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on Small Business Management |
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Issue of 2011‒05‒30
ten papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Gabriele Pellegrino (DISCE, Università Cattolica); Mariacristina Piva (DISCE, Università Cattolica); Marco Vivarelli (DISCE, Università Cattolica) |
| Abstract: | This paper discusses the determinants of product innovation in young innovative companies (YICs) by looking at in-house and external R&D and at the acquisition of external technology in its embodied and disembodied components. These ‘innovative’ input-output relationships are tested on a sample of 2,713 innovative Italian firms. A sample-selection approach is applied to study both the determinants of product innovation and the factors affecting the intensity of innovation. Results show that in-house R&D is linked to the propensity to introduce product innovation both in mature firms and YICs; however, innovation intensity in the YICs is mainly dependent on embodied technical change from external sources, while in-house R&D does not play a significant role. |
| Keywords: | R&D; Embodied technological change; Product innovation; New firms; Sample selection |
| JEL: | O31 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctc:serie2:dises1068&r=sbm |
| By: | Michael Fritsch; Alexandra Schroeter |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of new firms' quality on the magnitude of their employment effects. Our results clearly show that the quality of start-ups, measured by their affiliation with sectors and innovative industries, strongly influences the direct and the overall employment contribution of new firms. In particular, start-ups in manufacturing industries generate larger direct and overall growth effects than those in services. Moreover, new businesses in innovative manufacturing and in knowledge-intensive service industries make a larger direct contribution to employment than start-ups affiliated with other industries. We also find a relatively strong overall effect of new business formation in knowledge-intensive service industries. However, the impact of start-ups in innovative manufacturing industries on overall regional employment growth is not statistically significant, which may be mainly due to their rather small share in all start-ups and because they impact more on firms and employment in other regions than do start-ups in non-innovative manufacturing. Finally, we discuss the implications for entrepreneurship policy that can be derived from our findings. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship, new business formation, innovative industries, regional development, entrepreneurship policy |
| JEL: | L26 M13 O1 O18 R11 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1128&r=sbm |
| By: | Michael Fritsch |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews the current state of knowledge about the effect of new business formation on regional development. After a brief sketch of the origins of research on this issue, the main results of different lines of inquiry are discussed. Main issues are the development of start-up cohorts, the relative magnitude of direct and indirect effects, and results by type of entry and by industry, as well as differences in the effects that have been found for different types of regions. After interpreting the results based on a common framework, I put forward a number of important questions for further research and draw some conclusions for entrepreneurship policy. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship, new business formation, employment regional development |
| JEL: | L26 M13 O1 O18 R11 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1127&r=sbm |
| By: | Fabling, Richard (Reserve Bank of New Zealand); Stillman, Steven (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research); Maré, David. C (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research) |
| Abstract: | We combine firm-level innovation data with area-level Census data to examine the relationship between local workforce characteristics, especially the presence of immigrants and local skills, and the likelihood of innovation by firms. We examine a range of innovation outcomes, and test the relationship for selected subgroups of firms. We find a positive relationship between local workforce characteristics and average innovation outcomes in labour market areas, but this is accounted for by variation in firm characteristics such as firm size, industry, and research and development expenditure. Controlling for these influences, we find no systematic evidence of an independent link between local workforce characteristics and innovation. |
| Keywords: | Innovation; Immigration; Local labour market |
| JEL: | O31 R30 |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtu:wpaper:11_05&r=sbm |
| By: | ITO Banri; TOMIURA Eiichi; WAKASUGI Ryuhei |
| Abstract: | This paper empirically examines the effects of knowledge capital on offshore outsourcing choices based on original survey data of Japanese firms. The results of a multinomial logit model demonstrate that firms' offshoring is positively correlated with knowledge capital measured by their R&D activities or patenting, even after controlling for other firm characteristics including productivity, capital intensity, firm age, and export status. Further, knowledge-intensive firms are more inclined to choose foreign insourcing rather than outsourcing, suggesting that firms tend to internalize their technological knowledge in offshore sourcing. |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:11052&r=sbm |
