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on Small Business Management |
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Issue of 2012‒06‒13
nine papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Yelda Erden (TEKPOL, Science and Technology Policy Studies, Middle East Technical University); Alp Eren Yurtseven (TEKPOL, Science and Technology Policy Studies, Middle East Technical University) |
| Abstract: | This study aims to identify the main characteristics of academic spin off firms, which evolve from universities through commercialization of intellectual property and transfer of technology developed within academic institutions. Academic spin off firms can be conceptualized as a subset of new technology-based firms and they emerge as important actors of the innovation system in Turkey. Despite the extensive empirical evidence pointing to the conclusion that most new technology-based firms do not grow and more importantly do not even want to grow, the dominating view of new technology-based firms is presuming rapid growth, or at least an aspiration towards it. In addition to problems associated with the liability of newness, academic spin off firms also face two fundamentally different difficulties: Academic spin off firms evolve from non commercial environments, i.e. universities and research laboratories, and have to overcome substantial obstacles on the way to become a profitable organization. Moreover key stakeholders in the founding process (i.e. the academic entrepreneurs, university management, finance suppliers etc.) may have conflicting interests, which may influence the growth pattern of academic spin off firms. Solution of these problems call for a redefinition of parent organization’s structure and mission statement. Recently emerging third mission paradigm puts forward entrepreneurialism as a new pillar in addition to teaching and research. This study attempts to highlight key characteristics of ASOF’s and obtained results are expected to contribute to the intellectual debate about transformation of universities with an entrepreneurial mind set. Obtained results indicate that founders of academic spin off firms have precedent joint research experience, i.e. network of researchers and role of research group as a quasi- firm is influential in the founding process of academic spin off firms. Moreover academic spin off firms are embedded in networks, rather than being atomistic entities and either structure of these networks change, or academic spin off firms partake in different networks during their development. |
| Keywords: | Academic spin-off, new technology-based firm, entrepreneurial university |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:met:stpswp:1204&r=sbm |
| By: | Naciba Haned (ESDES Ecole de management de Lyon - Université Catholique de Lyon); Christian Le Bas (GATE Lyon Saint-Etienne - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - CNRS : UMR5824 - Université Lumière - Lyon II - École Normale Supérieure - Lyon); Caroline Mothe (IREGE - Institut de Recherche en Gestion et en Economie - Université de Savoie); Uyen Nguyen (CEPS/INSTEAD - Centre d'Etudes de Populations, de Pauvreté et de Politiques Socio-Economiques / International Networks for Studies in Technology, Environment, Alternatives, Development - Centre d'Etudes de Populations, de Pauvreté et de Politiques Socio-Economiques / International Networks for Studies in Technology, Environment, Alternatives, Development) |
| Abstract: | Organizational innovation favors technological innovation, but does it also influence technological innovation persistence ? This article investigates empirically the pattern of technological innovation persistence and tests the potential impact of organizational innovation using firm-level data from three waves of the French Community Innovation Surveys. Evidence shows a positive effect of organizational innovation on technological innovation persistence, according to various measures of organizational innovation. Moreover, this impact is more significant for complex innovators (i.e., those who innovate in both products and processes). These results highlight the complexity of managing organizational practices with regard to the firm's technological innovation. They also add to comprehension of the drivers of innovation persistence, through a focus on an often forgotten dimension of innovation in a broader sense. |
| Keywords: | Organizational Innovation; Technological Innovation; Persistence |
| Date: | 2012–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00703289&r=sbm |
| By: | Jonathan Potter; Gabriela Miranda; Philip Cooke; Karen Chapple; Dieter Rehfeld; Gregory Theyel; Dan Kaufmann; Miki Malul; Mosi Rosenboim |
| Abstract: | This report summarises the findings of a case study project on growing clean-tech cluster activity in the Negev region of Israel as part of a series of reviews on Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Local Development carried out by the Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). <P>The review examines entrepreneurship, SMEs and local development in the Negev in the south of Israel, where there is strong potential for the growth of significant clean-tech industry cluster activity, involving a critical mass of firms, human capital, research organisations, support infrastructure and associated formal and informal linkages. <P>This report looks at the ways in which such capacity can be strengthened by public policies, including investment in centres of research excellence and specialised testing facilities, creation of spaces for innovation exchange, and the introduction of a green strategy and eco-city approach. The analysis provides guidance and policy recommendations on how best to support the emergence and expansion of clean-tech cluster activity that will enhance economic development capacity in the region while contributing to national green growth objectives. |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:cfeaaa:2012/11-en&r=sbm |
| By: | Wignaraja, Ganeshan (Asian Development Bank Institute) |
| Abstract: | The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are under scrutiny for their engagement in production networks following recent emphasis on increasing intra-regional trade, rebalancing, and inclusive growth in Asia. Using a data set covering 5,900 firms in five ASEAN economies at different stages of development, this paper analyses the participation of SMEs in production networks, determinants, and policy implications. It finds that although large firms dominate production network engagement in ASEAN economies, there are signs that SMEs have modestly increased their participation since the late-1990s. This is linked to firm-specific factors (e.g., firm size, foreign ownership, skills, technological capabilities, and access to credit) as well as a supportive business environment. Tackling residual supply-side and policy constraints can further the participation of ASEAN SMEs in production networks. |
| Keywords: | small and medium enterprises; production networks; asean; intra-regional trade |
| JEL: | F10 F23 O14 |
| Date: | 2012–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0361&r=sbm |
