This paper explores the effects of outsourcing on employee well-being through the use of the Finnish linked employer-employee data. The direct negative effect of outsourcing is attributable to greater job destruction and worker outflow. In terms of perceived well-being, the winners in international outsourcing are those who are capable of performing interactive tasks (i.e., managers, professionals and experts), especially when offshoring involves closer connections to other developed countries.
Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan ammattirakenteiden polarisaatiota sekä yrityksissä että yritysrakenteiden muutoksen välityksellä. Aineistona käytetään Suomen yritys-työntekijäaineistoja, jotka ulottuvat pitkälle aikavälille ja kattavat suuren osan yrityksistä. Ammattirakenteiden polarisaatio on jatkunut Suomessa jo vuosikymmeniä. Keskitason tuotantotehtäviä ja toimistotehtäviä sisältävien ammattien osuus on pienentynyt. Samaan aikaan matalan osaamistason palveluammattien ja korkean osaamistason erityisasiantuntija-ammattien osuus on puolestaan ollut kasvussa. Kehityskulut ovat tapahtuneet osin jatkavien yritysten sisällä, mutta osin myös yritysten välillä tapahtuneiden rakennemuutosten kautta. Osa polarisaatiosta johtuu siitä, että kasvavien yritysten ammattirakenteet poikkeavat pienentyvien yritysten ammattirakenteista sekä siitä, että uusien yritysten ammattirakenteet poikkeavat poistuvien yritysten rakenteista. Palveluammattien osuutta on kasvattanut se, että uusissa yrityksissä palveluammattien osuus on ollut suuri ja poistuvissa yrityksissä pieni. Toisaalta palveluammattien osuus on kasvanut myös jatkavissa yrityksissä. Erilaisia keskitason rutiinitehtäviä on kadonnut sekä yritysten sisällä että yritysten vaihtuvuuden kautta. Sen sijaan korkean osaamistason ammattien osuuden kasvu selittyy ennen kaikkea yrityksien sisällä tapahtuneiden muutosten kautta. Jatkavissa yrityksissä tapahtunut ammattirakenteiden muutos on kytkeytynyt sekä tavaroiden ja palveluiden ulkomaankauppaan että tehtävien ulkoistamiseen maasta. Paljon T&K:hon panostavat ja ICT:tä käyttävät yritykset vähentävät tuotantotyöntekijöitä.
This study analyses a baseline dataset collected for an evaluation of a co-operation project that assists trade unions in Zambia to boost their activities. The data were collected from 51 establishments to study attitudes towards unions, working conditions and the views of employers and trade union representatives on each other. The results show that employees have, by and large, positive views on unions but turning to unions when there are problems is not particularly common. Wages are often considered to be too low and assumed to be lower than those of similar individuals elsewhere or even in the same establishment. Regression analysis shows that having positive views on unions per se has a positive association with satisfaction and negative correlation with resign intentions. Union membership, however, seems to be correlated with employees being more discontent with their wages in some instances, though the direction of causality is unclear. Union membership seems to be associated with higher awareness of malpractices.
Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan työmarkkinoiden polarisoitumista Suomessa. Aiemmat tutkimukset tarkastelevat kehitystä koko talouden, toimialojen tai alueiden tasolla. Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan työpaikkojen rakennemuutosta yritystasolla. Tulokset osoittavat, että rutiiniluonteiset työtehtävät ovat vähentyneet merkittävästi suomalaisissa yrityksissä. Palkkajakauman keskivaiheilla olevien rutiiniluonteisten työtehtävien väheneminen kytkeytyy informaatio- ja kommunikaatioteknologian käyttöönottoon yrityksissä.
Ikääntyneiden työntekijöiden irtisanomissuoja on Ruotsissa poikkeuksellisen vahva, sillä yritykseen viimeksi tulleet työntekijät täytyy irtisanoa ensimmäiseksi. Suomessa ikääntyneiden työsuhdeturvaa koskevat määräykset ovat oleellisesti löyhempiä. Tutkimuksessa Ruotsin ja Suomen irtisanomissuojaa koskevan eron vaikutuksia tarkastellaan muodostamalla ylikansallinen työntekijä- ja työnantaja-aineisto. Se perustuu Suomen ja Ruotsin työnantajajärjestöjen kokoamien palkkarekisteriaineistojen yhdistämiseen vuosina 2000–2011. Ruotsissa ja Suomessa toimivia saman emoyrityksen yksiköitä käsitellään yhtenä yrityksenä. Tulokset osoittavat, että Suomessa ikääntyneet työntekijät irtisanotaan taloudellisten vaikeuksien myötä herkemmin kuin Ruotsissa. Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan myös irtisanomisjärjestystä koskevien lausekkeiden vaikutuksia työntekijöiden palkkoihin. Pisimpään yrityksessä työskennelleet saavat suuremman palkkapreemion Ruotsissa. Mahdollinen selitys tälle ilmiölle on irtisanomisjärjestystä koskevien säännösten aikaansaama parempi työsuhdeturva ja tästä seuraava neuvotteluvoiman kasvu.
This document analyzes the relationship between regional industry clusters and entrepreneurship. It hypothesizes that strong clusters positively impact entrepreneurship by lowering business startup costs, enhancing innovation opportunities, and providing access to inputs and markets. The study uses Census Bureau and cluster mapping data to examine how cluster strength relates to the growth of new businesses and employment in startups, while controlling for convergence effects. Preliminary results suggest clusters facilitate higher growth in entrepreneurial activity and medium-term survival of startups. The presence of clusters may also influence where existing multi-location firms open new establishments.
This paper analyses the employment effects of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) by using matched establishment-level data from Finland over the period 1989–2003. The data covers all sectors. We compare the employment effects of cross-border M&As with the effects arising from two different types of domestic M&As and internal restructurings. The results reveal that cross-border M&As lead to downsizing in manufacturing employment. The effects of cross-border M&As on employment in nonmanufacturing are much weaker. Changes in ownership associated with domestic M&As and internal restructurings also typically cause employment losses, but they exhibit an interesting sectoral variation.
Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan henkilön taustaominaisuuksien vaikutuksia päätyä julkisen sektorin työntekijäksi. Tarkastelu tehdään suomalaisella kaksosaineistolla, jonka avulla voidaan ottaa huomioon perhetaustaan ja genetiikkaan liittyvien muuten havaitsemattomien tekijöiden vaikutus. Tutkimuksessa käytetty aineisto kattaa vuodet 1990–2009. Tutkimusaineiston paneeliominaisuutta hyödynnetään tarkastelemalla henkilön siirtymiä yksityisen sektorin palveluksesta julkisen sektorin palvelukseen. Tulosten mukaan korkeampi koulutus ja ammatilliset preferenssit ovat yhteydessä henkilöiden päätymiseen julkisen sektorin palkkalistoille. Perheen perustaminen on myös positiivisesti yhteydessä henkilön todennäköisyyteen siirtyä yksityiseltä sektorilta julkiselle sektorille. Perheen perustamisen myötä riskin karttaminen kasvaa ja hakeutuminen vakaampiin ja vähemmän riskialttiisiin työsuhteisiin lisääntyy. Ekstrovertit henkilöt päätyvät myös muita todennäköisemmin julkisen sektorin työpaikkoihin. Myös palkka vaikuttaa siirtymiin. Korkeammilla palkkaluokilla työskentelevät jäävät todennäköisemmin yksityisen sektorin palvelukseen, koska julkisella sektorilla maksetaan näillä palkkaluokilla pienempää palkkaa.
We examine the effects of establishment- and industry-level labor market turnover on employees’ well-being. The linked employer-employee panel data contain both survey information on employees’ subjective well-being and comprehensive register-based information on job and worker flows. Labor market turbulence decreases well-being as experienced job satisfaction and satisfaction with job security are negatively related to the previous year’s flows. We test for the existence of compensating wage differentials by explaining wages and job satisfaction with average uncertainties, measured by an indicator for a high moving average of past excessive turnover (churning) rate. The results are consistent with compensating wage differentials, since high uncertainty increases real wages, but has no effect on job satisfaction.
Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan ammattirakenteiden polarisaatiota sekä yrityksissä että yritysrakenteiden muutoksen välityksellä. Aineistona käytetään Suomen yritys-työntekijäaineistoja, jotka ulottuvat pitkälle aikavälille ja kattavat suuren osan yrityksistä. Ammattirakenteiden polarisaatio on jatkunut Suomessa jo vuosikymmeniä. Keskitason tuotantotehtäviä ja toimistotehtäviä sisältävien ammattien osuus on pienentynyt. Samaan aikaan matalan osaamistason palveluammattien ja korkean osaamistason erityisasiantuntija-ammattien osuus on puolestaan ollut kasvussa. Kehityskulut ovat tapahtuneet osin jatkavien yritysten sisällä, mutta osin myös yritysten välillä tapahtuneiden rakennemuutosten kautta. Osa polarisaatiosta johtuu siitä, että kasvavien yritysten ammattirakenteet poikkeavat pienentyvien yritysten ammattirakenteista sekä siitä, että uusien yritysten ammattirakenteet poikkeavat poistuvien yritysten rakenteista. Palveluammattien osuutta on kasvattanut se, että uusissa yrityksissä palveluammattien osuus on ollut suuri ja poistuvissa yrityksissä pieni. Toisaalta palveluammattien osuus on kasvanut myös jatkavissa yrityksissä. Erilaisia keskitason rutiinitehtäviä on kadonnut sekä yritysten sisällä että yritysten vaihtuvuuden kautta. Sen sijaan korkean osaamistason ammattien osuuden kasvu selittyy ennen kaikkea yrityksien sisällä tapahtuneiden muutosten kautta. Jatkavissa yrityksissä tapahtunut ammattirakenteiden muutos on kytkeytynyt sekä tavaroiden ja palveluiden ulkomaankauppaan että tehtävien ulkoistamiseen maasta. Paljon T&K:hon panostavat ja ICT:tä käyttävät yritykset vähentävät tuotantotyöntekijöitä.
This study analyses a baseline dataset collected for an evaluation of a co-operation project that assists trade unions in Zambia to boost their activities. The data were collected from 51 establishments to study attitudes towards unions, working conditions and the views of employers and trade union representatives on each other. The results show that employees have, by and large, positive views on unions but turning to unions when there are problems is not particularly common. Wages are often considered to be too low and assumed to be lower than those of similar individuals elsewhere or even in the same establishment. Regression analysis shows that having positive views on unions per se has a positive association with satisfaction and negative correlation with resign intentions. Union membership, however, seems to be correlated with employees being more discontent with their wages in some instances, though the direction of causality is unclear. Union membership seems to be associated with higher awareness of malpractices.
Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan työmarkkinoiden polarisoitumista Suomessa. Aiemmat tutkimukset tarkastelevat kehitystä koko talouden, toimialojen tai alueiden tasolla. Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan työpaikkojen rakennemuutosta yritystasolla. Tulokset osoittavat, että rutiiniluonteiset työtehtävät ovat vähentyneet merkittävästi suomalaisissa yrityksissä. Palkkajakauman keskivaiheilla olevien rutiiniluonteisten työtehtävien väheneminen kytkeytyy informaatio- ja kommunikaatioteknologian käyttöönottoon yrityksissä.
Ikääntyneiden työntekijöiden irtisanomissuoja on Ruotsissa poikkeuksellisen vahva, sillä yritykseen viimeksi tulleet työntekijät täytyy irtisanoa ensimmäiseksi. Suomessa ikääntyneiden työsuhdeturvaa koskevat määräykset ovat oleellisesti löyhempiä. Tutkimuksessa Ruotsin ja Suomen irtisanomissuojaa koskevan eron vaikutuksia tarkastellaan muodostamalla ylikansallinen työntekijä- ja työnantaja-aineisto. Se perustuu Suomen ja Ruotsin työnantajajärjestöjen kokoamien palkkarekisteriaineistojen yhdistämiseen vuosina 2000–2011. Ruotsissa ja Suomessa toimivia saman emoyrityksen yksiköitä käsitellään yhtenä yrityksenä. Tulokset osoittavat, että Suomessa ikääntyneet työntekijät irtisanotaan taloudellisten vaikeuksien myötä herkemmin kuin Ruotsissa. Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan myös irtisanomisjärjestystä koskevien lausekkeiden vaikutuksia työntekijöiden palkkoihin. Pisimpään yrityksessä työskennelleet saavat suuremman palkkapreemion Ruotsissa. Mahdollinen selitys tälle ilmiölle on irtisanomisjärjestystä koskevien säännösten aikaansaama parempi työsuhdeturva ja tästä seuraava neuvotteluvoiman kasvu.
This document analyzes the relationship between regional industry clusters and entrepreneurship. It hypothesizes that strong clusters positively impact entrepreneurship by lowering business startup costs, enhancing innovation opportunities, and providing access to inputs and markets. The study uses Census Bureau and cluster mapping data to examine how cluster strength relates to the growth of new businesses and employment in startups, while controlling for convergence effects. Preliminary results suggest clusters facilitate higher growth in entrepreneurial activity and medium-term survival of startups. The presence of clusters may also influence where existing multi-location firms open new establishments.
This paper analyses the employment effects of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) by using matched establishment-level data from Finland over the period 1989–2003. The data covers all sectors. We compare the employment effects of cross-border M&As with the effects arising from two different types of domestic M&As and internal restructurings. The results reveal that cross-border M&As lead to downsizing in manufacturing employment. The effects of cross-border M&As on employment in nonmanufacturing are much weaker. Changes in ownership associated with domestic M&As and internal restructurings also typically cause employment losses, but they exhibit an interesting sectoral variation.
Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan henkilön taustaominaisuuksien vaikutuksia päätyä julkisen sektorin työntekijäksi. Tarkastelu tehdään suomalaisella kaksosaineistolla, jonka avulla voidaan ottaa huomioon perhetaustaan ja genetiikkaan liittyvien muuten havaitsemattomien tekijöiden vaikutus. Tutkimuksessa käytetty aineisto kattaa vuodet 1990–2009. Tutkimusaineiston paneeliominaisuutta hyödynnetään tarkastelemalla henkilön siirtymiä yksityisen sektorin palveluksesta julkisen sektorin palvelukseen. Tulosten mukaan korkeampi koulutus ja ammatilliset preferenssit ovat yhteydessä henkilöiden päätymiseen julkisen sektorin palkkalistoille. Perheen perustaminen on myös positiivisesti yhteydessä henkilön todennäköisyyteen siirtyä yksityiseltä sektorilta julkiselle sektorille. Perheen perustamisen myötä riskin karttaminen kasvaa ja hakeutuminen vakaampiin ja vähemmän riskialttiisiin työsuhteisiin lisääntyy. Ekstrovertit henkilöt päätyvät myös muita todennäköisemmin julkisen sektorin työpaikkoihin. Myös palkka vaikuttaa siirtymiin. Korkeammilla palkkaluokilla työskentelevät jäävät todennäköisemmin yksityisen sektorin palvelukseen, koska julkisella sektorilla maksetaan näillä palkkaluokilla pienempää palkkaa.
We examine the effects of establishment- and industry-level labor market turnover on employees’ well-being. The linked employer-employee panel data contain both survey information on employees’ subjective well-being and comprehensive register-based information on job and worker flows. Labor market turbulence decreases well-being as experienced job satisfaction and satisfaction with job security are negatively related to the previous year’s flows. We test for the existence of compensating wage differentials by explaining wages and job satisfaction with average uncertainties, measured by an indicator for a high moving average of past excessive turnover (churning) rate. The results are consistent with compensating wage differentials, since high uncertainty increases real wages, but has no effect on job satisfaction.
The paper examines the antecedents of intentions to quit, job search, and actual job switches during a five-year follow-up period. We use a representative random sample of all Finnish employees (N = 2800). The data both contain information on intentions to quit and on-the-job search from a cross-section survey and records employees’ actual job switches from longitudinal register data that can be linked to the survey. Specifically, we study the contribution of adverse working conditions (harms, hazards, uncertainty, physically and mentally heavy work), work organization (promotion prospects, discrimination, supervisor support) and ease-of-movement factors (mental health, wage level, regional unemployment). According to the estimates, adverse working conditions, poor promotions prospects, discrimination, poor supervisor support and mental health symptoms are positively related to unwillingly staying in a job, since these variables increase the probability of turnover intentions or job search but not actual job switches.
Tutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin työmarkkinoiden rakennemuutosta ja sitä, mihin supistuvissa ammateissa olevat työntekijät päätyvät. Tulosten mukaan mm. toimistotyöntekijöillä on suurempi todennäköisyys nousta korkeammille palkkaluokille teollisuuden alan työntekijöihin verrattuna. Perinteisen teollisuuden alojen työntekijät päätyvät puolestaan suuremmalla todennäköisyydellä työttömiksi tai tippuvat matalapalkka-aloille. Muuttaminen vientivetoisiin maakuntiin, kuten Uudellemaalle, näyttäisi lieventävän työmarkkinoiden rakennemuutoksesta aiheutuvia kustannuksia yksilötasolla.
Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan ammattirakenteiden polarisaatiota sekä sitä, että mihin supistuvissa ja rutiininomaisissa ammateissa olevat työntekijät päätyvät hyödyntämällä kokonaisaineistoa vuosille 1970-2014. Ammattirakenteiden polarisaatio on jatkunut Suomessa jo vuosikymmeniä. Ammattirakennemuutoksen kehityskulku on pääosin tapahtunut siten, että keskitason tuotanto- ja toimistotyöntekijät ovat nousseet urapolkuja pitkin asiantuntijatöihin. Viimeaikaista palveluammattien osuutta on puolestaan kasvattanut se, että nuoret siirtyvät työmarkkinoille palvelutöihin. Rutiininomaisia ja kognitiivisia taitoja vaativien ammattien työntekijöillä on kuitenkin suurempi todennäköisyys nousta korkeammille palkkaluokille rutiininomaista ja fyysistä työtä tekeviin työntekijöihin verrattuna. Rutiininomaista ja fyysistä työtä tekevät tippuvat puolestaan suuremmalla todennäköisyydellä matalapalkka-aloille, ja heidän ansiotason kehitys on myös heikompaa.
We examine the employment effects of international outsourcing by using firm- level data from the Finnish manufacturing sector. A major advantage of our data is that outsourcing is defined based on firms’ actual use of intermediate inputs from foreign trade statistics. The estimates show that intensive outsourcing (more than two times the 2-digit industry median) does not reduce employment nor have an effect on the share of low-skilled workers.
This document summarizes research on the relationship between innovation, employment, and wages in Poland using data from Polish companies from 2004-2006 and the Polish Labour Force Survey from the same period. The research examines three dimensions: 1) the relationship between innovation and job creation, finding a weak but positive relationship; 2) the effect of innovation on employment skills structure, finding no significant effect; and 3) the relationship between innovation and wages, finding innovation positively impacts wages of skilled workers and negatively impacts wages of unskilled workers, indicating skill-biased wage changes. The results provide initial evidence that innovation in Poland impacts employment and wages in a manner consistent with skill-biased technical change theory.
This study investigates the role of adverse working conditions in the determination of individual wages and overall job satisfaction in the Finnish labour market. The potential influence of adverse working conditions on self-reported fairness of pay at the workplace is considered as an alternative, indirect measure of job satisfaction. The results show that working conditions have a very minor role in the determination of individual wages in the Finnish labour market. In contrast, adverse working conditions substantially increase the level of job dissatisfaction and the perception of unfairness of pay at the workplace
Workers co-determination and industrial productivityserena boccardo
This research proposal aims to explore the impact of codetermination, a form of corporate governance involving worker representation, on firm performance metrics like total factor productivity, efficiency, and growth. While previous research has found mixed results, the proposal will focus on analyzing codetermination's effects within the automotive industry using econometric techniques. The analysis is motivated by debates around balancing employee and shareholder interests through participation models and ensuring sustainable long-term growth.
This paper investigates the extent and determinants of employer demand for part-time work in the three Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland and Sweden) by making a distinction between establishments’ two main reasons for introducing part-time work, i.e. establishment needs and wishes of employees. We study the importance of different characteristics (such as e.g. size, industry, sector, share of female workers) of establishment to the probability of employerbased and of employee-based part-time work. We also put under scrutiny whether different motivations for part-time work also have different outcomes for companies and workers, and how these reasons shape the nature of part-time work. In the analyses we use the Establishment Survey on Working Time and Work-Life Balance (ESWT) in 21 EU Member States including Finland, Sweden and Denmark.
This document analyzes survey data from 220 Polish manufacturing firms from 1998-2003 to identify factors of employment growth and firm performance. It finds that firms which viewed themselves as more competitive, innovated more, and were privatized earlier performed better in terms of employment levels. However, econometric analysis showed that only foreign ownership had a statistically significant positive impact on revenues, productivity, profits and wages. The study provides insights into how different factors like competitiveness, technology, ownership and privatization affected employment growth and firm performance in Polish manufacturing during transition.
This document is a master's thesis that examines the impact of demographic, economic, and institutional factors on flexible employment patterns using international macroeconomic data. It aims to explore drivers of variation in temporary and self-employment across countries. The thesis finds that none of the selected determinants significantly explain differences in temporary employment, but globalization, age, and agricultural sector size are associated with differences in self-employment rates across countries.
Tämä tutkimus tarkastelee luonnonvarojen ja maantieteen vaikutusta työn tuottavuuteen ja asukaslukuun suhteutettuun BKT:hen eri maissa. Vaikutukset ovat joko suoria tai ne välittyvät T&K-intensiteetin, koulutuksen tason ja/tai teollisuuden tuotantorakenteen kautta. Tutkimus tarkastelee 42 kehittynyttä ja kehittyvää maata. Tutkimuksen maatiedemuuttujat ovat väestötiheys, maantieteellinen keskeisyys ja väestön koko. Tulosten mukaan maatalousmaan osuuden, metsämaan osuuden sekä kaasu- ja öljyvarojen kokonaisvaikutus tuottavuuteen on keskimäärin negatiivinen. Mineraalivaroilla, joita mitattiin mineraalien tuotannolla, ja maataloudella on positiivinen vaikutus. Maantiedemuuttujista väestötiheys lisää T&K-investointeja ja nostaa sitä kautta tuottavuutta. Tämä vaikutus syntyy siitä huolimatta, että koulutustaso reagoi väestötiheyteen negatiivisesti. Maan keskeinen sijainti, sen rajojen läheisyydessä olevan taloudellisen aktiviteetin perusteella, vaikuttaa negatiivisesti tuottavuuteen. Vastoin odotuksia väestön koon kokonaisvaikutus tuottavuuteen on negatiivinen useimmissa estimoiduissa malleissa. Vaikutus syntyy, kun väestön koko supistaa T&K-investointeja ja alentaa koulutustasoa.
This document provides an introduction and literature review for a study examining the moderating effects of human resource management (HRM) practices and job design on the relationship between perceived over-qualification and job satisfaction and turnover intentions. It defines the key variables of interest and reviews previous research establishing the negative relationships between over-qualification and job satisfaction/turnover intentions. The purpose of the study is to determine if HRM practices and job design can alleviate the negative effects of over-qualification.
We analyse age segregation in hirings and separations using linked employer-employee data from Finland in the period 1990-2004. This allows us to identify at the firm level employees in different age groups that have been hired during the previous year, and employees who have exited the firms.
We analyze firm-level age segregation using segregation curves and Gini indices. The main result is that hirings of older employees have clearly been more segregated than exits or the stock of old employees even though hirings have become slightly less segregated towards the end of the period
in question. At the same time age segregation in exits and stocks has increased and these trends are not sensitive to small unit bias in measurement. We also examine trends in hiring and exit rates using aggregate data. According to our results the oldest age group is again underrepresented in
hirings. There is a positive upward trend in their recruitments related to the increasing cohort size, but it is much weaker than the trend in the relative share of older workers in employment. The exit rate of the older employees indicates cyclical variation while the small number of hirings seems to
be insensitive to changing labour demand. We present a decomposition of employment change by age group and with that decomposition we disentangle the role of hirings and exits from factors related to demographics and cohort effects. The latter factors include the effect of the large babyboom
generation entering the age group of older employees with higher employment rates than earlier cohorts. Finally, our regression analysis shows that larger firms are more likely to hire older employees, but their hiring rates are lower.
Using propensity score matching combined with the differences-in-differences method this paper investigates gender differences in the wage effects of job mobility among young white-collar workers in the Finnish manufacturing sector over the period 1997–2006. A novel feature of our paper is that besides distinguishing between intrafirm and interfirm job changes we also investigate mobility and wage growth by educational level. These refinements prove to be important. Our results indicate that both kinds of mobility boost wage growth, but the positive effects are much higher for interfirm mobility. Also the gender gap in the returns to job changes varies with the type of mobility, the gap being 1.2 percentage points with interfirm mobility and non-existent when job changes within firms are considered. Furthermore, we find that there are differences in the returns to mobility between educational levels. The low-educated women benefit less from mobility than the high-educated women, especially with employer changes. For men, on the other hand, no such variation in the wage effects of mobility across educational levels is observed.
Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan persoonallisuuden vaikutuksia pitkän aikavälin ansioihin ja työllisyyteen. Tarkastelu perustuu suomalaiseen kaksosaineistoon, jonka avulla on mahdollisuus ottaa huomioon perhetaustaan ja genetiikkaan liittyvien muuten havaitsemattomien tekijöiden vaikutus aikaisempia tutkimuksia paremmin. Tutkimuksessa käytetään faktorianalyysia mittaamaan latentteja persoonallisuuden piirteitä vuodelta 1981. Näitä ovat sosiaalisuus, miellyttävyys, suorituskeskeisyys, järjestelmällisyys, aktiivisuus ja rehellisyys. Tutkimuksessa hyödynnetään lisäksi tietoa neuroottisuudesta. Työmarkkinatulemia (työllisyyskuukausia ja ansiotasoa) mitataan vuosien 1990-2009 keskiarvolla. Tulosten mukaan suorituskeskeisten henkilöiden ansiotaso on selvästi korkeampi muihin ryhmiin verrattuna 20-vuoden seurantajakson aikana. Suorituskeskeisyys on myös positiivisessa yhteydessä korkeampiin pääomatuloihin. Tulokset eivät muutu, vaikka henkilöiden koulutus, aiempi terveydentila, negatiiviset elämäntilanteet ja terveyskäyttäytyminen otetaan huomioon.
This paper explores the potential role of adverse working conditions in the determination of workers’ sickness absences. Our data contain detailed information on the prevalence of job disamenities at the workplace from a representative sample of Finnish workers. The results from reduced-form models reveal that workers facing adverse working conditions tend to have a greater number of sickness absences. In addition, reduced-form models clearly show that regional labour market conditions are an important determinant of sickness absences. Hence, sickness absences are more common in regions of low unemployment. Recursive models suggest that the prevalence of harms at the workplace is associated with job dissatisfaction and dissatisfaction with workers’ sickness absences.
This document provides a project proposal for Prachi Mohan Chavan's dissertation on factors of employee demotivation and turnover in the construction industry, using ACC Concrete Ltd. as a case study. The proposal outlines the background and objectives of the research, which are to evaluate key motivation factors, determine how lack of motivation impacts turnover, and make recommendations to improve employee retention at ACC Concrete Ltd. A mixed methods approach will be used, including questionnaires of former ACC employees and interviews with HR managers to identify lacking motivation factors and their influence on turnover. The research will apply Herzberg's two-factor theory to understand motivation in the construction sector.
Differences in the growth of firms remain a major topic in economics and strategy research. In this paper we investigated the link between innovation performance and employment growth. First we discuss the problem from the theoretical point of view and then we analyze the relationship between innovation performance and the dynamics of employment in the Polish service firms in 2004-2009. Firms that introduced new services or marketing techniques experienced stronger growth. Process innovations contributed to employment reduction. Tellingly, this effect could only be observed in 2008-2009, a subperiod which saw the lowest levels of aggregate demand. This conclusion yields support to the presumption formulated by Pianta (2005) that the impact of innovation on employment growth depends on the macroeconomic situation.
Authored by: Wojciech Grabowski, Krzysztof Szczygielski, Richard Woodward
Published in 2013
This document summarizes a research paper that analyzes the performance of foreign subsidiaries in Poland compared to domestic firms. The paper uses firm-level panel data from Polish manufacturing to estimate differences in total factor productivity, labor productivity, employment growth, markups, and profitability between foreign and domestic firms. The analysis aims to disentangle the direct effects of foreign ownership from indirect spillover and competition effects. Regression results suggest that foreign subsidiaries pay more in wages and capital, earn less in profitability, but have higher total factor productivity and labor productivity than domestic firms. Foreign ownership also contributes to higher employment growth. There is little evidence that foreign firms have reduced market efficiency through increased markups on average. When controlling for competition
This document presents a decomposition method for analyzing changes in a country or industry's labor share over time. The method distinguishes between two factors influencing labor share changes: 1) Changes within individual continuing plants from period to period; and 2) Microstructural changes in the industry/country due to some plants gaining market share while others lose market share. The document applies this decomposition method to longitudinal plant-level data from Finland's manufacturing sector over 30 years to examine how globalization has impacted labor shares through its effects on productivity and wages at the plant level.
Fueling Innovation through InformationTechnology in SMEsb.docxhanneloremccaffery
Fueling Innovation through Information
Technology in SMEs*
by Clay Dibrell, Peter S. Davis, and Justin Craig
This paper describes a study that investigates the mediating effects of information
technology (IT) on the relationships among product and process innovations and firm
performance (measured in multiple profitability and growth rate metrics). Using
structural equation modeling on a sample of 397 small and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs), we find evidence that (1) increases on the strategic emphasis placed on
innovation, both product and process, positively impact the prominence managers
place on IT; (2) the impact of innovation (both product and process) on performance
(both profitability and growth) is primarily indirect, felt via the mechanism of the
importance managers place on IT; and (3) an increased emphasis on IT abets
managers’ perception of their firms’ performance, as compared with that observed
among peer firms (other SMEs).
A commitment to innovation has long
been considered to be important to the
success of entrepreneurial ventures and
small firms (Fiol 1996). Research has
shown that innovation stimulates ven-
tures’ growth (e.g., Wolff and Pett
2006; Motwani et al. 1999; Hax and
Majluf 1991) and also provides a key
source of competitive advantage in the
absence of scale economies (Lewis et al.
2002). Considered from the resource-
based view of the firm (Barney 1991),
successful innovation may be dependent
on the presence of other organization-
*The authors wish to thank Don Neubaum and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful
comments and direction. Financial support was provided by the Austin Family Business
Program in the College of Business at Oregon State University.
Clay Dibrell is associate professor of strategic management in the College of Business at
Oregon State University and research fellow at Bond University.
Peter S. Davis is professor and chair of the Department of Management in the Belk College
of Business at the University of North Carolina–Charlotte.
Justin Craig is associate professor of family business and entrepreneurship at Bond
University.
Address correspondence to: Clay Dibrell, 200 Bexell Hall, College of Business, Oregon State
University, Corvallis, OR 97331. Tel: (541) 737-6061. E-mail: [email protected]
Journal of Small Business Management 2008 46(2), pp. 203–218
DIBRELL, DAVIS, AND CRAIG 203
mailto:[email protected]
specific skills and capabilities. For
example, substantial evidence has begun
to accumulate that suggests that appro-
priate strategic employment of informa-
tion technology (IT) may be essential
in translating strategies (e.g., innovation)
into enhanced firm performance (e.g.,
Ray, Muhanna, and Barney 2005;
Sakaguchi, Nicovich, and Dibrell 2004).
A direct linkage between IT and firm
performance was established by Powell
and Dent-Micallef (1997). Bharadwaj
(2000) found that high IT-capable firms
(those that invest heavily in IT) outper-
form competitors that do not inve ...
The paper examines the antecedents of intentions to quit, job search, and actual job switches during a five-year follow-up period. We use a representative random sample of all Finnish employees (N = 2800). The data both contain information on intentions to quit and on-the-job search from a cross-section survey and records employees’ actual job switches from longitudinal register data that can be linked to the survey. Specifically, we study the contribution of adverse working conditions (harms, hazards, uncertainty, physically and mentally heavy work), work organization (promotion prospects, discrimination, supervisor support) and ease-of-movement factors (mental health, wage level, regional unemployment). According to the estimates, adverse working conditions, poor promotions prospects, discrimination, poor supervisor support and mental health symptoms are positively related to unwillingly staying in a job, since these variables increase the probability of turnover intentions or job search but not actual job switches.
Tutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin työmarkkinoiden rakennemuutosta ja sitä, mihin supistuvissa ammateissa olevat työntekijät päätyvät. Tulosten mukaan mm. toimistotyöntekijöillä on suurempi todennäköisyys nousta korkeammille palkkaluokille teollisuuden alan työntekijöihin verrattuna. Perinteisen teollisuuden alojen työntekijät päätyvät puolestaan suuremmalla todennäköisyydellä työttömiksi tai tippuvat matalapalkka-aloille. Muuttaminen vientivetoisiin maakuntiin, kuten Uudellemaalle, näyttäisi lieventävän työmarkkinoiden rakennemuutoksesta aiheutuvia kustannuksia yksilötasolla.
Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan ammattirakenteiden polarisaatiota sekä sitä, että mihin supistuvissa ja rutiininomaisissa ammateissa olevat työntekijät päätyvät hyödyntämällä kokonaisaineistoa vuosille 1970-2014. Ammattirakenteiden polarisaatio on jatkunut Suomessa jo vuosikymmeniä. Ammattirakennemuutoksen kehityskulku on pääosin tapahtunut siten, että keskitason tuotanto- ja toimistotyöntekijät ovat nousseet urapolkuja pitkin asiantuntijatöihin. Viimeaikaista palveluammattien osuutta on puolestaan kasvattanut se, että nuoret siirtyvät työmarkkinoille palvelutöihin. Rutiininomaisia ja kognitiivisia taitoja vaativien ammattien työntekijöillä on kuitenkin suurempi todennäköisyys nousta korkeammille palkkaluokille rutiininomaista ja fyysistä työtä tekeviin työntekijöihin verrattuna. Rutiininomaista ja fyysistä työtä tekevät tippuvat puolestaan suuremmalla todennäköisyydellä matalapalkka-aloille, ja heidän ansiotason kehitys on myös heikompaa.
We examine the employment effects of international outsourcing by using firm- level data from the Finnish manufacturing sector. A major advantage of our data is that outsourcing is defined based on firms’ actual use of intermediate inputs from foreign trade statistics. The estimates show that intensive outsourcing (more than two times the 2-digit industry median) does not reduce employment nor have an effect on the share of low-skilled workers.
This document summarizes research on the relationship between innovation, employment, and wages in Poland using data from Polish companies from 2004-2006 and the Polish Labour Force Survey from the same period. The research examines three dimensions: 1) the relationship between innovation and job creation, finding a weak but positive relationship; 2) the effect of innovation on employment skills structure, finding no significant effect; and 3) the relationship between innovation and wages, finding innovation positively impacts wages of skilled workers and negatively impacts wages of unskilled workers, indicating skill-biased wage changes. The results provide initial evidence that innovation in Poland impacts employment and wages in a manner consistent with skill-biased technical change theory.
This study investigates the role of adverse working conditions in the determination of individual wages and overall job satisfaction in the Finnish labour market. The potential influence of adverse working conditions on self-reported fairness of pay at the workplace is considered as an alternative, indirect measure of job satisfaction. The results show that working conditions have a very minor role in the determination of individual wages in the Finnish labour market. In contrast, adverse working conditions substantially increase the level of job dissatisfaction and the perception of unfairness of pay at the workplace
Workers co-determination and industrial productivityserena boccardo
This research proposal aims to explore the impact of codetermination, a form of corporate governance involving worker representation, on firm performance metrics like total factor productivity, efficiency, and growth. While previous research has found mixed results, the proposal will focus on analyzing codetermination's effects within the automotive industry using econometric techniques. The analysis is motivated by debates around balancing employee and shareholder interests through participation models and ensuring sustainable long-term growth.
This paper investigates the extent and determinants of employer demand for part-time work in the three Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland and Sweden) by making a distinction between establishments’ two main reasons for introducing part-time work, i.e. establishment needs and wishes of employees. We study the importance of different characteristics (such as e.g. size, industry, sector, share of female workers) of establishment to the probability of employerbased and of employee-based part-time work. We also put under scrutiny whether different motivations for part-time work also have different outcomes for companies and workers, and how these reasons shape the nature of part-time work. In the analyses we use the Establishment Survey on Working Time and Work-Life Balance (ESWT) in 21 EU Member States including Finland, Sweden and Denmark.
This document analyzes survey data from 220 Polish manufacturing firms from 1998-2003 to identify factors of employment growth and firm performance. It finds that firms which viewed themselves as more competitive, innovated more, and were privatized earlier performed better in terms of employment levels. However, econometric analysis showed that only foreign ownership had a statistically significant positive impact on revenues, productivity, profits and wages. The study provides insights into how different factors like competitiveness, technology, ownership and privatization affected employment growth and firm performance in Polish manufacturing during transition.
This document is a master's thesis that examines the impact of demographic, economic, and institutional factors on flexible employment patterns using international macroeconomic data. It aims to explore drivers of variation in temporary and self-employment across countries. The thesis finds that none of the selected determinants significantly explain differences in temporary employment, but globalization, age, and agricultural sector size are associated with differences in self-employment rates across countries.
Tämä tutkimus tarkastelee luonnonvarojen ja maantieteen vaikutusta työn tuottavuuteen ja asukaslukuun suhteutettuun BKT:hen eri maissa. Vaikutukset ovat joko suoria tai ne välittyvät T&K-intensiteetin, koulutuksen tason ja/tai teollisuuden tuotantorakenteen kautta. Tutkimus tarkastelee 42 kehittynyttä ja kehittyvää maata. Tutkimuksen maatiedemuuttujat ovat väestötiheys, maantieteellinen keskeisyys ja väestön koko. Tulosten mukaan maatalousmaan osuuden, metsämaan osuuden sekä kaasu- ja öljyvarojen kokonaisvaikutus tuottavuuteen on keskimäärin negatiivinen. Mineraalivaroilla, joita mitattiin mineraalien tuotannolla, ja maataloudella on positiivinen vaikutus. Maantiedemuuttujista väestötiheys lisää T&K-investointeja ja nostaa sitä kautta tuottavuutta. Tämä vaikutus syntyy siitä huolimatta, että koulutustaso reagoi väestötiheyteen negatiivisesti. Maan keskeinen sijainti, sen rajojen läheisyydessä olevan taloudellisen aktiviteetin perusteella, vaikuttaa negatiivisesti tuottavuuteen. Vastoin odotuksia väestön koon kokonaisvaikutus tuottavuuteen on negatiivinen useimmissa estimoiduissa malleissa. Vaikutus syntyy, kun väestön koko supistaa T&K-investointeja ja alentaa koulutustasoa.
This document provides an introduction and literature review for a study examining the moderating effects of human resource management (HRM) practices and job design on the relationship between perceived over-qualification and job satisfaction and turnover intentions. It defines the key variables of interest and reviews previous research establishing the negative relationships between over-qualification and job satisfaction/turnover intentions. The purpose of the study is to determine if HRM practices and job design can alleviate the negative effects of over-qualification.
We analyse age segregation in hirings and separations using linked employer-employee data from Finland in the period 1990-2004. This allows us to identify at the firm level employees in different age groups that have been hired during the previous year, and employees who have exited the firms.
We analyze firm-level age segregation using segregation curves and Gini indices. The main result is that hirings of older employees have clearly been more segregated than exits or the stock of old employees even though hirings have become slightly less segregated towards the end of the period
in question. At the same time age segregation in exits and stocks has increased and these trends are not sensitive to small unit bias in measurement. We also examine trends in hiring and exit rates using aggregate data. According to our results the oldest age group is again underrepresented in
hirings. There is a positive upward trend in their recruitments related to the increasing cohort size, but it is much weaker than the trend in the relative share of older workers in employment. The exit rate of the older employees indicates cyclical variation while the small number of hirings seems to
be insensitive to changing labour demand. We present a decomposition of employment change by age group and with that decomposition we disentangle the role of hirings and exits from factors related to demographics and cohort effects. The latter factors include the effect of the large babyboom
generation entering the age group of older employees with higher employment rates than earlier cohorts. Finally, our regression analysis shows that larger firms are more likely to hire older employees, but their hiring rates are lower.
Using propensity score matching combined with the differences-in-differences method this paper investigates gender differences in the wage effects of job mobility among young white-collar workers in the Finnish manufacturing sector over the period 1997–2006. A novel feature of our paper is that besides distinguishing between intrafirm and interfirm job changes we also investigate mobility and wage growth by educational level. These refinements prove to be important. Our results indicate that both kinds of mobility boost wage growth, but the positive effects are much higher for interfirm mobility. Also the gender gap in the returns to job changes varies with the type of mobility, the gap being 1.2 percentage points with interfirm mobility and non-existent when job changes within firms are considered. Furthermore, we find that there are differences in the returns to mobility between educational levels. The low-educated women benefit less from mobility than the high-educated women, especially with employer changes. For men, on the other hand, no such variation in the wage effects of mobility across educational levels is observed.
Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan persoonallisuuden vaikutuksia pitkän aikavälin ansioihin ja työllisyyteen. Tarkastelu perustuu suomalaiseen kaksosaineistoon, jonka avulla on mahdollisuus ottaa huomioon perhetaustaan ja genetiikkaan liittyvien muuten havaitsemattomien tekijöiden vaikutus aikaisempia tutkimuksia paremmin. Tutkimuksessa käytetään faktorianalyysia mittaamaan latentteja persoonallisuuden piirteitä vuodelta 1981. Näitä ovat sosiaalisuus, miellyttävyys, suorituskeskeisyys, järjestelmällisyys, aktiivisuus ja rehellisyys. Tutkimuksessa hyödynnetään lisäksi tietoa neuroottisuudesta. Työmarkkinatulemia (työllisyyskuukausia ja ansiotasoa) mitataan vuosien 1990-2009 keskiarvolla. Tulosten mukaan suorituskeskeisten henkilöiden ansiotaso on selvästi korkeampi muihin ryhmiin verrattuna 20-vuoden seurantajakson aikana. Suorituskeskeisyys on myös positiivisessa yhteydessä korkeampiin pääomatuloihin. Tulokset eivät muutu, vaikka henkilöiden koulutus, aiempi terveydentila, negatiiviset elämäntilanteet ja terveyskäyttäytyminen otetaan huomioon.
This paper explores the potential role of adverse working conditions in the determination of workers’ sickness absences. Our data contain detailed information on the prevalence of job disamenities at the workplace from a representative sample of Finnish workers. The results from reduced-form models reveal that workers facing adverse working conditions tend to have a greater number of sickness absences. In addition, reduced-form models clearly show that regional labour market conditions are an important determinant of sickness absences. Hence, sickness absences are more common in regions of low unemployment. Recursive models suggest that the prevalence of harms at the workplace is associated with job dissatisfaction and dissatisfaction with workers’ sickness absences.
This document provides a project proposal for Prachi Mohan Chavan's dissertation on factors of employee demotivation and turnover in the construction industry, using ACC Concrete Ltd. as a case study. The proposal outlines the background and objectives of the research, which are to evaluate key motivation factors, determine how lack of motivation impacts turnover, and make recommendations to improve employee retention at ACC Concrete Ltd. A mixed methods approach will be used, including questionnaires of former ACC employees and interviews with HR managers to identify lacking motivation factors and their influence on turnover. The research will apply Herzberg's two-factor theory to understand motivation in the construction sector.
Differences in the growth of firms remain a major topic in economics and strategy research. In this paper we investigated the link between innovation performance and employment growth. First we discuss the problem from the theoretical point of view and then we analyze the relationship between innovation performance and the dynamics of employment in the Polish service firms in 2004-2009. Firms that introduced new services or marketing techniques experienced stronger growth. Process innovations contributed to employment reduction. Tellingly, this effect could only be observed in 2008-2009, a subperiod which saw the lowest levels of aggregate demand. This conclusion yields support to the presumption formulated by Pianta (2005) that the impact of innovation on employment growth depends on the macroeconomic situation.
Authored by: Wojciech Grabowski, Krzysztof Szczygielski, Richard Woodward
Published in 2013
This document summarizes a research paper that analyzes the performance of foreign subsidiaries in Poland compared to domestic firms. The paper uses firm-level panel data from Polish manufacturing to estimate differences in total factor productivity, labor productivity, employment growth, markups, and profitability between foreign and domestic firms. The analysis aims to disentangle the direct effects of foreign ownership from indirect spillover and competition effects. Regression results suggest that foreign subsidiaries pay more in wages and capital, earn less in profitability, but have higher total factor productivity and labor productivity than domestic firms. Foreign ownership also contributes to higher employment growth. There is little evidence that foreign firms have reduced market efficiency through increased markups on average. When controlling for competition
This document presents a decomposition method for analyzing changes in a country or industry's labor share over time. The method distinguishes between two factors influencing labor share changes: 1) Changes within individual continuing plants from period to period; and 2) Microstructural changes in the industry/country due to some plants gaining market share while others lose market share. The document applies this decomposition method to longitudinal plant-level data from Finland's manufacturing sector over 30 years to examine how globalization has impacted labor shares through its effects on productivity and wages at the plant level.
Fueling Innovation through InformationTechnology in SMEsb.docxhanneloremccaffery
Fueling Innovation through Information
Technology in SMEs*
by Clay Dibrell, Peter S. Davis, and Justin Craig
This paper describes a study that investigates the mediating effects of information
technology (IT) on the relationships among product and process innovations and firm
performance (measured in multiple profitability and growth rate metrics). Using
structural equation modeling on a sample of 397 small and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs), we find evidence that (1) increases on the strategic emphasis placed on
innovation, both product and process, positively impact the prominence managers
place on IT; (2) the impact of innovation (both product and process) on performance
(both profitability and growth) is primarily indirect, felt via the mechanism of the
importance managers place on IT; and (3) an increased emphasis on IT abets
managers’ perception of their firms’ performance, as compared with that observed
among peer firms (other SMEs).
A commitment to innovation has long
been considered to be important to the
success of entrepreneurial ventures and
small firms (Fiol 1996). Research has
shown that innovation stimulates ven-
tures’ growth (e.g., Wolff and Pett
2006; Motwani et al. 1999; Hax and
Majluf 1991) and also provides a key
source of competitive advantage in the
absence of scale economies (Lewis et al.
2002). Considered from the resource-
based view of the firm (Barney 1991),
successful innovation may be dependent
on the presence of other organization-
*The authors wish to thank Don Neubaum and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful
comments and direction. Financial support was provided by the Austin Family Business
Program in the College of Business at Oregon State University.
Clay Dibrell is associate professor of strategic management in the College of Business at
Oregon State University and research fellow at Bond University.
Peter S. Davis is professor and chair of the Department of Management in the Belk College
of Business at the University of North Carolina–Charlotte.
Justin Craig is associate professor of family business and entrepreneurship at Bond
University.
Address correspondence to: Clay Dibrell, 200 Bexell Hall, College of Business, Oregon State
University, Corvallis, OR 97331. Tel: (541) 737-6061. E-mail: [email protected]
Journal of Small Business Management 2008 46(2), pp. 203–218
DIBRELL, DAVIS, AND CRAIG 203
mailto:[email protected]
specific skills and capabilities. For
example, substantial evidence has begun
to accumulate that suggests that appro-
priate strategic employment of informa-
tion technology (IT) may be essential
in translating strategies (e.g., innovation)
into enhanced firm performance (e.g.,
Ray, Muhanna, and Barney 2005;
Sakaguchi, Nicovich, and Dibrell 2004).
A direct linkage between IT and firm
performance was established by Powell
and Dent-Micallef (1997). Bharadwaj
(2000) found that high IT-capable firms
(those that invest heavily in IT) outper-
form competitors that do not inve ...
Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan, minkälaisia vaikutuksia lähiesimiehen johtamisella on työntekijöiden kokemaan työtyytyväisyyteen, eläköitymisaikeisiin ennen varsinaista eläkeikää sekä toimipaikkojen tuottavuuteen. Lisäksi selvitetään, onko lähiesimiehen johtamisen merkityksessä työntekijöiden kokemaan työtyytyväisyyteen ja eläkeaikeisiin tapahtunut muutoksia yli ajan. Analyyseissa käytetään laajoja ja kaikkia palkansaajia edustavia työolotutkimuksen aineistoja vuosilta 1990, 1997, 2003 ja 2008 sekä vuoden 2008 työolotutkimuksen aineistoa yhdistettynä kahteen rekisteripohjaiseen aineistoon, toimipaikka- ja yksilöaineistoon (FLEED) sekä teollisuuden toimipaikkojen pitkittäisaineistoon (LPDM).
Saadut tulokset korostavat lähiesimiehen johtamisen merkitystä työntekijöiden hyvinvoinnille. Esimiehen
johtaminen on voimavara, jolla on varsin merkittävä vaikutus työntekijöiden kokemaan työtyytyväisyyteen, kun vakioidaan laajaa joukkoa muita työtyytyväisyyteen vaikuttavia tekijöitä.
Lähiesimiehen johtamisella on myös tilastollisesti merkitsevä vaikutus 45+-vuotiaiden eläköitymisaikeisiin.
Lähiesimiehen johtamisen yhteys toimipaikkojen tuottavuuteen oli positiivinen, mutta tämä suhde oli tilastollisesti merkitsevä ainoastaan, kun tuottavuuden mittarina käytettiin liikevaihtoa
työntekijää kohti kaikkia toimialoja koskevassa analyysissa.
1) The document describes a study of an IT organization that underwent a major redesign by a new CIO to increase codification of activities and control costs.
2) Interviews and observations were conducted with stakeholders to understand their perspectives on the changes, implementation process, and consequences.
3) The case analysis highlights challenges designers of support organizations face when increasing codification, such as paying attention to local context, constant communication, avoiding an overly strict alignment that ignores issues, and considering how increased codification could enable outsourcing.
