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'Good' Firms, Worker Flows and Local Productivity

Author

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  • Michel Serafinelli

    (Department of Economics, University of Toronto, Canada)

Abstract
This paper is the first to present direct evidence showing how localized knowledge spillovers arise from workers changing jobs within the same local labor market. Using a unique dataset combining Social Security earnings records and balance sheet information for the Veneto region of Italy, I first identify a set of highly productive firms, then show that hiring workers with experience at these firms significantly increases the productivity of other firms. My findings imply that worker flows explain around 10 percent of the productivity gains experienced by incumbent firms when new highly productive firms are added to a local labor market.

Suggested Citation

  • Michel Serafinelli, 2015. "'Good' Firms, Worker Flows and Local Productivity," Working Paper series 15-29, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    • Handle: RePEc:rim:rimwps:15-29
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    Cited by:

    1. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald, 2013. "Does High Home-Ownership Impair the Labor Market?," NBER Working Papers 19079, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Bastian Stockinger & Katja Wolf, 2019. "The Productivity Effects of Worker Mobility Between Heterogeneous Firms," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 20(4), pages 492-522, November.
    3. Nimczik, Jan Sebastian, 2017. "Job Mobility Networks and Endogenous Labor Markets," VfS Annual Conference 2017 (Vienna): Alternative Structures for Money and Banking 168147, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    4. Thomas Cornelissen & Christian Dustmann & Uta Schönberg, 2017. "Peer Effects in the Workplace," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(2), pages 425-456, February.
    5. Patrick Kline & Raffaele Saggio & Mikkel Sølvsten, 2020. "Leave‐Out Estimation of Variance Components," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(5), pages 1859-1898, September.
    6. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Gobillon, Laurent, 2015. "The Empirics of Agglomeration Economies," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 247-348, Elsevier.
    7. Marino, Marianna & Parrotta, Pierpaolo & Pozzoli, Dario, 2016. "Educational diversity and knowledge transfers via inter-firm labor mobility," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 168-183.
    8. Ambra, Poggi & Piergiovanna, Natale, 2017. "Learning by hiring, network centrality and within-firm wage dispersion," Working Papers 369, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised 19 Aug 2017.
    9. Shamnaaz B. Sufrauj & Giancarlo Corò & Mario Volpe, 2017. "Regional labour market mobility. A network analysis of inter-firm relatedness," Working Papers 2017:06, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    10. Ines Helm, 2020. "National Industry Trade Shocks, Local Labour Markets, and Agglomeration Spillovers," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 87(3), pages 1399-1431.
    11. Hunt Allcott & Daniel Keniston, 2014. "Dutch Disease or Agglomeration? The Local Economic Effects of Natural Resource Booms in Modern America," NBER Working Papers 20508, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Kirker, Michael, 2019. "Learning Through Hiring: Knowledge From New Workers as an Explanation of Endogenous Growth," MPRA Paper 94505, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Abebe, Girum & McMillan, Margaret & Serafinelli, Michel, 2022. "Foreign direct investment and knowledge diffusion in poor locations," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    14. Bohne, Albrecht & Nimczik, Jan Sebastian, 2018. "Information Frictions and Learning Dynamics: Evidence from Tax Avoidance in Ecuador," IZA Discussion Papers 11536, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Grinza, Elena & Quatraro, Francesco, 2019. "Workers’ replacements and firms’ innovation dynamics: New evidence from Italian matched longitudinal data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    16. Michèle A. Weynandt, 2014. "Selective Firing and Lemons," NRN working papers 2014-05, The Austrian Center for Labor Economics and the Analysis of the Welfare State, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    17. Michel Serafinelli & Guido Tabellini, 2022. "Creativity over time and space," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 1-43, March.
    18. Brown, Jennifer & Matsa, David A., 2020. "Locked in by leverage: Job search during the housing crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(3), pages 623-648.
    19. Hunt Allcott & Daniel Keniston, 2015. "Dutch Disease or Agglomeration? The Local Economic Effects of Natural Resource Booms in Modern America," Working Papers 15-41, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    20. Gilles Duranton & William R. Kerr, 2015. "The Logic of Agglomeration," NBER Working Papers 21452, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    21. Miyakawa, Daisuke & Shimizu, Chihiro & Uesugi, Iichiro, 2016. "Geography and Realty Prices: Evidence from International Transaction-Level Data," HIT-REFINED Working Paper Series 52, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    22. Ascani, Andrea & Gagliardi, Luisa, 2020. "Asymmetric spillover effects from MNE investment," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(6).
    23. Elena Grinza, 2016. "Replacing Workers: Is It a Boon or a Bane for Firm Productivity?," Working papers 034, Department of Economics, Social Studies, Applied Mathematics and Statistics (Dipartimento di Scienze Economico-Sociali e Matematico-Statistiche), University of Torino.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • R10 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J60 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - General

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