The Effects of Innovation on Employment in Developing Countries : Evidence from Enterprise Surveys
While existing evidence in advanced economies suggests a possible role for technological innovation in job creation, its role in developing countries remains largely undocumented. This paper sheds light on the direct impact of technological as well...
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2016
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/08/26624626/effects-innovation-employment-developing-countries-evidence-enterprisesurveys http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24857 |
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okr-10986-248572021-04-23T14:04:27Z The Effects of Innovation on Employment in Developing Countries : Evidence from Enterprise Surveys Cirera, Xavier Sabetti, Leonard job creation innovation automation firm employment While existing evidence in advanced economies suggests a possible role for technological innovation in job creation, its role in developing countries remains largely undocumented. This paper sheds light on the direct impact of technological as well as organizational innovation on firm level employment growth based on the theoretical model of Harrison, Jaumandreu, Mairesse, and Peters (2014) using a sample of over 15,000 firms in Africa, South Asia, Middle East and North-Africa and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The results suggest that new sales associated with product innovations tend to be produced with just as much or higher levels of labor intensity. The effect is largest in lower income countries and the African region, where firms are further away from the technological frontier. More importantly, process innovations that involve automation of production do not have a short-term negative impact on firm employment. However, there is some evidence of a negative effect of automation on employment that manifests in increases in efficiency that reduce the elasticity of new sales to employment. Overall, these results are qualitatively similar to previous findings in advanced economies and highlight a positive direct role of innovation on the quantity of employment but at a decreasing rate as firms’ transition to the technological frontier. 2016-08-10T14:12:05Z 2016-08-10T14:12:05Z 2016-08 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/08/26624626/effects-innovation-employment-developing-countries-evidence-enterprisesurveys http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24857 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7775 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper |
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Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English en_US |
| topic |
job creation innovation automation firm employment |
| spellingShingle |
job creation innovation automation firm employment Cirera, Xavier Sabetti, Leonard The Effects of Innovation on Employment in Developing Countries : Evidence from Enterprise Surveys |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7775 |
| description |
While existing evidence in advanced
economies suggests a possible role for technological
innovation in job creation, its role in developing countries
remains largely undocumented. This paper sheds light on the
direct impact of technological as well as organizational
innovation on firm level employment growth based on the
theoretical model of Harrison, Jaumandreu, Mairesse, and
Peters (2014) using a sample of over 15,000 firms in Africa,
South Asia, Middle East and North-Africa and Eastern Europe
and Central Asia. The results suggest that new sales
associated with product innovations tend to be produced with
just as much or higher levels of labor intensity. The effect
is largest in lower income countries and the African region,
where firms are further away from the technological
frontier. More importantly, process innovations that involve
automation of production do not have a short-term negative
impact on firm employment. However, there is some evidence
of a negative effect of automation on employment that
manifests in increases in efficiency that reduce the
elasticity of new sales to employment. Overall, these
results are qualitatively similar to previous findings in
advanced economies and highlight a positive direct role of
innovation on the quantity of employment but at a decreasing
rate as firms’ transition to the technological frontier. |
| format |
Working Paper |
| author |
Cirera, Xavier Sabetti, Leonard |
| author_facet |
Cirera, Xavier Sabetti, Leonard |
| author_sort |
Cirera, Xavier |
| title |
The Effects of Innovation on Employment in Developing Countries : Evidence from Enterprise Surveys |
| title_short |
The Effects of Innovation on Employment in Developing Countries : Evidence from Enterprise Surveys |
| title_full |
The Effects of Innovation on Employment in Developing Countries : Evidence from Enterprise Surveys |
| title_fullStr |
The Effects of Innovation on Employment in Developing Countries : Evidence from Enterprise Surveys |
| title_full_unstemmed |
The Effects of Innovation on Employment in Developing Countries : Evidence from Enterprise Surveys |
| title_sort |
effects of innovation on employment in developing countries : evidence from enterprise surveys |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2016 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/08/26624626/effects-innovation-employment-developing-countries-evidence-enterprisesurveys http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24857 |
| _version_ |
1764457836140560384 |