Description of variables used in the study
| Variables | Type | Description | Reference year |
|---|---|---|---|
| newemployee_knowl | Ordinal factor variable | Did the firm hire new employees who bring in know-how from other firms | 2017 |
| new_tech_acq | Binary Variable | Did the firm purchase new machines that are based on totally new technologies | 2017 |
| cost_employ_train17 | Ordinal factor variable | How much did the firm spend on further education and training of current employees in 2015 and 2016 | 2017 |
| graduate_employee17 | Ordinal factor variable | Share of employees in percentage holding a university degree in 2015 and 2016 | 2017 |
| Sector | Ordinal factor variable | Classification of participating firms in 21 economic sectors | 2019 |
| export_perc | Ordinal factor variable | Percentage of revenue coming from exports in 2016 | 2016–2018 |
| public_funding | Binary Variable | Did the firm receive public funding between 2014 and 2016 | 2016–2018 |
| firm_size | Ordinal factor variable | Firm size >50 50–249 ≤250 | 2019 |
| Sales | Sales volume in millions | 2018 | |
| AdoptedRL17 | Binary Variable | If firms adopted reverse logistics between 2014 and 2016 | 2014–2016 |
| DigitalizationCount | Count variable | Generated by merging multiple variables to report on all digitalization activities performed by the firm (see: Section 4) | 2016–2018 |
| CollaborationCount | Count variable | Generated by merging multiple variables to report on all collaboration activities performed by the firm (see: Section 4) | 2016–2018 |
| Variables | Type | Description | Reference year |
|---|---|---|---|
| newemployee_knowl | Ordinal factor variable | Did the firm hire new employees who bring in know-how from other firms | 2017 |
| new_tech_acq | Binary Variable | Did the firm purchase new machines that are based on totally new technologies | 2017 |
| cost_employ_train17 | Ordinal factor variable | How much did the firm spend on further education and training of current employees in 2015 and 2016 | 2017 |
| graduate_employee17 | Ordinal factor variable | Share of employees in percentage holding a university degree in 2015 and 2016 | 2017 |
| Sector | Ordinal factor variable | Classification of participating firms in 21 economic sectors | 2019 |
| export_perc | Ordinal factor variable | Percentage of revenue coming from exports in 2016 | 2016–2018 |
| public_funding | Binary Variable | Did the firm receive public funding between 2014 and 2016 | 2016–2018 |
| firm_size | Ordinal factor variable | Firm size | 2019 |
| Sales | Sales volume in millions | 2018 | |
| AdoptedRL17 | Binary Variable | If firms adopted reverse logistics between 2014 and 2016 | 2014–2016 |
| DigitalizationCount | Count variable | Generated by merging multiple variables to report on all digitalization activities performed by the firm (see: | 2016–2018 |
| CollaborationCount | Count variable | Generated by merging multiple variables to report on all collaboration activities performed by the firm (see: | 2016–2018 |
Source(s): Table by authors