Technological catching-up, sales dynamics, and employment growth: evidence from China’s manufacturing

Dosi, Giovanni and Yu, Xiaodan (2019) Technological catching-up, sales dynamics, and employment growth: evidence from China’s manufacturing. Industrial and Corporate Change, 28 (1). pp. 79-107. ISSN 0960-6491

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Abstract

This article investigates the microeconomics of employment dynamics, using a Chinese manufacturing firm-level data set over the period 1998-2007. It does so in the light of a scheme of "circular and cumulative causation," whereby firms' heterogeneous productivity gains, sales dynamics and innovation activities ultimately shape the patterns of employment dynamics. Using firm's productivity growth as a proxy for process innovation, our results show that the latter correlates negatively with firm-level employment growth. Conversely, relative productivity levels, as such a general proxy for the broad technological advantages/disadvantages of each firm, do show positive effect on employment growth in the long-run through replicator-type dynamics. Moreover, firm-level demand dynamics play a significant role in driving employment growth, which more than compensate the labor-saving effect due to technological progress. Finally, and somewhat puzzlingly, the direct effects of product innovation and patenting activities on employment growth appear to be negligible. © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Associazione ICC. All rights reserved.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Industrial and Corporate Change following peer review. The version of record, Giovanni Dosi, Xiaodan Yu, Technological catching-up, sales dynamics, and employment growth: evidence from China’s manufacturing, Industrial and Corporate Change, Volume 28, Issue 1, February 2019, Pages 79–107,is available online at: https://academic.oup.com/icc/article/28/1/79/5063532 and https://doi.org/10.1093/icc/dty023.
Keywords: Employment Growth; Demand; Product Innovation; Process Innovation; Export; China catching-up
Schools/Departments: University of Nottingham Ningbo China > Faculty of Business > Nottingham University Business School China
Identification Number: 10.1093/icc/dty023
Related URLs:
Depositing User: Wu, Cocoa
Date Deposited: 09 May 2019 10:43
Last Modified: 01 Aug 2020 04:30
URI: https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/56686

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