludewig, Oliver, 2006. "Agglomeration effects on labour demand," IAB-Discussion Paper 200628, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    30. Combes, Pierre-Philippe, 2000. "Economic Structure and Local Growth: France, 1984-1993," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 329-355, May.
    31. Alexander Cordes, 2012. "What Drives Skill-biased Regional Employment Growth in West Germany?," Chapters, in: Knut Ingar Westeren (ed.), Foundations of the Knowledge Economy, chapter 11, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    32. Buch, Claudia M. & Lipponer, Alexander, 2010. "Volatile multinationals? Evidence from the labor demand of German firms," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 345-353, April.
    33. Dan O'Donoghue & Bill Gleave, 2004. "A Note on Methods for Measuring Industrial Agglomeration," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(4), pages 419-427.
    34. John Baldwin & Desmond Beckstead & W. Mark Brown & David Rigby, 2008. "Agglomeration and the Geography of Localization Economies in Canada," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(1), pages 117-132.
    35. Francesca Mameli & Alessandra Faggian & Philip McCann, 2008. "Employment Growth in Italian Local Labour Systems: Issues of Model Specification and Sectoral Aggregation," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(3), pages 343-360.
    36. Nickell, Stephen & Wadhwani, Sushil & Wall, Martin, 1992. "Productivity growth in U.K. companies, 1975-1986," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 1055-1085, June.
    37. Charles Brown & James L. Medoff, 2003. "Firm Age and Wages," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 21(3), pages 677-698, July.
    38. Blanchflower, David G & Millward, Neil & Oswald, Andrew J, 1991. "Unionism and Employment Behaviour," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 101(407), pages 815-834, July.
    39. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    40. Zimmermann Volker, 2009. "The Impact of Innovation on Employment in Small and Medium Enterprises with Different Growth Rates," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 229(2-3), pages 313-326, April.
    41. Windmeijer, Frank, 2005. "A finite sample correction for the variance of linear efficient two-step GMM estimators," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 126(1), pages 25-51, May.
    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. Lichter, Andreas & Peichl, Andreas & Siegloch, Sebastian, 2015. "The own-wage elasticity of labor demand: A meta-regression analysis," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 94-119.
    2. Raimund Krumm & Harald Strotmann, 2013. "The impact of regional location factors on job creation, job destruction and employment growth in manufacturing," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 33(1), pages 23-48, February.

    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. Michaela Fuchs, 2011. "How important are agglomeration effects for plant performance? Empirical evidence for Germany," ERSA conference papers ersa11p912, European Regional Science Association.
    2. Jaanika Merikull & Tairi Room, "undated". "Are foreign-owned firms different ? Comparision of employment volatility and elasticity of labour demand," Bank of Estonia Working Papers wp2014-1, Bank of Estonia.
    3. Katariina Nilsson Hakkala & Fredrik Heyman & Fredrik Sjöholm, 2010. "Multinationals, skills, and wage elasticities," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 146(2), pages 263-280, June.
    4. Brülhart, Marius & Mathys, Nicole A., 2008. "Sectoral agglomeration economies in a panel of European regions," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 348-362, July.
    5. Dauth, Wolfgang, 2010. "The mysteries of the trade: employment effects of urban interindustry spillovers," IAB-Discussion Paper 201015, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    6. Michaela Fuchs, 2011. "The determinants of local employment dynamics in Western Germany," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 177-203, February.
    7. Fritsch, Michael & Changoluisa, Javier, 2017. "New business formation and the productivity of manufacturing incumbents: Effects and mechanisms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 237-259.
    8. Möller Joachim & Tubadji Annie, 2009. "The Creative Class, Bohemians and Local Labor Market Performance: A Micro-data Panel Study for Germany 1975–2004," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 229(2-3), pages 270-291, April.
    9. Martin Andersson & Hans Lööf, 2011. "Agglomeration and productivity: evidence from firm-level data," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 46(3), pages 601-620, June.
    10. Syed Manzur Quader, 2017. "Differential effect of liquidity constraints on firm growth," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(1), pages 20-29, January.
    11. Li, Hongbin & Yang, Zheyu & Yao, Xianguo & Zhang, Haifeng & Zhang, Junsen, 2012. "Entrepreneurship, private economy and growth: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 948-961.
    12. Johanna Vogel, 2015. "The two faces of R&D and human capital: Evidence from Western European regions," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(3), pages 525-551, August.
    13. Sven Jung, 2014. "Employment adjustment in German firms [Betriebliche Beschäftigungsanpassung in Deutschland]," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 47(1), pages 83-106, March.
    14. Hakkala, Katariina & Heyman, Fredrik & Sjöholm, Fredrik, 2007. "Cross-Border Acquisitions, Multinationals and Wage Elasticities," Working Paper Series 709, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    15. Martin Andersson & Hans Lööf, 2009. "Learning‐by‐Exporting Revisited: The Role of Intensity and Persistence," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 111(4), pages 893-916, December.
    16. Piccoli, Luca & Tiezzi, Silvia, 2021. "Rational addiction and time-consistency: An empirical test," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    17. Abdelraouf, Nadine & Noureldin, Diaa, 2022. "The impact of the exchange rate regime on the dispersion of the price-change distribution: Evidence from a large panel of countries," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    18. Isis Gaddis & Stephan Klasen, 2014. "Economic development, structural change, and women’s labor force participation:," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 27(3), pages 639-681, July.
    19. Caggese, Andrea, 2007. "Testing financing constraints on firm investment using variable capital," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(3), pages 683-723, December.
    20. Quader, Syed Manzur, 2017. "Differential effect of liquidity constraints on firm growth," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 20-29.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa10p243. 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: Gunther Maier (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ersa.org .

    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.