Article Information Author: Gerhardus van Zyl1 Affiliation: 1Department of Economics and Econometrics, University of Johannesburg, South Africa Correspondence to: Gerhardus van Zyl Postal address: PO Box 10152, Aston Manor 1630, South Africa Dates: Received: 10 Apr. 2012 Accepted: 27 Aug. 2012 Published: 31 Jan. 2013 How to cite this article: Van Zyl, G. (2013). The relative labour productivity contribution of different age-skill categories for a developing economy. SA Journal of Human Resource Management/SA Tydskrif vir Menslikehulpbronbestuur, 11(1), Art. #472, 8 pages. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ sajhrm.v11i1.472 Copyright Notice: © 2013. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS OpenJournals. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The relative labour productivity contribution of different age-skill categories for a developing economy In This Original Research... Open Access • Abstract • Introduction    • Problem statement    • Literature review • Research design    • Research approach and method       • Measuring instrument       • Statistical analysis • Results • Discussion    • Conclusion • Acknowledgements    • Competing interests • References • Appendix A Abstract Top ↑ Orientation: The article dealt with the estimation, computation and interpretation of the relative productivity contributions of different age-skill categories.Research purpose: The aim of the article was to estimate and compute, (1) relative productivity contributions and (2) relative productivity contribution–employee remuneration cost levels for different age-skill categories. Motivation for the study: The research was deemed necessary given the current debate on relative productivity levels and possible changes to the retirement age in the South African labour market. No real research in this regard has been published regarding the South African labour market situation. Research design, approach and method: A less restrictive production function was used, allowing for the simultaneous estimation and final computation of relative labour contribution levels of different age-skill categories. Main findings: The lower-skilled segment produced significantly smaller productivity contributions and the relative productivity contribution–employee remuneration cost ratios of the 55 years and older age group were superior in the higher-skilled segment but, at the same time, the lowest in the lower-skilled segment. Practical/managerial implications: It is recommended that human resource practitioners (given the perceived rigidity of labour legislation) implement and maintain structures that promote higher productivity levels for all age-skill categories in the workplace. Contribution/value-add: An estimation procedure, which can be applied to the measurement of the relative productivity contribution of different age-skill categories, has been established. Introduction Top ↑ Problem statement The article adds new insight into the age-real productivity debate in South Africa, as no estimation, computation, quantification and interpretation of this magnitude on the age-relative labour productivity and employee remuneration cost ratios (when different skill levels are taken into consideration) has previously been conducted. The manufacturing, construction and the trade and accommodation industries of the Gauteng Province of South Africa are used as case studies. There is a general debate on, (1) relative productivity levels and (2) the retirement age in the South African economy and the possible impact (if any) that a change in the retirement age might have on labour productivity benefits, the potential loss of valuable expertise and the possible creation of a further loss of skilled employees. This particular research focuses on the age-real productivity aspect of this debate. Over the past two decades, renewed research interest has focused on the relationship between the different employee age groups and labour productivity in the workplace. The increasing ageing profile of populations in developed economies (especially in Europe) and its impact on those economies has prompted more research (Colonia-Willner, 1998; Daveri & Maliranta, 2006; Dostie, 2006; Guest & Shacklock, 2005; Malmberg, Lindh & Halvarsson, 2005; Remery, Henkins, Schippers & Ekamper, 2003; Roger & Wasmer, 2009; Skirbekk, 2003; Vandenberghe & Waltenberg, 2010) on the age-productivity relationship. No real research has been conducted in this regard for developing economies, where the realities are (1) real positive population growth rates, (2) a greater number of younger people entering the job market and (3) a growing component of active employees at the higher end of the age groups. Literature review Daveri and Maliranta (2006), Guest and Shacklock (2005), Remery et al. (2003) and Van Ours and Stoeldraijer (2010) indicated very low and even negative productivity differentials for older employees. These studies concluded that, (1) lower productivity differentials for older employees are caused by higher employee remuneration costs and, at the same time, an inability to adapt to new technology and structural changes in the labour market, (2) a general preference exists for younger employees (simply as a result of relative lower employee remuneration costs), (3) greater discrepancies exist between the productivity contribution levels of ‘older’ employees and remuneration levels (the argument is that marginal productivity levels are growing slower than employee remuneration levels) and (4) firms tend to follow rigid employee remuneration schemes (based on qualifications, experience and tenure) and would then be inclined to adjust their employment structures and not necessarily nominal employee remuneration levels. Colonia-Willner (1998), Dostie (2006), Roger and Wasmer (2009) and Vandenberghe and Waltenberg (2010) concluded that, in certain circumstances, the real productivity contribution levels for ‘older’ employees can be significantly positive because of certain job categories requiring a longer timeframe for the accumulation of job-specific skills and experience. The Roger and Wasmer (2009) study specifically indicated that older, higher-skilled employees were the most productive, whilst older, lower-skilled employees were the least productive when compared to the other age groups.General aspects on the age-labour productivity relationship, for which all the abovementioned studies are in agreement, are that: • Employee remuneration differentials reflect actual differences in relative productivity contribution levels for the different age groups. • Employee remuneration levels tend to vary far less than relative productivity levels. • A definite inequality exists between relative productivity contributions and employee remuneration levels for all the different age groups (the argument is that