| By: | Irani Arráiz (Inter-American Development Bank); Francisca Henríquez; Rodolfo Stucchi (Inter-American Development Bank) |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the impact of the Chilean Supplier Development Program, aimed at improving and stabilizing the commercial linkages between small and medium-sized suppliers and their large firm customers, during the period 2003-2008. Applying propensity score matching and difference-in-differences, we find that both groups of firms benefited from the coordination efforts. The program increased sales, employment, and the sustainability of small and medium-sized suppliers. It also increased the sales of large firms and raised their ability of becoming exporters. We also find that the timing of the effect is different for suppliers and large firms. While the effect on suppliers appeared one year after the firms enrolled in the program, the effect on large firms took two years to appear. |
| Keywords: | Supplier Development Program, SME Policy, Impact Evaluation, Chile, PDP. |
| JEL: | D78 L38 |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:ovewps:0411&r=sbm |
| By: | Nyström, Kristina (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: | Entrepreneurship is often claimed to be important for generating employment. However, the empirical evidence on the relationship between entrepreneurship is not always convincing. Most of the studies that analyse the relationship between new firm formation and employment growth perform their analysis on cross-country or regional data. At the micro-level, we still know little about the labour dynamics and re-allocation effects induced by new firm formation. Which role do new firms play regarding labour reallocation? This paper intends to explore the individual and firm characteristics for employees in new Swedish firms. Do new firm start-ups absorb outsiders in the labour market or do they recruit employees from already incumbent firms? The paper use unique matched firm-employees dataset that makes it possible to link new firm formation and information about the individuals employed in these new firms. The empirical results indicate that the individual and firm characteristics associated with employees differ between new and incumbent firms. In particular, the share of immigrants, recently graduated employees and people entering the labor market is slightly higher in new firms. Hence, new firms might play a more important role for outsiders in the labor market. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship; labour mobility; employment |
| JEL: | L21 L26 L62 |
| Date: | 2011–05–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0250&r=sbm |
| By: | Batabyal, A.A.; Nijkamp, P. |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:vuarem:2011-7&r=sbm |
| By: | Fairlie, Robert W. (University of California, Santa Cruz); Chatterji, Aaron K. (Duke University) |
| Abstract: | The economic expansion of the late 1990s created many opportunities for business creation in Silicon Valley, but the opportunity cost of starting a business was also high during this period because of the exceptionally tight labor market. A new measure of entrepreneurship derived from matching files from the Current Population Survey (CPS) is used to provide the first test of the hypothesis that business creation rates were high in Silicon Valley during the "Roaring 90s." Unlike previous measures of firm births based on large, nationally representative datasets, the new measure captures business creation at the individual-owner level, includes both employer and non-employer business starts, and focuses on only hi-tech industries. Estimates indicate that hi-tech entrepreneurship rates were lower in Silicon Valley than the rest of the United States during the period from January 1996 to February 2000. Examining the post-boom period, we find that entrepreneurship rates in Silicon Valley increased from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. Although Silicon Valley may be an entrepreneurial location overall, we provide the first evidence that the extremely tight labor market of the late 1990s, especially in hi-tech industries, may have suppressed business creation during this period. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship, high-technology, Silicon Valley, economic geography, regional clusters |
| JEL: | J26 |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5726&r=sbm |
| By: | Fulvio, Castellacci |
| Abstract: | This paper introduces service innovation in the proximity-concentration trade-off model of trade and FDI (Helpman, Melitz and Yeaple, 2004). The idea is that innovation will have two main effects on service firms’ choice between exports and FDI. First, innovative firms will on average have higher productivity levels than non-innovative enterprises. Secondly, innovators will have to pay a higher relational distance cost for undertaking export activities, and they will therefore prefer to avoid (or reduce) these costs by choosing a FDI strategy instead. We test the empirical relevance of this idea on a new survey dataset for a representative sample of firms in all business service sectors in Norway. The results show that firms are more likely to choose FDI rather than export the greater their productivity level and the higher the relational distance costs they face. |
| Keywords: | Service sectors; innovation; export; FDI; firm heterogeneity; survey data |
| JEL: | F15 F10 O33 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:31002&r=sbm |