Innovation and Employment: Firm-Level Evidence from Japan

[[abstract]]本研究以日本電子業的廠商作為研究對象，建構一組 722 家日本上市廠商 於 2013 年至 2019 年的非平衡追蹤資料，實證檢驗創新活動對各廠商勞動需求 之影響。藉由追蹤資料固定效果模型的估計結果顯示，各廠商的總專利權數與 其就業人數呈現負向顯著關係，顯示創新表現越好的日本廠商其勞動需求越低。 這樣的結果可能源自日本的生產模式屬於效率創新，因改善勞動生產提高效率， 以至於廠商對勞動需求的減少。這樣的情況在電子機械設備業與精密機器業特 別明顯。再者，區分製程創新與產品創新來檢視創新活動與勞動需求之關聯的 結果顯示，製程創新表現越好的廠商其勞動需求越低。最後，廠商特性變數的部 分，薪資越高的廠商、廠齡越成熟的廠商、資本密集度越低的廠商，以及市場價 值越高的廠商，其員工人數也越多。 This article investigates the relationship between Japanese electronic firms’ innovation performance and employment. Results obtained using a panel data model with a fixed effect on 2013–2019 data from Japanese firms reveal that the estimated coefficient for innovation performance is negative and statistically significant at the 5% level. This indicates that the firms experience lower labor demand following improvements in their innovation performance. Japan’s efficiency innovations frequently result in job reductions as well as labor savings in production work, especially in the electromechanical equipment and precision instrument industries. The present samples are further separated into product and process innovations to determine whether the employment of innovation performance differs across innovation modes. The estimated effects of employment on process innovations are strongly negative. Regarding the influence of other characteristics, firms that have higher market value, offer higher wages, are less capital intensive, and have longer histories have higher levels of employment