Labour flows and R&D: A quantile regression analysis

Does R&D affect hirings, separations or both? Different answers to this question imply different behavioural responses of firms to innovation. Using a sample of Italian manufacturing firms, this paper explores the effects of R&D intensity on hiring, separation and churning rates. Based on quantile regression models, the results indicate that initial R&D intensity has a positive impact on subsequent hirings and churning and a negligible effect on separations. The results remain stable when the estimates are based on the two and three year averages of the labour flow rates and when we account for lagged R&D intensity, for different subperiods and for an alternative measure of the hiring, separation and churning rates.