Labor Force Demographics and Corporate Innovation

A-Tier
Journal: The Review of Financial Studies
Year: 2023
Volume: 36
Issue: 7
Pages: 2797-2838

Authors (3)

François Derrien (HEC Paris (École des Hautes Ét...) Ambrus Kecskés (not in RePEc) Phuong-Anh Nguyen (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

1.345 = (α=2.02 / 3 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Firms in younger labor markets produce more innovation. We establish this by instrumenting the current labor force with historical births in each local labor market in the United States. Analyses of firms and inventors allow us to rule out unobservable heterogeneity across local labor markets and firms, life cycles, and other effects. Corporate innovation in younger labor markets reflects the innovative characteristics of younger labor forces, and its market value is higher. Younger workers as a group, not merely inventors by themselves, produce more innovation for firms through the labor force channel rather than through a financing or consumption channel.Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix, which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:oup:rfinst:v:36:y:2023:i:7:p:2797-2838
Journal Field
Finance
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25