Firm performance, skill recombination and regional culture

Gianelle, Carlo (2023): Firm performance, skill recombination and regional culture.

Abstract

This study connects worker mobility and industry-specific skills, regional cultural characteristics and economic performance in a novel empirical way. Building on the notions of technological relatedness and unrelatedness of worker experience, we devote special attention to: (i) causal identification, and (ii) the linguistic and cultural homogeneity of the community of firms and workers under scrutiny. Contrary to several previous studies, we find that in a culturally homogeneous context, and controlling for firm heterogeneity, the unrelated combinations of skills constitute a relevant source of productivity gains. We discuss our approach in light of previous studies and derive implications for place-based policy.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: labor mobility, skill diversity, technological relatedness, firm performance
• Subjects: D - Microeconomics > D2 - Production and Organizations > D22 - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J6 - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers > J62 - Job, Occupational, and Intergenerational Mobility; L - Industrial Organization > L2 - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior > L25 - Firm Performance: Size, Diversification, and Scope; R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R1 - General Regional Economics > R11 - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

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