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on Small Business Management |
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Issue of 2010‒11‒27
nine papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Charles HARVIE (Centre for Small Business and Regional Research School of Economics, University of Wollongong, Australia); Dionisius NARJOKO (Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)); Sothea OUM (Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an empirical analysis of small and medium enterprise (SME) participation in production networks. It gauges firm characteristic determinants of SME participation in production networks. The empirical investigation utilizes results obtained from an ERIA Survey on SME Participation in Production Networks, conducted over a three month period at the end 2009 in most ASEAN countries (i.e., Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos PDR) and China. The results suggest that productivity, foreign ownership, financial characteristics, innovation efforts, and managerial/entrepreneurial attitudes are the important firm characteristics that determine SME participation in production networks. The paper extends the analysis to identify the determinants that allow SMEs to move from low to high quality or value adding participation in production networks. The results suggest that size, productivity, foreign ownership, and, to some extent, innovation efforts and managerial attitudes, are the important firm characteristics needed by SMEs to upgrade their positions in production networks. The finding suggests that SMEs really exploit competitiveness from economies of scale only when they are able to engage in production networks. |
| Date: | 2010–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:era:wpaper:dp-2010-11&r=sbm |
| By: | Burke, Sandra Charvat; Edelman, Mark |
| Abstract: | Reports and summarizes issues important to entrepreneurs and small business owners. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship; microenterprise; small business |
| Date: | 2010–11–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genres:32143&r=sbm |
| By: | Le, Viet; Harvie, Charles (University of Wollongong) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the performance of domestic non-state manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. Specifically, it evaluates firm level technical efficiency and identifies the determinants of technical efficiency of these SMEs. The paper uses an econometric approach based on a stochastic frontier production function to analyse 5,204 observations of SMEs from three surveys conducted in 2002, 2005 and 2007. The results from the estimations reveal that manufacturing SMEs in Vietnam have relatively high average technical efficiency ranging from 84.2 percent to 92.5 percent. The paper further examines the factors influencing efficiency. It finds that firm age, size, location, ownership, cooperation with a foreign partner, subcontracting, product innovation, competition, and government assistance are significantly related to technical efficiency, albeit with varying degrees and directions. Exporting does not appear to influence technical efficiency. The paper offers some evidence-based policy recommendations to improve the technical efficiency and competitiveness of manufacturing SMEs. |
| Keywords: | manufacturing small and medium enterprises, firm performance, technical efficiency, stochastic frontier production function, Vietnam. |
| JEL: | L1 L6 O1 O12 O14 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uow:depec1:wp10-04&r=sbm |
| By: | Daniela Baglieri (University of Messina - University of Messina); Maria Cristina Cinici (University of Catania - University of Catania); Vincent Mangematin (MTS - Management Technologique et Strategique - Grenoble Ecole de Management) |
| Abstract: | This article investigates how anchor firms sustain high tech clusters rejuvenation by means of technological pre-adaptation. Based on evidences are drawn from the comparison of the evolution of two nano-electronics clusters, i.e., Grenoble (France) and Catania (Italy) clusters which are sharing the same anchor tenant firm STMicroelectronics. Cluster rejuvenation comes from pre-adaptation of actors (scientific and technological diversity), competition amongst anchor tenant firms, competition and overlap amongst networks and the mobilization of sleeping anchors tenant organizations to renew actors and technologies. As soon as the process of specialization (asset specificity, network specificity, technology speciation) starts, it is important to stimulate pre-adaptation to avoid lock-in of the cluster on one technological trajectory |
| Keywords: | rejuvenation; cluster growth; industry life cycle; anchor tenant firm, pre-adaptation |
| Date: | 2010–11–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00536195_v1&r=sbm |
| By: | Masatoshi Kato (School of Economics, Kwansei Gakuin University); Yuji Honjo (Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores heterogeneous exits—bankruptcy, voluntary liquidation, and merger—by focusing on new firms. Using a sample of approximately 16,000 firms founded in Japan during 1997–2004, we examine the determinants of new-firm exit according to forms of exit. Regarding industry-specific characteristics, our findings indicate that new firms in capital-intensive and R&D-intensive industries are less likely to go bankrupt. In industries characterized by large amounts of capital and low price–cost margins, new firms are more likely to exit through voluntary liquidation and merger. Region-specific characteristics, such as regional agglomeration and unemployment rate, have significant effects on the hazards of exit, and their effects vary across different forms of exit. Moreover, we provide evidence that firm-specific characteristics, such as the number of employees, and entrepreneur-specific characteristics, such as educational background and age, play significantly different roles in determining each form of exit. |
