Disability employment and financial performance: the effect of technological innovation of listed firms in India

Abstract

Purpose Technological innovation (TI) has become a competitive advantage to firm sustainability and survival; however, stakeholders struggle to embrace this revolution. There is a fear that technology innovation leads to massive job loss. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate TI, employee disability (EDI) and financial performance. Design/methodology/approach Using the Indian stock market as a testing ground, the authors used panel regression to analyse 80 sustainability-reporting firms (640 firm-year observations) between 2010 and 2017. Findings The findings show that technology innovation has a positive association with EDI. It further indicates EDI with TI improves the financial performance (return on assets and return on equity) of firms. Also, the study shows that EDI in the service and manufacturing sector are the critical contributors when combined with TI towards an increase in financial performance. Practical implications The implication for the study allows firms to increase employment of people with disabilities in the workplace because TI has a positive effect on EDI. The results from the study confirm the service sector as the highest contributor to financial performance in the emergence of TI. Originality/value The novelty of this research provides empirical evidence that the service sector contributes more to financial performance when EDI combines with TI.