|
on Entrepreneurship |
| By: | Andreas Haufler (University of Munich and CESifo); Pehr-Johan Norbaeck (Research Institute of Industrial Economics, Stockholm); Lars Persson (Research Institute of Industrial Economics, Stockholm and CEPR) |
| Abstract: | Many governments promote small businesses for the dual reasons of fostering `break-through' innovations and employment growth. In this paper we study the effects of tax and subsidy policies on entrepreneurs' choice of riskiness of an innovation project and on their mode of commercializing the innovation (market entry versus sale). Limited loss offset provisions in the tax system induce entrepreneurs to choose projects with too little risk and this problem arises primarily when entrepreneurs market their product themselves. When innovations reduce only the fixed costs of production this leads to a fundamental policy trade-off between the declared goals of promoting employment and innovation in small, entrepreneurial firms. When innovations reduce variable production costs, policies to promote small businesses may even be unambiguously harmful. |
| JEL: | H25 L13 M13 O31 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:btx:wpaper:1122&r=ent |
| By: | Nunziata, Luca (University of Padova); Rocco, Lorenzo (University of Padova) |
| Abstract: | We suggest a methodology for identifying the implications of alternative cultural and social norms embodied by religious denomination on labour market outcomes, by estimating the differential impact of Protestantism versus Catholicism on the propensity to be an entrepreneur, on the basis of the diverse minority status of both confessions across European regions. Our quasi-experimental research design exploits the stronger degree of attachment to religious ethic of religious minorities and the exogenous historical determination of the geographical distribution of religious minorities in Europe. Our analysis of European Social Survey data collected in four waves between 2002 and 2008 in 22 European countries, indicates that cultural background has a significant effect on the individual propensity to become an entrepreneur, with Protestantism increasing the chances to be an entrepreneur by around 3% with respect to Catholicism. Our findings, stable across a number of robustness checks, provide further evidence on the need to take cultural elements into consideration when analysing economic behaviour. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship, self-employment, religion, culture, Protestantism, Catholicism |
| JEL: | J24 J21 Z12 Z13 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6114&r=ent |
| By: | Lechmann, Daniel S. J. (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg); Schnabel, Claus (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg) |
| Abstract: | Using a large representative German data set and various concepts of self-employment, this paper tests the "jack-of-all-trades" view of entrepreneurship by Lazear (AER 2004). Consistent with its theoretical assumptions we find that self-employed individuals perform more tasks and that their work requires more skills than that of paid employees. In contrast to Lazear's assumptions, however, self-employed individuals do not just need more basic but also more expert skills than employees. Our results also provide only very limited support for the idea that human capital investment patterns differ between those who become self-employed and those ending up in paid employment. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship, self-employed, Germany |
| JEL: | J23 J24 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6157&r=ent |
| By: | Cho, In Soo |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the extent to which differences in risk preferences between men and women explain why women have a lower entrepreneurship rate, earn less, and work fewer hours than men. Data from the NLSY79 confirms previous findings that women are more risk averse than men. However, while less risk averse men tend to become self-employed and more risk averse men are likely to choose paid-employment, there is no significant effect of risk preferences on women’s entrepreneurship decisions. Similarly, more risk aversion is associated with higher earnings for male entrepreneurs, but it has no effect on female entrepreneurial earnings. Rising rates of risk aversion lower earnings for women, consistent with theoretical effects of risk preferences on labor earnings, but the effects are of modest magnitude. Risk preferences do not explain variation in hours of work for either men or women. These findings suggest that widely reported differences in risk preferences across genders play only a trivial role in explaining differences in labor market outcomes between men and women. |
| Keywords: | risk aversion; earnings; labor supply; gender gap; self-employment; Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition |
| JEL: | J16 J22 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2011–12–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genres:34651&r=ent |
| By: | Laure Pasquier-Doumer (DIAL, IRD, Paris) |
