The impact of temporary workers on the conversion of innovation efforts into product innovations: the case of Spanish companies
ISSN: 2049-3983
Article publication date: 2 December 2020
Issue publication date: 30 July 2021
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, we study the influence of temporary workers in the relationship between innovation effort and product innovation in a large sample of Spanish manufacturing firms in a six-year period.
Design/methodology/approach
The article uses a zero-inflated regression model to analyse how the performance of innovation efforts is affected by the impact of temporary employment.
Findings
Our results show that the use of temporary employment has adverse effects for the conversion of innovation investments into innovation outputs. Firms with higher levels of fixed-term workers have less product innovations in comparison to firms that do not use this kind of workforce. However, this negative impact is less detrimental in technological-intensive sectors.
Originality/value
The value of this research for employment relations is salient as workers long-term protection seems to enhance the effectiveness of the innovation process. At the same time, the effects of temporary work vary depending on the sector.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Funding declaration: José Fernandez-Menéndez and Marta Fossas-Olalla acknowledge with appreciation financial aid from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (Project ECO 2013-44816-R)
Citation
Rodríguez-Ruiz, Ó., Fernández-Menéndez, J., Díaz-Martínez, Z. and Fossas-Olalla, M. (2021), "The impact of temporary workers on the conversion of innovation efforts into product innovations: the case of Spanish companies", Evidence-based HRM, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 276-292. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBHRM-01-2020-0005
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited