Effect Of Firm Innovation On Labour Force Csomposition: The Case Of Italian Manufacturing

This paper investigates the causal relationship between innovation and labour force reallocation within the firm, measured as the share of white collar workers. To the extent that intra-firm reallocation can be considered as a substitute for inter-firms and sectors reallocations, innovation activity can be effective in hampering immigration flows from lagging regions to the richest ones. Using data on 5,000 Italian manufacturing firms we provide evidence that where sizable migration flow of graduated people took place the innovation process was not effective in increasing the requirement of high-skill workers.