  Investment in research and development is a key factor in increasing
countries' competitiveness. However, its impact can potentially be broader and
include other socially relevant elements like job quality. In effect, the
quantity of generated jobs is an incomplete indicator since it does not allow
to conclude on the quality of the job generated. In this sense, this paper
intends to explore the relevance of R&D investments for the job quality in the
European Union between 2009 and 2018. For this purpose, we investigate the
effects of R&D expenditures made by the business sector, government, and higher
education sector on three dimensions of job quality. Three research methods are
employed, i.e. univariate linear analysis, multiple linear analysis, and
cluster analysis. The findings only confirm the association between R&D
expenditure and the number of hours worked, such that the European Union
countries with the highest R&D expenses are those with the lowest average
weekly working hours.