In the paper, structural change in the Finnish manufacturing industries is studied by means of the theory of the aggregation of production functions and longitudinal plant-level data for the period from 1980 until 2005. The nature of structural change in twelve industries is characterised by examination of the invariance of the aggregate production functions over time. Aggregate production functions need not be estimated because, according to the theory of the aggregation of production functions, the invariance can be analysed by the investigation of the stability of the capacity density functions which describe the distribution of value added in the industries. Even though the shapes of aggregate production functions alter over time in most industries, there are differences in timing and in the degree of turbulence across industries. The analysis confirms the result obtained earlier that in some industries, for example in the paper industry, the late 1980s marked the beginning of a period of relatively strong structural change. The food industry and the manufacture of communications equipment are examples of industries in which the 1990s was a period of turbulence.
We examine the impact of a Finnish reform in the 1990s that restricted the use of particular early retirement channels, unemployment pension and individual early retirement, and
simultaneously changed the rules of firm size related experience rating in disability pensions. Our emphasis is on how the reforms affected the incentives of the firms to hire older employees. In a simple model we illustrate how forward-looking behaviour of firms affects the value of a new hire. Simulations with the model illustrate that although the reform in the unemployment pension in principle affected particular age groups, 53-54 year olds in the case of unemployment pension and 55-57 year olds in the case of individual early retirement, the impacts on hiring may have been felt also in other, younger, age groups. On the other hand, the effects of both reforms are likely to have varied by firm size. In a differences-indifferences- in-differences analysis with firm-level data we show that the impact of the reforms has been to increase the probability of hiring especially in the age group 51-52 and
especially in the largest firms.
The paper examines the effect of innovative work practices on the prevalence of sickness absence and accidents at work. We focus on several different aspects of workplace innovations (self-managed teams, information sharing, employer-provided training and incentive pay) along with the “bundles” of those practices. We use nationally representative individual-level data from the Finnish Quality of Work Life Survey from 2008. Using single equation models, we find that innovative work practices increase short-term sickness absence for blue-collar and lower white-collar employees. In twoequation models that treat innovative workplace practices as endogenous variables we do not find relationship between innovative work practices and sickness absence or accidents at work.
This document summarizes a literature review on the effects of firm relocation on firm performance. It finds that while the number of firm relocations has increased in recent decades, the available literature on the effects is limited in scope. The literature often focuses narrowly on large industrial firms and uses coarse performance measures. To better understand the effects, the paper distinguishes between the geographical and organizational position of firms and how relocation may impact financial/economic performance and innovative performance. It reviews available studies on the relationship between position, relocation and performance to identify what is known and what gaps remain.
This document summarizes a study examining the relationship between labor share and unemployment in major OECD countries from 1972 to 2008. It analyzes whether the relationship has changed in a way that could indicate weakened bargaining power for labor. The study uses panel data and statistical methods for non-stationary panels to estimate wage curves and dynamic equations modeling how labor share adjusts to unemployment. Preliminary results suggest labor share declines in most OECD countries cannot be fully explained by rising unemployment and likely reflect weakened bargaining power for labor unions. The nature of the relationship may also differ between countries with varying wage-setting institutions and bargaining coordination.
This study examines factors that influence sickness absenteeism and presenteeism using survey data from 725 Finnish union members in 2008. The study finds that presenteeism is much more sensitive to working time arrangements than absenteeism. Permanent full-time work, mismatch between desired and actual working hours, shift/period work, and overlong weekly working hours increase the likelihood of presenteeism. Regular overtime decreases absenteeism but increases presenteeism. The ability to take 3 days of paid sick leave without a doctor's note and easing of efficiency demands decrease presenteeism. Presenteeism is more common in the public sector and among those in shift/period work.
This document discusses a study that examines the impact of different types of innovation on sales growth in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Kosovo. The study collected data from 278 SMEs through surveys. It analyzes the data using logistic regression to test hypotheses about the relationship between innovation types (product/process, marketing, organizational) and firm growth, measured by sales. The findings indicate that marketing innovation is positively associated with sales growth, while new products introduced only within the firm are negatively associated with growth. Other innovation attributes showed no significant relationship. The study aims to provide insights for both theory and policy regarding SME development and innovation in Kosovo.
This document summarizes a working paper that examines the impact of innovation activities on productivity and firm growth in Brazil. The paper uses microdata from Brazilian manufacturing firms between 2000-2002. It finds that activities like organizational change, cooperation with clients, human capital development, ICT usage, product innovation and learning by exporting were associated with higher productivity levels, with an R&D effect only in the long run. It also finds that while the intensity of innovation activities varies by sector, such activities were important for explaining sales growth differences across firms in all sectors.
This document summarizes a research paper that empirically links the value of intellectual capital and intellectual property to firm performance. The researchers conducted a regression analysis using survey data from managers in the pharmaceutical industry. They found that including intellectual property in models linking intellectual capital to firm performance enhances the statistical validity of the models and their relevance for management. Specifically, intellectual property provides a more tangible component of intellectual capital that can be more easily valued. Considering intellectual property alongside human, structural, and relational capital components provides a more complete picture of how intellectual assets impact company performance.
This paper focuses on the share and incidence of nominal and real wages cuts in the Finnish private sector. It complements other analyses of downward wage rigidities especially by looking for individual and employer characteristics that might explain the likelihood of observing an individual’s wage cut. The examinations are based on Probit models that include individual characteristics, employer characteristics, and the form of remuneration as explanatory variables. We find relatively few individual or employer characteristics that have a strong and common influence on the likelihood of wage decline across the different segments of labour markets. However, the full-time workers have had a lower likelihood of nominal and real wage declines during the 1990s compared with part-time workers. Declines in wages have also been more common in small plants/firms. In addition, nominal wage declines have been more transitory by their nature within the segments of the Finnish labour markets in which they are more common. Overall, the frequency of nominal wage declines has been fairly low for manufacturing nonmanuals and service sector workers but somewhat higher for manual workers in manufacturing. However, nominal wage moderation together with a positive inflation rate produced real wage cuts for a large proportion of employees during the worst recession years of the early 1990s.
Guiding Large Scale Organizational Changes In Today’s Economyiosrjce
This paper x-rays guiding organizational changes which is basically any alterations in people,
structure, or technology. Today’s change issues: changing organizationally cultures, handling employee stress,
and making change successfully are critical concerns for today’s managers. This means that a contemporary or
current manager must be well equipped to handle today’s dynamic and uncertain environment. The only
constant thing about change is that it is constant. Managers these days don’t have the luxury of dealing with
change only once in a while. No. the workplace now seems to change almost continuously. Being prepared isn’t
only for the Boy Scouts alone anymore, it should also be for managers dealing with a workplace that is
constantly changing. And being prepared means taking initiative ideas and being ready for the changes
This document provides an abstract for a master's thesis that examines the relationship between country development factors, firm innovation, and the moderating roles of outsourcing and employee training. The study uses multilevel modeling on firm-level data from 27 countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia to test the effects of financial market development and higher education system development on firm innovation. Preliminary results indicate financial market development has an insignificant impact on firm innovation, while higher education development has a positive significant impact. Outsourcing is found to negatively moderate both relationships, while employee training positively moderates the impact of higher education development but not financial market development. The findings provide a more complex understanding of multilevel factors' influence on firm innovation in emerging markets
This document analyzes the connection between working conditions, job satisfaction, retirement intentions, and actual retirement decisions using linked survey and register data from Finland. The survey data contains information on perceived working conditions, job satisfaction, and retirement intentions, while the register data provides information on actual retirement decisions that can be linked to the survey respondents. The study finds that job dissatisfaction arising from adverse working conditions is significantly related to stronger retirement intentions, and retirement intentions are in turn related to earlier actual retirement. New management practices are found to improve job satisfaction and reduce retirement intentions, thereby lengthening working careers.
Work Relations and Job Satisfaction of Customer Service Representativesijtsrd
This research emphasizes the association between work relations of customer service representatives in terms of their personal profiles, of workplace relationships, of job satisfaction, of organizational commitment and employee loyalty. Jeric H. Pediglorio "Work Relations and Job Satisfaction of Customer Service Representatives" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-7 | Issue-2 , April 2023, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com.com/papers/ijtsrd56241.pdf Paper URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com.com/other-scientific-research-area/other/56241/work-relations-and-job-satisfaction-of-customer-service-representatives/jeric-h-pediglorio
Impact of Staff Turnover on the Financial Performance of Nigerian Deposit Mon...ijtsrd
This study determined the effect of staff turnover on the financial performance of Nigerian banks. Ex Post Facto research was adopted for the study. Panel data approach, for a period of 10 years 2011 2020 was adopted. A sample of ten out of twenty two banks in Nigeria were used for the study The data were analyzed using regression technique with aid of E view 9.0 at 5 level of significance. The study revealed that staff turnover cost has a negative impact on profit margin and return on assets of Nigerian banks. Based on the findings of this study, the researchers suggest that there is a pressing need for Nigerian commercial banks to participate in proactive strategic planning and initiatives to reduce staff turnover. As a result, the management should try to ensure that its trained and experienced staff has all of the necessary comfort and ease to accomplish their jobs. Dr. Elena Platonova | Fatimehin Kolawole | Olaniyi Ayo Rufus | Adebisi Joel Adewale "Impact of Staff Turnover on the Financial Performance of Nigerian Deposit Money Banks" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-6 | Issue-4 , June 2022, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd50167.pdf Paper URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/management/accounting-and-finance/50167/impact-of-staff-turnover-on-the-financial-performance-of-nigerian-deposit-money-banks/dr-elena-platonova
This document presents a study that develops a model to assess the value-based contribution of information technology (IT) to firm performance. The study aims to address contradictory findings from prior research on the productivity paradox by taking a process-oriented approach. The model proposes that IT business value can be measured through its impact on processes within a firm's value chain. Survey data from 180 executives is used to test the model, with structural equation modeling confirming that perceptual ratings of IT's impact on value chain processes can provide a measure of IT business value at the organizational level.
Similar to Outsourcing, Occupational Restructuring, and Employee Well-being Is There a Silver Lining? (20)
Talous & Yhteiskunta -lehden numero 4/2019 sisältää artikkeleita ja haastattelun, jotka kertovat alueellista keskittymistä käsitelleistä tutkimuksista. Suomen seitsemän suurimman kaupunkiseudun väestö kasvaa nopeimmin, kun taas pienempien kaupunkien ja maaseudun väestöosuus supistuu. Muutos on kuitenkin verrattain hidasta, ja sille on myös vastavoimia.
Talous & Yhteiskunta -lehden numeron 3/2019 teemana on työ ja terveys. Artikkeleissa tarkastellaan Suomen terveydenhuoltojärjestelmän toimivuutta ja pohditaan mitä voitaisiin oppia Ruotsissa jo tehdyistä terveydenhuollon uudistuksista. Muissa artikkeleissa käsitellään terveyskäyttäytymisen ja työmarkkinamenestyksen yhteyttä, työttömien aktivointia, työikäisten eritasoisia terveyspalveluja, työaikajoustojen vaikutusta terveyteen sekä informaatioteknologian ja tekoälyn käyttöä mielenterveyspalvelujen tukena. Haastateltavana on THL:n tutkimusprofessori Unto Häkkinen. Hänen mielestään sote-uudistus on tehtävä, vaikka se vaatiikin vielä monen yksityiskohdan ratkaisemista.
Opiskelijavalinta ylioppilaskirjoitusten nykyarvosanojen perusteella ei ole täysin perusteltua, todetaan Aalto-ylipiston ja Palkansaajien tutkimuslaitoksen uudessa tutkimuksessa. Ylioppilaskirjoitusten arvosanoilla on pitkän ajan vaikutuksia. Hienojakoisempi arvosteluasteikko tekisi opiskelijavalinnasta nykyistä reilumman.
Esimerkkiperhelaskelmissa tarkastellaan seitsemää kotitaloutta. Laskelmat kuvaavat ansiotulojen, tulonsiirtojen sekä verojen ja veronluonteisten maksujen kehityksen vaikutusta perheiden ostovoimaan. Perheille lasketaan Tilastokeskuksen tietoihin perustuvat perhekohtaiset kulutuskorit, jotka mahdollistavat perhekohtaisten inflaatiovauhtien ja reaalitulokehitysten arvioinnin. Ensi vuonna eläkeläispariskunnan ostovoima kasvaa eniten ja työttömien vähiten. Esimerkkiperhelaskelmia on tehty Palkansaajien tutkimuslaitoksella vuodesta 2009 lähtien.
Palkansaajien tutkimuslaitos ennustaa Suomen talouskasvuksi tänä vuonna 1,3 prosenttia ja ensi vuonna 1,1 prosenttia. Kasvua hidastaa eniten yksityisen kulutuksen kasvun hidastuminen. Toisaalta vienti kasvaa tänä vuonna hieman ennakoitua nopeammin, neljä prosenttia, ja ensi vuonnakin vielä kaksi prosenttia. Tuotannollisten investointien kasvu jatkuu maltillisena, mutta rakentamisen vähentyminen kääntää yksityiset investoinnit kokonaisuutena pieneen laskuun ensi vuonna. Hallituksen vuoteen 2023 mennessä tavoittelemien 75 prosentin työllisyysasteen ja julkisen talouden tasapainon toteutumista on vaikea arvioida, koska nämä tavoitteet on määritelty rakenteellisina ja niiden eri arviointimenetelmät saattavat tuottaa hyvin erilaisia tuloksia.
Suomen palkkataso oli 2015 ylempää eurooppalaista keskitasoa. Suomen suhteellinen asema ei ole juurikaan muuttunut 2010-luvun alun tilanteesta. Hintatason huomioiminen kuitenkin heikentää asemaamme palkkavertailussa. Palkkaerot meillä olivat vertailumaiden pienimpiä ja pysyivät melko samalla tasolla koko tarkastelujakson 2007–2015 ajan. EU-maissa havaittiin erisuuntaista kehitystä palkkaeroissa. Suurin osa palkkojen kokonaisvaihteluista selittyi taustaryhmien sisäisillä palkkaeroilla.
Suomessa toteutettiin vuonna 2005 laaja eläkeuudistus, jossa vanhuuseläkkeen alaikärajaa laskettiin. Tutkimuksessa havaitaan, että ikärajan lasku aikaisti eläkkeelle jäämistä. Kun alaraja laskettiin 65:stä 63:een, myös yleinen eläköitymisikä laski. Taloudellisten kannustimien muutosten vaikutukset eläköitymiseen jäivät paljon heikommiksi alaikärajan muuttamiseen verrattuna. Eläköitymisikään voidaan siis vaikuttaa tehokkaasti ja vähäisin kustannuksin lakisääteistä eläkeikää muuttamalla.
Talous & Yhteiskunta -lehden numeron 2/2019 artikkelit ja haastattelu kertovat tutkimuksista, joita on tehty Suomen Akatemian strategisen tutkimuksen neuvoston hankkeessa "Osaavat työntekijät - menestyvät työmarkkinat". Keskeinen kysymys on, miten sopeudutaan teknologisen kehityksen mukanaan tuomaan työn murrokseen.
Palkansaajien tutkimuslaitos on alentanut Suomen talouskasvun ennustettaan kuluvalle vuodelle viimesyksyisestä 2,3 prosentista 1,4 prosenttiin. Kansainvälisen talouden näkymien epävarmuus hidastaa Suomen talouskasvua etenkin kuluvana vuonna. Jos pahimmat uhkakuvat jäävät toteutumatta, kasvu piristyy ensi vuonna hivenen 1,5 prosenttiin. Viime vuonna pysähtynyt viennin kasvu elpyy, ja myös yksityisen kulutuksen kasvu tukee talouskasvua. Suomi on sopeutunut ammattirakenteiden murrokseen yleisesti ottaen hyvin, mutta etenkin perusasteen koulutuksen varassa olevien varttuneiden työntekijöiden työllistämiseen voi olla vaikea löytää työkaluja.
The Labour Institute for Economic Research has lowered its forecast of Finland’s economic growth for the current year from last autumn’s 2.4 per cent to 1.4 per cent. Uncertainty in the international economic outlook will slow Finland’s economic growth, particularly this year. If the worst threats do not materialise, growth will pick up slightly next year to 1.5 per cent. Export growth, which came to a halt last year, will recover and growth in private consumption growth will also provide support to economic growth. In general, Finland has adjusted well to occupational restructuring, but it may be difficult to find means to employ older workers who only have basic education.
Palkansaajien tutkimuslaitos on alentanut Suomen talouskasvun ennustettaan kuluvalle vuodelle vii-mesyksyisestä 2,3 prosentista 1,4 prosenttiin. Kansainvälisen talouden näkymien epävarmuus hidastaa Suomen talouskasvua etenkin kuluvana vuonna. Jos pahimmat uhkakuvat jäävät toteutumatta, kasvu piristyy ensi vuonna hivenen 1,5 prosenttiin. Viime vuonna pysähtynyt viennin kasvu elpyy, ja myös yksityisen kulutuksen kasvu tukee talouskasvua. Suomi on sopeutunut ammattirakenteiden murrokseen yleisesti ottaen hyvin, mutta etenkin perusasteen koulutuksen varassa olevien varttuneiden työntekijöiden työllistämiseen voi olla vaikea löytää työkaluja.
