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on Small Business Management |
| By: | Roberto Ganau; Eleonora Di Maria |
| Abstract: | The study of the determinants of innovation processes has received great attention in both the economics and the business literature. However, only few contributions have proposed a comprehensive framework able to bring together different but not mutually exclusive research approaches. This paper contributes to the analysis of the determinants of technological innovation - namely, product and process innovations - focusing on Italian manufacturing small and medium sized firms (SMEs) by accounting, simultaneously, for firm-specific characteristics, agglomeration economies and the role of KIBS providers. Specifically, the paper provides an empirical investigation which is built on a multi-dimensional theoretical basis which gathers the resource-based view of the firm and the new economic geography framework together. The empirical exercise employs data of about 4,000 Italian SMEs observed over the period 2004-2006 and drawn from the Unicredit-Capitalia database. Parametric probabilistic models are estimated in order to identify the joint effects of several potential determinants of successful technological innovation. Overall, results suggest that technological innovation in manufacturing SMEs is mainly driven by firm-specific characteristics. It emerges that experience and knowledge accumulated over time (i.e. age) as well as availability of human and capital resources (i.e. size) matter for being innovative firms. Moreover, innovative firms show both higher labour productivity levels and higher investments in R&D activities than non-innovative firms. Results partially support previous findings on the agglomeration-innovation relationship: overall, diversification (specialisation) externalities seem to positively (negatively) affect (high-tech) firms' probability of introducing technological innovations. Finally, results suggest that the spatial agglomeration of KIBS providers - i.e. being located in an area characterised by a high concentration of KIBS firms - does not matter per se: in fact, a positive effect emerges only when firms' heterogeneity in absorptive capacity is explicitly considered. Results show that only (low-tech) SMEs which invest in R&D activities benefit from a high geographic concentration of (professional and technological) KIBS firms. |
| Keywords: | Technological innovation; Manufacturing SMEs; Resource-Based Theory; Agglomeration Economies; KIBS providers; Italy; |
| JEL: | D22 O31 R12 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p820&r=sbm |
| By: | Hottenrott, Hanna; Lopes-Bento, Cindy |
| Abstract: | R&D collaboration facilitates pooling of complementary skills, learning from the partner as well as sharing risks and costs. Research therefore repeatedly stressed the positive relationship between collaborative R&D and innovation performance. Fewer studies addressed potential drawbacks of collaborative R&D. Collaborative R&D comes at the costs of coordination and monitoring, requires knowledge disclosure and involves the risk of opportunistic behaviour by the partners. Thus, while the net gains from collaboration can be high initially, cost may start to outweigh those benefits if firms engage in multiple collaborative projects simultaneously. This study explicitly considers a firm's collaboration intensity, that is, the share of collaborative R&D projects in the firms' total R&D project portfolio. For a sample of 2,891 firms located in Germany, active in abroad range of manufacturing and service sectors and of which 86% are SMEs, we indeed find that increasing the share of collaborative R&D projects in total R&D projects is associated with a higher probability of product innovation and with a higher market success of new products. While we can confirm previous findings in terms of gains for innovation performance, we also find that collaboration has decreasing and even negative returns on product innovation if its intensity increases above a certain threshold. Consequently, the relationship between collaboration intensity and innovation has an inverted-U shape. In particular, costs start outweighing benefits if a firm pursues more than about two thirds of its R&D projects in collaboration. This result is robust to conditioning market success to the introduction of new products and to accounting for the selection into collaborating. |
| Keywords: | innovation performance,product innovation,R&D partnerships,collaboration intensity,SMEs,transaction costs,selection model,endogenous switching |
| JEL: | O31 O32 O33 O34 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:14108&r=sbm |
| By: | Isabelle Leroux; Paul Muller; Béatrice Plottu; Caroline Widehem |
| Abstract: | A device central to the French cluster (Competitiveness pole) policy is the financing of collaborative projects aimed at enhancing the innovation capacities of firms. In turn, increasing in innovation capacities give rise to new business opportunities that firms only can seize by evolving their business model. Business model accounts for the ways value is developed, delivered and captured by firms (Chesbrough 2007). However, internal and external constraints may impede their evolution. Those constraints are particularly harmful for SME: 1. Firms must dedicate specific resources to innovate their business models (Helfat and Winter 2011) but SME may arguably face strong constraints on devoted resources. 2. The capacity of innovating a business model may require firms to be able to influence local collective rules (Sabatier et al. 2012). However, unless being locally pivotal, a SME's influence may be too low to enable it to exert a significant influence on those rules, especially when significant business model innovation is at stake. Our paper discusses the role played by local institutions while addressing the issue of business model evolution in SME. It specifically focuses on the governing bodies of Competitiveness poles. We argue that those governing bodies play a central role in releasing stakeholders from business model evolution impediments as they act as innovation intermediaries. We base our research on the study of BRIO, a publicly funded collaborative project undertaken by members of Vegepolys, a Competitiveness pole located in French Pays-de-la-Loire Region and dedicated to specialized vegetal industries. Horticultural SMEs, INRA and the University of Angers have been involved in this project. It has aimed to design new tools and methodologies for creating new varieties of plants through varietal creation. Our case reveals that Vegepolys' governance body has played a key role in the success of the project by translating scientific (produced by INRA researchers) into technological knowledge and by being a go-between facilitating the establishment of new collective rules. |
| JEL: | L10 O31 Q16 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p693&r=sbm |
| By: | Esther Goya (AQR-IREA Research Group, University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to analyse the extent to which internal knowledge flows may have an impact on firms’ innovative performance. As most of innovation literature has focused its attention on external knowledge transfers, internal knowledge flows have faded into the background. However, transference of information and experience within firms can improve their technological performance impacting positively on their innovativeness leading to higher innovative sales. Voluntary and involuntary knowledge flows are taken under consideration as well as firm’s absorptive capacity. The dataset used is Technological Innovation Panel (PITEC) for Spain over the period 2004-2011. The results indicate that internal knowledge flows have a positive and significant influence on innovative sales. In particular, voluntary knowledge flows have a greater impact than involuntary knowledge transfers. Interestingly, internal knowledge flows increase innovative sales to a greater extent than their external counterparts. This finding highlights the importance of internal information which, as it was mentioned previously, usually remains in the shadows. Finally, absorptive capacity only seems to enhance efficiency in exploiting involuntary knowledge flows. |
| Keywords: | innovation performance, internal knowledge flows, absorptive capacity, Spain |
| JEL: | D22 L20 O31 |
| Date: | 2014–11–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rdg:emxxdp:em-dp2014-07&r=sbm |
| By: | Christian Awuku-Budu; Carol A. Robbins |
| Abstract: | This paper uses data from the National Science Foundation’s surveys on business research and development (R&D) expenditures that have been linked with data from the Census Bureau’s Longitudinal Business Database to produce consistent NAICS-based R&D time-series data based on the main product produced by the firm for 1976 to 2008.The results show that R&D spending has shifted away from domestic manufacturing industries in recent years. This is due in part to a shift in U.S. payrolls away from manufacturing establishments for R&D-performing firms.These findings support the notion of an increasingly fragmented production system for R&D-intensive manufacturing firms, whereby U.S. firms control output and provide intellectual property inputs in the form of R&D, but production takes place outside of the firms' U.S. establishments. |
| Keywords: | Business R&D, industry classification, factoryless goods producers, U.S. manufacturing firms, establishments |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:14-45&r=sbm |
| By: | Hervas-Oliver,Jose-Luis; Sempere-Ripoll,Francisca |
| Abstract: | Agglomeration can generate gains. If it does, how does it work and how are those gains distributed across agglomerated firms? Despite the existence of an important body of research on this topic, the evidence is inconclusive. We examine the effect of localization externalities on a firm’s innovativeness. By analyzing a large dataset of 6,697 firms integrated with another regional agglomeration-related dataset, we obtain results which show that (i) location in an agglomeration has a positive influence on a firm’s absorptive capacity and innovativeness, and, (ii) firms benefit heterogeneously from being located in agglomerations, with benefits being distributed asymmetrically. Agglomeration gains exist but not all firms benefit equally: the least innovative firms gain the most. |
| Keywords: | agglomeration, localization externalities, innovation, performance |
| JEL: | M1 |
| Date: | 2014–11–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ing:wpaper:201411&r=sbm |
| By: | Ghosh, Anirban (Georgetown University); Mayda, Anna Maria (Georgetown University); Ortega, Francesc (Queens College, CUNY) |
| Abstract: | Many U.S. businessmen are vocally in favor of an increase in the number of H-1B visas. Is there systematic evidence that this would positively affect firms' productivity, sales, employment or profits? To address these questions we assemble a unique dataset that matches all labor condition applications (LCAs) – the first step towards H-1B visas for skilled foreign-born workers in the U.S. – with firm-level data on publicly traded U.S. firms (from Compustat). Our identification is based on the sharp reduction in the annual H-1B cap that took place in 2004, combined with information on the degree of dependency on H-1B visas at the firm level as in Kerr and Lincoln (2010). The main result of this paper is that if the cap on H-1B visas were relaxed, a subset of firms would experience gains in average labor productivity, firm size, and profits. These are firms that conduct R&D and are heavy users of H-1B workers – they belong to the top quintile among filers of LCAs. These empirical findings are consistent with a heterogeneous-firms model where innovation enhances productivity and is subject to fixed costs. |
| Keywords: | immigration, skills, productivity, visas, R&D |