employee remuneration differentials do reflect actual differences in employee productivity). • Relative productivity contribution-levels tend to reach a maximum and then decline as employees become older. • Employers are constantly trying to achieve an employee-age mix that would yield the highest possible relative productivity contribution levels. In terms of the measurement of the productivity contribution of the different age-skill categories, the majority of the studies (Daveri & Maliranta, 2006; Dostie, 2006; Guest & Shacklock, 2005; Vandenberghe & Waltenberg, 2010) used a restrictive production function methodology. A less restrictive measurement methodology was developed by Roger and Wasmer (2009) in their extensive study on the actual profile of relative productivity contributions across the different age groups in the manufacturing, services and trade sectors of the French economy. These authors developed a unique and less restrictive production function in which the labour input was treated as a nested constant elasticity substitution (CES) model. In this particular model, (1) a smaller number of constraints were imposed on production technology and (2) the imperfect substitution between the different categories of employees was allowed for. The model also, (1) enabled the differentiation of employees simultaneously by age and skill level and (2) estimated the differences in the age-productivity and age-employee remuneration (in relative terms) separately within each skill level. Research design Top ↑ Research approach and method The research design comprises the, (1) specification of an econometric model that would capture the relative labour productivity contributions for the different age groups (in accordance with the different skill levels), (2) identification of the different industries that would serve as proxies for the estimation and computation of the different relative productivity contribution and relative productivity contribution–employee remuneration ratios, (3) statistical validation of the required sample of businesses and the data collected in the proxy industries and (4) estimation and computation process and the interpretation of the estimation and computation results. Measuring instrument A simplified version of the Roger and Wasmer (2009) model was used for this particular research. The International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-88) was used for the differentiation of the different skill levels. Category A constituted the more skilled employee segment, whilst Category B constituted the less skilled employee segment. In terms of the different age groups, three categories were identified, namely employees aged, (1) 35 years and younger, (2) older than 35 years but younger than 55 years and (3) 55 years and older. These age categories were specifically chosen in order to allow for comparative analysis with similar research results. In terms of the estimation and computation process, the different employee categories were treated heterogeneously across the defined age-skill groups, but homogeneously within the different age-skill groups. This simply means that employees belonging to the same age-skill group were assumed to be perfectly substitutable. The methodology of the model of Roger and Wasmer (2009, pp. 10–12, 19, 27–35), as applied in this particular study, was explained in the following few paragraphs. In the model, the aggregate labour input (high-skilled and low-skilled employees) took the form of a nested CES function: L = (ΣδiLipi)1/pi [Eqn 1] where L = labour, i = skill category, δi = distribution parameter and pi = substitution parameter. In terms of the different age-skill categories, each skill category was treated as a CES function by itself: Li = (ΣiδijLijpij)1/pij [Eqn 2] where i = skill category, j = age category, δij = distribution parameter per age-skill category and pij = substitution parameter per age-skill category. In the estimation process, the distribution- as well as the substitution parameters were estimated, followed by the estimation of the productivity differentials per age-skill category. In order to estimate the productivity contribution per employee category the marginal productivity (MP) for each employee category was computed (given the estimated values of the CES parameters). It is important to note that, (1) constant returns to scale was assumed and (2) that the Euler’s theorem was used in order to specify the labour function. This particular function is homogeneous to the degree of 1 and was presented as a sum of labour inputs times the marginal productivities: f(L,L2…..Ln) = L1∂f/∂L1 + L2∂f/∂L2 + …Ln∂f/∂Ln) [Eqn 3] where f = the function of labour, L1L2Ln = labour inputs and ∂/L = marginal productivity per labour input. In order to cater for skill differentiation the marginal product for each skill category was computed: MPi = ∂Y/∂L ∙ ∂L/∂Li [Eqn 4] where Y = output, L = labour input and Li = different skill levels. In terms of the nested CES function, the marginal productivity per skill category was presented as: MPi = AKαβ(ΣiδiLipi)β/pi -1δiLipi-1 [Eqn 5] where MPi = marginal productivity per skill category, K = capital input, α = marginal productivity of capital, δi = distribution per skill category, Li = employee skill category and pi = substitution parameter per skill category. The ratio of the different skill levels was computed in order to determine the relative marginal productivity for the different employee skill categories: MP1/MP2 = ∂L/∂L1 ÷ ∂L/∂L2 = λ = δ1 / δ2 (L1/L2)pi-1 [Eqn 6] where λ = ratio of the marginal productivities of the two skill categories 1 and 2 and δ1 / δ2 = ratio of the distribution parameters for skill categories 1 and 2. A comparison of productivity contributions over different skill categories requires the estimation of the ratio between the marginal productivity of a skill category and the average marginal productivity of the total labour input: MP1/MPav = L/L1 + λ-1L2 and MP2/MPav = L/λL1 + L2 [Eqn 7] where MPav = average marginal productivity for the total labour input. In terms of the impact of age differentiation on labour productivity, the marginal productivity per age-skill category is computed: MPij = ∂Y/∂L ∙ ∂L/∂Li ∙ ∂Li/∂Lij [Eqn 8] where MPij = marginal productivity per age-skill category. and MPi = AKαβ(Σδi Lipi)β/pi - 1δiLipi/pj - 1δijLijpij -1 [Eqn 9] where δij = distribution parameter per age-skill category and pij = substitution parameter per age-skill category. The relative marginal productivity of any two age groups of employees in a given skill category is: MPi1/MPi2 = δi1/δi2(Li1/Li2)pij-1 [Eqn 10] The relative marginal productivities between the different age categories were: • Relative marginal productivity for employees younger than 35 years versus employees older than 35 years but younger than 55 years of age, represented as: MPi35