Information and communication technologies, human capital, workplace organization and labour productivity: A comparative study based on firm-level data for Greece and Switzerland
Contemporary discussions in the comparative political economy of innovation revolve specifically around the question of globalization's impact on the observable diversity of innovation patterns, institutionally grounded comparative advantages of firms and countries as well as their evolution over time. The paper develops the concept of “contingent institutional adaptation” to trace institutional evolution at the firm level. It advances the idea that contingent adaptation can cause institutional hybridization, an evolutionary path defined by change and continuity, thereby offering a more nuanced concept of institutional evolution over time. In a historic single-case study the paper investigates the German Siemens AG and its efforts to remain on the cutting-edge of major information and communication technologies in two time periods (1847–1914; 1989–2013), both marked by institutional adaptations resulting in hybridization. Ultimately, institutional hybridization led to Siemens’ retreat from all information and communication technology sectors.
The paper discusses the role of Information and Communication Technologies for labour productivity in the Central and Eastern European countries, taking into account the consequences of the latest global economic crisis. It focuses on the factors (ICT complementarities) influencing the ICT diffusion trajectories, and thus having impact on labour productivity. The fixed effects models and least squares dummy variable (LSDV) regression was implemented with the use of panel data for 21 European Union member countries. The analysis revealed that only some complementary factors to ICT investments appeared significant to affect labour productivity in the CEE Region. It also showed that sources of labour productivity are sensitive to cyclical changes in the economy.
The objective of the chapter is to describe the main competences to be developed in digital natives at the postgraduate level, based on the characteristics generated by information and communication technologies in the context of the fourth industrial revolution. From this perspective, individual knowledge, experience, initiative, and creativity are recognized as the unlimited resource of organizations and countries, so the talent of the people is the basis of the competitiveness and survival of organizations of any type. Three axes of training at the graduate level are identified: social competences, global competitions of investigation and innovation, and digital competitions with base in the inverted learning and gamification.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to broaden the perspective on how information and communication technology (ICT) relates to productivity by introducing a novel ICT variable: the share of ICT-schooled employees in firms, an intangible input often neglected or difficult to measure.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a Cobb-Douglas production function specification, the association between the share of ICT-schooled employees and firm productivity is estimated by the use of unique comparable multi-linked firm-level data sets from statistical offices in six European countries for the period of 2001-2009.
Findings
There are indications that the share of ICT-schooled employees significantly and positively relates to productivity, and also that this relationship is generally more persistent than that of ICT intensity of firms, measured as the proportion of broadband internet-enabled employees. However, the strength of the association varies across countries and demonstrates that underlying factors, such as industry structure and institutional settings might be of importance too.
Research limitations/implications
Data features and the way to access harmonised firm-level data across countries affect the choice of econometric approach and output variable.
Practical implications
The results emphasise the importance of specific ICT skills in firms independently of where in the organisation the employee works.
Originality/value
Studies on associations between employees with specific (higher) education based on formal credentials and productivity are rare. Even more uncommon is the cross-country setting with harmonised data including general ICT intensity of firms.
AbstractThis paper focuses on an unexamined area of trade—the behaviour of heterogeneous intermediate suppliers facing final producers of different ability and pursuing different strategies. To inform our empirical analysis, we develop a theoretical model to analyse the choice of an intermediate supplier between selling to domestic producers, selling to multinational producers and/or exporting to foreign producers. The model’s predictions are: (i) sufficiently productive firms self-select into supplying to multinationals or exporting, while the most productive firms pursue both strategies, and (ii) the order of preferred strategies between supplying to multinationals and exporting depends on foreign direct investment inflows and export set-up costs. The paper uses firm-level data with rare information about multinational suppliers from 29 countries in Europe and Central Asia in 2002 and 2005 to test these theoretical predictions. The empirical analysis confirms both of our model’s predictions. Moreover, it suggests that multinational suppliers are more likely to have higher required levels of ex-ante labour productivity than exporters, implying that exporting is easier and a more popular choice for firms.
Technological innovation, globalization, and varieties of capitalism: the case of Siemens AG as example for contingent institutional adaptation