COVID-19 and Human Capital: Cataclysm and Catalyzer (C4)

COVID-19 and Human Capital: Cataclysm and Catalyzer (C4)

The C4-project examines how the COVID-19 pandemic influences the decisions firms make regarding their human capital, how this varies across firms with different characteristics, and how these decisions affect individuals with different characteristics.

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Our partners

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ABOUT THE PROJECT

The C4-Project is funded by the Research Council of Norway, and is conducted in partnership between NHH and the Federation of Norwegian Enterprise (Virke), and the Norwegian Union of Commerce and Office Employees (Handel og Kontor i Norge).

The project is a collaborative effort between the research centers FAIR and DIG. It started 01.10.2020 and ends 01.10.2022.

The motivation for the project is that the COVID-19 pandemic has had dramatic consequences for firms throughout the Norwegian economy. Even for firms not in lockdown, a steep decline in demand for goods and services forced a large number of firms to make dramatic changes to how they invest, deploy, and manage their human capital. This raises questions about how the pandemic impacts firms' human capital decisions, and the consequences this has - both for firms and individuals.

Independently of the crisis, firms were already (to varying extent) going through processes of digitalization. It seems quite clear that the pandemic will accelerate this digital transformation. It pushes a wide range of business activities online, some of which will lead to lasting changes in how both organizations and consumers behave. The crisis has encouraged firms to implement digital technologies earlier than anticipated, and it seems to have rewarded firms that were highly digitalized before it started. We therefore believe that to understand the economic- and labor market consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to realize that human capital decisions following the crisis and the process of digital transformation of the economy, are deeply intertwined. This also provides a glimpse into future crises and recessions, since these will take place in an increasingly digitalized society.

The key to make progress on all these issues are two things. One is higher quality data. We need to be able to integrate data on characteristics of firms and industries, with data on the characteristics of individuals and government interventions in a common dataset. To better understand the dynamics of the crisis we also need real time data to observe changes as the crisis unfolds, rather than merely study retrospective data after the crisis has passed. The other key thing needed is an interdisciplinary group of researchers who can bring a range of different approaches and perspectives to the data. Our project aims to do both.

 

Connected research centres

DIG Logo FAIR

C4 IN THE MEDIA

9. June, 2021

Dagens Persepektiv

 Norwegian kan ha fått drahjelp av pandemien

23. May, 2021

Budstikka

Kompisene flyttet hjem og realiserte drømmen 

2021

Arbeid & Inkludering

Faglige input og inspirasjon under heldigital konferanse

21. March, 2021

e24

Nå shopper amerikanske kunder «live» på Bryggen i Bergen 

17. March, 2021

Fiskeribladet

NHH-studie viser stor innovasjons-vilje i korona. Inger Johanne og kollegene laget ny fiskepølse.

28. February, 2021

BA

Har gått kreative veier for å holde hjulene i gang

12. January, 2021

Dagens Perspektiv

Koronakrisen har fått 3 av 4 bedrifter til å fornye seg

12. December, 2020

Budstikka

Åpner restaurant i lokalene han har ønsket seg i ti år

2. November, 2020

e24

Full stopp i jobbreiser har spart Arne-Christians arbeidsgiver for 68 millioner kroner

30. September, 2020

DN

52.000 jobbsøkere under 30 år på Nav – Mailboksen min er full av avslag, sier jobbsøker 

26. September, 2020

NRK

Treningssentera taper stort - her bygger dei nytt midt i koronakrisa

17. September, 2020

Norsk Redaktørforening

Høstmøtet og NXT Media - Nå kan du melde deg på

June, 2020

Magma

Forsker på koronakrisen mens det skjer

25. June, 2020

Fiskeribladet

NHH professor mener vårens permitteringsordning har svekket norsk næringsliv

25. June, 2020

LSE Business Review

Recessesions give businesses time to improve, if governments let them.

2. June, 2020

Trønder-Avisa

Det er tid for innovasjon

27. May, 2020

Aftenposten

Noen koronaeffekter forsvinner med smitten. Her er ekspertenes tanker om effektene som derimot blir langvarige.

23. May, 2020

Budstikka

Kompisene flyttet hjem og realiserte drømmen

13. May, 2020

Dagens Perspektiv

Bruk ledige ansatte til nytenkning og innovasjon 

28. March, 2020

Bergens Tidende

Koronakrisens historiske paralleler