Firms innovation activity and numerical flexibility

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between manufacturing firms' innovation activity (measured by product innovation, process innovation, and R&D activities) and their numerical flexibility (proxied by the rate of fixed-term contracts). Estimates using data from Spain's Survey on Firms' Strategies (EESE) for the years 2000-2002 reveal a non-monotonic relationship: a firm's probability of innovating and carrying out R&D increased as the rate of use of temporary and other non-core workers increased, but only up to a threshold, beyond which this probability decreased. Copyright © 2010 Cornell University. All rights reserved.