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Temporary agency work and firm performance : evidence from German establishment-level panel data

Beckmann, Michael and Kuhn, Dieter. (2009) Temporary agency work and firm performance : evidence from German establishment-level panel data. WWZ Discussion Papers, 2009 (01). Basel.

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Abstract

This paper empirically examines the impact of temporary agency work on firm performance using panel data from German establishments. Thereby, special attention is devoted to the question, whether there are performance differences between firms using temporary agency workers (TAWs) as a buffer stock (flexibility strategy) and firms using TAWs for screening purposes (screening strategy). While the theoretical discussion on this issue does not lead to clear–cut results, our empirical investigation provides the following results. First, we find an inverse U–shaped relationship between the share of TAWs and firm performance. Second, we obtain that firms following the screening strategy are significantly more productive than firms following the flexibility strategy. These results are found to be valid in both cross–sectional and panel data settings, so they are robust to unobserved firm heterogeneity.
Faculties and Departments:06 Faculty of Business and Economics > Departement Wirtschaftswissenschaften > Professuren Wirtschaftswissenschaften > Personal und Organisation (Beckmann)
12 Special Collections > WWZ Publications > WWZ Discussion Papers and Working Papers
UniBasel Contributors:Beckmann, Michael and Kuhn, Dieter
Item Type:Working Paper
Publisher:WWZ
Note: -- Publication type according to Uni Basel Research Database: Discussion paper / Internet publication
Language:English
Identification Number:
  • handle: RePEc:bsl:wpaper:2009/01
edoc DOI:
Last Modified:13 Mar 2018 15:29
Deposited On:22 Mar 2012 14:18

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