Tämä PT Policy Brief tuo esiin havaintoja Suomen tuloerojen kehityksestä 1990-luvun puolivälin jälkeen. Tällä ajanjaksolla tuloerot ovat kasvaneet. Aluksi kasvu oli hyvin nopeaa, kunnes kehitys tasaantui finanssikriisin myötä. Tämä näkyy tarkasteltaessa kehitystä viiden vuoden ajalta lasketuissa keskituloissa. Taloudessa on tuloliikkuvuutta, ts. tulot vaihtelevat vuodesta toiseen. Havaitsemme, että liikkuvuus tuloportaikossa on vähentynyt. Samalla kun tuloerot ovat kääntyneet kasvuun, on tuloverotuksen progressiivisuus alentunut. Valtion tuloveron alennusten ohella tähän on erityisesti tulojakauman huipulla vaikuttanut pääomatulojen voimakas kasvu.
Julkisen budjetin sopeuttamistoimia toteutetaan usein etuuksien indeksileikkauksina tai tuloverojen korotuksina. Näillä toimenpiteillä on tulonjako- ja työllisyysvaikutuksia. Tämä PT Policy Brief esittää SISU-mallilla lasketut vaikutukset käytettävissä oleviin tuloihin tuloluokittain, jos valtion tuloveroasteikkoa korotettaisiin 0,4 prosenttiyksiköllä tai jos kansaneläkeindeksiä leikattaisiin. Molemmissa toimenpiteissä budjetti vahvistuisi 180 miljoonalla eurolla mutta tulonjakovaikutukset ovat huomattavan erilaiset. Oheisen kuvion mukaisesti indeksileikkaukset kohdistuvat voimakkaasti alempiin tulonsaajakymmenyksiin, kun taas tuloveron korotukset kohdistuvat ylempiin kymmenyksiin. Kun huomioidaan muutosten aiheuttamat työllisyysvaikutukset, kokonaiskuva muuttuu vain hieman.
Makeisvero otettiin käyttöön makeisille ja jäätelölle vuoden 2011 alusta. Virallinen perustelu oli kerätä verotuloja, mutta poliittisessa keskustelussa selvä tavoite oli ohjata kulutusta terveellisempään suuntaan. Makeisvero nosti selvästi makeisten kuluttajahintoja, mutta se ei vaikuttanut makeisten kysyntään. Toisaalta vuonna 2014 virvoitusjuomavero nousi sokerillisille juomille, mutta sokerittomat juomat jäivät alemmalle verotasolle. Tämä muutos alensi sokerillisten juomien kulutusta ja ohjasi kulutusta sokerittomiin juomiin. Onnistunut terveellisiin tuotteisiin ohjailu näyttääkin vaativan riittävän läheisen terveellisempien tuotteiden ryhmän olemassaolon.
Talous & Yhteiskunta-lehden "Suuren vaalinumeron" 1/2019 jutut käsittelevät aiheita, jotka voivat nousta esille kevään vaalikeskusteluissa. Pääpaino on ilmastonmuutoksessa: haastateltavana on Maailman ilmatieteen järjestön pääsihteeri Petteri Taalas, ja kahdessa eri artikkelissa pohditaan metsien hiilinielujen ja yhdyskuntarakenteen merkitystä pyrittäessä hillitsemään ilmaston lämpenemistä. Muut artikkelit käsittelevät tuloerojen kasvua, sotea, eläkkeiden riittävyyttä, maahanmuuttajien työllistymistä, EMUn uudistamista, eurooppalaista palkkavertailua ja kestävyysvajeen sopimattomuutta talouspolitiikan suunnitteluun.
Raportissa tehdään laskelmia korkeakouluopiskelijoille suunnatun opintotuen tulorajojen muutosten vaikutuksista. Opintotuen tulorajojen tavoite on, että suurituloisille opiskelijoille ei makseta opintotukea. Samalla nykyiset tulorajat kuitenkin estävät opiskelijoita tienaamasta niin paljon kuin he haluaisivat. Laskelmissa hyödynnetään simulaatiomallia, jonka avulla voidaan arvioida miten opiskelijoiden tulojakauma muuttuisi eri vaihtoehtoisissa opintotuen tulorajojen muutoksissa. Tulosten mukaan nykyisiä tulorajaoja voisi nostaa esimerkiksi 50 prosentilla, jolloin yhdeksän kuukauden ajan opintotukea nostavan opiskelijan vuosituloraja olisi 18 000 euroa nykyisen noin 12 000 euron sijaan. Laskelmien mukaan tällöin päästäisiin opintotuen nykyisten tulorajojen haitallisista tulovaikutuksista laajasti ottaen eroon, koska vain harva opiskelija tienaisi tätä tulorajaa enempää. Ottaen huomioon verotulot ja tulonsiirrot tämä vaihtoehto lisäisi julkisyhteisöjen nettotuloja arviolta 5,9 miljoonaa euroa vuodessa.
Tässä tutkimuksessa tutkitaan diskreettien valintajoukkojen vaikutusta palkansaajien työn tarjonnan reagoimiseen tuloveroihin. Artikkelin empiirisessä osiossa hyödynnetään opintotuen tulorajojen aiheuttamaa tuloveroissa tapahtuvaa äkillistä nousua, ja reformia, jossa tulorajoja nostettiin. Tulosten mukaan vuoden 2008 reformi, jossa tulorajaa nostettiin 9 opintotukikuukautta nostaneille 9000 eurosta 12000 euroon, aiheutti merkittäviä muutoksia opiskelijoiden tulojakaumassa. Tulojakauma siirtyi korkeammalle tasolle lähtien noin 2000 euron tuloista. Koska opiskelijoiden verojärjestelmässä ei tapahtunut muutoksia näin alhaisella tasolla vuoden 2008 reformissa, eivät työn taloustieteen normaalit mallit pysty selittämään tätä siirtymää. Artikkelissa esitetään empiirisiä lisätuloksia, teoreettisia argumentteja ja simulaatiomalli, jotka kaikki viittaavat siihen, että tuloksen pystyy selittämään diskreettien valintajoukkojen mallilla. Lisäksi artikkelissa esitetään, että verotuksen hyvinvointitappiot voivat olla suuremmat kuin empiirisesti estimoidut, jos valintajoukot ovat diskreettejä, mutta niiden ajatellaan olevan jatkuvia.
Talous & Yhteiskunta -lehden uuteen numeroon sisältyy artikkeleita veropohjasta ja -vajeesta, liikenteen veroista, naisista tulojakauman huipulla, työllisyyden kasvusta, mikrosimulaatiomalleista ja digitalisaatiosta. Lehdessä on myös Helsingin yliopiston professori Uskali Mäen haastattelu, jossa käsitellään tieteenfilosofista näkökulmaa taloustieteeseen.
Tutkimuksessa rakennettiin uusia makrotaloudellisia malleja PT:n ennustetyötä varten. Malleilla tehtiin ennusteita vuosille 2017 ja 2018. Mallien BKT-ennuste vuodelle 2017 on 3,1 prosenttia (vrt. toteutunut 2,8 prosenttia) ja vuodelle 2018 1,8 prosenttia (vrt. PT:n 11.9 ennuste 2,7 prosenttia).
The boom becomes less pronounced but continues. This year, the growth of exports will not reach the peak figures of last year but the growth will to some extent pick up speed again in next year. The quickly decreased unemployment rate will continue to drop. An analysis of long-term employment growth by age group shows that positive employment growth is concentrated on the one hand on younger employees and, on the other hand, older employees, whereas the employment rate of men aged 25–34 is growing smaller. The government budget policy is too expansive, given the economic situation.
This report explores the significance of border towns and spaces for strengthening responses to young people on the move. In particular it explores the linkages of young people to local service centres with the aim of further developing service, protection, and support strategies for migrant children in border areas across the region. The report is based on a small-scale fieldwork study in the border towns of Chipata and Katete in Zambia conducted in July 2023. Border towns and spaces provide a rich source of information about issues related to the informal or irregular movement of young people across borders, including smuggling and trafficking. They can help build a picture of the nature and scope of the type of movement young migrants undertake and also the forms of protection available to them. Border towns and spaces also provide a lens through which we can better understand the vulnerabilities of young people on the move and, critically, the strategies they use to navigate challenges and access support.
The findings in this report highlight some of the key factors shaping the experiences and vulnerabilities of young people on the move – particularly their proximity to border spaces and how this affects the risks that they face. The report describes strategies that young people on the move employ to remain below the radar of visibility to state and non-state actors due to fear of arrest, detention, and deportation while also trying to keep themselves safe and access support in border towns. These strategies of (in)visibility provide a way to protect themselves yet at the same time also heighten some of the risks young people face as their vulnerabilities are not always recognised by those who could offer support.
In this report we show that the realities and challenges of life and migration in this region and in Zambia need to be better understood for support to be strengthened and tuned to meet the specific needs of young people on the move. This includes understanding the role of state and non-state stakeholders, the impact of laws and policies and, critically, the experiences of the young people themselves. We provide recommendations for immediate action, recommendations for programming to support young people on the move in the two towns that would reduce risk for young people in this area, and recommendations for longer term policy advocacy.
United Nations World Oceans Day 2024; June 8th " Awaken new dephts".Christina Parmionova
The program will expand our perspectives and appreciation for our blue planet, build new foundations for our relationship to the ocean, and ignite a wave of action toward necessary change.
How To Cultivate Community Affinity Throughout The Generosity JourneyAggregage
This session will dive into how to create rich generosity experiences that foster long-lasting relationships. You’ll walk away with actionable insights to redefine how you engage with your supporters — emphasizing trust, engagement, and community!
RFP for Reno's Community Assistance CenterThis Is Reno
Property appraisals completed in May for downtown Reno’s Community Assistance and Triage Centers (CAC) reveal that repairing the buildings to bring them back into service would cost an estimated $10.1 million—nearly four times the amount previously reported by city staff.
Indira awas yojana housing scheme renamed as PMAYnarinav14
Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) played a significant role in addressing rural housing needs in India. It emerged as a comprehensive program for affordable housing solutions in rural areas, predating the government’s broader focus on mass housing initiatives.
Jennifer Schaus and Associates hosts a complimentary webinar series on The FAR in 2024. Join the webinars on Wednesdays and Fridays at noon, eastern.
Recordings are on YouTube and the company website.
https://www.youtube.com/@jenniferschaus/videos
Bharat Mata - History of Indian culture.pdfBharat Mata
Bharat Mata Channel is an initiative towards keeping the culture of this country alive. Our effort is to spread the knowledge of Indian history, culture, religion and Vedas to the masses.
Food safety, prepare for the unexpected - So what can be done in order to be ready to address food safety, food Consumers, food producers and manufacturers, food transporters, food businesses, food retailers can ...
AHMR is an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed online journal created to encourage and facilitate the study of all aspects (socio-economic, political, legislative and developmental) of Human Mobility in Africa. Through the publication of original research, policy discussions and evidence research papers AHMR provides a comprehensive forum devoted exclusively to the analysis of contemporaneous trends, migration patterns and some of the most important migration-related issues.
karnataka housing board schemes . all schemesnarinav14
The Karnataka government, along with the central government’s Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), offers various housing schemes to cater to the diverse needs of citizens across the state. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the major housing schemes available in the Karnataka housing board for both urban and rural areas in 2024.
2. PALKANSAAJIEN TUTKIMUSLAITOS • TYÖPAPEREITA
LABOUR INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH • DISCUSSION PAPERS
Helsinki 2012
277
Outsourcing,
Occupational
Restructuring,
and Employee
Well-being
Is There a Silver
Lining?
Petri Böckerman*
Mika Maliranta**
This study was funded by the Finnish Work Environment Fund. This paper is also part of the project (No.
134057) financed by the Academy of Finland. Data construction and decomposition computations were
conducted at Statistics Finland, following the terms and conditions of confidentiality. To obtain access to the
data, please contact the Research Laboratory of the Business Structures Unit, Statistics Finland, FI-00022,
Finland. We are grateful to Antti Kauhanen for very useful comments. The usual disclaimer applies.
* Labour Institute for Economic Research, petri.bockerman@labour.fi
** ETLA – The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy, mika.maliranta@etla.fi
An identical version has been published in the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy discussion
paper series (#1271).
3. TYÖPAPEREITA 277
DISCUSSION PAPERS 277
Palkansaajien tutkimuslaitos
Pitkänsillanranta 3 A
00530 Helsinki
Puh. 09−2535 7330
Faksi 09−2535 7332
www.labour.fi
ISBN 978–952–209–103–1 (pdf)
ISSN 1795–1801 (pdf)
4. Tiivistelmä
Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan toimintojen ulkoistamisen ja tehtävärakenteiden muutosten vaiku-
tuksia työntekijöiden itsensä kokemiin työoloihin. Työoloja mitattiin useilla eri mittareilla. Tulok-
set perustuvat poikkeuksellisen rikkaaseen yhdistettyyn aineistoon. Tarkastelu osoittaa, että ul-
koistaminen ulkomaille lisää työtehtävien häviämistä yrityksissä. Tämän ulkomaille ulkoistamisen
suoran vaikutuksen lisäksi eriteltiin myös ulkoistamisen epäsuoria vaikutuksia niihin työntekijöi-
hin, jotka onnistuvat säilyttämään työpaikkansa sellaisessa yrityksessä, joka on ulkoistanut toi-
mintojaan. Ulkoistamisen epäsuorat vaikutukset ovat tulosten valossa suoria vaikutuksia huomat-
tavasti heikompia. Tämän lisäksi epäsuorat vaikutukset työntekijöiden kokemaan hyvinvointiin
eivät ole yksioikoisen negatiivisia. Ulkoistaminen toisiin teollisuusmaihin esim. parantaa selvästi
suomalaisten työntekijöiden mahdollisuuksia edetä urallaan.
5. 1Outsourcing, Occupational Restructuring, and Employee Well-being:
Is There a Silver Lining?
Contents
Abstract 2
1 Introduction 3
2 Conceptual framework 4
3 Data 8
4 Empirical specifications 11
5 Results 12
6 Conclusions 20
Appendix 22
References 26
6. ETLA Keskusteluaiheita – Discussion Papers No 12712
Abstract
This paper explores the effects of outsourcing on employee well-being through the use of the Finnish
linked employer-employee data. The direct negative effect of outsourcing is attributable to greater job de-
struction and worker outflow. In terms of perceived well-being, the winners in international outsourcing
are those who are capable of performing interactive tasks (i.e., managers, professionals and experts), es-
pecially when offshoring involves closer connections to other developed countries.
Key words: globalization, outsourcing, offshoring, working conditions, job satisfaction, subjective well-
being
JEL: J28, F23
7. 3Outsourcing, Occupational Restructuring, and Employee Well-being:
Is There a Silver Lining?
1 Introduction
Outsourcing, especially international outsourcing (i.e., offshoring), has become the prima-
ry method that firms use to change their production structure across developed countries.
Blinder (2006) claims that offshoring constitutes the next industrial revolution. Malone et al.
(2011) argue that the work in developed countries will be ‘atomized’ into ever-smaller pieces.
Offshoring has already led to the substantial vertical fragmentation of production. Linden et
al. (2007) describe this process in the case of the production of Apple’s iPod, and Ali-Yrkkö et
al. (2011) discuss it in the context of the value chain of a Nokia smartphone. Offshoring is like-
ly to entail occupational restructuring within firms. Consequently, offshoring increases the
pace of job destruction and worker outflow, at least for those types of tasks that can be easily
and profitably outsourced. Outsourcing, in general, and offshoring, in particular, can there-
fore be expected to have negative effects on perceived employee well-being, especially among
employees who perform “offshorable” tasks. However, evidence of the effects of outsourcing
on well-being among employees who are capable of keeping their jobs (i.e., stayers) is sparse,
despite the importance of ongoing changes.11
This paper contributes to the literature in multiple ways. First, we use a comprehensive set of
firm-level measures of offshoring, whereas much of the earlier literature has depended on in-
dustry-level proxies for offshoring. Macro data may suffer considerably from aggregation bias,
which hinders the identification of the effects (Geishecker 2008). Second, using the firm-level
data, we distinguish between different forms of outsourcing and examine their effects in dif-
ferent dimensions. We also analyze the effects of insourcing (i.e., the opposite of outsourcing).
