Morris, D., Vanino, E. and Corradini, C. (2020) Effect of regional skill gaps and skill shortages on firm productivity. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 52 (5). pp. 933-952. ISSN 0308-518X
Abstract
This paper contributes to the literature on regional productivity, complementing previous education and skill level perspectives with a novel approach analysing the impact of regional skill gaps and skill shortages. This allows us to better reflect the idiosyncratic needs of the regional economic structure, considering both the demand and supply side of the skills equation in localised labour markets. Controlling for unobserved time-invariant firm-level heterogeneity and other region-industry effects across a longitudinal dataset for the period 2008 - 2014, our analysis reveals a negative direct effect of skill shortages on firm productivity. We further find negative spillover effects for both skill gaps and skill shortages in related industries and proximate regions. Results are also shown to be heterogeneous with respect to agglomeration levels and industrial sectors. Stronger negative effects are found in industries defined by a knowledge-intensive skill base pointing to the loss of learning effects in the presence of skill deficiencies. Conversely, agglomeration effects appear to moderate the impact of skill deficiencies through more efficient matching in the local labour market. The findings presented thus suggest that policies aimed at improving productivity and addressing the increasing regional productivity divide cannot be reduced to a simple space-neutral support for higher education and skill levels but need to explicitly recognise the presence and characteristics of place-specific skills gaps and shortages.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2019 The Author(s). This is an author-produced version of a paper subsequently published in Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Skill Gaps; Skill Shortages; Regional Productivity; Human Capital |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Economics (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 06 Nov 2019 11:38 |
Last Modified: | 30 Apr 2021 12:48 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/0308518X19889634 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:152960 |