| JEL: | F22 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8684&r=sbm |
| By: | Denis Ivanov |
| Abstract: | This paper searches for roots of current spatial pattern of professional services in location of Soviet-era R&D sector. The Soviet economy sponsored massive R&D oriented mainly on military purposes. Research was carried out in large institutions affiliated with academia or industry. After the collapse of socialism, military spending and related R&D decreased dramatically. Many researchers left Soviet-style institutions and succeed in the market economy. Did however this process mean anything for geography? Under the centrally planned economy, locational decisions were driven by non-market motives. Moreover, it was near-impossible for planners to anticipate which regions would be more promising under market. I focus on professional services since these industries do not rely on physical capital endowments, so sunk costs are unlikely to impose path-dependence. Professional services in Russia typically hire young educated persons which are expected to be mobile, so imperfect labor market is also unlikely to stick people to places ? unlike human capital externalities which are plausibly to do so. I regress employment in professional services in 2009-2011 by 76 Russian regions on the number of R&D staff in 1991. I consider three industries: architecture and engineering; information technology; accounting, auditing and management consulting. Controls to capture industry location fundamentals include modern-day gross regional product or overall employment, number of employees with university degree, number of R&D staff and urbanization. It should be noted that present-day number of R&D staff comprises primarily employees of state-owned Soviet-style institutions while professional service providers are typically up-to-date privately-owned firms. Results reveal that employment in Soviet R&D positively and significantly affects present-day employment in engineering and in IT. No such evidence is found for accounting, auditing and management consulting in which industries researchers' skills were less relevant. Results remains when shares in employment of professional services and R&D sector are plugged into regression instead of absolute numbers. I consider different explanations for this phenomenon. I attempt to track influence of 1991 R&D-related employment on current output-per-worker in IT and engineering and find positive correlation, although marginally significant. So, it is unlikely that Soviet-era pools of human capital created regional poverty traps due to low migration rates, and human capital externalities theory seems plausible. I also find that regions with greater number of R&D staff in 1991 now have greater number of SMEs both in business services and in the rest of economy, so entrepreneurship is a likely mechanism to impose path-dependence. |
| JEL: | N74 R12 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p767&r=sbm |
| By: | Claire Nauwelaers (Independent Policy Analyst); Alexander Kleibrink (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Katerina Stancova (European Commission – JRC - IPTS) |
| Abstract: | Science and technology parks (STPs) are very common instruments used by regional and national authorities for regional development. Their main objective is to foster science-based growth poles to stimulate economic diversification away from declining industries. Today, STPs are present in many European regions. They concentrate a wide range of innovative companies and research organisations, and as a consequence the overall knowledge intensity of these places is very high. STPs are thus likely to include seeds for the domains of knowledge-intensive specialisation, on which regions can rely to increase their competitiveness. This is why STPs seem well placed to play a key role in innovation strategies for smart specialisation (S3). We argue that the diversity of STP models by definition means that their contribution to smart specialisation is very likely to depend on the specific context. Three key roles for STPs in the design and implementation of smart specialisation strategies are proposed: (1) STPs may provide an adequate innovation ecosystem for the development of pilot innovation initiatives, well in line with the entrepreneurial discovery process that should drive the regional economies towards new, distinctive and competitive areas of activities. (2) STPs can play an important role as one of the relevant stakeholders forming the quadruple helix of innovation actors shaping smart specialisation strategies. (3) STPs can add the needed external and outward-looking dimension to smart specialisation strategies, a dimension that is today still very much under-developed. Yet, these contributions from STPs cannot be taken for granted. We identify limitations and success conditions for each of the three roles. Illustrative examples of STPs in Finland, England and the Netherlands show how STPs can actively and creatively contribute to the design of innovation strategies and to the external connectivity of their home regions. |
| Keywords: | European cohesion policy, Structural Funds, smart specialisation, Innovation Union, science and technology parks, innovation ecosystem, regional development |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc90719&r=sbm |
| By: | Amélia Branco,; Francisco Parejo,; João Carlos Lopes; José Francisco Rangel |
