Leader: Ylenia Brilli (UNIVE); Other collaborator(s): Elena COTTINI (UNICATT)
Define KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) according to shared international standards of the impact of ageing on human capital, at the individual level and at firm level by taking into account tasks, competences and sector and measures of productivity. Measure the contributions of the KPIs through statistical/econometric models, to the organization of work also with reference to social partnership. Use matched employer-employee data. Insert special modules in the Italian permanent business census on ageing indicators and age management practices.
Brief description of the activities and of the intermediate results:
Corporate well-being affect senior workers’ reported job satisfaction, especially for individuals approaching retirement. Made use of the Trust Index survey run by Great Place to Work between 2019 and 2022 on a sample of Italian firms and estimated the relationship to retention levels (firm’s turnover): the “perceptions of identity” at the workplace (but also compensation level, training opportunities, and psychological wellbeing) reduce voluntary turnover. Workplace safety is a powerful predictor of senior workers' career pathways.The role of tertiary education on labour market outcomes in adult life based on two data sources:
Main policy, industrial and scientific implications
Organizational well-being on (reduced) firm-level turnover rates and the overall financial performance of firms, as measured by per capita value added (Prod) and by Return On Assets (ROA) indicators. A 0.1 decrease in turnover levels, reported by employees aged fifty-five and above, is associated with a 2.48 percentage points increase in the Return on Assets (ROA). This is the value of firm and industry-specific human capital (knowledge, social networks, interacting with co-workers and know-how), through prolonged tenure with the same employer.
1. A detailed map of individuals’ working career looking at fragmented working paths and the consequences on workers’ contribution to social security and for eligibility for a pension at older age.
2. Estimates of the impact of tertiary education availability on long-term labor market outcomes.
3. Estimates of the impact of the digital and green transition on the employability of older workers.
4. Estimates of organizational well-being on firm-level turnover rates and the overall financial performance of firms, as measured by per capita value added and by Return On Assets (ROA) indicators.
5. Estimates of the relevance for the organization of work and the investment in ICT skills and about the role of social partnerships and collective bargaining for counterbalancing risks of job insecurity and difficulty to make ends meet of older workers.
Brief description of the activities and of the intermediate results:
Main policy, industrial and scientific implications
Brief description of the activities and of the intermediate results:
The research team (Brilli, Cottini, Ghinetti, Moroni) has continued working on the analysis using Labour Force Survey data to assess the effect of university opening on educational attainment, with the aim of the distinguishing between STEM and non-STEM field of study: this is possible thanks to the detailed level of information provided in the historical dataset on university opening, as well as on the availability of the field of study of the respondent's education in the LFS data. Moreover, the research team was awarded a Visitinps fellowship, which would allow to perform an analysis on labor market outcomes and firm dynamics on administrative linked employer-employee data.
Main policy, industrial and scientific implications
The analysis results (though preliminary) show that university opening had an effect mainly on women's educational choices, even though it seems it mainly pushed women toward non-STEM field of studies. Nevertheless, we observe that college education indeed contributes to decreasing the gender gap in employment between men and women.
Brief description of the activities and of the intermediate results:
1. The research team (Brilli, Cottini, Ghinetti, Moroni) has continued working on the analysis using Labour Force Survey data to assess the effect of university opening on educational attainment. In addition to the analysis by field of study, in which they aim at distinguishing between STEM and non-STEM type of university opening, they have tackled the issue of potential migration of individuals during their lifecycle. In fact, one limitation with the long-term analysis performed so far with LFS is that the data do not allow to observe the individual's province od birth but only the individual's province of residence at the time of the interview (which occurs at around age 50-70 in our final sample); this implies that the sampled individuals may not have been resident of that province at age 18 (when the decision to acquire university education is taken). They thus attempted to replicate the analysis on historical LFS (gathered in 1982-1990), in which the same cohorts of individuals are observed at younger ages.
2. This research examined organizational wellbeing in firms using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) from Great Place to Work survey data from 2019-2022. We identified eight dimensions of perceived workplace wellbeing, and linked them to three KPIs (satisfaction, retention, effort). Preliminary findings revealed that most firms have efficient wellbeing practices, with average scores consistently high (4-4.5 on a 5-point scale). Moreover, lower variance in employee perceptions is associated to higher organizational KPIs.
Main policy, industrial and scientific implications
1. The analysis results (though preliminary) show that university opening had an effect mainly on women's educational choices, even though it seems it mainly pushed women toward non-STEM field of studies. Preliminary results on historical LFS data show that the proportion of individuals with a college education observed at younger ages is somehow comparable with the proportion observed at later ages, though the results also suggest that migration across provinces may have taken place to some extents.
2. This research provides insights to HR departments about the importance of domains of corporate wellbeing to effectively manage an aging workforce and improve bottom-line results. Investments in workplace wellbeing can generate positive returns by enhancing organizational outcomes.
Brief description of the activities and of the intermediate results:
1. The research team (Brilli, Cottini, Ghinetti, Moroni) working on the relationship between university openings and older workers' careers has continued working on historical LFS data (1982-1990) when the same cohorts of individuals are observed at younger ages, and the descriptive patterns observed at old ages concerning educational attainment are confirmed. Moreover, and importantly, the team has obtained access to administrative data from INPS which allows a more precise measure of the province of residence at first job and at birth, as well as more detailed information on workers' careers; the team has started working on the administrative data in May 2025, and has devoted much of the effort to clean and prepare the data for a regression analysis.
2. The team investigated the role of different domains of workers’ wellbeing within firms on key performance indicators (KPIs). The analysis relies on employees’ responses to the Trust Index survey run by Great Place to Work between 2019 and 2022 on a sample of Italian firms. We used Data Envelopement Analysis to analyze how organizational wellbeing (input) is trans- formed into workers’ satisfaction, tenure, and effort on the job (output). We computed an index of “efficient” wellbeing organizational practices and benchmark firms relative to the efficiency frontier along different domains. We explored how the effectiveness of wellbeing practices varies across different types of workers, including those approaching retirement.
3. We combine insights from cognitive psychology and economics to distinguish crystallized from fluid intelligence and assess their role in the decision to work longer. We use data from the Survey on Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), employing cognitive tests to construct indicators of fluid and crystallized intelligence. We investigate the probability of retirement and the distance between actual retirement age and ordinary retirement age.
Main policy, industrial and scientific implications
1. Results on historical LFS data show that the proportion of individuals with a college education observed at younger ages is somehow comparable with the proportion observed at later ages, though the results also suggest that migration across provinces may have taken place to some extents. Results from administrative data are not yet available.
2. While positive perceptions of workplace wellbeing are associated with higher outcomes, our findings reveal substantial room for improvement in the efficiency of this transformation process, even among wellbeing-oriented firms. There is significant heterogeneity in organizational efficiency across domains and firm characteristics. Large inefficiency in is revealed for the health & safety domain; smaller firms tend to be more efficient. These findings inform HR departments about the importance of targeted investment in specific domains of corporate wellbeing to effectively manage a diverse workforce and improve organizational outcomes. We are implementing a website with a questionnaire for companies, where they can obtain a score in different areas of well-being and see how they rank compared to other companies.
3. Our main findings reveal differential contributions of the two cognitive domains to retirement decisions, suggesting that crystallized intelligence plays a compensatory role in maintaining older workers’ employability. This has implications for active aging policies, emphasizing the potential of knowledge-based tasks and on-the-job training to enhance the productivity and workability of our aging workforce.
Dissemination Events:
Scientific Outputs: