Organizational Change, Skill Formation, Human Capital Measurement: Evidence from Italian Manufacturing Firms

47 Pages Posted: 25 Feb 2009 Last revised: 4 Nov 2009

See all articles by Gilberto Antonelli

Gilberto Antonelli

University of Bologna - Department of Economics; AlmaLaurea Inter-University Consortium; School of Development Innovation and Change (SDIC)

Roberto Antonietti

University of Padova - "Marco Fanno" Department of Economics and Management

Giovanni Guidetti

University of Bologna - Department of Economics

Date Written: September 1, 2009

Abstract

This paper emphasizes the role of labour demand as a determinant of human capital formation. After a section in which the alternative conceptions on the functioning of labour markets are presented and different ways of measuring human capital are compared, an applied analysis is carried out in which we provide a labour demand-oriented measure of human capital, as defined by the amount of specific skills firms generate through work-based training (WBT) activities.

By merging three rich firm-level data-sets, we estimate the impact of a set of variables supposed to affect both the propensity to invest in WBT and the intensity of training within the Italian manufacturing industry over the period 2001-2005. Special attention is devoted to the variables characterizing within-firm organization of knowledge, organizational change and the formation of competence pipelines: among them, innovation, internationalization commitment, out-sourcing and new hirings.

The estimates show that the effect of innovation on WBT is higher when the introduction of new technologies is supported by organizational innovations. When looking at the nature of WBT, we investigate the different determinants of the firms' propensity to provide both in-house and outside training. We measure training intensity in terms, respectively, of the number of provided training activities, private and total training costs and share of trainees.

Keywords: human capital, innovation, internationalization, labour demand, organization, work-based training

JEL Classification: F16, J23, J24

Suggested Citation

Antonelli, Gilberto and Antonietti, Roberto and Guidetti, Giovanni, Organizational Change, Skill Formation, Human Capital Measurement: Evidence from Italian Manufacturing Firms (September 1, 2009). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1349154 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1349154

Gilberto Antonelli

University of Bologna - Department of Economics ( email )

Strada Maggiore 45
40125 Bologna, Bologna 40125
Italy
+390512092657 (Phone)
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AlmaLaurea Inter-University Consortium ( email )

Viale Masini 46
Bologna, Bologna 40126
Italy
+390516088919 (Phone)
+390516088988 (Fax)

School of Development Innovation and Change (SDIC) ( email )

c/o Studio Busuoli
Via delle Lame, 39
Bologna, 40122
Italy

Roberto Antonietti (Contact Author)

University of Padova - "Marco Fanno" Department of Economics and Management ( email )

via Del Santo 33
Padova, PD 35123
Italy
+390498271508 (Phone)
+390498274211 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.economia.unipd.it/category/ruoli/personale-docente?key=4FD07667CE6DC0DA28DDD61A73393A5F

Giovanni Guidetti

University of Bologna - Department of Economics ( email )

Strada Maggiore 45
Bologna, 40125
Italy

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