Labor Union Effects on Innovation and Commercialization Productivity: An Integrated Propensity Score Matching and Two-Stage Data Envelopment Analysis

Dongphil Chun, Yanghon Chung, Chungwon Woo, Hangyeol Seo and Hyesoo Ko
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Dongphil Chun: Policy Development Team, Division of Policy and Cooperation, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-600, Korea
Yanghon Chung: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291, Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Korea
Chungwon Woo: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291, Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Korea
Hangyeol Seo: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291, Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Korea
Hyesoo Ko: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291, Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Korea

Sustainability, 2015, vol. 7, issue 5, 1-19

Abstract: Research and development (R&D) is a critical factor in sustaining a firm’s competitive advantage. Accurate measurement of R&D productivity and investigation of its influencing factors are of value for R&D productivity improvements. This study is divided into two sections. The first section outlines the innovation and commercialization stages of firm-level R&D activities. This section analyzes the productivity of each stage using a propensity score matching (PSM) and two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) integrated model to solve the selection bias problem. Second, this study conducts a comparative analysis among subgroups categorized as labor unionized or non-labor unionized on productivity at each stage. We used Korea Innovation Survey (KIS) data for analysis using a sample of 400 Korean manufacturers. The key findings of this study include: (1) firm innovation and commercialization productivity are balanced and show relatively low innovation productivity; and (2) labor unions have a positive effect on commercialization productivity. Moreover, labor unions are an influential factor in determining manufacturing firms’ commercialization productivity.

Keywords: innovation productivity; commercialization productivity; propensity score matching (PSM); two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) model; labor union; Korea Innovation Survey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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