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on Small Business Management |
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Issue of 2009‒07‒17
twelve papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | EIM |
| Abstract: | This report is the tenth edition of the series “Entrepreneurship in the Netherlands“, with the first edition being published in 1997. These series are a co-production of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, EIM Business & Policy Research and international entrepreneurship experts. In each edition, a specific aspect of entrepreneurship is studied, such as; nascent entrepreneurship, fast-growing enterprises and high-tech start-ups. Previous aspects reviewed are; entrepreneurship and competitiveness, ambitious entrepreneurs, nascent entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship in the new economy, innovative entrepreneurship, business transfer, high-growth and the quality of entrepreneurship. The tenth edition focuses on the entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship policies that have been developed world-wide in the past 10 years. |
| Date: | 2009–02–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eim:papers:a200903&r=sbm |
| By: | Sunil Kanwar (Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi, India) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates whether, in what direction, and to what extent one mode of technology transfer is influenced by the strength of intellectual property protection that host nations provide. Using data spanning the period 1977-1999, we find little support for the claim that strengthening intellectual property rights will have any sizable effect on the magnitude of overseas r&d investment by (US) multinationals. Any semblance of a positive relationship between these two variables vanishes the moment we introduce country fixed effects and time fixed effects into the regressions. One implication of our results is, that ceteris paribus, stronger intellectual property rights in the developing countries pursuant to the TRIPs agreement may not have any significant influence on technology transfer into these countries via overseas r&d. |
| Keywords: | intellectual property, technology transfer, overseas r&d |
| JEL: | O34 O31 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cde:cdewps:166&r=sbm |
| By: | Lee, Lena; Wong, Poh Kam |
| Abstract: | This study shows that the joint effects of the entrepreneur’s personality and an unpredictable environment, as well as the interaction effects of a low uncertainty avoidance culture, predict opportunity exploitation. Our study’s findings are consistent with the emerging opportunity-exploiter nexus framework of Shane and Venkataraman, which posits that the rate and nature of entrepreneurial exploitation activities are jointly determined by the nexus of environmental factors that shape the emergence of opportunities and the supply of opportunity-seekers with the right entrepreneurial personalities to exploit such opportunities. Specifically, we found that entrepreneurs who display a high level of extroversion, agreeableness, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and non-neuroticism, have a greater propensity to exploit novel opportunities in unpredictable environments and low uncertainty avoidance cultures. A study involving 570 entrepreneurs from UK, Thailand, and South Korea reveals that the interaction effects between personality and environmental unpredictability is more pronounced in cultures with a low high degree of uncertainty avoidance. |
| Keywords: | Opportunity exploitation; personality; culture |
| JEL: | L26 M13 |
| Date: | 2009–07–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:16194&r=sbm |
| By: | Chevalier, P-A.; Lecat, R.; Oulton, N. |
| Abstract: | Studies of firm-level data have shown that there is a huge dispersion of productivity across firms even when industries are narrowly defined. So there is a significant opportunity for the least productive firms to catch up to the most productive. The formers’ convergence could therefore constitute an important part of productivity growth at the macroeconomic level. This article sheds light on this convergence process in the 1990s and the 2000s in France and on some of the factors which can explain it. Productivity convergence was stronger for labour productivity than for total factor productivity. But most importantly the speed of convergence has slowed during the course of the 1990s, a fact which is explained principally by the acceleration of the productivity of firms on the technological frontier. Three possible explanations of these stylised facts are considered: globalisation, information technology, and competition. Globalisation and information technology may have benefited the most productive firms more and the growth of competition may at the same time have stimulated the productivity of firms at the frontier while discouraging the convergence of the least productive firms. |
| Keywords: | Convergence ; productivity ; TFP ; globalisation ; ICT ; competition. |
| JEL: | D24 D40 F10 J24 L11 O33 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bfr:banfra:237&r=sbm |
| By: | Lee, Lena; Wong, Poh Kam |
| Abstract: | While existing studies have provided many insightful discussions on the antecedents to innovative collaborations and the benefits of collaborative behavior, few studies have focused on the mediating role of innovative collaborations in enhancing the firm’s technological innovative performance. In this paper, we investigate the mediating role of the firm’s innovative collaborations in the relation between government innovation support and the firm’s product and process innovation intensities. As a mediating factor in the innovation process, innovative collaborations form part of the innovative inputs that contribute to the firm’s product and process innovation intensities. Using arguments derived from the resource-based theory, we found that while receipts of government innovation support help increase the firm’s level of innovative inputs as observed in its collaboration intensity, it is equally important for firms to internalize management practices that encourage maximum leverage of government innovation support for pursuits of innovative collaborations. In a similar vein, while innovative collaborations are necessary for realizing innovative outputs including product and process innovations, it is not a sufficient condition for achieving strong innovative performance. The firm’s internal capabilities as observed in its learning, R&D, resource allocation, manufacturing, marketing, organizing, and strategic planning abilities have a positive influence on the relationship between innovative collaborations and innovative outputs. |
| Keywords: | Innovative Performance; Innovative Collaboration; Firm’s Contextual Factors |
| JEL: | D23 M1 O32 |
| Date: | 2009–06–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:16193&r=sbm |
| By: | Aleluia, João; Leitão, João |