Third, through the use of the linked employer-employee data (including information on occu-
pations and various indicators), we gauge different aspects of occupational restructuring with-
in firms, including the destruction of tasks, characteristics (i.e., the interactive or non-routine
nature) of tasks, and associated worker outflows between tasks within firms (intra-firm mobil-
ity) and between firms (inter-firm mobility). In conducting this analysis, we identify the dis-
tinct mechanisms triggered by outsourcing that are relevant for employee well-being. Fourth,
using the linked employer-employee data, we merge the firm-level measures of outsourcing
and intra-firm occupational restructuring with a host of employee-level indicators of well-be-
ing. In general, the literature has focused on only a few specific aspects of well-being, such as
perceived uncertainty. However, different aspects of well-being are likely to produce different
effects. The subsequent analysis of multiple outcomes provides a comprehensive picture of the
potential effects. Fifth, the data cover the service sector. Earlier research has focused on man-
ufacturing, but the share of manufacturing jobs has declined considerably in developed coun-
tries, and the manufacturing sector may not be a representative part of the economy. There-
fore, this extension of the research allows us to determine whether the earlier findings are spe-
cific to manufacturing.
We analyze the effects of outsourcing on employee well-being in the Finnish context. The
pressures of globalization are particularly pronounced in Finland because it is a small, open
economy with a high level of wages and benefits. In recent years, considerable changes have
occurred in Finland’s trade patterns. For example, the share of non-OECD countries in the
total Finnish manufacturing trade increased by roughly ten percentage points during 1999–
1
See Crinò (2009) and Eriksson (2010) for surveys of the labor market effects of multinational firms, internationalization, and off-
shoring. For example, Østhus and Mastekaasa (2010) study the impact of downsizing on sickness absence.
8. 4
2004. Within the manufacturing sector, the electronics industry has rapidly increased its out-
sourcing in the past ten years. Furthermore, the Finnish labor market has been in a state of
continuous turbulence for decades (Ilmakunnas and Maliranta 2011). On average, more than
ten percent of all jobs in the Finnish business sector are eliminated annually, and this trend
has been stable in recent years. Worker inflow and outflow rates have been more than two-
fold. Despite increasing globalization and turbulent labor markets, however, according to the
Eurobarometer,2
life satisfaction in Finland has been at a high level with a stable or increasing
trend (see Lehto and Sutela 2009). This is not to say, of course, that globalization, with its vari-
ous forms and associated labor market effects, has been irrelevant for well-being, especially for
those who are most vulnerable to its impacts. However, offshoring may play an important role
in reshaping occupational structures in a manner that not only increases the labor productiv-
ity and competitiveness of the economy but may also provide more satisfying job characteris-
tics (e.g., more interactive and less routine tasks) for employees who are able to keep their jobs
in the process of restructuring.
The negative effects of offshoring on employee well-being have gained considerable attention
in the literature and, especially, in public debate. However, broader considerations suggest that
offshoring is likely to have a positive effect for at least two reasons. First, offshoring is part
of the restructuring process that involves an increase in the share of high value-added occu-
pations in the economy. We document direct evidence for this because offshoring increases
the share of knowledge workers in the affected firms. Restructuring also fuels the economic
growth that is found to increase happiness in developed countries (Sacks et al. 2010; Steven-
son and Wolfers 2008). Second, our results point out that the offshoring-triggered restructur-
ing mechanism increases the share of occupations in the affected firms that are not only well
paid but are also fulfilling because the perceived well-being derived from them is high in sev-
eral dimensions.
This paper proceeds as follows. We first describe the conceptual framework and the linked
data. An overview of the empirical specifications is provided next. The estimation results are
then presented and a summary concludes.
2 Conceptual framework
Dimensions of Outsourcing and Its Links to Employee Well-being. Figure 1 illustrates the con-
ceptual framework of the analysis. The ultimate aim is to understand how outsourcing at the
firm level affects the well-being of staying employees. We pay particular attention to the role
of occupational reorganization within firms as a conveying mechanism between outsourcing
and employee well-being. Furthermore, we emphasize the fact that each of the three parts of
the analysis – outsourcing, occupational restructuring and well-being – has diverse dimen-
sions that warrant close scrutiny. Figure 1 reveals how the combined data (described in de-
tail in the next section) provide an exceptional opportunity to examine the three closely inter-
linked parts and their multiple dimensions. Rich data sets on outsourcing and employee well-
being and careful measurement of the different aspects of occupational restructuring, using a
comprehensive set of indicators, enable us to disentangle the mechanisms of outsourcing and
perceived well-being. This allows us to examine whether the negative effects of outsourcing
2
See http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/index_en.htm.
9. 5Outsourcing, Occupational Restructuring, and Employee Well-being:
Is There a Silver Lining?
(for employees who are made redundant) might be accompanied by positive, counterbalanc-
ing impacts.
The negative effects of outsourcing on employee well-being are evident. By definition, out-
sourcing means that certain tasks are eliminated (i.e., moved to other local firms or abroad);
thus, the demand for this type of labor in the firm decreases. Arguably, a substantial propor-
tion of the negative impact on well-being originates from the expected losses of firm-specif-
ic human capital, quasi-rents (a worker expects to earn less in the future) and costs incurred
by the search for a new job. It should also be noted that the workers who manage to keep their
jobs might experience a decrease in perceived well-being. First, the decision to outsource
might indicate further actions of a similar sort; thus, the recent outsourcing may increase un-
certainty about the future. Second, a reduction in personnel may entail decreased prospects
for promotion, a weakened bargaining position and voice in the organization, and an increased
sense of discrimination because only some employees are subject to outsourcing. Third, out-
sourcing is associated with downsizing in some tasks, with the result that work intensity might
be higher. All of these circumstances suggest that the expected effect on satisfaction level is
negative.
FIGURE 1. DIMENSIONS AND LINKS BETWEEN OUTSOURCING AND
EMPLOYEE WELL-BEING.
DIMENSIONS
1.Job satisfaction
2.Uncertainty
3.Harm
4.Hazard
5.No promotion
6.No voice
7.Discrimination
8.Work intensity
TYPE
1.Domestic
outsourcing
2.Offshoring
3.Insourcing
DESTINATION
1.Developed
countries
2.Developing
countries
TYPE
1.Task creation and
destruction
2.Task hiring and
separation
3.Internal hiring
and separation
4.Excess task
reallocation
5.Worker churning
6.Change in the
share of
interactive, non-
routine and
knowledge tasks
OUTSOURCING WELL-BEINGOCCUPATIONAL
RESTRUCTURING
Firm-level Individual-level
International
Sourcing Survey
(ISS)
Quality of Work
Life Survey (QWLS)
The Finnish
Longitudinal
Employer-
Employee Data
(FLEED)
AnalysisData
DIMENSIONS
1.Job satisfaction
2.Uncertainty
3.Harm
4.Hazard
5.No promotion
6.No voice
7.Discrimination
8.Work intensity
TYPE
1.Domestic
outsourcing
2.Offshoring
3.Insourcing
DESTINATION
1.Developed
countries
2.Developing
countries
TYPE
1.Task creation and
destruction
2.Task hiring and
separation
3.Internal hiring
and separation
4.Excess task
reallocation
5.Worker churning
6.Change in the
share of
interactive, non-
routine and
knowledge tasks
OUTSOURCING WELL-BEINGOCCUPATIONAL
RESTRUCTURING
Firm-level Individual-level
International
Sourcing Survey
(ISS)
Quality of Work
Life Survey (QWLS)
The Finnish
Longitudinal
Employer-
Employee Data
(FLEED)
AnalysisData
Figure 1 Dimensions and links between outsourcing and employee well-being
10. 6
The link between outsourcing and well-being is more ambiguous when the variability in out-
sourcing, the heterogeneity of employees, and the different aspects of well-being are fully con-
sidered. In other words, outsourcing is likely to have diverse effects on different dimensions
of well-being. The effects may also vary significantly between different types of surviving em-
ployees because the adjustment does not treat all employees equally. Some employees may
gain in the process, while others may lose. This potentially obscures the general relationship
between outsourcing and perceived well-being. For instance, knowledge workers may benefit
disproportionately from offshoring because it creates opportunities for them to utilize their
skills.
The effects may also differ by the geographical destination of outsourcing. Surviving employ-
ees may perceive offshoring to developing countries as a sign of weakness in the firm’s posi-
tion in the market. Moreover, the quality of jobs is drastically lower in developing countries
than in Finland, which constitutes a potential threat to domestic labor standards. Indeed,
there is some previous support for the heterogeneity of the effects of offshoring. Geishecker
et al. (2011) reported that outsourcing to high-wage countries significantly improves the per-
ceived level of job security among German employees, but offshoring to developing countries
has the opposite effect. Furthermore, the underlying motivation for offshoring may have im-
plications for its subsequent well-being effects. In particular, it is reasonable to argue that off-
shoring should have more negative effects on employee well-being if the activity is motivated
by the reduction of labor costs rather than by opening new markets for products and servic-
es that would benefit both the firm and its workforce in the long run.3
The bottom line of the
discussion about the potential heterogeneity of the effects is that there is an apparent need to
estimate specifications that allow for flexible effects.
Measurement of Occupational Restructuring. A firm is a collection of jobs with different tasks.
Occupational restructuring is the result of task creation and destruction in the firm. We gauge
various aspects of intra-firm occupational restructuring by applying the standard measures of
job and worker flows at the level of firms instead of at the level of a sector or an industry, as
is typically done in the literature (Burgess et al. 2000; Davis and Haltiwanger 1999). To meas-
ure task creation and destruction, we identify the number of workers in different tasks in the
firm using the ISCO-88 classification of occupations at the 1-digit level.4
The groups are as
follows:
1. Managers
2. Professionals
3. Technicians and associate professionals
4. Clerks
5. Service and care workers and shop and market sales workers
6. Craft and related trade workers
7. Plant and machine operators and assemblers
8. Elementary occupations.
3
Ali-Yrkkö (2007) has reported that cost savings have been an important motivation behind outsourcing for the Finnish companies.
4
Skilled agricultural and fishery workers are excluded from the analysis because we focus solely on the non-farm business sector.
Our general approach resembles the approaches of Bauer and Bender (2004) and Askenazy and Moreno Galbis (2007), who also study
intra-firm organizational changes.
11. 7Outsourcing, Occupational Restructuring, and Employee Well-being:
Is There a Silver Lining?
Task creation (TC) in firm i is the sum of positive employment changes in the tasks (j=1, …, 8)
between year t and t-1, , , where denotes the difference operator and the
superscript “+” indicates that Lijt
> Lij, t–1
. Task destruction (TD) is defined analogously:
, where the superscript “-” indicates that Lijt
< Lij, t–1
. The net employment
change in firm i is . Therefore, a firm may experience simul-
taneous task creation and destruction. Following the literature on job flows, a suitable indica-
tor of such actions is excess task reallocation (ETR): ETRit
= TCit
+ TDit
– NETit
.
The measures of worker flows provide a useful extension to the analysis of occupational re-
structuring. It holds that NETit
= TCit
– TDit
= Hit
– Sit
, where H (hired) denotes the number
of employees who were hired for the current task in year t, and S (separated) indicates the
number of employees who left their task in year t. The hired employees consist of two groups:
internally hired (IH) employees, who worked for the same firm (but in a different task) in
year t-1, and externally hired (EH) employees, who did not work for the same firm in year t-1.
Analogously, the separations can be divided into internally separated (IS) and externally sepa-
rated (ES). Thus, it holds that NETit
= TCit
– TDit
= Hit
– Sit
= IHit
+ EHit
– ISit
– ESit
. By defini-
tion, IHit
= ISit
. To measure the amount of “excessive” worker turnover in the firm, we can use
the churning flow measure: CFit
= Hit
+ Sit
– (TCit
+ TDit
).
Following the convention in the literature on job and worker flows, all flow measures are
converted into rates by dividing them by the average employment of the firm in year t and
t-1 (AL); .5
In the empirical analysis,
we do not use annual changes (i.e., changes between t-1 and t); instead, we use a six-year win-
dow (i.e., changes between 2000 and 2006). This choice is dictated by the structure and con-
tent of our data. Furthermore, longer differences are useful for capturing time-consuming and
gradual mechanisms, such as those examined in this study, especially when the data contain
some short-run “noise” (Griliches and Hausman 1986).
In addition to the measures of task flow rates, we also apply indicators that gauge the share of
interactive and non-routine tasks in the firms. By measuring the changes in these indicators
between 2000 and 2006, we can explore interesting characteristics of occupational restructur-
ing at a more detailed level. This opportunity exists because the indicators of the shares of in-
teractive and non-routine tasks are defined by using the ISCO-88 classification of the occupa-
tions at the 2-digit level, following Becker et al. (2009).6
Non-routine tasks involve non-repet-
itive work methods and creative problem solving; they cannot be programmed as simple rules.
Interactive tasks require personal interaction with co-workers or third parties. This categori-
zation of different occupations in terms of their content is related to the measures of outsourc-
ing because routine and non-interactive tasks are most easily offshored (Baldwin 2006; Beck-
er et al. 2009). A more straightforward measure of occupational restructuring consists of the
change in the share of knowledge workers between two points in time. In the empirical anal-
ysis, “knowledge workers” comprise a broad category, including the first four occupational
5
A useful property of using the average employment as a denominator is that the growth rates are symmetric around the zero
(Davis and Haltiwanger 1999).
6
Nilsson Hakkala et al. (2009) use the same classification of occupations and the same information on the skill content of tasks.
8
1
j
it ijtj
TC L
= +
=
= ∆∑ ∆
8
1
j
it ijtj
TD L
= −
=
= ∆∑ 8 8
, 11 1
j j
it ijt ij tj j
NET L L
= =
−= =
= −∑ ∑
( ) ( )8 8
, 1 , 11 1
2 2
j j
it ijt ij t it i tj j
AL L L L L
= =
− −= =
= + = +∑ ∑
12. 8
groups (i.e., managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, and clerks) be-
cause, in most workplaces, technicians and associate professionals as well as clerks work in
close co-operation with professionals.7
Therefore, in the empirical specifications, we use the following eleven measures of occupa-
tional restructuring: 1) task destruction rate, 2) task separation rate, 3) external task separa-
tion rate, 4) internal task separation rate, which is equal to the internal task hiring rate, 5) ex-
cess task reallocation rate, 6) churning flow rate, 7) the change in the share of interactive tasks,
8) the change in the share of non-routine tasks, 9) task creation rate, 10) task hiring rate, and
11) the change in the share of knowledge workers.
3 Data
The analysis is based on rich, linked data that combine three different data sources (see the
bottom panels of Figure 1). Each source has substantial merits for the study of the effects of
outsourcing.
International Sourcing Survey. To measure firms’ outsourcing activities, we use a firm-level
survey, the International Sourcing Survey (ISS) of Statistics Finland (SF), conducted in 2009
(see Statistics Denmark et al. 2008). The questions on this survey refer to domestic outsourc-
ing and offshoring during the period 2001–2006 and cover the non-financial business sector
(NACE, sections C to I and K). The focus of the ISS was on large enterprises because multi-
national enterprises are considered key players, particularly in offshoring. A random sample
of smaller firms (50–99 employees) was also analyzed, but the coverage of the survey on larg-
er firms (at least 100 employees) is much more complete. The response rate of the survey was
80%. The final data cover 1,400 firms. Approximately 300 of these firms have a workforce of
50–99 employees, and other firms in the survey have at least 100 employees. Because of the
framework of the questionnaire, the data cover a substantial proportion of the total employ-
ment in the Finnish business sector. For example, in the manufacturing sector, the ISS cover-
age is 60%. In the service sector, the coverage is 46% of the firms that employ at least 5 per-
sons (Maliranta 2011).
Offshoring is defined in the ISS as the total or partial movement of business functions (core or
support business functions) currently performed in-house or domestically outsourced by the
resident enterprise to either non-affiliated (external suppliers) or affiliated enterprises located
abroad (Statistics Denmark et al. 2008, p. 13). All outsourcing indicators used in the following
analysis measure the outsourcing of a firm’s core business functions because the outsourcing
of these functions is likely to have an effect on surviving employees’ well-being.8
The ISS also
includes information about domestic outsourcing, the geographical destinations of offshoring,
the firms’ motivations for offshoring and information on insourcing (i.e., the opposite of off-
shoring) of core business functions.
7
Hopp et al. (2009) consider specific aspects of white-collar tasks at the individual, team and organization levels.
8
The definition of core business function is the production of final goods or services intended for the market or for third parties
that are conducted by the enterprise and yield income. In most cases, the core business function equals the primary activity of the
enterprise. It may also include other (secondary) activities if the enterprise considers these to be part of its core functions (Statistics
Denmark et al. 2008, p. 13).
13. 9Outsourcing, Occupational Restructuring, and Employee Well-being:
Is There a Silver Lining?
Finnish Linked Employer-Employee Data. The second configuration of data that we use in the
analysis is the Finnish Longitudinal Employer-Employee Data (FLEED). These data are con-
structed from a number of different registers on individuals and firms that are maintained by
SF. They contain information from Employment Statistics, which records each employee’s em-
ployer during the last week of each year. FLEED are primarily used to measure occupational
restructuring in firms using the measures of task flows proposed by Maliranta (2009, 2011).
