Labour Flows and R&D: A Quantile Regression Analysis
Marco Di Cintio, Emanuele Grassi

Abstract
Does R&D affect hirings, separations or both? Different answers to this question imply different behavioral responses of firms to innovation. Using a sample of Italian manufacturing firms, this paper explores the effects of R&D intensity on hiring, separation and churning rates. Based on quantile regression models, the results indicate that initial R&D intensity has a positive impact on subsequent hirings and churning and a negligible effect on separations. The results remain stable when the estimates are based on the two- and three-year averages of the labour flow rates and when we account for lagged R&D intensity, for different sub-periods and for an alternative measure of the hiring, separation and churning rates.

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