nep-sbm New Economics Papers
on Small Business Management
Issue of 2016‒05‒14
twenty papers chosen by
João Carlos Correia Leitão
Universidade da Beira Interior

  1. Determinants of R&D University-Frim Collaboration and Its Impact on Innovation: a Perspective from the Italian Food and Drink Industry By Maietta, Ornella Wanda
  2. Do tax incentives for research increase firm innovation? An RD Design for R&D By Elias Einiö; Dechezleprêtre; - Martin Antoine; - Nguyen Ralf; - Van Reenen Kieu-Trang; John
  3. Historical Shocks and Persistence of Economic Activity: Evidence from a Unique Natural Experiment By Michael Fritsch; Alina Sorgner; Michael Wyrwich; Evguenii Zazdravnykh
  4. Concentration on the few? R&D and innovation in German firms between 2001 and 2013 By Rammer, Christian; Schubert, Torben
  5. SELECTED EXTERNAL SOURCES OF THE FINANCING OF DEVELOPMENT By MALGORZATA LEGOWIK- MALOLEPSZA; SYLWIA LEGOWIK-SWIACIK
  6. Does innovation foster or mitigate the corruption obstacle? Firm-level evidence from Tunisia By Sdiri, Hanen; Ayadi, Mohamed
  7. Benefit or Damage? The Productivity Effects of FDI in Chinese Food Industry By Jin, Shaosheng; Guo, Haiyue; Delgado, Michael; Wang, H.
  8. Networked by design: Can policy requirements influence organisations’ networking behaviour? By Rossi, Federica; Caloffi, Annalisa; Russo, Margherita
  9. RIO Country Report 2015: Czech Republic By Srholec Martin; Szkuta Katarzyna
  10. Knowledge-based economy By Michal Wilinski
  11. Effects of FDI on Entrepreneurial Activity: Evidence from Right-to-Work and Non-Right-to-Work States By Ozkan Eren; Masayuki Onda; Bulent Unel
  12. RIO Country Report 2015: Denmark By Grimpe Christoph; Jessica Mitchell
  13. RIO Country Report 2015: Malta By Brian Warrington; Hristo Hristov
  14. Employability and Job Performance as Links in the Relationship Between Mentoring Receipt and Career Success. A Study in SMEs By Nikos Bozionelos; Konstantinos Kostopoulos; Beatrice Van Der Heijden; Denise M. Rousseau; Giorgos Bozionelos; Thomas Hoyland; Izabela Marzec; Piotr Jędrzejowicz; Olga Epitropaki; Aslaug Mikkelsen; Dora Scholarios; Claudia Van Der Heijde
  15. RIO Country Report 2015: Austria By Schuch Klaus; Gampfer Robert
  16. RIO Country Report 2015: Bulgaria By Todorova Angelina; Slavcheva Milena
  17. Productivité, innovation et politique sectorielle des industries de transformation au Maroc (1985-2013) : Fondements théoriques et proposition d’une méthodologie By Benabdelkader, Mohamed
  18. Texas small business needs assessment poll 2015 By Ryder Perlmeter, Emily
  19. The Regional Distribution of Public Employment:Theory and Evidence By Sebastian G. Kessing; Chiara Strozzi
  20. Social Enterprises: Doing Good While Doing Business By Adam Dunn; Nan Maxwell; Dana Rotz; Megan Shoji

  1. By: Maietta, Ornella Wanda
    Abstract: The objective of this paper is to examine R&D collaboration between firms, on the one hand, and universities or public research labs, on the other, with particular attention to the role such collaboration plays among the determinants of product and process innovation in the Italian food and drink industry. The firm data are sourced from four waves of the Capitalia survey. The approach is a multivariate probit analysis in which the dependent variables are intra muros R&D investment, R&D collaboration with universities, public labs and private firms, process and product innovation. The independent variables consist of firm, territory and university characteristics. The results of the analysis demonstrate that R&D university–firm collaboration determines process innovation and, to a lesser extent, product innovation. A firm’s product innovation is positively affected by its geographical proximity to a university but negatively affected by the amount of its codified knowledge production.