| Abstract: | Social reproduction is the highest for self-employed as shown by an extensive literature from developed and developing countries. Very few studies however document the reason for this high intergenerational correlation of the self-employed status. The rare studies that have been done concern the US and show that children of self-employed benefit from an advantage when they are themselves self-employed. The purpose of this paper is to test if the second-generation of self-employed has an advantage related to the first-generation in the African context. It aims at highlighting the debate on firms heterogeneity in the informal sector, and seeks to contribute to understand the intergenerational transmission of inequalities. Using 1-2-3 surveys collected in the commercial capitals of seven West African countries in 2001-2002, this paper shows that the second-generation of informal selfemployed does not have better outcomes than the first one, except when they choose a familial tradition in the same sector of activity. Thus, in the African context, having a self-employed father does not provide any advantage in terms of profit or sales and is not sufficient for the transmission of valuable skills. On the other hand, informal entrepreneurs who have chosen a specific enterprise based on familial tradition have a competitive advantage. Their competitive advantage is partly explained by the transmission of enterprise-specific human capital, acquired through experiences in the same type of activity and by the transmission of social capital. _________________________________ Très peu d’études documentent les raisons la très forte reproduction sociale observée parmi les entrepreneurs, aussi bien dans les pays développés que dans les pays en développement. Les rares études, portant sur les E.U, montrent que les enfants d’entrepreneurs ont de meilleures performances quand ils sont eux-mêmes entrepreneurs que les enfants de salariés. Cet article teste si ce résultat se vérifie dans le contexte du secteur informel ouest-africain et cherche à en comprendre les raisons. Il vise par conséquent à éclairer le débat portant sur l’hétérogénéité des entreprises informelles, en identifiant des facteurs de succès, mais il cherche aussi à mieux comprendre les mécanismes à l’origine de la transmission intergénérationnelles des inégalités en Afrique. En se basant sur les enquêtes 1-2-3 collectées dans sept capitale ouest-africaines, cet article montre que la seconde génération d’entrepreneurs informels ne bénéficient pas d’un avantage comparatif, sauf s’ils bénéficient d’une tradition familiale dans leur secteur d’activité. Ainsi, dans le contexte ouest-africain, avoir un père entrepreneur ne suffit pas à la transmission de compétences managériales. En revanche, les entrepreneurs qui ont choisi leur secteur d’activité par tradition familiale ont un avantage qui s’explique principalement par la transmission de compétences spécifiques au secteur d’activité et par la transmission d’un capital social. |
| Keywords: | Informal sector, entrepreneurship, intergenerational link, human capital,Secteur informel, entreprenariat, lien intergénérationnel, capital humain. |
| JEL: | L26 J24 J62 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dia:wpaper:dt201109&r=ent |
| By: | Berkhout, Peter (RIGO Research Institute); Hartog, Joop (University of Amsterdam); van Praag, Mirjam (University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | There is no robust empirical support for the effect of financial incentives on the decision to work in self-employment rather than as a wage earner. In the literature, this is seen as a puzzle. We offer a focus on the opportunity cost, i.e. the wages given up as an employee. Information on income from self-employment is of inferior quality and this is not just a problem for the outside researcher, it is an imminent problem of the individual considering self-employment. We also argue that it is not only the location of an income distribution that matters and that dispersion and (a)symmetry should not be ignored. We predict that higher mean, lower variance and higher skew in the wage distribution in a particular employment segment reduce the inclination to prefer self-employment above employee status. Using a sample of 56,000 recent graduates from a Dutch college or university, grouped in approximately 120 labor market segments, we find significant support for these propositions. The results survive various robustness checks on specifications and assumptions. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship, self-employment, wage-employment, income distribution, income risk, income skew, income variance, occupational choice, labor market entry, labor market segments, opportunity cost |
| JEL: | J24 L26 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6166&r=ent |
| By: | Koen Frenken; Elena Cefis; Erik Stam |
| Abstract: | We review the literature on clusters and their effects on industrial dynamics as well on various lifecycle dynamics underlying the process of cluster formation and cluster dynamics. The review shows that there is little evidence that clusters enhance firm growth and survival. In the absence of localization economies, the emergence of clusters is best understood as an evolutionary process of capability transmission between parents firms and their spinoffs. We discuss various future research avenues and call for theorising based on firm heterogeneity as well as empirical research based on common methodological standards. |
| Keywords: | entry, exit, cluster, localization economies, lifecycle, firm heterogeneity |
| JEL: | L10 L20 R10 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:tuecis:wpaper:1107&r=ent |
| By: | Christophe Bonnet (GDF - Gestion, Droit et Finance - Grenoble Ecole de Management); Peter Wirtz (Finance Magellan - Équipe de Recherche en Finance - Université Jean Moulin - Lyon III - Centre de recherche Magellan de l'IAE) |