| Abstract: | The trajectories of internationalisation followed by family firms can be viewed from several theoretical approaches: phases and models of the internationalisation process; international entrepreneurship, the sociological perspective and family business theory. A historical perspective of internationalised family firms, allowing for the integration of the abovementioned approaches, is useful to obtain a deep understanding of the internationalisation process of different sectors and of different countries. The main purpose of this paper is to identify the facilitating and restricting factors during the internationalisation path of family firms, whilst considering the influence in their competitive advantages, of ownership structure, management attitudes and other intangible assets, as well as external factors to the firms, like location. The research involved a long run analysis (of more than one century) of two firms which operate in the cork business in Spain and Portugal: Mundet & C.ª, Lda and Corticeira Amorim. One of these companies - Mundet - was closed down in the 1980s and the other – Corticeira Amorim – became, and still is, the leading firm worldwide in the cork industry. A detailed comparison of these two histories - one of failure, and the other of success - permits an accurate identification of the determinants of successful internationalisation. In fact, this comparison is useful for understanding several characteristics of both firms, some of which are similar and others which are different, allowing to test several hypotheses within the context of the theoretical approach of the internationalisation of family firms. This methodological option can be justify by several aspects. Firstly, both are family firms operating in the same business and both were concentrated on the foreign market since their conception. Secondly, both their histories encompass most of the 20th Century and both faced similar national and international constraints, which were overcome, as they both ended up becoming the leading firms in the cork business, although at different periods of time. Thirdly, their choices of location were different and, although in both cases they benefitted from agglomeration forces during certain phases of the business, location was an important determinant of the opposing destinies of these two emblematic cork family firms from Iberia. |
| Keywords: | Family Firms, Internationalisation, Cork, Portugal, Spain, Business History JEL classification : R12; L73; N60; O14. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ise:gheswp:wp532014&r=sbm |
| By: | Ayadi, Mohamed; Mattoussi, Wided |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we explore the link between firm productivity and exporting using three firm level datasets of 1323 Tunisian manufacturing firms from 2004 to 2006. In particular, we examine whether more productive firms self-select into export markets, and |
| Keywords: | manufacturing industry, learning by exporting, self-selection, innovation, Tunisia |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2014-098&r=sbm |
| By: | Agrawal, Ajay; Galasso, Alberto; Oettl, Alexander |
| Abstract: | We study the interplay between transportation infrastructure, knowledge flows, and innovation. Exploiting historical data on planned portions of the interstate highway system, railroads, and exploration routes as sources of exogenous variation, we estimate the effect of U.S. interstate highways on regional innovation. We find that a 10% increase in a region's stock of highways causes a 1.7% increase in regional patenting over a five-year period. We show that roads facilitate the flow of local knowledge and allow innovators to access more distant knowledge inputs. This finding suggests that transportation infrastructure may spur regional growth above and beyond the more commonly discussed agglomeration economies that are predicated on an inflow of new workers. |
| Keywords: | highways; innovation; regional growth; transportation |
| JEL: | L91 O33 O47 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10113&r=sbm |
| By: | Arne Isaksen; James Karlsen |
| Abstract: | The paper is motivated by an interest in how clusters come into being and why they emerge in particular locations. The literature includes two main views on this topic. A first view underlines that new clusters often start out in a particular location more or less by chance, often because some pioneering firms for some reasons choose to locate there in the first place. The second main approach maintains that the emergence of clusters relates to previously developed local capabilities, routines and institutions. The paper proposes a middle ground between these two approaches. It consists first of some pre-existing, regional conditions that must be present if specific industries and clusters are to evolve in some places, i.e. some conditions that exist prior to the emergence of a cluster. Secondly, the paper points at the need for triggering factors that cause clusters to emerge in just some particular places, and first of all factors that stimulate entrepreneurship. The paper will discuss how this theoretical approach stands up when subjected to empirical analyses of the emergence of Oslo Cancer Cluster (OCC). The cluster consists of 60-70 firms and organisations focused on research, development, commercialisation and production of cancer drugs in Oslo. The cluster evolved late 1990s and early 2000 and is still in a very early phase. Mere chance is out of the question to explain the emergence of OCC. The paper demonstrates how high quality and capacity in cancer research in Oslo has evolved over long time and demanded much resource. But nor is OCC ?designed' even if public funds have (partly) financed the building of a knowledge and commercialisation infrastructure in Oslo that are important prerequisites for academic start-ups. These local assets also have to be turned into productive use by entrepreneurs. In the Oslo Cancer Cluster case the initiative by the large Norwegian company Hydro to build new activity in pharmaceuticals, which contributed to combining academic knowledge and industrial know-how, seems to be one important triggering event that is difficult to see in advance and plan. Thus, the analytical framework which includes both pre-existing conditions and triggering events seems as a useful middle road between chance and design in order to explain the emergence and location of regional clusters. |
| JEL: | O43 R11 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p203&r=sbm |