    Keywords: university–industry interaction, R&D collaborations, product and process innovation, academic research quality, geographical distance, university education, Agricultural and Food Policy, O3, D22, R1,
    Date: 2015
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae15:225668&r=sbm
  2. By: Elias Einiö; Dechezleprêtre; - Martin Antoine; - Nguyen Ralf; - Van Reenen Kieu-Trang; John
    Abstract: We present the first evidence showing causal impact of research and development (R&D) tax incentives on innovation outcomes. We exploit a change in the asset-based size thresholds for eligibility for R&D tax subsidies and implement a Regression Discontinuity Design using administrative tax data on the population of UK firms. There are statistically and economically significant effects of the tax change on both R&D and patenting, with no evidence of a decline in the quality of innovation. R&D tax price elasticities are large at about 2.6, probably because the treated group is from a sub-population subject to financial constraints. There does not appear to be pre-policy manipulation of assets around the thresholds that could undermine our design, but firms do adjust assets to take advantage of the subsidy post-policy. We estimate that over 2006-11 business R&D would be around 10% lower in the absence of the tax relief scheme.
    Keywords: R&D, patents, tax, innovation, Regression Discontinuity design
    JEL: H32 O31 H23 O32 H25
    Date: 2016–04–13
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fer:wpaper:73&r=sbm
  3. By: Michael Fritsch (School of Economics and Business Administration, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena); Alina Sorgner (School of Economics and Business Administration, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena); Michael Wyrwich (School of Economics and Business Administration, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena); Evguenii Zazdravnykh (National Research University, Higher School of Economics, Saint-Petersburg)
    Abstract: This paper investigates the persistence of entrepreneurship in the region of Kaliningrad between 1925 and 2010. During this time period the area experienced a number of extremely disruptive shocks including; devastation caused by World War II, a nearly complete replacement of the native German population by Soviets, and 45 years under an anti- entrepreneurial socialist economic regime followed by a shock-type transition to a market economy. Nevertheless, we find a surprisingly high level of persistence of industry-specific self-employment rates in the districts of the Kaliningrad region. Our analysis suggests that persistence of entrepreneurship is higher in regions with a history of successful entrepreneurship. That is, in regions where a specific industry was particularly efficient and entrepreneurial activity was especially pronounced.
    Keywords: Entrepreneurship, regional culture, persistence
    JEL: L26 N94 P25 P5
    Date: 2016–04–21
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2016-007&r=sbm
  4. By: Rammer, Christian; Schubert, Torben
    Abstract: [Introduction] Innovation expenditures in Germany have increased at an impressive rate in the course of the last two decades. Between 1995 and 2013, businesses in Germany raised their spending for developing and introducing new products and new processes from €60.8bn to €144.6bn resulting in a compound annual growth rate of 4.9% (Rammer et al. 2015). While these numbers suggest that German firms have become ever more focused on innovation, they hide the fact that this rise has mainly been driven by large firms belonging to a few sectors. When we look at the above numbers by firm size we find that firms with fewer than 500 employees experienced only a very modest increase in their innovation expenditures (€25.7bn in 1995 vs. €34.5bn in 2013, i.e. 1.6% per year) whereas large firms with more than 500 employees increased their spending from €35.1bn in 1995 to €110.1bn in 2013 (6.6% per year). In line with these observations we also find a concentration of the activities on fewer firms. In particular, the share of innovators – firms that have introduced at least one product or process innovation during the preceding three years – has similarly declined since the late 1990s. Having reached a peak in 1999 at 55.5%, it dropped to 43.7% in 2007 and further declined to 37.1% in 2013. A look at the sector distribution conveys a similar concentration. In 1995, the R&D intensive manufacturing sectors (pharmaceuticals, chemicals, electronics, machinery & equipment, vehicles) spent €30.9bn on innovation and increased that figure to €92.6bn in 2013 (+6.3% per year). Low-tech manufacturing and service sectors expanded their innovation expenditure by an average annual rate of 3.1%. These developments would not be problematic if they were due to firms from high-tech sectors growing at an above-average rate. While some well-known examples of this phenomenon also exist in Germany, e.g. the software company SAP, the absolute numbers of such cases is very limited. Moreover, the share of value added of highly R&D-intensive sectors has remained fairly stable in Germany. This makes this explanation implausible. [...]