| By: | Brown, Martin; Degryse, Hans; Höwer, Daniel; Penas, María Fabiana |
| Abstract: | Start-up firms often face difficulties in raising external funds. Employing a unique panel dataset covering 9,715 start-up firms over the period 2007-2009, we find that high-tech startups are less likely to use bank finance and face more difficulties in raising bank finance than low-tech start-ups. We find that external credit scores do affect the availability of credit for start-up firms, but that banks rely less on external rating information in their decision making for high-tech start-ups than low-tech start-ups. Start-ups that have their main relation with a small bank use more bank finance and report less difficulties in getting credit. By contrast, a greater expertise of the bank in the firm's industry is not associated with fewer difficulties to get bank loans. There are no differences between high-tech and low-tech start-ups regarding the impact of bank size. -- |
| Keywords: | Innovation,Start-up,Credit information sharing,Soft information |
| JEL: | G2 G18 O16 P34 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:12032&r=sbm |
| By: | Karlsson, Charlie (Jönköping International Business School); Gråsjö, Urban (University West) |
| Abstract: | New knowledge generated by an economic agent in a region will tend over time to flow to other economic agents in the same region but also to economic agents in other regions. It is quite common in the literature to use the concept of knowledge spillovers for such knowledge flows, irrespective of whether they are intended or non-intended. The potential for intra-re-gional knowledge spillover effects depends on the volume and character of the generation on new knowledge in each region as well as of the general characteristics of the individual re-gional economic milieu, i.e., those location attributes, which are regionally trapped and which include how well integrated it is with other regions. The larger this potential, the higher the probability that firms dependent upon knowledge spillovers will locate there and the higher probability that entrepreneurs will take advantage of this potential to launch innovations and to create new knowledge-based firms. To the extent that firms and entrepreneurs can enjoy these knowledge spillovers, they represent an externality or more specifically a knowledge externality in the regional economy. Great importance is in the literature attributed to knowledge spillovers and knowledge exter-nalities as drivers of regional economic development. Some authors, for example, claim that regional variations in localised knowledge spillovers are one of the main reasons behind re-gional variations in innovation performance. Against this background, the purpose of this chapter is, based upon a general characterization of knowledge flows, to analyse the character of knowledge externalities and, in particular, their sources, their economic nature, their recipients, their mechanisms and channels, their geographic reach, and their economic conse-quences generally and for regional economic development in particular. |
| Keywords: | Knowledge flows; Knowledge externalities; Knowledge spillovers; Regional growth |
| JEL: | O18 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2012–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0276&r=sbm |
| By: | Schild, Christopher-Johannes |
| Abstract: | For a cross-section of 123 European regions, a positive causal effect of generalised trust on innovation activity is identified using a set of geographic instrumental variables from climate and soil data. The geographic instrumental variables are defined and discussed. The popular explanation for spatial clustering of innovation by 'interregional knowledge spillovers' is empirically tested. It is found that spatial clustering of innovation activity can be better explained by a positive in uence of trust on innovation combined with the fact that neighboring regions typically show similar levels of trust. -- |
| Keywords: | Social Capital,Trust,Innovation,Regional Economics,Europe |
| JEL: | O31 R11 R12 Z13 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iwqwdp:022012&r=sbm |
| By: | Pelin Demirel (Nottingham University Business School, Nothingham University); Effie Kesidou (Nottingham University Business School, Nothingham University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we adopt a recent OECD framework and examine the role of external policy tools and internal firm specific factors for stimulating three different types of eco-innovations that range on a spectrum of lower to higher technological and environmental impact: End-of-Pipeline Pollution Control Technologies, Integrated Cleaner Production Technologies and Environmental R&D. Using a novel firm-level dataset from a DEFRA survey, we estimate a Tobit model, which provides empirical evidence showing that these eco-innovations are motivated by different external policy tools and internal firm specific factors. Our findings indicate that End of Pipeline Technologies and Integrated Cleaner Production Technologies are mainly driven by equipment upgrade motives with a view of improving efficiency while environmental regulations are effective in stimulating the End-of-Pipeline technologies and Environmental R&D. Interestingly, alongside government induced regulations, we find that market factors, mainly motivated by cost savings, are effective in driving Environmental R&D. Finally, ISO14001 certification is effective in strengthening the positive impact of environmental management systems on both End-of-Pipeline technologies and Environmental R&D while CSR policies have no significant impact on motivating any of the eco-innovations. |
| Keywords: | Cleaner Production, Environmental Regulation, Environmental Taxes, Environmental Management Systems, Eco-R&D, ISO14001 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:met:stpswp:1203&r=sbm |
| By: | B. Basalisco; Guido M. Rey (Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa) |
| Abstract: | This work considers the application of a platform strategy in order to promote the adoption of advanced network infrastructures by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). First, we analyse the incentives of industrial players in a context where SMEs playing an important economic role and where traditional rather than high-tech sectors of activity are predominant – with specific reference to the Italian case. Second, we review the contributions of the economic and managerial literature on platforms or two-sided markets. We leverage this by proposing a policy application of the platform concept, showing its potential benefits in allowing the manufacturing sector to gain from access to the service economy. We classify platforms according to their function and identify those types which can serve the purpose of industrial promotion. This leads us to review governance aspects which are paramount to platform functioning given the policy context. |
| Keywords: | Platforms; SMEs; Manufacturing; Service economy; Innovation; Governance; Industrial policy. |
| JEL: | F23 M21 O14 O25 O32 |
| Date: | 2012–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sse:wpaper:201203&r=sbm |