|
on Small Business Management |
|
Issue of 2010‒01‒23
fourteen papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | EL ELJ, Moez |
| Abstract: | In the context of economic globalization and of the internationalization of R&D activity, innovation is becoming one of the most important assets for corporations in developed and emerging countries as well. The aim of this research is to analyze the main determinants of technological innovation of Tunisian firms on the basis of the innovation survey conducted by Tunisian Ministry of Scientific Research, Technology and Skills Development in 2005. Precisely, we analyze the effects of the external technological factors and In house R&D effort variables on innovation performances of Tunisian firms. We, then attempt to explore these relationships and see if they are affected by other moderator variables linked to exportation intensity and foreign capital share. In our estimation, we utilize the binomial logit model. Our preliminary results show that R&D activity is not the only explanatory factor of the innovation. In addition, Tunisian firms with high export ratio as well as firms with significant foreign capital participation are found to be not innovating since they depend primarily on the innovations conducted abroad. |
| Keywords: | Technological Innovation; Technological opportunities; R&D in Developing Countries; Logit Regression with Interactive variables |
| JEL: | O55 O33 O31 C25 |
| Date: | 2009–10–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:18128&r=sbm |
| By: | Caliendo, Marco (IZA); Kritikos, Alexander S. (DIW Berlin) |
| Abstract: | When unemployed persons go into business, they often are characterized as necessity entrepreneurs, because push factors, namely their unemployment, likely prompted their decision. In contrast to this, business founders who have been previously employed represent opportunity entrepreneurs because pull factors provide the rationale for their decision. However, a data set of nearly 1,900 business start-ups by unemployed persons reveals that both kind of motivation can be observed among these start-ups. Moreover, a new type of entrepreneur emerges, motivated by both push and pull variables simultaneously. An analysis of the development of the businesses reflecting three different motivational types indicates a strong relationship between motives, survival rates and entrepreneurial development. We find in particular that start-ups out of opportunity and necessity have higher survival rates than do start-ups out of necessity, even if both types face the same duration of previous unemployment. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship, push and pull motives, survival and failure, job creation |
| JEL: | D81 J23 M13 |
| Date: | 2009–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4661&r=sbm |
| By: | Czarnitzki, Dirk (KU Leuven) |
| Abstract: | This article analyzes the potential benefits of industry-science collaborations for samples of Flemish and German firms. A firm collaborating with science may benefit from knowledge spillovers and public subsidies as industry-science collaborations are often granted preferred treatment. I shed light on the potential spillover and subsidy effects by estimating treatment effect models using nearest neighbour matching techniques. For both countries, I find positive effects on business R&D. Firms that engage in industry-science collaborations invest more in R&D compared to the counterfactual situation where they would not collaborate with science. Furthermore, within the sample of firms collaborating with science, a subsidy for that collaboration leads, on average, to higher R&D in the involved firms. Thus there is no full crowding-out of subsidies targeted to science-industry collaborations. |
| Keywords: | R&D; industry-science collaboration; subsidies; treatment effects estimation |
| JEL: | O31 O32 O38 |
| Date: | 2009–12–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:eibpap:2009_005&r=sbm |
| By: | Harhoff, Dietmar (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich) |
| Abstract: | Financing constraints have been discussed as a major obstacle to innovation. Small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups are particularly concerned by such impediments. Venture capital has emerged as a partial solution in some countries, but is only available for start-up firms with major growth potential. Recently, new intermediaries have attempted to provide external finance to innovative firms based on the firms’ patent portfolios. Patents have been used as collateral or as assets assembled in patent funds seeking to commercialize the patent rights. Patent auctions are indicative of a nascent market for patented technology. This paper presents an overview on the role of patents and licenses, both in the classical sense and as instruments for financing innovation. It also discusses implications of these developments for public policy and the design of patent systems. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship; intellectual property; equity; innovation; finance; venture capital; R&D; financing constraints; funding gaps |
| JEL: | G24 G32 L20 L26 O30 O32 O34 O38 |
| Date: | 2009–12–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:eibpap:2009_011&r=sbm |
| By: | Gabor Bekes; Jorn Kleinert; Farid Toubal |
| Abstract: | Technological and informational spillovers from multinational firms can be particularly beneficial to domestic firms especially in less developed economies. The technological superiority and management experience of foreign multinational firms yield various opportunities for learning. Yet, the importance of foreign firm’s spillovers might vary with respect to the different intensities of the linkage between the multinational and the domestic firm, the differences in firms’ absorptive capacity and their ability to face competition. We show using firm-level Hungarian data that positive spillovers from multinationals depend on the level of productivity and the exporting status of the domestic firm. Larger and more productive firms are more able to reap spillovers from multinationals than smaller and less productive firms. The export status, in contrast, is of minor importance. |
