Labour, unions and R&D in Italian firms

IF 5 2区经济学 Q1 ECONOMICS

Structural Change and Economic Dynamics Pub Date : 2025-01-09 DOI:10.1016/j.strueco.2025.01.004

Armanda Cetrulo , Valeria Cirillo , Fabio Landini

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Abstract

How and to what extent does organized labour contribute to shaping firms’ competitive strategies by fostering innovation and investments in R&D? Drawing on insights from evolutionary theories and industrial relations studies, this paper empirically investigates how firm-level collective bargaining impacts firms’ investments in intangible assets, including R&D. The paper underlines how in the workplace context, where workers and managers pursue conflicting interests, the presence of a strong trade union able to bargain can empower workers’ voice and persuade management to invest in innovation related assets rather than compete through cost cutting strategies. We leverage a comprehensive and representative survey of Italian non-agricultural companies conducted by the National Institute for Public Policy Analysis to test these predictions. Baseline estimates indicate that firm-level bargaining, particularly in highly unionized firms, is linked to investments in R&D and other intangibles. Further analysis suggests that work organization clauses are key drivers of this positive relationship.

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意大利公司的劳工、工会和研发

通过促进创新和研发投资，有组织的劳工如何以及在多大程度上有助于形成企业的竞争战略？本文借鉴进化理论和劳资关系研究的见解，实证研究了企业层面的集体谈判如何影响企业在研发等无形资产上的投资。这篇论文强调，在工人和管理者追求利益冲突的工作场所背景下，一个能够讨价还价的强大工会的存在，可以增强工人的发言权，并说服管理层投资于与创新相关的资产，而不是通过削减成本的战略进行竞争。我们利用国家公共政策分析研究所对意大利非农业公司进行的全面和有代表性的调查来验证这些预测。基线估计表明，公司层面的讨价还价，特别是在高度工会化的公司，与研发和其他无形资产的投资有关。进一步的分析表明，工作组织条款是这种积极关系的关键驱动因素。

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来源期刊

Structural Change and Economic Dynamics ECONOMICS-

CiteScore

9.60

自引率

4.90%

发文量

159

期刊介绍： Structural Change and Economic Dynamics publishes articles about theoretical, applied and methodological aspects of structural change in economic systems. The journal publishes work analysing dynamics and structural breaks in economic, technological, behavioural and institutional patterns.