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on Small Business Management |
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Issue of 2014‒03‒01
nine papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao Universidade da Beira Interior and Universidade de Lisboa |
| By: | Rasi Kunapatarawong; Ester Martinez Ros |
| Abstract: | This paper reports research on the relationship between sourcing strategy of a firm and its environmental innovation propensity. The data is taken from the Spanish TechnologicalInnovation Panel (PITEC) survey during the period of 2007-2011. The uniqueness of the Spanish innovation structure and the increasing relevance of environmental issues for the Spanish economy make it a proper setting to investigate environmental innovation dynamics. The results from 5,352 firms indicate that large firms are more likely to undertake environmental innovation than small- and medium-sized firms (SMEs). These firms rely quite equally on all four sources of knowledge &- internal, market, institutional and freely-available sources &- when deciding to develop environmental innovation. The broad horizons with respect to knowledge sources are likely to increase firms' propensity to introduce environmental innovation. In addition, weprovide the evolutionary nature of firm's innovation search as firms grow in size. Small firmsrely on both internal and freely-available sources rather equally, while internal source is the most relevant for medium firms, and market is the most important source used by large firms indriving environmental innovation. Particularly important is how firms who are already innovators and who receive local funding from the Spanish government are more likely to introduce environmental innovation. |
| Keywords: | Environmental innovation , Knowledge sourcing , Discrete choice model |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:wbrepe:wb140301&r=sbm |
| By: | Tindara Abbate; Fabrizio Cesaroni |
| Abstract: | Purpose: Academic spin-off firms are considered an important mechanism to transfer technological knowledge from university to industry, although they often show a low growth rate. One possible cause is the lack of proper marketing capabilities, since spin-off managers tend to reduce the role of marketing to the implementation of mere tactical activities. This study analyses whether spin-off firms adopt a market orientation and the effect it produces on firms' economic and innovation performance. Design/methodology/approach: The empirical analysis is based on both quantitative survey data and in-depth interviews, referring to a unique sample including Italian and Spanish spin-off companies. Findings: Results highlight that MKTOR and MARKOR measurement scales show different abilities to capture the implementation of market orientation by sampled firms. We find that the generation and dissemination of information on customers and competitors directly affect firms' ability to develop technological innovations and gain profits. Nevertheless, market orientation also constitutes a challenge to spin-offs, and may eventually generate inefficiencies when external technological conditions require firms to respond quickly to environmental stimuli. Practical implications: The findings of this study are relevant to academic spin-off managers who are responsible for adopting, implementing and maintaining market orientation strategies under different environmental conditions. Limitations: The characteristics of sample used for the quantitative analysis may limit the generalization of results. Originality/value: Even though the market orientation concept has been largely analyzed, no previous study has examined its application by academic spin-offs. By employing qualitative and quantitative analyses we provide novel insights in this respect. |
| Keywords: | Academic spin-off firms; market orientation; company performance , Market orientation , Company performance |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:idrepe:id-14-01&r=sbm |
| By: | Sandro Montresor (University of Bologna); Antonio Vezzani (JRC-IPTS) |
| Abstract: | The paper investigates the extent to which outward FDI affect the MNC's capacity of entering (and remaining in) the club of top R&D world investors, benefiting from performance gains in both financial and economic markets. By merging the European Industrial Research and Innovation Scoreboard with the fDi Markets dataset, we find supporting evidence. Increasing the number of FDI projects helps firms overcome the discontinuities that, in the distribution of R&D expenditures, separate the group of the largest world R&D investors from the top of them. The same is true for the number of FDI projects in R&D, which are also more important than greater FDI portfolios in becoming a top R&D spender. Furthermore, unlike FDI in general, more FDI in R&D guarantee firms to remain in this top club of firms as it increases their capacity of resisting competition for a place among the top R&D spenders. Results at the extensive margin (i.e. the number of FDI projects) are confirmed with respect to the scale of FDI projects (i.e. at the intensive margin). However, increasing their size is not enough to become one of the highest ranking R&D firms. Policy implications about the support to R&D internationalisation are drawn accordingly. |
| Keywords: | Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), Multinational Corporations (MNC), Research & Development (R&D). |
| JEL: | O32 F23 O33 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:wpaper:201401&r=sbm |
| By: | Aiello, Francesco |
| Abstract: | In this study several matching procedures have been used to evaluate the impact of public R&D support received by Italian manufacturing firms over the three-year period 2004-2006. Data are from the Capitalia-UniCredit survey and estimations refer to a sample of 605 treated firms untreated are 2414). The evidence is mixed and depends on the objective-variable under consideration. As far as the total amount of R&D investments is concerned, the role of public support to innovation is positive and significant, while no impact has been found when considering the R&D intensity and the share of sales due to innovative-products. These differences in results are quite regular, whatever the matching method applied in the evaluation. |
| Keywords: | Policy Evaluation; R&D Investments; Innovative Sales; Matching estimators |
| JEL: | C2 H2 H7 L1 L2 L6 O32 O38 |
| Date: | 2013–12–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:53848&r=sbm |
| By: | Ayadi, Rym; De Groen, Willem Pieter |