| Keywords: | FDI; multinationals; productivity; spillover; quantile regression |
| JEL: | F23 D21 D24 R12 R30 |
| Date: | 2009–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cii:cepidt:2009-31&r=sbm |
| By: | Helmers, Christian (University of Oxford); Schulte, Christian (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München); Strauss, Hubert (European Investment Bank, Economic and Financial Studies) |
| Abstract: | This study presents new estimates of business R&D capital stocks for 22 countries at the aggregate and industry levels. At 9 percent of GDP, the EU business R&D capital stock falls short of its US and Japanese counterparts. Within the EU, R&D capital stocks are much lower in the southern and the new member states, reflecting large and persistent disparities in R&D expenditure. There was hardly any convergence over the past decade. The R&D capital stock is concentrated on three technologyintensive manufacturing industries and is positively correlated with growth in total factor productivity across countries and industries. Finally, the ratios between the stocks of R&D capital and tangible capital suggest marked differences in how R&D and tangible capital are combined in production. |
| Keywords: | R&D capital stock; R&D expenditure; tangible capital stock; R&D intensity; high-tech manufacturing |
| JEL: | E22 L60 O30 O47 |
| Date: | 2009–12–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:eibpap:2009_002&r=sbm |
| By: | Uppenberg, Kristian (European Investment Bank, Economic and Financial Studies) |
| Abstract: | The literature on economic growth has identified knowledge expansion as a key propellant. Early research derived this conclusion from the residual that remained after the growth contributions from capital and labour had been accounted for. Later modifications expanded the concept of fixed capital to include intangible capital. The underlying drivers of innovation have, meanwhile, been explored by the endogenous growth literature. Together, these efforts have reconfirmed the role of knowledge and innovation in growth. But they also point to the importance of competition and firm entry and exit as key motivators for firms to innovate. Policies aiming to boost growth must therefore look beyond the amounts invested in R&D and also provide for wellfunctioning labour, product and financial markets. |
| Keywords: | Research and development; innovation; neoclassical growth model; endogenous growth |
| JEL: | O30 O40 |
| Date: | 2009–12–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:eibpap:2009_001&r=sbm |
| By: | Hall, Bronwyn H. (University of California-Berkeley) |
| Abstract: | To what extent are new and/or innovative firms fundamentally different from established firms, and therefore require a different form of financing? The theoretical background for this proposition is presented, and the empirical evidence on its importance is reviewed. Owing to the intangible nature of their investment, asymmetric-information and moral-hazard, these firms are more likely to be financed by equity than debt and behave in some cases as though they are cash-constrained, especially if they are small. Recognising the role for public policy in this area, many countries have implemented specific policies to bring the cost of financing innovation more in line with the level that would prevail in the absence of market failures. |
| Keywords: | R&D; innovation; financing; liquidity constraints; venture capital |
| JEL: | G24 G32 O32 O38 |
| Date: | 2009–12–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:eibpap:2009_008&r=sbm |
| By: | Aurora A.C. Teixeira (CEF.UP, Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto; INESC Porto); José Miguel Silva (MIETE, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto) |
| Abstract: | A literature survey covers the state-of-the-art of a certain investigation field and is a critical evaluation that can help define new research and facilitate the understanding of the area by new researchers of that scientific field. Although there are already some excellent attempts to provide a survey in the Economics and Management of Innovation area, these are in general qualitative. Using bibliometric tools, which help to explore, organize and analyze large amounts of information, we characterize, in a quantitative way, the published literature in innovation area. Based on the 1047 abstracts of the articles published between 1974 and 2007 in the innovation area’s ‘seed journal’ we observed that the themes that have grown the most in recent years were “Open innovation, Copyrights, Intellectual Property Rights, Open Software”, “University-Industry Relations and Transfer of Technology and Knowledge”, and “Entrepreneurship, Incubation, Spin-offs and Entrepreneurial Universities”. In contrast, themes such as “Learning and Experimentation, Troubleshooting”, “Development of new Products, Processes, Markets, Organizational”, “Cooperation in R&D+I”, “Multinational/International trade in the process of innovation”, and “Management Policy of Science and Technology “, noted a marked decline. |
| Keywords: | Survey; Innovation; Bibliometrics |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:por:fepwps:355&r=sbm |
| By: | Werner Hölzl (WIFO); Peter Huber (WIFO) |
| Abstract: | We study the evolution and cyclical dependency of the cross sectional distribution ofrm level job creation rates from 1975 to 2004 for the Austrian private sector. We find that the share of firms that does not adjust has declined over time, but that the share of entries, exits, growing and declining firms increased. The share of firms adjusting is higher in upswings than in downturns and the higher order moments of the job creation distribution follow distinct cyclical patterns. The smallest firms and firms at the extremes of the growth rate distribution are largely unaffected by the business cycle. |
| Keywords: | Employment Adjustment, Business Cycle, Firm growth |
| Date: | 2009–10–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wfo:wpaper:y:2009:i:348&r=sbm |