| Abstract: | Entrepreneurship as a determinant of economic growth and innovation intensity has been increasingly used by governments for shaping public policies with sustainable development purposes. This chapter positions the Clean Development Mechanism as an example of an international technology transfer mechanism that can stimulate knowledge spillovers in the host economies. Taking as reference the Chinese context, a benchmarking approach is proposed to assess the performance of distinct mechanisms of climate friendly technology transfers. This is particularly relevant since it is an innovative attempt for addressing the caveat found in the literature of international entrepreneurship and technology transfer, especially focused in the need for developing both qualitative and quantitative analyses about distinct experiences in adopting technology transfer mechanisms into developing countries. This is useful not only in the scope of global efforts to mitigate the emission of greenhouse gases, but also in the accomplishment of sustainable development goals of host economies. Moreover, from the current proposal an operative tool is derived for guiding the action of policy makers, managers and practitioners engaged in the field of Energy Entrepreneurship. |
| Keywords: | Benchmarking; Clean Development Mechanism; CDM; International Entrepreneurship; Technology Transfer. |
| JEL: | O34 F23 L26 L24 |
| Date: | 2009–06–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:16150&r=sbm |
| By: | KATO Atsuyuki |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the relationships between productivity growth and characteristics of firms using Japanese firm-level data during the period 1995-2004. Applying a bootstrapped Malmquist index approach and weighted least squares (WLS) to two retail trade industries, we estimate the firm-level productivity growth rates and the effects of firms' characteristics on those growth rates. In addition, decomposing productivity growth into technical efficiency change and technical progress, we discuss mechanisms of productivity growth in detail. Our estimation reveals that productivity growth of department stores and supermarkets was stagnant during the sample period. It also indicates that positive technical efficiency changes are usually offset by technical regress and vice versa. Furthermore, effects of firms' characteristics on both productivity components are sometimes conflicting as well. In view of these findings, industrial policies should be carefully devised, based upon their efficiency distribution. |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:09024&r=sbm |
| By: | Domenico Scalera (Universit… del Sannio); Alberto Zazzaro (Universit… Politecnica delle Marche, Department of Economics, MoFiR) |
| Abstract: | Does participation in inter-firm networks make access to credit easier for firms? Is finance a motivation driving the formation of inter-firm networks? During the last twenty years these two questions have been hotly debated by economists both theoretically and empirically. In this paper, we selectively review the literature on inter-firm networking, internal capital markets and access to external credit. |
| Date: | 2009–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anc:wmofir:25&r=sbm |
| By: | Holger Görg; Alexander Hijzen; Balázs Muraközy |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the potential for productivity spillovers from inward foreign direct investment using administrative panel data on firms for Hungary. We hypothesise that the potential for spillovers is related to observable characteristics of the production process of foreign affiliates, and evaluate this empirically. We further explore the role of competition in explaining productivity spillovers within industries. Our empirical analysis yields a number of important findings. First, we show that the potential for spillovers is importantly related to the production technology of the sectors and foreign affiliates. Firms that relocate labour-intensive activities to Hungary to exploit differences in labour costs are unlikely to generate productivity spillovers, while spillovers increase in the capital intensity of foreign affiliates. Second, we find that spillovers differ markedly in the early and later stages of transition, and that there are differences between small and large firms. Furthermore, foreign presence tends to affect the productivity of domestic firms negatively whenever MNEs produce for the domestic market |
| Date: | 2009–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cfg:cfigwp:5&r=sbm |
| By: | Alessandro GAMBINI (Universita' Politecnica delle Marche, Dipartimento di Economia); Alberto ZAZZARO (Universita' Politecnica delle Marche, Dipartimento di Economia) |
| Abstract: | The theoretical literature has identified potential benefits and costs of close bank-firm relationships for both parties, suggesting possible reasons for firms being captured by banks and vice versa. In this paper we empirically explore the effects of long-lasting credit relationships on employment and asset growth of a large sample of Italian manufacturing firms in the period 1998-2003. The main findings are that relationship lending hampers the efforts of small firms to increase their size (especially in terms of employees), while it mitigates the negative growth of troubled, medium-large enterprises, thus supporting the hypothesis that small firms are captured by banks which, in turn, are captured by large firms. |
| Keywords: | Capture effetcs, Firms' growth, Relationship lending |
| JEL: | G21 G34 |
| Date: | 2009–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anc:wpaper:332&r=sbm |
| By: | Sharon Harrison (Barnard College, Columbia University); Mark Weder (University of Adelaide) |
| Abstract: | Annualized output growth in the United States was highest during the 1920s, as compared to any other of Fields (2003, 2009) growth cycles. This motivates us to address the causes of the Roaring Twenties in the United States. In particular, we use a version of the real business cycle model to test the hypothesis that an extraordinary pace of productivity growth was the driving factor. Our motivation comes from the abundance of evidence of signi cant technological progress during this period, fed by innovations in manufacturing and the widespread introduction of electricity. Our estimated total factor productivity series generate arti cial model output that shows high conformity with the data: the model economy successfully replicates the boom years from 1922-1929. |
| Keywords: | Real Business Cycles, Roaring Twenties. |
| JEL: | E32 N12 |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:brn:wpaper:0902&r=sbm |
| By: | Mita Bhattacharya; Jong-Rong Chen; V. Pradeep Author-X-Name- V |
| Abstract: | Indian economic reform since early 1990s aims at improving productivity and competitiveness of major industries. The paper examines spillovers from foreign direct investment (FDI), research and development (R&D) and exporting activities on productivity both for foreign and domestic manufacturing firms. The data is obtained from the PROWESS database provided by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). Balanced panel of over 1,000 manufacturing firms in India between 1994 and 2006 are considered for our empirical analysis. Findings indicate that foreign presence has a significant spillover effect on the productivity of the Indian manufacturing firms compared to the alternative spillovers such as from R&D and export initiatives. |
| Keywords: | Productivity, Spillovers, Indian manufacturing, FDI. |
| JEL: | F21 O47 O53 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mos:moswps:2008-30&r=sbm |