    Date: 2016
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fisidp:54&r=sbm
  5. By: MALGORZATA LEGOWIK- MALOLEPSZA (POLITECHNIKA CZESTOCHOWSKA); SYLWIA LEGOWIK-SWIACIK (POLITECHNIKA CZESTOCHOWSKA)
    Abstract: Small and medium enterprises play an important role in the development of the economy of Poland. They are characterized by rapid response capability with reference to market needs, creativity, flexibility and adaptive efficiency and relatively low costs of maintaining jobs. SMEs are usually prepared for the initial stage of functioning while referring to their own savings, the support of the family and friends. Difficulties in access to capital frequently occur at the subsequent stage of life of the company when it is essential for its further functioning and development. The problem does not only refer to new businesses. Experienced entrepreneurs, who think about further development or expansion, also complain about difficulties in financing. The access to external financing of Polish small and medium enterprises is dependent on many factors, among which the following should be listed: the size of the company, type of the conducted activity, its financial situation and its individual preferences and possibilities. The aim of the paper is the evaluation of the access to external sources of the financing of activities of the SME sector in Poland based on literature studies and the information resulting from the research carried out by the Confederation of Lewiatan in the framework of the project “Monitoring the condition of the MSME sector 2014†. In the included analysis, the attention has also been drawn to the availability of external sources, directions of their allocation and the achieved results or problems occurring while achieving relevant capital. Recognized the problem of the research work is valid and important because of the role played by SMEs in the development of the Polish economy.
    Keywords: Sources of financing, credits, leasing, loads, EU funds, SMEs.
    JEL: M21
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:3506086&r=sbm
  6. By: Sdiri, Hanen; Ayadi, Mohamed
    Abstract: The aim of this paper is to analyze the extent to which Tunisian firms regard corruption as a major obstacle to their product and process innovation. Using firm-level data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey conducted in 2013, we empirically test how innovation accentuates or mitigates the corruption obstacle. We show that innovation has a negative and statistically significant effect on the corruption obstacle. Besides, we prove that competition and the obstacle to corruption are negatively related. This result teaches that the Tunisian firms face a rent-shifting corruption.
    Keywords: Innovation, Corruption obstacle, Rent-shifting.
    JEL: D73 L80 O31 O32
    Date: 2016–05–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:71088&r=sbm
  7. By: Jin, Shaosheng; Guo, Haiyue; Delgado, Michael; Wang, H.
    Abstract: This paper systematically investigated the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on Chinese food firms’ total factor productivity (TFP) by using the firm-level census data between 1998 and 2007 (174,539 sample food firms). We tested for “own-plant” effects, intra-industry effects, regional effects and vertical effects. The results show that food firms’ foreign ownership has weakly positive or no impact on the productivity of invested firms. At the industry level, FDI generates adverse influences on domestic firms productivity in some sub food sectors. Further, mixed regional effects are observed in different sub food sectors and across investment with different origins. Finally, both positive backward and forward spillovers generated by FDI originating outside Hong Kong, Macaw and Taiwan (HMT) are observed, while HMT investment has negative vertical spillovers.
    Keywords: food industry, foreign direct investment (FDI), China, productivity, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Q13 Q17 Q18,
    Date: 2015
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae15:211813&r=sbm
  8. By: Rossi, Federica; Caloffi, Annalisa; Russo, Margherita
    Abstract: An important, but under-researched, question in relation to policies funding networks of innovators is: what kind of innovation networks should be supported, if the policy objective is not just to sponsor successful innovation projects, but also to encourage the participants to form networks with desirable characteristics? Focusing on a set of policy programmes implemented by the regional government of Tuscany, in Italy, between 2002 and 2008, aimed at funding networks of collaborating organisations, we investigate whether the imposition of requirements on the composition of the networks that would be eligible for funding – in particular, the demand that networks should comply with minimum size and heterogeneity thresholds – influenced the participants’ networking behaviour in the context of successive policy interventions. Our results show that these requirements immediately affected the size and composition of the project networks that applied for funding, although not always in the intended direction. However, these effects did not extend to the successive periods, when those requirements were no longer in force. This suggests that the imposition of policy requirements, per se, is unlikely to induce persistent changes in organizations’ networking behaviour. Other approaches such as implementing outreach actions in order to encourage new organisations to participate in existing innovation networks and to form new ones, and additional measures designed to foster learning opportunities for the participants, might be more effective tools to influence the networking behaviour of participating organisations.