The measures of occupational restructuring are based on the ISCO-88 classification at the
1-digit level (Maliranta 2009, 2011), as described earlier.9
One important advantage of these
measures is that, by design, they are able to take into account the intensity of restructuring. In
contrast, the measures of outsourcing from the ISS are binary indicators.
Quality of Work Life Survey. The third set of data that we use is the latest edition (2008) of the
Quality of Work Life Survey (QWLS) of SF to measure employee well-being (Lehto and Sute-
la 2009). The QWLS provides a representative sample of Finnish wage and salary earners (the
self-employed are excluded). The initial sample for this survey is derived from a monthly labor
force survey (LFS) by SF, for which a random sample of the working-age population is selected
for telephone interviews. The representative sample of employees in the QWLS provides a sig-
nificant advantage over previous studies, which have focused on a few manufacturing indus-
tries or single firms. The estimates for certain sectors and firms could be subject to selection
bias if the unobserved factors that determine whether employees choose to work in the sector
or firm also influence their perceived well-being.
The 2008 QWLS was based on the LFS respondents in March and April who were 15–64 years
old and had a normal weekly working time of at least ten hours. 6,499 individuals were select-
ed for the QWLS sample and invited to participate in a personal face-to-face interview. Of this
sample, 4,392 persons participated (approximately 68%) (Lehto and Sutela 2009), which was
a very high response rate (68%) for a complex and burdensome face-to-face survey. The aver-
age length of the interviews was 66 minutes. Face-to-face interviews ensure reliable answers
to almost all questions. Due to missing information on some variables for some employees,
the final sample size of the QWLS included approximately 4,300 observations (~30% of these
cover the public sector, which is not included in our analysis). The QWLS is supplemented
with information from the LFS and several registers maintained by SF. For example, informa-
tion about the educational level of employees originates from the Register of Completed Edu-
cation and Degrees.
We used several variables to capture employee well-being, based on the QWLS. Some of these
measures were general measures of well-being at work, such as job satisfaction, while other
variables captured more specific aspects of employee well-being, such as perceived work in-
tensity. Job satisfaction was measured on a four-point Likert scale. Negative job aspects were
measured according to Böckerman and Ilmakunnas (2008). For perceived uncertainty, the
respondents stated whether certain aspects were insecurity factors, including the threat of
temporary dismissal and the threat of unemployment. Perceived harms were rated on a five-
point scale, with the highest category corresponding to an employee’s perception that a certain
working condition was ‘very much’ an adverse factor in the workplace. Harms included heat,
cold, and dust, among others. For perceived hazards, the most serious of three possibilities was
9
Maliranta (2011) provides detailed descriptive evidence on the roles of occupational restructuring in the context of the Finnish
business sector.
14. 10
the respondent’s designation of a particular workplace feature as ‘a distinct hazard’. Hazards
included accident risk, strain injury risk, and work exhaustion risk, among others. Respons-
es to the questions about adverse working conditions were aggregated by creating a dummy
variable equal to one if there was at least one clearly adverse factor (Harm), a dummy varia-
ble equal to one if there was at least one distinct hazard (Hazard), and a dummy variable for at
least one insecurity factor (Uncertainty).1010
These formulations were not particularly sensi-
tive to potential measurement error in the self-reported measures of working conditions. Fur-
thermore, we used indicators for poor promotion prospects, lacking a voice in the workplace,
and experiencing at least one type of discrimination. Finally, we captured perceived work in-
tensity by using the respondent’s agreement with the statement, ‘Work pressure increases sick-
ness absence’.
Matching. Matching these three data sources is possible because all of the data sets that we use
contain the same unique identifiers for firms and persons, maintained by SF. This information
also ensures near-perfect traceability of employers and employees over time. The QWLS and
FLEED are matched by using the unique ID codes for persons. Using FLEED, we can follow
the employees who participated in the 2008 QWLS over the period 1990–2007. In each year,
we can link information on the firm and the establishment to each person. The combination
of the QWLS and FLEED can then be matched to the ISS by using the unique firm codes. The
variables that are used in the empirical specifications are described in detail in the Appendix
(Table A1).
The QWLS is a cross-sectional data set that includes only limited self-reported information on
past labor market experience. However, because FLEED can be used to incorporate informa-
tion on employees’ work history over the period 1990–2007, we are able measure various labor
market outcomes in the past. This is particularly important in our context because we are una-
ble to estimate specifications with individual fixed effects. By using the variables that describe
past labor market outcomes, we are able to take into account otherwise unobservable determi-
nants of subjective well-being (see Lechner and Wunsch 2011, for an application of this idea in
another context). The specifications that we estimate for employee well-being assume that un-
observed heterogeneity is not correlated with the explanatory variable of interest to establish a
causal effect. In the empirical specifications, we use past average earnings and the number of
employment and unemployment months to describe employees’ relevant work history.
Because the QWLS data are from 2008, in the final estimation sample, we use only those em-
ployees who were employed in the same firm during the period 2006–2008. The matched data
contain 770 observations. This number reflects the fact that the ISS data are much more like-
ly to pertain to large firms. The final estimation sample contains observations on 367 firms;
therefore, we have, on average, two observations for each firm. We also estimate separate spec-
ifications for knowledge workers, with a sample size of 421. The specifications that use the
measures of occupational restructuring are based on a larger data set of 1,174 observations
because we do not have to rely on a firm-level survey (ISS). Instead, we can use comprehen-
sive register data from FLEED to construct the measures of turbulence. The number of differ-
ent firms in this sample is 796.
10
The most common elements of uncertainty are ‘unforeseen changes’,‘work load increases beyond tolerance’, and ‘transfer to other
duties’. These components of uncertainty typically affect the same employees. The perception of the threat of becoming incapable of work
is also quite common (25% of all employees). This threat is much more frequent among older employees, as expected. Note that we control
for the age effects in all specifications for perceived well-being.
15. 11Outsourcing, Occupational Restructuring, and Employee Well-being:
Is There a Silver Lining?
4 Empirical specifications
The initial step in the analysis is to establish the impact of outsourcing on occupational re-
structuring by using firm-level regressions (the first and second panels of Figure 1). These es-
timates reveal the direct effects of outsourcing on employees. The specifications take the fol-
lowing form:
(1)
where RESTRUCTURINGjk
represents the measure k of occupational restructuring for firm j.
We use as the dependent variables eleven different measures of occupational restructuring, as
described earlier. Xj
represents the vector of control variables, which include the size of the
firm (the logarithm of employment) and the industry effects (with a set of indicators for 22 in-
dustries). The variable of interest is the measure of outsourcing. In all specifications, the base-
line category is that the firm has neither outsourced domestically nor offshored its core busi-
ness functions during the period 2001–2006. These specifications are estimated by using em-
ployment-weighed OLS. With this approach, the firm-level regressions of equation (1) can be
interpreted as data with observed means on individual employees. Descriptive statistics (Table
A2, Columns 1–3) reveal that the data contain information on firms that collectively employ
~350,000 employees, which is approximately one-fourth of all Finnish private sector employ-
ees. Approximately 100,000 employees have worked in firms that have been subject to some
type of outsourcing.
To examine the connection between outsourcing and perceived well-being among surviving
employees (the first and third panels of Figure 1), we estimate specifications with the follow-
ing structure:
(2)
where Yijk
is the measure k of employee well-being for individual i employed in firm j. We use
as the dependent variables eight different measures of employee well-being. Xij
represents the
control variables, which incorporate the standard individual-level covariates, such as employ-
ees’ age and education level, based on the literature on subjective well-being (Clark 1996). The
standard errors in all specifications of equation (2) are clustered at the firm level. Columns
4–5 of Table A2 provide descriptive statistics for the employee-level data.
Note that outsourcing activities can be treated as exogenous to individual employees. The evi-
dence indicates that offshoring firms are more productive than non-offshoring firms (Wagner
2011). For various reasons, we expect a positive relationship between productivity and wag-
es at the firm level, and the empirical evidence supports this expectation (Abowd et al. 1999;
Bagger et al. 2010). Equation (2) can be interpreted as a test of the existence of compensating
wage differentials because outsourcing can be seen as a potential disamenity from the employ-
ees’ point of view. It can be shown that the wage and its determinants should not be included
among the right-hand side variables of the equation if the objective is to test for the existence
of compensating wage differentials by using information on subjective well-being (see Böck-
erman et al. 2011). In principle, the presence of some sort of bias in our estimates cannot be
fully ruled out because, for instance, some employees may be able to anticipate upcoming out-
, 1,...,11,jk j j jRESTRUCTURING OUTSOURCING kβ δ ε= + + =X
, 1,...,8,ijk ij j ijY OUTSOURCING kβ η ε= + + =X
16. 12
sourcing. However, given our context, this bias is likely to be negligible, and the direction is
uncertain.
Finally, we explore the effect of occupational restructuring on surviving employees’ well-be-
ing (the second and third panels of Figure 1). For this purpose, we use specifications with the
following structure:
(3)
where Yijk
is the measure k of employee well-being for individual i employed in firm j. The ex-
planatory variables of interest are each separate measure (l = 1,…,11) of occupational restruc-
turing. The vector of control variables Xij
is exactly the same as in equation (2). The last two
columns of Table A2 document descriptive statistics for the data that are used with these spec-
ifications.
5 Results
Outsourcing and Occupational Restructuring. We first examine whether the outsourcing activ-
ities of Finnish firms are associated with occupational restructuring and, if so, in what ways.
Because we are particularly interested in the role of firms’ outsourcing from the perspective
of employees, the baseline estimates refer to employment-weighted regressions (Table 1).11
An additional advantage of the employment-weighted regressions is that they put greater em-
phasis on larger firms, for which the measures of occupational restructuring are more relia-
ble (Ilmakunnas and Maliranta 2005). The results in Table 1 refer to continuing firms because
most of the restructuring occurs among them. With this restriction, we avoid the asymmetries
caused by entries and exits. Because we include the full set of industry indicators among the
control variables, the results point to within-industry effects.
The estimates of equation (1) reported in Table 1 reveal a coherent pattern. Statistically, off-
shoring has a very significant positive relationship with the rates of task destruction and task
separation (Panel A, Columns 1–2). The latter connection prevails because of external task
separation (Panel A, Column 3). In contrast, offshoring is not connected to internal task sepa-
ration (and, thus, neither is internal task hiring; see Panel A, Column 4). Furthermore, the ef-
fect of offshoring on the “creative” side of occupational restructuring appears to be negative,
as indicated by the significant negative coefficients for the task creation and task hiring rates
(Panel A, Columns 9–10). The point estimates of offshoring on the shares of interactive and
non-routine tasks (at the 2-digit level of the ISCO-88 classification) are positive, but the ef-
fects are not statistically significant (Panel A, Columns 7–8). Our broader measure of the com-
position of the workforce gives support to the argument that offshoring contributes signifi-
cantly to the increase in knowledge work in firms (Panel A, Column 11).
Panel B of Table 1 provides a more detailed breakdown of outsourcing according to geograph-
ical destination. We find that offshoring for the rest of Europe and developing countries has
the most pronounced positive effects on task destruction and task separation (Panel B, Col-
umns 1–2). These types of offshoring have a positive impact on the share of knowledge work
11
We use the average employment in 2000 and 2006.
, 1,...8 1,...11,ijk ij jl ijY RESTRUCTURING k lβ λ ε= + + = =X
18. 14
(Panel B, Columns 11). This result implies that the adverse effects are, as expected, concen-
trated on blue-collar tasks. It is particularly interesting to observe that offshoring to other de-
veloped countries does not have significant effects on task creation or destruction or on the
change in the structure of tasks. However, it does have a strong positive effect on internal mo-
bility (measured by internal task separation), which likely reflects the ongoing changes in or-
ganizational structure (Panel B, Column 4).
The effects of domestic outsourcing are notably different from offshoring. Interestingly, this
outsourcing has a negative effect on the share of interactive tasks in the firms (Panels A–B,
Column 7). The effect on the share of non-routine tasks is also negative, but statistically insig-
nificant. Domestic outsourcing is positively associated with internal separation (and thus in-
ternal hiring), indicating that it promotes intra-firm occupational mobility (Panels A–B, Col-
umn 4).
Overall, the evidence clearly indicates that outsourcing has an important effect on occupation-
al restructuring and that it can be expected to have direct adverse effects on the well-being of
employees due to its effect of increasing task destruction and task separation in firms. Howev-
er, the results also reveal that part of occupational restructuring takes place through internal
task separation (and thus internal task hiring). This type of mobility is not necessarily solely
negative from the point of view of the employees involved.
Outsourcing and the Well-being of Employees. Next, we examine how firms’ outsourcing af-
fects different dimensions of well-being among surviving employees, based on equation 2 (Ta-
ble 2).12
Note that the descriptive statistics for the outsourcing variables confirm that the em-
ployee-level data remain representative compared to the employment-weighted firm-level da-
ta (Table A2, Columns 3 and 5). Before examining the effects of outsourcing, we first note that
the occupation group has a significant impact on employee well-being. Table 2 shows that per-
ceived well-being is particularly low among service and sales workers as well as among the
typical blue-collar occupations. The latter group of occupations also has particularly poor
(physical) working conditions (Panel A, Columns 3–6).
An important finding is that offshoring does not have an independent, statistically signifi-
cant effect on any measure of employee well-being, conditional on occupational group and
individual-level control variables (Panel A). There is, however, some evidence that domestic
outsourcing has a positive impact on job satisfaction that can be attributed to a lower level of
harm (Panel A, Columns 1 and 3). The estimates for the (unreported) control variables that
are included in all specifications of Table 2 are in accordance with previous studies that have
used various Finnish data sets to estimate well-being equations.13
It is notable that the estimates in Panel A of Table 2 do not reveal a significant impact of out-
sourcing on perceived uncertainty in the Finnish context. Previous evidence has related off-
shoring and other measures of globalization to job-loss fears (e.g., Scheve and Slaughter 2004;
Geishecker et al. 2011; Lurweg 2010). There is also some evidence for these effects from other
Nordic countries. Munch (2011) reports that outsourcing somewhat increases the unemploy-
ment risk of low-skilled workers in the Danish manufacturing sector. These findings are rel-
12
The correlations between the variables that capture working conditions are reported in Table A3.
13
The estimation results for the control variables are available upon request.
20. 16
evant to the surviving employees because previous outsourcing may increase the unemploy-
ment risk for years to come.
The specifications documented in Panel A of Table 2 assume that the potential effects of out-
sourcing on employee well-being are uniform, irrespective of the geographical destination of
outsourcing. A detailed breakdown of offshoring by geographical destination reveals interest-
ing heterogeneity in the effects (Table 2, Panel B).14
Offshoring to developing countries have
some negative effect on overall measure of employee well-being (i.e., job satisfaction) (Panel
B, Column 1).
Another interesting finding is that offshoring to the US, Canada, and other developed coun-
tries significantly raises surviving employees’ perceptions of promotion and wage prospects
(Table 2, Panel B, Column 5). This observation is reasonable because Finland is a small, open
economy with limited opportunities, especially for highly skilled workers. Thus, offshoring,
along with other aspects of globalization, creates opportunities to advance one’s career because
it effectively broadens the market for talent. Offshoring among developed countries is most
likely to be reciprocal, and workers in high-wage countries are complements rather than sub-
stitutes (Geishecker et al. 2011). The quantitative magnitude of this effect is substantial be-
cause offshoring to the US, Canada, and other developed countries decreases employees’ per-
ceptions of poor promotion prospects by 24%. This result is consistent with the pattern in
Table 1 (Panel B, Column 4), according to which offshoring to other developed countries sub-
stantially increases internal task separation, which measures the vertical mobility of employ-
ees in firms. Therefore, the vertical fragmentation of production is closely connected to the
vertical mobility of employees in firms that offshore. Furthermore, there is evidence for an-
other positive effect of offshoring on employee well-being: the results suggest that offshoring
to developing countries decreases perceived work intensity among surviving employees (Ta-
ble 2, Panel B, Column 8). However, offshoring to the rest of Europe increases work intensity.
Table 3 documents a separate set of estimates for knowledge workers because this group of
employees is more likely to benefit from outsourcing in terms of well-being than are other
worker groups. The results in Panel A reveal that offshoring decreases the prevalence of harm
(Column 3). There are also significant effects regarding discrimination (Column 7). However,
these effects are contradictory in that domestic outsourcing increases the perception of dis-
crimination among surviving knowledge workers, but offshoring seems to decrease it. The es-
timates that break down according to the geographical destination of offshoring show that
offshoring to the 15 EU countries decreases the perception of discrimination. It is also no-
table that domestic outsourcing, along with offshoring to the 15 EU countries, improves the
level of job satisfaction (Panel B, Column 1). However, negative well-being effects for knowl-
edge workers also exist because offshoring to developing countries significantly increases the
perception of uncertainty (Panel B, Column 2). The pattern in which offshoring to other de-
veloped countries considerably improves promotion prospects remains intact for knowledge
workers (Panel B, Column 5).
Occupational Restructuring and the Well-being of Employees. The concluding section of the
main estimation results explores the effect of occupational restructuring among the continu-
14
We do not report the results for harm and hazard for these specifications because some cells of the data contain too few observa-
tions to obtain reliable estimates.
22. 18
ing firms between 2000 and 2006 on surviving employees’ well-being two years later, in 2008
(Table 4). We use exactly the same measures of perceived well-being as the dependent varia-
bles used in Tables 2–3. The most important finding of the specifications, based on equation
(3), is that there is generally no statistically significant relationship between occupational re-
structuring and subsequent employee well-being (Table 4). Thus, it seems that occupational
restructuring does not have significant additional negative effects on employees beyond its di-
rect adverse effects, documented in Table 1. This general pattern is consistent with the results
in Böckerman et al. (2011), who have reported that average uncertainty at the establishment
level does not cause significant losses in work satisfaction in the Finnish context.
Occupational restructuring, measured by changes in the shares of interactive and non-rou-
tine tasks, significantly reduces the experience of lacking a voice in the workplace, especially
among knowledge workers (Table 4, Panel B, Column 6). This result is interesting because Au-
tor et al. (2003) stress the importance of skill content in job tasks. Furthermore, there is evi-
dence that an increase in the share of knowledge workers in a firm significantly improves em-
ployees’ experience of having a voice in the workplace (Table 4, Panel B, Column 6) and, con-
sistent with that outcome, increases job satisfaction (Table 4, Panel B, Column 1).
Additional Aspects. To shed more light on the effects of offshoring, we estimated a set of addi-
tional specifications. We briefly discuss these results without presenting them in tables. As a
robustness check, we performed the estimations of Table 1 using unweighted regressions, with
and without a size restriction for firms (i.e., the inclusion of firms employing fewer than 100
employees). The baseline results in Table 1 seem to remain largely intact in unweighted regres-
sions and in those without a size restriction. However, there are also some important differ-
ences; in these results, offshoring is not negatively associated with task creation and task hir-
ing. Furthermore, offshoring does not have a positive impact on the share of knowledge work-
ers in the firms. Thus, it is important to use employment-weighted regressions to empirically
capture the creative side of offshoring. Furthermore, the results in Table 1 (Panel B, Column
1), which suggest that offshoring to developing countries leads to task destruction and task
separation, do not prevail in unweighted regressions.
One of the strengths of the ISS for outsourcing activities is that it contains information about
firms’ self-declared motivations for conducting offshoring. There is evidence that the effects
on employee well-being differ significantly according to the motivation for offshoring. In par-
ticular, an important result in Table 2 (Panel B, Column 5), which reveals that offshoring sig-
nificantly improves surviving employees’ perception of promotion prospects, prevails only
when offshoring is motivated by opening new markets for products and services rather than
by efforts to reduce labor costs. (Furthermore, there is a significant decrease in the perception
of discrimination.) This finding is logical because this type of offshoring constitutes substan-
tial opportunities for career advancement, especially for knowledge workers.
Finally, we find that insourcing (i.e., the opposite of offshoring) generally improves employee
well-being. In particular, the results suggest that insourcing significantly decreases the likeli-
hood of perceived harms and hazards in the workplace. This finding is reasonable because the
cost structure is higher in Finland than in several other countries that were previously locations
for these activities. The types of jobs that are insourced to Finland are high-quality jobs with high
wages and amenities that support the perception of good working conditions among the affect-
ed employees. There is also some evidence that insourcing supports overall satisfaction at work.
24. 20
6 Conclusions
This paper examines the effects of outsourcing on various measures of employee well-being in
the Finnish context. The well-being losses caused by the vertical fragmentation of production
potentially constitute an important part of the short-run adjustment costs to employees, and
they can explain the persistent resistance to outsourcing. We use particularly rich matched da-
ta that combine a firm-level survey of outsourcing with a survey of employees that contains
detailed information on several aspects of subjective well-being. Furthermore, we analyze the
connection of outsourcing to comprehensive measures of occupational restructuring.
Aside from the direct negative effect of offshoring on employees (attributable to greater job
destruction and worker outflow), based on the evidence, the relationship between outsourcing
and employee well-being is complex. The main finding of this paper is that the results strong-
ly point to the substantial heterogeneity in the effects of offshoring. For example, we find that
the relationship between outsourcing and perceived well-being differs considerably according
to the geographical destination of offshoring. There is some evidence that offshoring to devel-
oping countries reduces overall satisfaction at work. One explanation for this outcome is that
offshoring to low-wage countries substitutes for domestic employment (Harrison and McMil-
lan 2011).
Aside from these negative effects, offshoring also has plausible positive effects on employ-
ee well-being that have largely been overlooked in the existing literature. We document that
higher occupational status clearly improves well-being at work, and offshoring considerably
increases the share of knowledge workers in firms. Importantly, in addition to this direct com-
position effect, there is also evidence for the existence of positive independent effects. There-
fore, even given the prevailing structure of different occupations in the firms, an increase in
the share of knowledge workers improves some important aspects of perceived employee well-
being.
Furthermore, we find that offshoring to other developed countries improves surviving em-
ployees’ promotion and subsequent wage prospects. These effects are particularly pronounced
for knowledge workers and when offshoring has been motivated by opening new markets for
products and services. These effects are consistent with the findings by Hickman and Olney
(2011), who argue that employees have responded to offshoring by increasing their stock of
human capital by acquiring better education in the U.S. context. Better education creates op-
portunities for career advancement because the market for talented workers is larger (Kau-
hanen and Napari 2011). The fact that promotion prospects are particularly sensitive to off-
shoring is also reasonable because harms and hazards are closely related to the fixed stock
of capital that constitutes the physical work environment, which does not change rapidly in
firms. In contrast, promotion prospects are related to expectations that can change rapidly as
a firm changes. Therefore, the bottom line of the findings is that offshoring not only has nega-
tive effects on the well-being of surviving employees, but its effects differ substantially by the
type of offshoring and by outcomes.
A straightforward generalization of our results at the level of the whole economy involves a po-
tential fallacy of composition. The estimated positive well-being effects on surviving employ-
ees do not provide a complete picture of the total impact of offshoring on well-being because
25. 21Outsourcing, Occupational Restructuring, and Employee Well-being:
Is There a Silver Lining?
those who end up unemployed are excluded. Therefore, empirically, a broader and more bal-
anced picture would require analyses of what happens to those individuals who lose their jobs
due to offshoring. What is the quality of jobs for which they are hired? The empirical evidence
is somewhat reassuring. A large majority of the unemployed will find a new job eventually,
and the newly created jobs are usually more productive than the destroyed old jobs. For exam-
ple, previous Finnish evidence suggests that a significant proportion of aggregate productivity
growth can be attributed to the creation of new jobs and the destruction of old jobs, at least in
manufacturing (Maliranta et al. 2010). In contrast, focusing on the post-recession years 1992–
1997, Ilmakunnas and Maliranta (2004) show that old and low-productivity plants have high
separation rates to unemployment, and new and high-productivity plants have high hiring
rates from unemployment. In terms of social policy, the primary challenge is to both strength-
en the positive effects of offshoring-triggered restructuring and to facilitate adjustment to the
negative impacts, including greater turbulence and polarization in the labor markets.
26. 22
Appendix
44
APPENDIX
TABLE A1
DEFINITIONS OF VARIABLES
Variable Definition/measurement
The measures of perceived
employee well-being (QWLS)
Job satisfaction Job satisfaction is measured by means of alternatives 1 (very satisfied), 2
(quite satisfied), 3 (rather dissatisfied), and 4 (very dissatisfied).
Uncertainty Work including at least one insecurity factor (includes transfer to other duties,
threat of temporary dismissal, threat of permanent dismissal, threat of
unemployment, threat of becoming incapable of work, unforeseen changes,
work load increasing beyond tolerance) = 1, otherwise = 0.
Harm At least one adverse factor that affects work ‘very much’ (includes heat, cold,
vibration, draft, noise, smoke, gas and fumes, humidity, dry indoor air, dust,
dirtiness of work environment, poor or glaring lighting, irritating or corrosive
substances, restless work environment, repetitive and monotonous
movements, difficult or uncomfortable working positions, time pressure and
tight time schedules, heavy lifting, lack of space, mildew in buildings) = 1,
otherwise = 0.
Hazard At least one factor experienced as ‘a distinct hazard’ (includes accident risk,
becoming subject to physical violence, hazards caused by chemical
substances, radiation hazard, major catastrophe hazard, hazard of infectious
diseases, hazard of skin diseases, cancer risk, risk of strain injuries, risk of
succumbing to mental disturbance, risk of grave work exhaustion, risk of
causing serious injury to others, risk of causing serious damage to valuable
equipment or product) = 1, otherwise = 0.
No promotion Advancement opportunities in current workplace ‘poor’ = 1, otherwise = 0.
No voice ‘Not at all’ able to influence at least one factor at work (includes content of
tasks, order in which tasks are completed, pace of work, working methods,
division of tasks between employees, choice of working partners, equipment
purchases) = 1, otherwise = 0.
Discrimination Experience of at least one type of unequal treatment or discrimination in
current workplace (includes time of hiring, remuneration, career advancement
opportunities, access to training arranged by employer, receiving information,
attitudes of co-workers or superiors) = 1, otherwise = 0.
Work intensity Intensity at work is high enough to cause sickness absence = 1, otherwise
0.
The measures of outsourcing
(ISS)
Domestic outsourcing Firm has domestically outsourced its core business functions (i.e.,
production of goods and/or services) over the period 2001-2006 = 1,
otherwise 0.
Offshoring (i.e. international
outsourcing)
Firm has offshored abroad its core business functions over the period
2001-2006 = 1, otherwise 0.
Offshoring to the 15 EU
countries
Firm has offshored its core business functions to the 15 EU countries over
the period 2001-2006 = 1, otherwise 0. The EU 15 countries are Belgium,
Denmark, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,
Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Finland
is excluded from the list of the EU 15 countries.
Offshoring to the rest of Europe Firm has offshored its core business functions to the rest of Europe over
the period 2001-2006 = 1, otherwise 0. The rest of Europe includes 12 EU
countries (i.e., Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania,
Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, Slovak Republic, Bulgaria, and
Romania) and Switzerland, Norway, Turkey, Russia, Belo Russia,
Ukraine, and the Balkan states.
Offshoring to developing
countries
Firm has offshored its core business functions to developing countries
over the period 2001-2006 = 1, otherwise 0. The developing countries
include China, India, South and Central America (including Mexico), and
Africa.
Offshoring to other developed
countries
Firm has offshored its core business functions to other developed
countries over the period 2001-2006 = 1, otherwise 0. The other
Table A1 Definitions of variables
27. 23Outsourcing, Occupational Restructuring, and Employee Well-being:
Is There a Silver Lining?
developed countries include the US, Canada, Japan, Korea, the countries
of the Near East and Far East, and Oceania.
Control variables
Human capital (QWLS)
Female 1 = female, 0 = male.
Age <=34 Age <= 34 = 1, otherwise = 0.
Age 35-44 Age 35-44 = 1, otherwise = 0 (reference)
Age 45-54 Age 45-54 = 1, otherwise = 0
Age 55-64 Age 55-64 = 1, otherwise = 0
Married Married = 1, otherwise = 0.
Basic education only Less than second stage of secondary level education (International
Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 0-2) = 1, otherwise = 0
(reference).
Middle education Second stage of secondary level education (ISCED 3) = 1, otherwise = 0
Higher education Third-level education (ISCED 5-7) = 1, otherwise = 0
Union member Member of trade union = 1, otherwise = 0.
Work history (FLEED)
Past earnings A logarithm of past average earnings over the period 1990-2007, deflated
to the year 2000 by using the consumer price index.
Past employment The total number of employment months over the period 1990-2007.
Past unemployment The total number of unemployment months over the period 1990-2007.
Self-assessed health (QWLS) Self-assessment of working capacity. The variable is scaled from 0 (total
inability to work) to 10 (top condition).
Employer characteristics
(QWLS)
Plant size <100 Size of plant under 100 employees = 1, otherwise = 0 (reference)
Plant size 100-249 Size of plant 100-249 employees = 1, otherwise = 0
Plant size 250-999 Size of plant 250-999 employees = 1, otherwise = 0
Plant size > 1000 Size of plant over 1000 employees = 1, otherwise = 0
Note: The measures of occupational restructuring are defined in the text.Note: The measures of occupational restructuring are defined in the text.
44
Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Finland
is excluded from the list of the EU 15 countries.
Offshoring to the rest of Europe Firm has offshored its core business functions to the rest of Europe over
the period 2001-2006 = 1, otherwise 0. The rest of Europe includes 12 EU
countries (i.e., Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania,
Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, Slovak Republic, Bulgaria, and
Romania) and Switzerland, Norway, Turkey, Russia, Belo Russia,
Ukraine, and the Balkan states.
Offshoring to developing
countries
Firm has offshored its core business functions to developing countries
over the period 2001-2006 = 1, otherwise 0. The developing countries
include China, India, South and Central America (including Mexico), and
Africa.
Offshoring to other developed
countries
Firm has offshored its core business functions to other developed
countries over the period 2001-2006 = 1, otherwise 0. The other
28. 24
Table A2 Selected descriptive statistics for the linked data sets
46
TABLE A2
SELECTED DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS FOR THE LINKED DATA SETS
Firm-level data on outsourcing
and restructuring
Individual-level data on
outsourcing and well-being
Individual-level data on
restructuring
and well-being
N Weighted N Mean N Mean N Mean
Outsourcing variables (ISS)
Domestic outsourcing 1096 353 698 0.222 770 0.209
Offshoring 1096 353 698 0.147 770 0.138
Offshoring to the 15 EU countries 1096 353 698 0.222 770 0.209
Offshoring to the rest of Europe 1096 353 698 0.052 770 0.044
Offshoring to developing countries 1096 353 698 0.083 770 0.081
Offshoring to other developed countries 1096 353 698 0.063 770 0.057
Occupational restructuring variables (FLEED)
Task destruction 1096 353 698 0.204 1174 0.189
Task separation 1096 353 698 0.562 1174 0.506
External task separation 1096 353 698 0.394 1174 0.354
Internal task separation (i.e., internal task hiring) 1096 353 698 0.167 1174 0.152
Excess task reallocation 1096 353 698 0.170 1174 0.212
Task churning 1096 353 698 0.714 1174 0.635
The change in the share of interactive tasks 1096 353 698 0.007 1171 0.008
The change in the share of non-routine tasks 1096 353 698 0.014 1171 0.012
Task creation 1096 353 698 0.387 1174 0.472
Task hiring 1096 353 698 0.744 1174 0.789
The change in the share of knowledge workers 1096 353 698 0.022 1174 0.009
The share of knowledge workers in 2006 1096 353 698 0.476 1174 0.461
Well-being variables (QWLS)
Job satisfaction 770 4.048 1174 4.072
Uncertainty 770 0.723 1174 0.664
Harm 770 0.281 1174 0.245
Hazard 770 0.397 1174 0.365
No promotion 770 0.418 1174 0.486
No voice 770 0.705 1174 0.677
Discrimination 770 0.377 1174 0.343
Work intensity 770 0.169 1165 0.121
Occupational share variables (FLEED)
Technicians and associate professionals 770 0.216 1174 0.195
Clerical support workers 770 0.110 1174 0.092
Service and sale workers 770 0.078 1174 0.102
Craft and related trade workers 770 0.129 1174 0.164
Plant and machinery operators 770 0.169 1174 0.172
Other workers 770 0.078 1174 0.067
29. 25Outsourcing, Occupational Restructuring, and Employee Well-being:
Is There a Silver Lining?
TableA3 Correlationbetweenworkingconditionvariables
Note:n.s.meansthatthecorrelationcoefficientisnotstatisticallysignificantatthestandard5%level.
TABLEA3
CORRELATIONBETWEENWORKINGCONDITIONVARIABLES
JobsatisfactionUncertaintyHarmHazardNopromotionNovoiceDiscriminationWorkintensity
Jobsatisfaction1
Uncertainty-0.1951
Harm-0.1840.2121
Hazard-0.1620.2350.3911
Nopromotion-0.194n.s.0.1390.1241
Novoice-0.1430.0970.1950.1990.2771
Discrimination-0.2070.2050.1530.1470.1240.1211
Workintensity-0.1550.1550.2200.2220.0890.2220.1581
Note:n.s.meansthatthecorrelationcoefficientisnotstatisticallysignificantatthestandard5%level.
30. 26
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