| By: | Bersch, Johannes; Gottschalk, Sandra; Müller, Bettina; Niefert, Michaela |
| Abstract: | The Mannheim Enterprise Panel (Mannheimer Unternehmenspanel - MUP) of the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) is the most comprehensive micro database of companies in Germany outside the official business register (which is not accessible to the public). The MUP is based on the firm data pool of Creditreform e.V., which is the largest credit rating agency in Germany. At the end of 2013, the MUP contained information on 7.7 Mio firms, of which about 3.2 Mio were still active. Comparisons of the active stock of firms in the MUP with the Business Register of the Federal Statistical Office indicate that the MUP gives by and large a representative picture of the corporate landscape in Germany. The MUP is a valuable database for analyzing the number of start-ups and firm closures on a yearly basis for Germany. Further, the MUP is the sampling frame for the ZEW firm surveys and it is used for analyzing the development of firms over time. |
| Keywords: | firm data,start-ups,firm closures,stock of firms in Germany |
| JEL: | C8 L26 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:14104&r=sbm |
| By: | Victoria Golikova; Boris Kuznetsov |
| Abstract: | We present some preliminary empirical results on impact of international certification on export behavior of Russian manufacturing firms. Our research is motivated, first, by the fact that little is known about the impact of ISO certification on the performance of Russian firms and, second, by unclear role of ISO certificate in week local institutional environment (where some firms simply buy these certificates without real audit and modernization of business processes). Russian medium and large enterprises in manufacturing are lagging far behind European peers both in terms of exporting activity and ISO certification level. We are trying to estimate the impact of international certification on the probability of a firm to be involved in foreign trade. We follow the general logic and methodology proposed in papers of Grajek (2004), Clougherty and Grajek (2008), Swann (2010), Otsuki (2011), Martincus et al. (2010), Masacure et al. (2009), Potoski and Prakash (2009). Empirical data comes from two rounds of nation-wide survey on the competitiveness of Russian manufacturing enterprises conducted in 2005 and 2009. We use a panel data from two rounds on approximately 500 firms in eight manufacturing industries. This gives us a unique opportunity to track the history of both availability of ISO certificate and exporting status of the firm. We use several different empirical models to examine the effect of certification on export activity and to control for possible endogeneity by estimating systems of simultaneous equations. We find evidence that ISO certification has a significant positive impact on probability of export if we control for self-selection effect for both export and ISO certification. Firms self-select for ISO by size and productivity as well as by being a supplier of a foreign-owned company in Russia. Then we compared two effects on export performance ? networking with foreign partners and ISO certification. We found out that while there is a direct positive impact of networking with foreign partners and certification on propensity to export, we were unable to find any significant impact of ISO certification on networking with foreign partners as a signal of "common language" that facilitate establishing partnership relations. We conclude that in the period analyzed these two institutions, both being important facilitators of exporting, worked individually. |
| Keywords: | ISO certification; export; manufacturing firms; Russia |
| JEL: | F14 L14 P23 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p1721&r=sbm |
| By: | Guffarth, Daniel; Barber, Michael J. |
| Abstract: | The success breeds success hypothesis has been mainly applied to theoretical network approaches. We investigate the European aerospace industry using data on the European Framework Programmes and on Airbus suppliers, focusing on the success breeds success hypothesis at four levels of analysis: the spatial structure of the European aerospace R&D collaboration network, its topological architecture, the individual actors that make up the network, and through a comparison of the Airbus invention and production networks. On the spatial level, SBS is favored: successful regions maintain their position and grow on a large scale, especially so for regions that have strongly participated from the very beginning. The regional hub structure is mirrored in the architecture of the European aerospace R&D collaboration network, where well-connected hub organizations play a key role in shaping the structure of the network through their many collaborative partnerships and do so in a way that strategically positions themselves with greater ability to access and regulate knowledge flows, as assessed by several centrality measures. Only successful organizations have the ability to form so many ties, with success thus breeding success in the European aerospace R&D collaboration network. The importance of the core organizations made clear through the centrality analysis is further supported by the analysis of weak ties, where we observe that the core organizations are connected to the rest of the network with many weak ties, thereby confirming their outstanding positions in the European aerospace R&D collaboration network as being able to access knowledge or other resources. With the combination of the R&D collaboration network and the Airbus production network on a spatial level, we see additional support for SBS, as those regions whose actors are frequent participants in both networks show the greatest share of successful actors. The European aerospace industry shows an ambidextrous character as a whole, which is nonetheless insufficient to avoid recent and future challenges demanding a strong emphasis on production skills. |
