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on Small Business Management |
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Issue of 2013‒08‒05
eight papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Maria Luisa Mancusi; Andrea Vezzulli |
| Abstract: | We study the effects of credit rationing on Research and Development (R&D) investment using survey and accounting data on a large representative sample of manufacturing small and medium size enterprises (SMEs). Our econometric model accounts for the endogeneity of our credit rationing indicator and employs an innovative theory based identification strategy. We find that credit rationing has a significantly negative effect on both the probability to set up R&D activities and on the level of R&D spending (conditioned on the R&D decision), but the overall estimated reduction in R&D spending is largely to be associated with the first effect. |
| Keywords: | R&D, credit rationing, Whited and Wu index, bivariate probit, IV Tobit |
| JEL: | G21 D82 O32 C35 |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ise:isegwp:wp122013&r=sbm |
| By: | Fabio Campanini (DISCE, Università Cattolica); Serena Costa (DISCE, Università Cattolica); Paolo Rizzi (DISCE, Università Cattolica) |
| Abstract: | The machine tool industry has a leading role in the Italian manufacturing system, above all in Northern Italy. This industrial branch is a strategic intermediate point in many manufacture dies, with an average innovation intensity higher than that of many other industrial branches. This work investigates if and in which way the innovation and the R&D processes carried out in the sector firms affect their productivity. We built a significant sample, which answered a questionnaire based on the CIS (Community Innovation Survey). Also a regional geographic dimension is used, to test the presence of specific local effects. Results show a positive and strong contribution from human capital to productivity, while, in the short term, physical capital have a negative impact, a result probably influenced by the economic crisis. |
| Keywords: | Innovation; Machine tool industry; Firm productivity; Regions. |
| JEL: | L1 L64 O3 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctc:serie2:dises1391&r=sbm |
| By: | Michael McAleer; Chia-Lin Chang; Ju-Ting Tang (University of Canterbury) |
| Abstract: | With the advent of globalization, economic and financial interactions among countries have become widespread. Given technological advancements, the factors of production can no longer be considered to be just labor and capital. In the pursuit of economic growth, every country has sensibly invested in international cooperation, learning, innovation, technology diffusion and knowledge. In this paper, we use a panel data set of 40 countries from 1981 to 2008 and a negative binomial model, using a novel set of cross-border patents and joint patents as proxy variables for technology diffusion, in order to investigate such diffusion. The empirical results suggest that, if it is desired to shift from foreign to domestic technology, it is necessary to increase expenditure on R&D for business enterprises and higher education, exports and technology. If the focus is on increasing bilateral technology diffusion, it is necessary to increase expenditure on R&D for higher education and technology. |
| Keywords: | International Technology Diffusion, Exports, Imports, Joint Patent, Cross-border Patent, R&D, Negative Binomial Panel Data |
| JEL: | F14 F21 O30 O57 |
| Date: | 2013–07–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbt:econwp:13/24&r=sbm |
| By: | E. Santarelli; H. T. Tran |
| Abstract: | This paper is based upon the assumption that firm profitability is determined by its degree of diversification which in turn is strongly related to the antecedent decision to carry out diversification activities. This calls for an empirical approach that permits the joint analysis of the three interrelated and consecutive stages of the overall diversification process: diversification decision, degree of diversification, and outcome of diversification. We apply parametric and semiparametric approaches to control for sample selection and endogeneity of diversification decision in both static and dynamic models. After controlling for industry fixed-effects, empirical evidence from firm-level data shows that diversification has a curvilinear effect on profitability: it improves firms’ profit up to a point, after which a further increase in diversification is associated with declining performance. This implies that firms should consider optimal levels of product diversification when they expand product offerings beyond their core business. Other worth-noting findings include: (i) factors stimulating firms to diversify do not necessarily encourage them to extend their diversification strategy; (ii) firms which are endowed with highly skilled human capital are likely to successfully exploit diversification as an engine of growth; (iii) while industry performance does not influence profitability of firms, it impacts their diversification decision and degree. |
| JEL: | L21 L25 C14 C23 |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bol:bodewp:wp896&r=sbm |
| By: | Bertschek, Irene; Hogrefe, Jan; Rasel, Fabienne |
| Abstract: | Using a unique German firm-level data set, we provide empirical evidence for a productivity sorting along two dimensions: international activity and technology choice. We consider domestic and exporting firms and measure technology choice by firms' actual use of advanced information technology (IT). For manufacturing firms, the observed sorting pattern is consistent with recent theories of heterogeneous firms and technology choice: Only the relatively more productive ones among internationally active firms are also highly technology intensive. For service sector firms we find similar evidence, yet the results seem to depend on the trade cost of certain services. In general, recent theoretical advances regarding trade and technology adoption thus seem to better fit the manufacturing sector. -- |
| Keywords: | exports,productivity,sorting,information technology,firm-level data |
| JEL: | F14 F23 L23 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:13042&r=sbm |
| By: | Oriol Amat; Marcos Antón Renart; María José García |
| Abstract: | The study herein discusses research aimed at elucidating the factors that contribute to a business' ability to maintain high growth. The database from the Iberian Balance Sheet Analysis System (SABI, from its initials in Spanish) was used to identify 250 industrial Catalonian businesses with high growth during 2004-2007. These companies participated in a survey on strategies and management practices; in 2013, they were re-analyzed to investigate the factors that contributed to continued growth for certain companies. Through diverse statistical techniques, business policies related to quality, innovation, internationalization and finance were shown to influence business growth and sustainability over time. High-growth businesses have been studied throughout the world, but this is the first study to investigate the evolution of businesses after a high-growth phase. |
| Keywords: | Quality, high-growth businesses, business evolution, financial information, innovation, internationalization. |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:1377&r=sbm |
| By: | Naudé, Wim (Maastricht School of Management) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an overview of the state of the art of the intersection of development economics and entrepreneurship. Given the relative neglect of entrepreneurship by development scholars it deals with (i) recent theoretical insights from the intersection of entrepreneurship and development studies; (ii) the empirical evidence on the relationship between entrepreneurship and development; and (iii) fresh insights for entrepreneurship policy for development that emerges from recent advanced in this area, including female entrepreneurship in developing countries. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship, development, small business, private sector development, innovation, business |
| JEL: | M13 O10 O17 O40 |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7507&r=sbm |
| By: | Farha Ghapar; Robert Brooks; Russell Smyth |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes the relationship between patenting activity and financial performance at the Malaysian firm level for firms that have been granted patents in Malaysia and the United States of America. We adopt the patent renewal and profit maximization model as our theoretical underpinning for this study. The patenting activity variables are measured based on the patent renewal system and the financial performance variables are measured based on the profit margin. The sample is divided into manufacturing and non-manufacturing firms. We utilize a panel dataset spanning from 1994 to 2008 and the model is estimated using panel least squares, fixed effects, random effects and generalized method of moments with various types of effects specifications and transformations. The key finding from the empirical study is that there is a significant relationship between patenting activity and financial performance at the Malaysian firm level, but that the impact is rather small and that the signs on the coefficients are mixed. This result may reflect the level of competition that the firms faced over the period of the study, even though patenting is well known for giving firms some monopoly power. |
| Keywords: | Patenting, patent renewal, firm financial performance, panel data model |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mos:moswps:2013-22&r=sbm |