    Keywords: Innovation networks, innovation policy, policy requirements, networking behaviour, behavioural effects of policy
    JEL: O31 R5
    Date: 2015
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:69327&r=sbm
  9. By: Srholec Martin (Centre of Innovation, Research and Competence in the Learning Economy (CIRCLE), Lund University); Szkuta Katarzyna (European Commission – JRC - IPTS)
    Abstract: The 2015 series of RIO Country Reports analyse and assess the policy and the national research and innovation system developments in relation to national policy priorities and the EU policy agenda with special focus on ERA and Innovation Union. The executive summaries of these reports put forward the main challenges of the research and innovation systems.
    Keywords: R&I system, R&I policy, ERA, innovation union, Semester analysis, Czech Republic
    JEL: I20 O30 Z18
    Date: 2016–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc101175&r=sbm
  10. By: Michal Wilinski (Nicolaus Copernicus University)
    Abstract: The purpose of this article is to present a model of knowledge-based economy in relation to the OECD or Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The work will be explained the difference between economic growth and economic development. This article aims is to show how the use of factors of knowledge and innovation by the economy affect its faster development. Model presented work shows the extent to which a variable that is known to be action - lovers expressing or measuring knowledge and innovation impact on the economy and the extent to which contributed to its growth, which will be expressed by the Gross Domestic Product.
    Keywords: innovation; knowledge; economic development; OECD, KBE
    JEL: A11 D83 O43
    Date: 2016–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pes:wpaper:2016:no16&r=sbm
  11. By: Ozkan Eren; Masayuki Onda; Bulent Unel
    Abstract: This paper investigates the impact of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on entrepreneurial activity at the individual-owner level in U.S. states over 1996- 2008. Our results indicate that FDI has no effect on entrepreneurial activity in Right-to-Work (RTW) states. In non-RTW states, however, we find that an increase in FDI decreases the average monthly rate of business creation and destruction. Specifically, a 10-percent increase in FDI decreases the average monthly rate of business creation and destruction by roughly 4 and 2.5 percent (relative to sample mean), respectively.
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lsu:lsuwpp:2016-04&r=sbm
  12. By: Grimpe Christoph (Copenhagen Business School); Jessica Mitchell (European Commission – JRC - IPTS)
    Abstract: The 2015 series of RIO Country Reports analyse and assess the policy and the national research and innovation system developments in relation to national policy priorities and the EU policy agenda with special focus on ERA and Innovation Union. The executive summaries of these reports put forward the main challenges of the research and innovation systems.
    Keywords: R&I system, R&I policy, ERA, innovation union, Semester analysis, Denmark
    JEL: I20 O30 Z18
    Date: 2016–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc101183&r=sbm
  13. By: Brian Warrington (Independent Expert); Hristo Hristov (European Commission – JRC - IPTS)
    Abstract: The 2015 series of RIO Country Reports analyse and assess the policy and the national research and innovation system developments in relation to national policy priorities and the EU policy agenda with special focus on ERA and Innovation Union. The executive summaries of these reports put forward the main challenges of the research and innovation systems.