| Keywords: | R&D collaboration network,success breeds success,aerospace industry,European Framework Programmes |
| JEL: | D85 L14 L93 O38 R11 R12 Z18 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fziddp:962014&r=sbm |
| By: | Bonev, Pavlin; Egbert, Henrik; Neumann, Thomas |
| Abstract: | Employing public resources for promoting entrepreneurships demands careful selection of candidates who are most promising to set up a successful entrepreneurial career. This study addresses the relation between an individuals’ entrepreneurial potential, identified through personality traits, and aspects of human and social capital, based on prior individual experiences in the domain of self-employment. A psychometric test, called F-DUPN, measures the strengths of personality traits considered relevant for successful entrepreneurial activity. To test our hypotheses we collected data of 166 individuals. All of them are university students or graduates and have indicated a specific interest in entrepreneurial activity. A major result is that participants experienced in self-employment, with self employed parents and with self employed friends show a higher entrepreneurial potential than participants who do not have these experiences or relations. Furthermore, we find in line with other studies that differences in entrepreneurial potential become less pronounced with increasing age. An interpretation is that personality traits significant for entrepreneurial activity are not stable over time and can also be acquired at a later stage in life. |
| Keywords: | psychometric test, human capital, social capital, observational learning, F DUP, self employment experience, personality traits |
| JEL: | D8 M13 |
| Date: | 2014–12–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:60493&r=sbm |
| By: | Karlsson, Charlie (Jönköping International Business School & Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies); Gråsjö, Urban (University West); Wixe, Sofia (¨Jönköping International Business School & Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies) |
| Abstract: | Much of the discussion about globalization has been held at a rather superficial macro-economic level. Discussions about globalization dealing with the meso- and micro-economic level, i.e. the level of regions and companies, have been much less common. Many of the discussions of globalization at the meso- and micro-economic level have also been biased in the sense that they have only given a partial picture. One obvious example is that discus¬sions of the role of innovation and entrepreneur¬ship have tended to use a narrow definition of entrepreneurship equal to the start-up of new companies and as a result ignored the high degree of innovation and entrepreneurship within many incumbent companies. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the meso- and micro-economic literature on innovation and entrepreneurship in the global economy. |
| Keywords: | Globalization; innovation; entrepreneurship; urban regions |
| JEL: | L26 O30 R10 |
| Date: | 2014–11–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0385&r=sbm |
| By: | Voeten, J. (Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management); de Haan, J.A.C. (Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management); Roome, N. (Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management); de Groot, G.A. (Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management) |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tiu:tiutis:c111d44f-b8ce-4885-837d-71ca7c97a2aa&r=sbm |
| By: | Anna Gladysheva; Tatiana Ratnikova |
| Abstract: | Observed and unobserved regional determinants of FDI inflows: micro level analysis of the food industry firms in Russia The development of Russian food industry is strategically important. Theoretically, the foreign capital inflow will help to renovate, modernize it and increase the productivity. But is it also interesting for foreign investors? What do foreign companies take into account when they invest in Russian food industry enterprises? Could it be special aspects of regional development (observed or unobserved) or only firm level data matters? Does the institutional environment in Russian regions significantly stimulate the inflow of foreign direct investment in Russian food industry enterprises or is the investor interested only in the size of a market? Two samples for 2009 and 2012 years of correspondingly about 5000 and about 7000 food industry companies of different subindustries from different Russian regions are analyzed to give the answer to these questions. The main idea of this investigation is to determine significant regional factors which effect the distribution of the FDI or to show that these items are not important for foreign investors. Russia has more than 80 regions and all of them are highly heterogeneous in terms of climate, geographical characteristics, level of economic and institutional development, industrial specialization, etc. Moreover, enterprises of different industries and subindustrues are different. In this research we take into account these facts investigating a hierarchical structure of the FDI distribution levels. This research consists of several parts: the theoretical part with hypotheses and the overview of the background and the empirical part with testing whether different regional characteristics like the infrastructure, taxation and the regulations in the region and in the neighboring ones play an important role. Spatial effects of these factors and of the economic development are also of our interest. The estimation of a multilevel binary model with spatial effects of analyzed factors gives the idea for the possible solution on the problem discovered above. The comparison of the results for two samples for different years and the investigation of dynamics also are taken into consideration. Keywords: foreign direct investment; food industry enterprises in Russia; Russian regions; multilevel binary model; spatial effects. JEL classification: C21; C25; D92; L66; O18; R12. |