| Keywords: | New firm; exit; bankruptcy; voluntary liquidation; merger; competing risks proportional hazards model. |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kgu:wpaper:64&r=sbm |
| By: | Li Shu (Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto); Aurora A.C. Teixeira (CEF.UP, Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto; INESC Porto; OBEGEF) |
| Abstract: | Studies on the impact of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on the Chinese economy have essentially focused on the relationship between FDI, productivity and economic growth, revealing a tendency toward sectoral and macroeconomic empirical studies. This work aims to complement these approaches and contribute to the rather limited literature on the relationship between FDI, Human Capital and Innovation at a corporate level. Based on a set of large and innovative firms (national and foreign capital) located in China, we have concluded that: i) the direct impact of foreign capital on the level of human capital in firms is negative, that is, no evidence was found suggesting that FDI has a positive influence on their human capital; ii) in indirect terms, by means of investment in R&D activities, FDI has a positive impact on general human capital (i.e., formal education). These results suggest that for China to benefit from FDI, it is necessary to implement a selective policy to attract FDI, taking into account more technologically advanced projects. |
| Keywords: | Foreign Direct Investment; Multinational firms; Human Capital; R&D; China |
| JEL: | F21 F23 J24 O32 |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:por:fepwps:391&r=sbm |
| By: | Guido Bünstorf (University of Kassel, Department of Economics,); Michael Fritsch (School of Economics and Business Administration, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena); Luis F. Medrano (School of Economics and Business Administration, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena) |
| Abstract: | We analyze the emergence and spatial evolution of the German laser systems industry. Regional knowledge in the related field of laser sources, as well as the presence of universities with physics or engineering departments, is conducive to the emergence of laser systems suppliers. The regional presence of source producers is also positively related to entry into laser systems. One important mechanism behind regional entry is the diversification of upstream laser source producers into the downstream systems market. Entry into the materials processing submarket appears to be unrelated to academic knowledge in the region, but the presence of laser source producers and the regional stock of laser knowledge are still highly predictive in this submarket. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, regional knowledge, laser technology, emerging industries, diversification |
| JEL: | L22 L69 R11 O52 |
| Date: | 2010–11–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2010-079&r=sbm |
| By: | Zhang, Haiyang; Sonobe, Tetsushi |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the association between the outcome of business incubation and the resources used by incubators, by using a small panel of science and technology business incubators (STBIs) in China. We find that while the number of firms graduating from an STBI is closely correlated with the infrastructure as well as the human and financial resources at the STBI's disposal, the graduates' firm sizes, in terms of employment and value added, as well as their labor productivity are unrelated to such resource inputs. We also find that the educational levels of incubator managers and the financial support given to their clients have significant impacts on the number of graduates. However, the number of graduates does not increase with the scale and diversity of the cities in which their STBIs are located or with the presence of foreign ventures and universities in the locality. We do not find that university-based and government-established STBIs differ significantly in their incubation performance. -- |
| Keywords: | business incubators,new firms,market failures,government policy,human resources,China |
| JEL: | M13 O31 O32 O38 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:201025&r=sbm |
| By: | Chiara Balderi (Lab. MaIn – Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa); Andrea Piccaluga (Lab. MaIn – Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to contribute to the current debate about the growth patterns of academic spin-offs by focusing on the Italian context. In order to identify some growth determinants, we study the initial resource base, the firms’ market strategy and their network of relationships with the parent Public Research Organisations (PROs), by controlling for industry, competitive forces, local context, firms’ age and size. In consideration of the complexity of growth phenomena, we study three growth measures, namely employment, revenues and total asset growth. Our multivariate analysis shows that the bundle of initial assets lying at the heart of the firms’ growth prospects include the formal involvement of an industrial shareholder, the targeting of a large and broadly-defined market and the availability of a strong network of formal relationships with the parent PROs. On the contrary, the volume of the Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) portfolio, the experience previously ripened by the promoting partners in R&D and production functions and the availability of informal support mechanisms from the parent PROs do impact negatively and significantly on growth processes with regard to total assets. Finally, the specific New Product Development (NPD) stage, the amount of the starting capital, the formal involvement of a Venture Capital (VC), the experience previously ripened by the promoting partners in commercial and managerial functions and the breadth of the target market do not significantly affect growth processes. |
| Date: | 2010–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sse:wpaper:201004&r=sbm |