| By: | Pedro Rui Mazeda Gil (CEF.UP and Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto); Paulo Brito (Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão and UECE, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa); Óscar Afonso (CEF.UP and Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto) |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a tournament model of horizontal and vertical R&D under a lab-equipment specification. A key feature is that the overall growth rate is endogenous, as the splitting of the growth rate between the intensive and the extensive margin is itself endogenous. This setup gives rise to strong inter-R&D composition effects, while making economic growth and firm dynamics closely related, both along the balanced-growth path and transition. The model hence offers a (qualitative) explanation for the negative or insignificant empirical correlation between aggregate R&D intensity and both firm size and economic growth, a well-known puzzle in the growth literature. |
| Keywords: | endogenous growth, vertical and horizontal R&D, firm dynamics, transitional dynamics |
| JEL: | O41 D43 L16 |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:por:fepwps:356&r=sbm |
| By: | Emanuela Marrocu; Raffaele Paci; M. Pontis |
| Abstract: | Firms competitive strategy in industrialised countries is increasingly based on activities such as the inventions of new processes and products, the improvements of the employees skill, the creation of a reputation for company’s products. All these actions intend to increase firms economic performances and are labelled as “intangible capital”. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the role of intangible capital on firms productivity in addition to the one played by traditional inputs. Firms productivity may also depend on the socio-economic conditions of the region where the firm is located. Therefore, we also control for the physical endowments of the region (public capital, infrastructures) as well as for several types of intangible assets specific to the region (human, technological and social capital) which operate as positive externalities to the localised firms. In our empirical application we employ a large panel of European companies over the period 2002-2006 belonging to 116 regions of six countries. The estimation results show the positive influence of the internal intangible capital on firms productivity levels and also the crucial role played by the intangible assets at the regional level. These results remark the importance of policies designed to stimulate the accumulation of intangible capital stocks internal to the firms through appropriate fiscal policies and to create a favourable external environment based on high endowments of human, social and technological capital. |
| Keywords: | productivity; intangible capital; local externalities; European regions. |
| JEL: | C33 D24 O30 R10 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cns:cnscwp:200916&r=sbm |
| By: | Marco Bettiol (University of Padova); Maria Chiarvesio (University of Udine); Stefano Micelli (University of Venice) |
| Abstract: | The concept of upgrading plays an important role within the global value chain (GVC) theoretical framework (Gereffi et al. 2005). The globalization of supply chains and the presence in the market of low cost producers coming from emergent economies pose serious threats for business that based their competitive advantages on efficiency and manufacturing. Although the literature gathered important results in highlighting the economic impact of upgrading, little research has been done on how design is used as a strategic tool for product innovation within the firm (Ravasi and Lojacono 2005) and how it improves the capability of the firm to upgrade within global value chain. This paper aims at shedding light on the evolution of the role of design in the firm's strategy and value creation. We decide to focus our research on Italian Small and Medium firms (SMEs), with a special interest on those coming from Italian Industrial Districts. The aim of this paper is twofold: a) to study how design is evolving within leading firms and which are the implications of this changes in terms of knowledge creation and sharing, b) to analyse and investigate the relation between design and company's performance. To this end, the authors have assessed the data collected by TeDIS survey, which for over a decade has studied the evolution of Italian small and medium-sized enterprises. The results highlight two particularly significant issues: a) medium-sized companies have a clearer design strategy than in the past and there is a gradual convergence between innovation models based on technology and those based on aesthetics; b) the capacity to invest in a more structured design function enables companies to achieve positive results in terms of both growth and of income generation within global value chains. |
| Keywords: | Upgrading, Global Value Chain, Industrial Design, Industrial Districts, Small and Medium Firms, Italy |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pad:wpaper:0108&r=sbm |
| By: | Wan-Hsin LIU |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates whether knowledge transferred from different sources matter differently for carrying out different innovation outcomes, using a firm-level dataset collected in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) in China. It also investigates whether companies in the PRD in China tend to innovate in a similar way as companies in the Asian Newly Industrialised Economies (NIEs) did decades ago. Our estimation results suggest that companies in the PRD, as companies in the Asian NIEs, strongly rely on sourcing from their OEM customers but not on own R&D activities to implement innovative processes to increase production efficiency. In contrast, they engage in own R&D activities in order to develop innovative products, to realise higher innovation sales and to create new knowledge qualified for patenting. In addition to own R&D activities, they rely on sourcing knowledge from different sets of sources to support them to carry out the last three types of innovation outcomes |
| Keywords: | innovation, knowledge transfer, knowledge production function, flying geese model, China |
| JEL: | O1 O3 R1 |
| Date: | 2009–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kie:kieliw:1578&r=sbm |