Labour market deregulation, ‘flexibility’ and innovation

Labour ‘flexibility’ is often portrayed as important to competitive success. Using evidence from an original survey of UK firms, this paper investigates the relationships between firms' use of, on the one hand, various flexible work practices, human resource management techniques, and industria...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cambridge journal of economics 2003-01, Vol.27 (1), p.123-143
Main Authors: Michie, Jonathan, Sheehan, Maura
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Business innovation
Competition
Deregulation
Economics
Educational innovation
Employee relations
Employment
Flexibility
Human resource management
Human resources
Innovation
Innovations
Labor market
Labor markets
Labour market
Labour market flexibility
Labour markets
Manufacturing industries
Product innovation
Studies
Technological innovation
Workplaces
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Summary:Labour ‘flexibility’ is often portrayed as important to competitive success. Using evidence from an original survey of UK firms, this paper investigates the relationships between firms' use of, on the one hand, various flexible work practices, human resource management techniques, and industrial relations systems and, on the other hand, the innovative activities of those firms. Our results suggest that the sort of ‘low road’ labour flexibility practices encouraged by labour market deregulation—short‐term and temporary contracts, a lack of employer commitment to job security, low levels of training, and so on—are negatively correlated with innovation.
ISSN:0309-166X
1464-3545
1464-3545
DOI:10.1093/cje/27.1.123