Theoretical predictions of the impact of total factor productivity (TFP) growth on unemployment are ambiguous, and depend on the extent to which new technology is embodied in new jobs. We evaluate a model with embodied and disembodied technology, capitalization, and creative destruction effects. In econometric estimates with a panel of industrial countries we find a large negative impact of TFP growth on unemployment, which implies that embodied technology and creative destruction play no role in the steady-state dynamics of unemployment. Capitalization effects explain some of the estimated impact but a part remains unexplained. Copyright 2007 by the Economics Department Of The University Of Pennsylvania And Osaka University Institute Of Social And Economic Research Association.

We exploit homogeneous firm level data of manufacturing and non‐manufacturing industries to study the impact of firing restrictions on job flow dynamics across 14 European countries. Our results suggest that more stringent firing laws dampen the response of job destruction to the cycle, thus making job turnover less counter‐cyclical. Moreover, stricter EPL reduces both the creation and destruction of jobs in declining sectors relative to expanding sectors, implying that faster trend growth attenuates the impact of firing costs on firm's hiring and firing decisions.

4Non-technical summary 5

Although universities are generally under pressure to increase their interactions with industry, academic departments vary enormously in the extent to which they collaborate with businesses. There are several factors, which, to different extents, drive or hamper academics' capabilities to engage in collaboration with the private sector. On the basis of original data from interviews with 197 university departments in Italy, this paper investigates the main obstacles to technology transfer activity as perceived by academic researchers, and their possible impact on university-industry collaborations. The analysis shows that three (out of four) perceived obstacles are barriers to university -industry interactions and negatively affect the probability of engaging in collaboration with industry. The estimated impact of these perceived obstacles on the frequency of collaborations is less clear-cut and requires further investigation.