Euro and Technology Effects on Job Turnover in Greek Manufacturing

This paper investigates the effects of Greece’s European Union (EU) accession and European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) entry, as well as R&D intensity and industry concentration on job creation and job destruction in the Greek manufacturing sector. The study is based on firm-level economic data of 1418 firms and covers the time period from 1995 to 2004. The econometric model, besides other firm-level determinants used in similar studies, incorporates variables that capture the potential impact of EU accession and EMU entry. In addition, the effects of variables, such as R&D, size, age, exports, new investment, profitability and industry concentration ratios are examined. The study reveals that EMU has a substantial negative effect on employment growth in the Greek manufacturing sector. However, it strengthens the effect of exports, new investments in tangible assets and R&D expenditures on the creation of new work positions.