Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/31713 
Year of Publication: 
2008
Series/Report no.: 
Jena Economic Research Papers No. 2008,095
Publisher: 
Friedrich Schiller University Jena and Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena
Abstract: 
The literature on knowledge spillovers offers substantial evidence that workers, as main carriers of knowledge, play a role in the diffusion of knowledge among firms. One of the channels through which knowledge is diffused is the job-to-job mobility of workers. The research question addressed in this study is an empirical exploration of the industry-specific factors that influence the level of job-to-job mobility of highly qualified workers (HQWs) within three-digit industrial sectors. To this end, we use panel data based on the social security records of the German Federal Employment Agency. We find that HQW job-to-job mobility is dependent on technology-specific and an industry’s evolution-specific factors. The results show a significant and positive effect of the technological regime and the level of job destruction on the degree of voluntary and overall HQW mobility. The intra-industry mobility of this group is also affected by establishment-size effects, the inflow of HQWs from other industries, and the type of industry (service or manufacturing).
Subjects: 
Mobility
highly qualified workers
technological change
knowledge transmission
JEL: 
D83
J44
J62
O33
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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