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on Human Capital and Human Resource Management |
| By: | Impink, Stephen Michael; Prat, Andrea; Sadun, Raffaella |
| Abstract: | This paper uses novel, firm-level measures derived from communications metadata before and after a CEO transition in 102 firms to study if CEO turnover impacts employees' communication flows. We find that CEO turnover leads to an initial decrease in intra-firm communication, followed by a significant increase approximately five months after the CEO change. The increase is driven primarily by vertical (i.e. manager to employee) communication. Greater increases in communication after CEO change are associated with greater increases in firm market returns. |
| Keywords: | CEO change; communication; alignment |
| JEL: | R14 J01 J50 |
| Date: | 2021–09–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:113873&r= |
| By: | Moens, Eline; Verhofstadt, Elsy; Van Ootegem, Luc; Baertiv, Stijn |
| Abstract: | This research adds to the literature on the attractiveness of telework to employees. To this end, we set up an innovative factorial survey experiment in which a high-quality sample of employees evaluates job offers with diverging characteristics, among which a wide variation in telework possibilities. We find that the relationship between the possibility to telework and job attractiveness is approximately linear: 10 percentage points more telework hours yield a rise of 2.2 percentage points in job attractiveness and, therefore, the willingness to give up an increase of 2.3 percentage points in wage in the new job. Our experimental design also allows us to investigate the underlying mechanisms of this relationship as well as its moderators. We find that the attractiveness of telework is particularly explained by expectations of an improved work-life balance, more work scheduling autonomy, a higher job satisfaction, and more work methods autonomy in jobs with a greater possibility to telework. In addition, our analyses show that less conscientious employees are on average more attracted to jobs with greater telework possibilities, so that it is important that self-selection in jobs with more telework is well-monitored. |
| Keywords: | telework,job attractiveness,factorial survey experiment |
| JEL: | J24 J81 J31 J63 I31 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1076&r= |
| By: | Dur, Robert (Erasmus University Rotterdam); Gomez-Gonzalez, Carlos (University of Zurich); Nesseler, Cornel (Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)) |
| Abstract: | A rich literature shows that ethnic discrimination is an omnipresent and highly persistent phenomenon. Little is known, however, about how to reduce discrimination. This study reports the results of a large-scale field experiment we ran together with the Norwegian Football Federation. The federation sent an email to a random selection of about 500 amateur soccer coaches, pointing towards the important role that soccer can play in promoting inclusivity and reducing racism in society and calling on the coaches to be open to all interested applicants. Two weeks later, we sent fictitious applications to join an amateur club, using either a native-sounding or a foreign-sounding name, to the same coaches and to a random selection of about 500 coaches who form the control group. In line with earlier research, we find that applications from people with a native-sounding name receive significantly more positive responses than applications from people with a foreign-sounding name. Surprisingly and unintentionally, the email from the federation substantially increased rather than decreased this gap. Our study underlines the importance of running field experiments to check whether well-intended initiatives are effective in reducing discrimination. |
| Keywords: | ethnic discrimination, intervention, field experiment, correspondence test, amateur soccer |
| JEL: | C93 J15 Z29 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15186&r= |
| By: | Valeria Gattai; Piergiovanna Natale; Francesca Rossi |
| Abstract: | Employing firm-level panel data from 2011 to 2015, we investigate the relationship between board diversity and outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) among firms headquartered in Europe. Previous studies suggest that best-performing firms self-select into OFDI and that board diversity affects firm performance and strategic decisions. Our focus is on board diversity in terms of gender and nationality as determinants of OFDI. After controlling for endogeneity using instrumental variables and control function methods, we find that board diversity positively affects OFDI by increasing firm performance; however, firms with more diverse boards are less likely to open foreign subsidiaries. Our findings also reveal that the negative effect of board diversity on OFDI is stronger in more productive firms. |
| Keywords: | Board diversity, Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI), Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Firm performance, Europe |
| JEL: | F23 G30 J16 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mib:wpaper:491&r= |
| By: | Fabienne Kiener; Christian Eggenberger; Uschi Backes-Gellner |
| Abstract: | We study how information technology (IT) progress affects returns to specialization and social skills by developing a theoretical model and empirically analyzing its implications. Our model shows how IT progress can lead to increasing returns to specialization and social skills. Using rich skill data from Swiss occupational training curricula, we empirically investigate the wage returns to specialization and social skills depending on IT progress in different industries. Our individual fixed-effects analyses show that IT progress leads to increasing wage returns for specialized workers. Furthermore, our results suggest that workers with high shares of social skills benefit from IT progress only if they are also specialized. |
| Keywords: | digitalization, IT progress, skills, education, human capital |
| JEL: | I26 J24 O33 |
| Date: | 2022–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iso:educat:0192&r= |
| By: | Fuller, Joe; Hansen, Stephen; Ramdas, Tejas; Sadun, Raffaella |
| Abstract: | We use a unique corpus of job descriptions for C-suite positions to document skills requirements in top managerial occupations across a large sample of firms. A novel algorithm maps the text of each executive search into six separate skill clusters reflecting cognitive, interpersonal, and operational dimensions. The data show an increasing relevance of social skills in top managerial occupations, and a greater emphasis on social skills in larger and more information intensive organizations. The results suggest the need for training, search and governance mechanisms able to facilitate the match between firms and top executives along multiple and imperfectly observable skills. |
| Keywords: | job descriptions; skills requirements; C-suite positions |
| JEL: | R14 J01 J50 |
| Date: | 2021–09–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:113871&r= |
| By: | Maria Barrero, Jose; Bloom, Nicholas; Davis, Steven J. |
| Abstract: | COVID-19 drove a mass social experiment in working from home (WFH). We survey more than 30,000 Americans over multiple waves to investigate whether WFH will stick, and why. Our data say that 20 percent of full workdays will be supplied from home after the pandemic ends, compared with just 5 percent before. We develop evidence on five reasons for this large shift: better-than-expected WFH experiences, new investments in physical and human capital that enable WFH, greatly diminished stigma associated with WFH, lingering concerns about crowds and contagion risks, and a pandemic-driven surge in technological innovations that support WFH. We also use our survey data to project three consequences: First, employees will enjoy large benefits from greater remote work, especially those with higher earnings. Second, the shift to WFH will directly reduce spending in major city centers by at least 5-10 percent relative to the pre-pandemic situation. Third, our data on employer plans and the relative productivity of WFH imply a 5 percent productivity boost in the post-pandemic economy due to re-optimized working arrangements. Only one-fifth of this productivity gain will show up in conventional productivity measures, because they do not capture the time savings from less commuting. |
| Keywords: | Covid-19; USA; productivity; technological innovations; coronavirus |
| JEL: | R14 J01 |
| Date: | 2021–08–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:113912&r= |