The impact of innovation and the use of ICTs on human capital development in Spanish industry

Purpose: The analysis of the characteristics of the industrial companies that invest in
the training of their human capital in comparison to the organizations that do not train
their employees. This characterization is focused especially on the innovative capacity of
firms and their technological applications. It also analyzes the factors that determine
the likelihood that a company invests in personnel training.
Design/methodology/approach: Descriptive characterization of those companies
that invest in personnel training, comparing them against those who do not invest in
improving its human capital. Furthermore, factors influencing the decision that a
company invest in training are analyzed through a logistic regression. Among them we
included the intensity of technological usage and the innovation capacity. This research
is based on data from the Survey of Business Strategies (ESEE) in 2009, conducted
annually. The sample is approximately 1,800 companies, being representative of the
Spanish manufacturing sector.
Findings: Companies with a higher likelihood of investing in training of their workers
are those with a larger number of workers, a higher level of qualification of employees,
more stable labor relations, greater participation foreign capital, and also, have a higher
level of technological uses, carries more technological partnerships with other
organizations and has a more intense innovative activity.
Social implications: In the current situation of job destruction and lack of
competitiveness of the Spanish industry in increasingly globalized markets, training of
workers is seen as the main alternative to increase the productivity of the Spanish
industry. This study shows that the industrial structure does not meet the basic
conditions described in the scientific literature, in order the companies to train their
workers with the risk of exclusion that entails.
Originality/value: The study of the characteristics of Spanish companies that
invest in training, and the factors that influence the likelihood of this
investment, using recent data (2009) with high statistical consistency. There
are still few studies that analyze the improvement of human capital in Spain in
the current period of economic crisis.