The recent increase in R&D offshoring have raised fears that knowledge and competitiveness in advanced countries may be at risk of ‘hollowing out'. At the same time, economic research has stressed that this process is also likely to allow some reverse technology transfer and foster growth at...

This work investigates the relationship between the numerical flexibility of a firm’s workforce and its innovative performance, taking into account the heterogeneity of firms and labor contracts. Using longitudinal data on Italian firms, we find that the share of temporary employees has a...