| Abstract: | This article contributes to a better understanding of the process of entrepreneurial finance from a behavioral perspective. We specifically examine the cognitive features and interaction of three key-actors in entrepreneurial finance: entrepreneurs, business angels and venture capitalists and derive implications for performance (value creation and growth) when a young venture raises external equity capital. Concepts of cognitive cost and value enhance theoretical insight into why BA and VC intervention is typically sequential. We also predict in what specific situations one should expect simultaneous coinvestment by BAs and VCs and how investors can use cognitive levers to influence the speed of growth. |
| Keywords: | Business Angel, Venture Capitalist, Cognitive Governance, Venture Growth |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:gemptp:halshs-00642737&r=ent |
| By: | Sheila de Elejalde; David Giuliodori; Rodolfo Stucchi |
| Abstract: | This paper provides evidence about the relationship between innovation and employment in Argentina. In particular, it quantifies the impact of different types of innovations (process or product innovations) on employment growth and skill composition (skilled-unskilled labor) and the impact of different innovation strategies (buy or make) on employment growth, and analyzes whether these impacts depend on firm size or technology intensity. To answer these questions a model proposed in Harrison, Jaumandreu, Mairesse, and Peters (2008) was estimated using an IV approach with data from the Innovation Surveys for Argentina for the period 1998-2001. The results suggest that product innovations have a positive impact on employment growth while process innovations have no significant impact on employment growth. In addition, there is some evidence that product innovations are skill-biased, and that a mixed innovative strategy of make and buy has a larger impact on employment growth than a buy-only strategy. Finally, similar impacts for small firms but differential impacts for low-tech and high-tech sectors were found. |
| Keywords: | Science & Technology :: New Technologies, Labor :: Workforce & Employment, Economics :: Production & Business Cycles, Economics :: Productivity, Innovation, skilled-unskilled labor, employment and innovation, firm size, employment generation, job positions, microeconometrics, Argentina |
| JEL: | D2 J23 L1 O31 O33 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:58758&r=ent |
| By: | Michael Grimm (Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, DIW and DIAL); Jann Lay (German Institute of Global and Area Studies,Hamburg); François Roubaud (DIAL, IRD, Paris); Julia Vaillant (Université Paris Dauphine, LEDa UMR 225 DIAL, IRD) |
| Abstract: | (english) This paper investigates the dynamics of the informal sector in Madagascar during a period of fragile growth. Overall, the behavior of informal firms in terms of earnings, employment and capital accumulation points to a degree of heterogeneity which goes beyond a simple dualistic model and even a more refined model that would distinguish between an upper entrepreneurial and a lower subsistence tier within the informal sector. However, in line with the dualistic model, the informal sector indeed fulfils a labor absorbing function in times of crisis. During the growth period we see capital accumulation in most of the sectors and lots of evidence that households expand their activities. However, this happens mainly through the creation of new firms instead of the expansion of existing ones, which is consistent with much higher returns at very low levels of capital. More rapid expansion can be observed in sectors that operate with lower capital intensity, which is also consistent with risk or credit constraints as major deterrents to expansion. While there is some indication that total factor productivity increased over time, returns to capital and labor where not higher at the end of the observation period than at the beginning. Returns are also rather low at high levels of capital. These findings point to a limited growth potential of the informal sector as a whole. The heterogeneity in capital returns hints at large inefficiencies in allocating capital across informal firms. _________________________________ (français) Cet article examine la dynamique du secteur informel à Madagascar pendant une période de croissance fragile. Le comportement des firmes informelles en termes de revenus, d’emploi et d’accumulation du capital suggère un degré d’hétérogénéité allant au-delà du modèle dualiste classique, et même d’un modèle plus fin distinguant, au sein du secteur informel, un segment entrepreneurial et un segment de subsistance. Cependant, conformément au modèle dualiste, le secteur informel a absorbé le surplus de travail en temps de crise. Pendant la période de croissance, on constate une accumulation de capital dans la plupart des secteurs d’activité et une expansion des activités des ménages. Ceci se traduit pourtant principalement par la création de nouvelles firmes plutôt que par la croissance de firmes existantes, en lien avec des rendements beaucoup plus élevés à des faibles niveaux de capital. Une expansion plus rapide peut être observée dans les secteurs à faible intensité capitalistique, ce qui tend également à confirmer que le risque et les contraintes de crédit sont des obstacles à l’expansion. Alors que les résultats montrent que la productivité totale des facteurs a augmenté, les rendements du capital et du travail ne sont pas plus élevés à la fin de la période étudiée qu’au début. Les rendements sont également plutôt faibles à des niveaux élevés de capital. Ces résultats indiquent un potentiel de croissance globalement limité des firmes informelles. Enfin, l’hétérogénéité des rendements du capital plaide en faveur d’une allocation sous-optimale du capital dans le secteur informel. |
