Skills and Europe’s Labor Market

Hoftijzer, Margo; Gortazar, Lúcas

doi:10.1596/29965

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…We also focus on developing economies, whereas the majority of previous scholars have focused on the United States and Western European countries. Significantly, temporary workers in developing countries faced the strongest fluctuations in temporary employment (Hoftijzer and Gortázar, 2018). As indicated by Aleksynska and Berg (2016), when firms use temporary labour in developing countries, they do it quite intensively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporary workers and firm performance

Moric

Peković

Perović

et al. 2020

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Purpose Although temporary work arrangements play a strategically important role in contemporary economic development, its influence on firm performance has remained elusive. In our work we measure firm performance from the systematic perspective, including both innovation and financial performance. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to test a model that specifies the influence of temporary work arrangements on the two indicators of firm performance, namely, innovation and sales. Design/methodology/approach This research is based on the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS, 2009) created by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank. As the relationship between temporary workers and firm performance could be contingent on institutional setting, we divide our sample in three country groups: European Union (EU), European countries outside the European Union (non-EU) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries. Furthermore, we analyze the actual question on all three groups of countries separately. Findings Findings provide support for the positive relationship between the percentage of temporary workers and innovation performance. On the other hand, the evidence reveals a negative link between the percentage of temporary workers and financial performance measured by sales. Taking into account country-specific effects, the results remain negative when examining the influence of the percentage of temporary workers on the financial performance measured by sales for all three country groups (EU, non-EU and CIS countries). However, the positive and significant effect of the share of temporary workers on innovation performance holds only for non-EU and CIS countries but is not observed for EU countries. Practical implications Given the importance of temporary work arrangements in terms of a systematic approach in contemporary business, policymakers should continue to work on improving their status to overcome potential negative outcomes related to the temporary workers’ engagement. In addition, managers of the firms should be aware that temporary workers could be a valuable source of innovation; however, they could hamper other aspects of firm performance. Therefore, they should be cautious when hiring temporary workers and find the “best balance” between permanent and temporary workers. Originality/value The obtained findings highlight the importance of performance context systematic approach in studying the impact of temporary workers and firm performance. Based on the obtained findings, we may suggest that knowledge and creativity accumulation through temporary workers’ engagement is beneficial for innovation performance improvement. Conversely, long-lasting labour engagement is necessary for financial performance improvement.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporary workers and firm performance

Moric

Peković

Perović

et al. 2020

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“…It could be reasoned that, because most EU members are rather advanced economies, these abundant production factors predominantly include high-skilled labour (cf. Hoftijzer & Gortazar, 2018). As a consequence, the EU economies might both import and export goods that are largely made with high-skilled labour when they engage in intra-EU trade.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Economic Integration on Income Inequality in the EU: A Panel Data Analysis of the EU Members from 2002-2020

De Wettinck,

van Mourik

2024

Journal of Economic Integration

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This paper investigates the relation between economic integration and income inequality for the 27 current EU members from 2002 to 2020. The Gini coefficient is the dependent variable in a panel data regression analysis, and is expressed as a function of indicators related to economic integration (total trade, intra-EU trade, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow and outflow) and a set of control variables. Although much research points to a significant relationship between inequality and integration, there is no consensus on the sign and magnitude of the effect. In this paper, four random effects panel models are estimated with robust standard errors to uncover this relationship. The results show that in the context of the EU, intra-EU trade is associated with decreased income inequality, while overall trade and FDI in- or outflow seem to have no direct effect on the income gap. In addition, the level of economic development seems to moderate the effect of intra-EU trade: for countries with a below-average gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, the reducing effect of integration on Gini is weaker than for richer countries. Additionally, market capitalisation, the presence of natural resources and government spending on social benefits are associated with reduced inequality, while unemployment and population size seem to drive income disparities. These results are consistent with a major part of the existing literature and lead to interesting conclusions for policy makers. The originality of this work differentiating it from prior research is twofold: (1) the region of examination is the EU, which is not often the subject of similar analyses, and (2) an interaction effect is examined that differs from the conventional measures for less developed economies.

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“…On the one hand, changes in skills supply through population unskilling may occur as a response to more demand for highly skilled workers in growing productive sectors and occupations. On the other hand, firms and sectors adjust their activity to the available skill supply, raising the demand for highly skilled workers, if the population is becoming better skilled (see Hoftijzer & Gortazar, 2018). 2.…”

Section: Acknowledgementmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Strategic Complementarity of Skilled Workers and Technological Innovation: Which Determines Which?

Accinelli

García-Reynoso

Carrera

et al. 2021

Studies in Microeconomics

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In this document, we analyse the strategic complementarity between technological investment and investment in training by workers. We show that, beyond the importance of the answer to the question about which factor determines which, initial minimal conditions in both factors are required to start a long-run social development process. If these minimums are not met, the economy can become a self-satisfied economy, with a social mediocre performance but, at least in the short run, successful from the individual point of view. We consider that either manager of firms as workers are rational agents who make decisions about their future behaviour, considering the current state of the economy, understanding for such, the percentage of innovative and non-innovative firms in the market and the percentage of skilled and unskilled workers in the labour market. While managers decide the best way to invest, workers decide whether to invest or not in the upgrade or in the development of their skills to face the new challenges posed by technological change. The evolution of the economy is summarized in a complex dynamical system represented by a coupled dynamical system very close to the replicator dynamics considered in evolutionary game theory. In this way, we show that the initial conditions play a crucial role to understand the possibilities of future performance of the economy in each country, and, on the other hand, we analyse the conditions that make possible or necessary the intervention of the government in the economy. JEL Codes: C72, C73, O11, O55, K42

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Skills and Europe’s Labor Market

Cited by 10 publications

References 29 publications

Temporary workers and firm performance

Temporary workers and firm performance

The Impact of Economic Integration on Income Inequality in the EU: A Panel Data Analysis of the EU Members from 2002-2020

On the Strategic Complementarity of Skilled Workers and Technological Innovation: Which Determines Which?

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