| Abstract: | The upheavals of the Arab Spring in the southern Mediterranean led to domestic and international demands on the governments in the region to implement reforms aimed at enhancing business and investment conditions especially for micro, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), which carry out an overwhelming majority of the region’s economic activity. A comprehensive survey among some 600 high-growth potential MSMEs in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia identified and ranked the key obstacles impeding their high-growth potential. This Policy Brief summarises the main results and policy recommendations that can be drawn from this survey, which has been analysed in depth by Ayadi & De Groen (2014). |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eps:cepswp:8798&r=sbm |
| By: | Anna V. Vilisova; Qiang Fu |
| Abstract: | Being one of the most important factors of economic growth of the country, innovations became one of the key vectors in Russian economic policy. In this field technology parks are one of the most effective instruments which can provide growth of innovative activity in sectors, regions and economies. In this paper, we made a model that allows us to evaluate the effect of technology parks in the economy of the country and its potential for small and medium enterprises. The model is based on a system of coupled equations, whose parameters are estimated on the statistical data that reflect the activity of the economic entity, in an environment of this entity the technology parks are acting. Typically, there are regression equations linking a number of economic factors with some output indicators. We analyzed the property of increasing the share of surviving small and medium enterprises for Russian conditions as one of the effect of technology parks and built a working model for estimating the maximum (limit) values of the effect. |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1402.5373&r=sbm |
| By: | Ayadi, Rym; De Groen, Willem Pieter |
| Abstract: | The Arab Spring, which took root in Tunisia and Egypt in the beginning of 2011 and gradually spread to other countries in the southern Mediterranean, highlighted the importance of private-sector development, job creation, improved governance and a fairer distribution of economic opportunities. The developments led to domestic and international calls for the region’s governments to implement the needed reforms to enhance business and investment conditions, modernise their economies and support the development of enterprises. Central to these demands are calls to enhance the growth prospects of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), which represent an overwhelming majority of the region’s economic activity. On the basis of interviews conducted among high-growth potential MSMEs in selected countries in the southern Mediterranean – Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia – this report identifies and ranks key obstacles preventing MSMEs from reaching their high-growth potential and puts forward effective policy responses to reduce these obstacles. If implemented, the authors argue that these policies could unlock the MSMEs potential to contribute more to their economies. |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eps:cepswp:8796&r=sbm |
| By: | Georg Licht; Bettina Peters |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the impact of environmental innovation on employment growth in the period 2006-2008 using firm-level data for German manufacturing and services. It extends the model by Harrison et al (2008) in order to distinguish between employment effects of environmental and non-environmental product as well as process innovation. As a robustness check patent data on green technologies are employed. The results demonstrate that both environmental and non-environmental product innovations stimulate employment growth. We find a similar gross employment effect of both types of product innovations. That is, one-percent increases in sales stemming from new environmental and non-environmental products increase gross employment by one percent each. Thus, we do not find evidence that that new products with environmental benefits for consumers are produced with higher or lower efficiency than old products. Yet, the net employment contribution of non-green product innovations is 4 to 5 times larger than the net contribution of green product innovations. This is the result of differences in the average innovation engagement and innovation success of both types of new products. In contrast, environmental and non-environmental process innovation plays only a little role for employment growth. In particular, we do not identify a significant trade-off between more environmental-friendly production technologies and employment growth. This holds for both cleaner production technologies and end-of pipe technologies. |
| Keywords: | Employment growth, environmental innovation, green patents |
| JEL: | O33 J23 L80 C21 C23 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:feu:wfewop:y:2014:m:2:d:0:i:53&r=sbm |
| By: | Schäffler, Johannes (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]); Hecht, Veronika (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]); Moritz, Michael (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]) |
| Abstract: | The attractiveness for the location of multinational firms is seen as a crucial issue for the development and prosperity of regions. This article focuses on a two-country relationship and deals with the regional distribution of German multinational firms and their affiliates in the Czech Republic. A new dataset established by the IAB covers information on the basic population of cross-border foreign direct investment (FDI) projects, thereby exceeding the number of observations in previously used databases by far. On the basis of 3,894 FDI projects the regional determinants of German cross-border investments in the Czech Republic are analysed for both the home and the host country. Alternative specifications of the gravity model are used in order to investigate the regional distribution of common investment projects that are calculated as a combination of a headquarters in a German spatial planning region and an affiliate in a Czech NUTS 3 region. Concerning the explanatory variables a distinction is made between three groups of factors: first, market size and agglomeration features of the regions; second, attributes representing the distance between the headquarters in Germany and the affiliates in the Czech Republic; and third, regional labour market characteristics. While the findings are generally in line with theoretical expectations, differences emerge between manufacturing FDI and services FDI. |
| JEL: | F23 R12 F15 |
| Date: | 2014–02–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:201403&r=sbm |