| Keywords: | Informal sector, microenterprise, firm growth, capital returns, Madagascar, Secteur informel, micro-entreprises, croissance des firmes, rendement du capital, Madagascar. |
| JEL: | O12 O17 L26 D22 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dia:wpaper:dt201110&r=ent |
| By: | Lawless, Martina (Central Bank of Ireland); McCann, Fergal (Central Bank of Ireland) |
| Abstract: | The extension of credit to SMEs in Ireland has been identified as a necessary condition for economic recovery and job growth. The debate on whether the reduction in credit to this sector is caused by credit rationing by banks or a lack of credit demand on the part of SMEs has received much attention in media and policy circles. Owing to a lack of relevant available micro-data, research on this issue in Ireland has been sparse to date. The aim of this paper is to provide evidence using recently available firm-level data from the Central Statistics Office and the European Central Bank. Using the CSO data, we find a moderate decline in credit applications, coupled with a very large increase in credit rejection rates. Using firm-level production data, we find no evidence that the accepted firms have been pooled according to firm performance - more productive and fast-growing firms are as likely to be rejected as any other firm. Using the ECB data, we show that Irish firms are 15 to 18 percent more likely to be rejected for credit than a comparable Eurozone SME. We show also that Irish firms are less likely to have had decreased credit demand than other Eurozone SMEs in the 2009-10 period. |
| JEL: | F10 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbi:wpaper:11/rt/11&r=ent |
| By: | Kox, Henk L.M.; Leeuwen, George van |
| Abstract: | The paper proposes a new way of analysing the efficiency of dynamic market selection, based on the persistence of scale economies. The new methodology is used to investigate the causes of stagnating productivity growth in EU business services. An efficient market ensures that more productive firms grow faster than others. Conversely, firms with weaker performance would be outcompeted and shrink, and eventually go broke. This paper uses scale diseconomies and their persistence as indicator for the effectiveness of market selection. We use a DEA method to construct the productivity frontier by sub-sector and size class, for business services in 13 EU countries. From this we derive scale economies and their development over time. Our results indicate malfunctioning competitive selection. Between 1999 and 2005 we observe a persistence of scale diseconomies, with scale efficiency falling rather than growing over time. In panel regressions we find the distance to the productivity frontier (within and between size classes) to be significantly explained by regulatory policies that hamper entry and exit dynamics and labour adjustment, and by a lack of import penetration and domestic start-ups. The results suggest that policy reform and more market openness may have positive productivity effects. This holds for business services itself, but also wider, because of business services’ large role in intermediary production inputs. |
| Keywords: | market selection; scale economies; entry and exit costs; regulation; import competition; EU internal market; productivity frontier |
| JEL: | L25 L5 L84 D2 F14 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:34986&r=ent |
| By: | Giulio Bottazzi (LEM - Laboratory of Economics and Management - Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies); Marco Grazzi (LEM - Laboratory of Economics and Management - Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies); Angelo Secchi (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Paris I - Panthéon Sorbonne); Federico Tamagni (LEM - Laboratory of Economics and Management - Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the relevance of financial and economic variables as determinants of firm default. Our analysis cover a large sample of medium-sized limited liability firms. Since default might lead, through bankruptcy or radical restructuring, to firm's exit, our work also relates with previous contributions on industrial demography. Using non parametric tests we assess to what extent defaulting firms differ from the non-defaulting group. Bootstrap probit regressions confirm that economic variables, in addition to standard financial indicators, play both a long and short term effect. Our findings are robust with respect to the inclusion of Distance to Default and risk ratings among the regressors. |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:hal-00642699&r=ent |
| By: | Soenke Sievers (University of Cologne); Jan Klobucnik (CGS, University of Cologne) |
| Abstract: | For the valuation of fast growing innovative firms Schwartz and Moon (2000, 2001) develop a fundamentals based valuation model where key parameters, such as revenues and expenses, follow stochastic processes. Guided by economic theory, this paper tests this model on a sample of around 30,000 technology firm quarter observations from 1992 to 2009 using realized accounting data and benchmark it against the traditional Enterprise Value-Sales Multiple. Our results show that the Schwartz-Moon model is on average nearly as accurate as the multiple approach, while it is even more accurate in certain industries such as pharmaceutical and computer firms. Most importantly, the Schwartz-Moon model shows the ability to indicate severe market over- or undervaluation. |