    Keywords: R&I system, R&I policy, ERA, innovation union, Semester analysis, Malta
    JEL: I20 O30 Z18
    Date: 2016–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc101204&r=sbm
  14. By: Nikos Bozionelos (Audencia Recherche - Audencia); Konstantinos Kostopoulos (University of Piraeus); Beatrice Van Der Heijden (Radboud university [Nijmegen]); Denise M. Rousseau (Carnegie Mellon University); Giorgos Bozionelos (General Hospital of Katerini - General Hospital of Katerini); Thomas Hoyland (HUBS - Hull University Business School - Hull University); Izabela Marzec (Katowice School of Economics); Piotr Jędrzejowicz (Gdynia Maritime University); Olga Epitropaki (ALBA Graduate Business School); Aslaug Mikkelsen (University of Stavanger - University of Stavanger); Dora Scholarios (University of Strathclyde - University of Strathclyde); Claudia Van Der Heijde (University of Twente [Netherlands])
    Abstract: This study developed and tested a model that posited employability and job performance as intervening variables in the relationship between receipt of mentoring and career success. Participants were 207 information technology (IT) professionals employed in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in three European countries. Mentoring receipt was related to both employability and job performance. Employability mediated the relationship of mentoring receipt with objective and subjective career success, as well as its relationship with job performance. The findings indicate that receipt of mentoring is connected to job performance, a link that has hitherto lacked empirical evidence. In addition, they suggest a pivotal role for employability in the relationship of mentoring receipt with job performance and career success. Overall, this study helps unveil the mechanism through which mentoring affects career outcomes. Moreover, it shows that the benefits of mentoring hold outside the context of large corporations.
    Keywords: IT professionals, Career success, Mediation, SMEs,Mentoring receipt, Employability, Job performance, Non-Anglo-Saxon
    Date: 2016
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01294990&r=sbm
  15. By: Schuch Klaus (Centre for Social Innovation (ZSI)); Gampfer Robert (European Commission – JRC - IPTS)
    Abstract: The 2015 series of RIO Country Reports analyse and assess the policy and the national research and innovation system developments in relation to national policy priorities and the EU policy agenda with special focus on ERA and Innovation Union. The executive summaries of these reports put forward the main challenges of the research and innovation systems.
    Keywords: R&I system, R&I policy, ERA, Innovation Union, Semester analysis, Austria
    JEL: I20 O30 Z18
    Date: 2016–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc101166&r=sbm
  16. By: Todorova Angelina (Aero-Space Technologies, Research and Applications (Castra)); Slavcheva Milena (European Commission – JRC - IPTS)
    Abstract: The 2015 series of RIO Country Reports analyse and assess the policy and the national research and innovation system developments in relation to national policy priorities and the EU policy agenda with special focus on ERA and Innovation Union. The executive summaries of these reports put forward the main challenges of the research and innovation systems.
    Keywords: R&I system, R&I policy, ERA, Innovation Union, Semester analysis, Bulgaria
    JEL: I20 O30 Z18
    Date: 2016–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc101136&r=sbm
  17. By: Benabdelkader, Mohamed
    Abstract: The determinants of total factor productivity (TFP) of the manufacturing industries, in particular innovation and industrial policy, constituted the seminal contribution of Crépon, Duguet and Mairesse in the late 1990. This study aims to explain the TFP of the 5 branches composing the manufacturing industries in Morocco on the 1985-2013 period through its panel regression on innovation, trade openness and industrial policy variables, as well as their interactions, while testing the model assumptions in the light of the Moroccan reality. This study will also provide conclusions related to the relevance of the original model as well as extensions and implications for further research.
    Keywords: Crepon-Duguet-Mairesse model; industrial policy; innovation; panel data; total factor productivity
    JEL: C33 C51 L52 L6 O32 O47
    Date: 2016–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:70950&r=sbm
  18. By: Ryder Perlmeter, Emily (Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas)
    Date: 2015–05–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:feddpp:0014&r=sbm
  19. By: Sebastian G. Kessing; Chiara Strozzi
    Keywords: Public employment, redistribution, regional inequality, European regions
    JEL: H11 J45 R12
    Date: 2016–01–25
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sie:siegen:179-16&r=sbm
  20. By: Adam Dunn; Nan Maxwell; Dana Rotz; Megan Shoji
    Abstract: Employment social enterprises incorporate a business mission of financial viability into a transitional jobs model structured to help individuals with employment barriers gain unsupported employment.
    Keywords: Social Enterprises, Labor
    JEL: J
    Date: 2016–02–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:50915e1a322342b8b71d64e789667339&r=sbm

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