| Keywords: | foreign direct investment; food industry enterprises in Russia; Russian regions; multilevel binary model; spatial effects. C21; C25; D92; L66; O18; R12. |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p111&r=sbm |
| By: | Matthias Ben Dachis; Matthias Robbie Brydon; Matthias Nicholas Chesterley |
| Abstract: | Alberta and Ontario are leading the pack in innovation as measured by patents filed per capita, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Measuring Innovation in Canada: The Tale Told by Patent Applications,” authors Robbie Brydon, Nicholas Chesterley, Benjamin Dachis and Aaron Jacobs show for the first time which provinces and which sectors are leading or lagging in Canadian-led innovation for the Canadian market. |
| Keywords: | Economic Growth and Innovation, Energy & Environment |
| JEL: | O34 Q3 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdh:ebrief:191&r=sbm |
| By: | Laura Resmini; Laura Casi |
| Abstract: | Do regional identities determine different levels of FDI-induced growth? This paper analyses the impact of FDI on the growth rates of European regions. In so doing, it discusses the role of different components of territorial capital in magnifying or daunting such an impact. The paper starts from a very simple theoretical framework that clarifies how territorial capital can shape the returns to foreign direct investments. The subsequent empirical analysis uses data from the European Value Study to identify 3 soft components of territorial capital that define the identity of a region and can be relevant in shaping the impact of foreign capital on local growth. Using data from Eurostat and FDIregio database, the paper studies the impact of FDI induced spillovers on regional growth in European regions, controlling for possible endogeneity. Results indicate that technological spillovers are an important source of regional growth, but they take place only if the level of trustworthiness/generalized morality is widespread in the region, supporting the idea that low free-riding attitudes increase efficiency of transaction and effectiveness of cooperation between multinational and the regional economic system. The effect of relational capital is more ambiguous. A more disaggregated analysis reveals that some effects vary depending on the origin (intra vs extra European FDI) and on the type of economic activity (manufacturing vs service FDI). |
| Keywords: | FDI; regional growth; territorial capital |
| JEL: | F23 O18 O52 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p540&r=sbm |
| By: | Mauricio Jara-Bertin; Jean P. Sepulveda (School of Business and Economics, Universidad del Desarrollo) |
| Abstract: | This study introduces an earnings management dimension to compute premanipulated accounting performance to determine whether family-controlled firms have higher performance relative to non-family-controlled firms. Using a premanipulated return on assets measure for Chilean firms dataset, we find that the premanipulated performance of familycontrolled firms is superior to that of non-family-controlled firms. We also show that the presence of institutional investors in the firm’s ownership structure has a positive influence on performance of family companies. The results suggest that earnings management behavior is not sufficient to explain the higher performance of family-controlled firms that has been reported in the literature. |
| Keywords: | Family-controlled firms, earnings management, accounting performance. |
| JEL: | G32 G34 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dsr:wpaper:01&r=sbm |
| By: | Ettore Bolisani (University of Padua, Vicenza, Italy); Enrico Scarso (University of Padua, Vicenza, Italy); Malgorzata Zieba (Gdansk University of Technology, Gdansk, Poland) |
| Abstract: | The growing interest in Intellectual Capital management and Knowledge Management is now reaching small companies, especially those in the Knowledge-Intensive Business Services (KIBS) sector. This paper aims to explore this issue, starting from the assumption that a planned and systematic approach to KM, as is used in large companies, is rarely applicable in small organizations. It is more likely that small companies adopt an approach to KM that could be defined as “emergent”, i.e. KM is not planned rationally and in advance, but emerges and is developed along with time. In the paper, the concept of emergent KM approach will be defined and discussed, and three research questions will be examined: a. Is it possible to detect an emergent KM approach in the practice of small KIBS? b. If so, why small KIBS companies follow an emergent KM approach? c. What particular features this approach can have in those companies? The study is based on the results of a qualitative survey involving several owners and managers of small companies operating in the KIBS sector. The survey uses the case study method, and gives grounds for a preliminary analysis of emergent KM approach is small companies offering KIBS. The findings confirm that it is easy to find small companies adopting an emergent approach to KM: in the analysed cases there were no formal KM plans, despite the fact that they have all introduced various KM practices. This shows that there can be the need to define KM approaches that better fit smaller companies |
| Keywords: | Knowledge Management, KIBS, Emergent KM Approach, Case-study analysis |
| JEL: | L84 M1 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gdk:wpaper:25&r=sbm |
| By: | Andreas P. Cornett |