| Keywords: | Schwartz-Moon model, market mispricing, empirical test, company valuation |
| JEL: | G11 G12 G17 G33 |
| Date: | 2011–11–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgr:cgsser:02-07&r=ent |
| By: | Jarko Fidrmuc; Pavel Ciaian; d'Artis Kancs; Jan Pokrivcak |
| Abstract: | In light of the recent financial and economic crisis the present paper analyzes the determinants of loan default. We employ a unique firm-level panel data of 700 bank loans given to small and medium sized enterprises in Slovakia between 2000 and 2005 to investigate three loan default hypothesis. Testing the Sector-Risk Hypothesis, we find that agro-food industry does not exhibit higher default rate than other sectors. Testing the Firm-Risk Hypothesis, we find that highly indebted firms are more likely to default on their loan than other firms. Testing the EU Subsidy Hypothesis we find that the newly introduced subsidy system, which is decoupled from production, provides a secure source of income and hence reduces the probability of loan default. |
| Keywords: | Bank credit, loan default, credit constraints, heterogeneous firms. |
| JEL: | G33 G21 C25 Q14 |
| Date: | 2011–11–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eei:rpaper:eeri_rp_2011_17&r=ent |
| By: | García-Quevedo, José (University of Barcelona); Pellegrino, Gabriele (University of Barcelona); Vivarelli, Marco (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the determinants of young innovative companies' (YICs) R&D activities taking into account the autoregressive nature of innovation. Using a large longitudinal dataset comprising Spanish manufacturing firms over the period 1990-2008, we find that previous R&D experience is a fundamental determinant for mature and young firms, albeit to a smaller extent in the case of the YICs, suggesting that their innovation behaviour is less persistent and more erratic. Moreover, our results suggest that firm and market characteristics play a distinct role in boosting the innovation activity of firms of different age. In particular, while market concentration and the degree of product diversification are found to be important in fostering R&D activities in the sub-sample of mature firms only, YICs' spending on R&D appears to be more sensitive to demand-pull variables, suggesting the presence of credit constraints. These results have been obtained using a recently proposed dynamic type-2 tobit estimator, which accounts for individual effects and efficiently handles the initial conditions problem. |
| Keywords: | R&D, innovation, Young Innovative Companies (YICs), dynamic type-2 tobit estimator |
| JEL: | O31 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6136&r=ent |
| By: | Christine Teyssier (COACTIS - Université Lumière - Lyon II : EA4161 - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Etienne); Joy Courault (COACTIS - Université Lumière - Lyon II : EA4161 - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Etienne); Muriel Perez (COACTIS - Université Lumière - Lyon II : EA4161 - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Etienne) |
| Abstract: | L'hyper-croissance est un phénomène perturbateur pour la PME : les exigences de rentabilité sont fortes et les équilibres financiers sont fragiles. Malgré les potentiels de croissance, les sources de défaillance sont nombreuses. Une analyse comparative d'indicateurs financiers nous permet de mettre en évidence des différences significatives entre les PME en hyper-croissance défaillantes et les PME en hyper-croissance pérennes. Les premières se développent plus vite, mais elles sont moins rentables, dégagent des marges plus faibles et sont plus faiblement capitalisées. Nous discutons des résultats obtenus en les situant dans le cadre plus général des recherches sur les liens entre la croissance de l'entreprise et le slack de ressources financières. |
| Keywords: | PME, hyper-croissance, performance, défaillance, slack |
| Date: | 2011–12–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00647452&r=ent |
| By: | Caliendo, Marco; Hogenacker, Jens; Künn, Steffen; Wießner, Frank (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]) |
| Abstract: | "The support of start-ups out of unemployment within the legislative framework of Social Code III (SGB III) is still one of the most important instruments of active labour market policy. On August 1, 2006, the new 'Start-up Scheme' (§ 57 SGB III) replaced its predecessors, the 'Bridging Allowance' and the 'Start-up Subsidy' (also known under its popular name 'Me Inc.'). Goals of the reform were more transparency, easier administration and a more efficient programme design. According to our study, the participants of the new scheme resemble rather those of the Bridging Allowance. Hence the new scheme does not cover the range of participants of the previous programmes. Despite former concerns the degressive transfer payments reduction rate does not have significant impact on the date of the start-up. A closer look shows that the participants of new Startup-Scheme have considerably high survival rates (75 - 84%), being clearly higher than those of the former programmes. Descriptive analyses show furthermore, that deadweight effects evidently have a much less significant role than argued." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| Keywords: | Unternehmensgründung - Förderung, Gründungszuschuss, Existenzgründungszuschuss, Überbrückungsgeld, Wirkungsforschung, arbeitsmarktpolitische Maßnahme, Arbeitslose, Ich-AG |
| JEL: | J68 M13 H43 |
| Date: | 2011–11–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:201124&r=ent |