Effect of technological innovation and diffusion on the interindustry mobility of Brazilian workers

This paper aims to investigate the effects of investment in industrial R & D on the mobility of workers between firms and/or industrial sectors in Brazil, considering that the technological gap between the sectors can reduce the propensity for interindustrial labor mobility. Using panel data for the period 2003–2008, constructed from microdata RAIS-Migra and industry data from the Brazilian Technological Innovation Survey (PINTEC), the Annual Industrial Survey (PIA) and input–output matrices, we estimate a multinomial logit model with random intercepts (GLLAMM – Generalized Linear Latent and Mixed Models). The main results show that the technological diffusion increases the chances of changing jobs, the technological variables have greater importance for unskilled workers than for skilled, and among non-intensive technology industries, the technological innovation can have positive impact on interindustrial mobility.