| Abstract: | A new regional balance: Challenges and opportunities for intermediate city regions in Europe. The regional landscape in Europe has changed during the last decades. After a period of conversion, processes of diversion has reentered the scene. In the aftermath of the economic crisis South European countries and regions have suffered due to declining economic activity. The trend toward regional economic convergence has been interrupted, not only in a regional perspective, but also country wise. In particular the latter is a direct impact of the financial crisis and the European debt crisis. A closer look behind the processes of conversion and disparities in the last decades unveils a more complex pattern, also before the current crisis. In most EU countries the trend toward conversion of economic performance between countries disguised an intraregional trend toward polarization, with growing metropolitan regions and shrinking rural areas. Prominent features of this process were outmigration, aging population and a shrinking economic base. Central explanations have to be found in new economic growth theories and structural changes in the international system of production. The purpose of the current paper is to investigate these patterns with special attention on intermediate city regions, usually located in the vicinity of the large urban agglomeration or farer away in the country. The project is both explorative and explanatory, aiming at to detect and define types of ?intermediate city regions' and to identify the drivers of change, based on the above mentioned conceptual anchors. The central research question is to what extent the processes characterizing the urban rural cleavages; also apply to the current situation of intermediate cities. Who are the winners or losers in this polarization process, and what characterize the well performing intermediate city regions? Danish evidence points toward a mixed pattern. Central and economically well-structured city-region can maintain growth; more peripheral located city-regions face problems. In the short and medium term some city regions seems to benefit from restructuring of the public sector in the aftermath of the reform of the regional and municipality organization in Denmark, by attracting workplaces and people form their rural neighborhood. In the longer run the fundamental shift in business and industry away form traditional manufacturing and service toward knowledge intensive service and products may become decisive for the success of these regions. |
| Keywords: | structural change; new economic growth theory; medium-size city regions; processes of conversion and diversion; the new regional (im)-balance |
| JEL: | R R11 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p155&r=sbm |
| By: | Corrado, Carol; Haskel, Jonathan; Jona-Lasinio, Cecilia |
| Abstract: | This paper looks at the channels through which intangible assets affect productivity. The econometric analysis exploits a new dataset on intangible investment (INTAN-Invest) in conjunction with EUKLEMS productivity estimates for 10 EU member states from 1998 to 2007. We find that (a) the marginal impact of ICT capital is higher when it is complemented with intangible capital, and (b) non-R&D intangible capital has a higher estimated output elasticity than its conventionally-calculated factor share. These findings suggest investments in knowledge-based capital, i.e., intangible capital, produce productivity growth spillovers via mechanisms beyond those previously established for R&D. |
| Keywords: | economic growth; ICT; intangible assets; intangible capital; productivity growth; spillovers |
| JEL: | E01 E22 O47 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10057&r=sbm |
| By: | Hannu Tervo |
| Abstract: | Age is an important factor in entrepreneurship. The paths into entrepreneurship at a later age may be varied. Self-employment in later life may be either a form of partial retirement or a career option. Older individuals may also be pushed into self-employment. The focus of this paper is on the career choices of older individuals and their background motivations in Finland. The purpose is to analyse the factors and motives in terms of the push and pull dichotomy that lead individuals to enter self-employment at older ages in different types of labour markets in Finland, viz., rural and urban areas. Although some studies have focused on transitions to self-employment among older workers, questions about the motives and particularly about the background and circumstances of these people, including the regional environment, still need clarification. A large longitudinal data set is utilised to examine the transitions of individuals aged 55-74 to self-employment. The results suggest that due to a lower level of demand and lower educational capital, self-employment is less tempting in rural than in urban areas. As a result, transitions to self-employment at older ages are less frequent in rural areas than in urban areas, although rural areas have strong traditions of entrepreneurship. Seniors with prior experience are more likely to start a business in urban areas: habitual entrepreneurship is more frequent in urban areas, at least in later life. Older workers without prior experience in self-employment, however, start businesses in rural areas as likely as in urban areas. The results also show that most enter self-employment from paid employment, though a small number do enter from non-employment. The results suggest that a career option is often linked with transitions from wage work, whereas those transitioning from non-employment seek a bridge to full retirement. No sharp division between these two options can be made, however. The results suggest that those who are recognised to possess pull motives are characterised to be more likely male and/or highly educated, whereas those who are recognised to possess push motives are more likely female, unmarried and/or less educated with an orientation of business education. An interesting finding is that both necessity- and opportunity-driven self-employed have prior self-employment experience. Independent of whether entrepreneurship is necessity- or opportunity-driven, it is most likely habitual. |
| Keywords: | self-employment; third age; rural and urban regions; habitual and novice entrepreneurship; necessity vs. opportunity JEL-codes: |
| JEL: | J14 J24 J26 M13 R23 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p236&r=sbm |