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on Small Business Management |
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Issue of 2022‒03‒28
twelve papers chosen by João Carlos Correia Leitão Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Paula Prenzel; Niels Bosma; Veronique Schutjens; Erik Stam |
| Abstract: | A growing empirical literature has established a positive relationship between cultural diversity and entrepreneurship rates, often attributing this effect to innovative benefits of diversity. However, not all entrepreneurship is inherently innovative, raising the question of whether cultural diversity may increase the relative prevalence of entrepreneurs pursuing innovative instead of more replicative strategies. This study investigates the relationship between regional cultural diversity and the innovation-orientation of early-stage entrepreneurs and considers moderating factors by decomposing shares of foreign-born population by origin within and outside of the EU and by education level. Combining survey data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor with various measures of cultural diversity, we carry out a multilevel analysis for 166 European regions. The results suggest that entrepreneurs in more culturally diverse regions are significantly more likely to exhibit innovation-orientation. We find some evidence that this effect is supported by cognitive proximity as the share of EU-born foreign population is driving this result. Moreover, our analysis suggests that the effect of cultural diversity on innovative entrepreneurship is not due to human capital availability or moderated by entrepreneurs' absorptive capacity but rather stems from the diversity in cultural background itself. |
| Keywords: | cultural diversity, entrepreneurship, innovation, European regions, multilevel analysis |
| JEL: | F22 L26 O30 R1 |
| Date: | 2022–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:2205&r= |
| By: | Guillermo Arenas Díaz (Dipartimento di Politica Economica, DISCE, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore); Andrés Barge-Gil (Department of Economic Analysis, Complutense University of Madrid, ICAE and GRIPICO, Madrid, Spain); Joost Heijs (Department of Applied Economics, Structure and History, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain); Alberto Marzucchi (Gran Sasso Science Institute, Social Sciences, L'Aquila, Italia) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the effects of product innovations introduced by firms in upstream and downstream sectors and firms in the same sector on firm employment. To this aim, we extend the Harrison et al. (2014) model to analyse the relationship between firm innovation and employment to account for innovation in the same and related sectors. We employ panel data for the innovation activities of Spanish firms together with input–output data. The results show that product innovation by firms in the same sector harms the firm's employment, which is consistent with a business-stealing mechanism. A negative effect on employment is found for the introduction of new products in upstream sectors, which results in the reduction of labour in the focal firm. The type of labour that is displaced by innovations introduced by both same-sector and upstream firms is predominantly low-skilled. No significant effects are found for innovations introduced in downstream industries. |
| Keywords: | same sector, downstream and upstream sectors, product innovation, employment growth |
| JEL: | J23 O31 O33 L6 |
| Date: | 2022–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctc:serie5:dipe0026&r= |
| By: | Masahiko Shibamoto (Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration and Center for Computational Social Science, Kobe University, JAPAN) |
| Abstract: | This study argues that the heterogeneity in environmental awareness among business owners is a pivotal component in characterizing the implementation of green business practices in the small business sector. Specifically, using a large-scale survey of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) throughout Japan, we show a gap between environmental awareness and green business practices in the small business sector; that is, SMEs are aware of environmental issues, but they do not practice green business to a large extent. Further, we quantitatively show that the environmental awareness of SMEs already practicing or attempting to practice green business tends to be greater than that of SMEs not practicing green business. Our empirical results support the link between environmental awareness as a business opportunity and green business practices. However, there is less evidence that environmental awareness divorced from management, such as the need to pass on a sustainable society to future generations, would be involved with green business practices in the small business sector. Our findings advocate that policymakers looking to strengthen environmental initiatives in the small business sector need to direct SMEs to build awareness of environmental issues related to their businesses. |
| Keywords: | Green business practices; Environmental awareness; Small business sector; Survey data; Japan |
| JEL: | L21 Q56 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kob:dpaper:dp2022-08&r= |
| By: | Laureti, Lucio; Costantiello, Alberto; Matarrese, Marco Maria; Leogrande, Angelo |
| Abstract: | The determinants of the presence of “Foreign Doctorate Students” among 36 European Countries for the period 2010-2019 are analyzed in this article. Panel Data with Fixed Effects, Random Effects, WLS, Pooled OLS, and Dynamic Panel are used to investigate the data. We found that the presence of Foreign Doctorate Students is positively associated to “Attractive Research Systems”, “Finance and Support”, “Rule of Law”, “Sales Impacts”, “New Doctorate Graduates”, “Basic School Entrepreneurial Education and Training”, “Tertiary Education” and negatively associated to “Innovative Sales Share”, “Innovation Friendly Environment”, “Linkages”, “Trademark Applications”, “Government Procurement of Advanced Technology Products”, “R&D Expenditure Public Sectors”. A cluster analysis was then carried out through the application of the unsupervised k-Means algorithm optimized using the Silhouette coefficient with the identification of 5 clusters. Finally, eight different machine learning algorithms were used to predict the value of the "Foreign Doctorate Students" variable. The results show that the best predictor algorithm is the "Tree Ensemble Regression" with a predicted value growing at a rate of 114.03%. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, and Invention: Processes and Incentives; Management of Technological Innovation and R&D; Diffusion Processes; Open Innovation. |
| JEL: | O30 O31 O32 O33 O34 |
| Date: | 2022–02–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:111954&r= |
| By: | Julia Mazzei; Tommaso Rughi; Maria Enrica Virgillito |
| Abstract: | The development of low emission vehicles (LEVs) in the automotive sector stands out in the literature as a typical case of technological competition between a dominant design and a set of alternative green technologies. The incremental trajectory of green technologies aimed at improving the efficiency of the internal combustion engine (ICEG) is competing with a radical trajectory targeted to the development of hybrid, electric and fuel cell vehicles (HEF). Exploiting a novel dataset of firm- and patent-level information retrieved from ORBIS-IP and containing USPTO patent applications between 2001 and 2018 in the automotive sector, we first cluster firms according to their relative patent share and degree of specialization in each trajectory, identifying a technological landscape in which they locate with distinct strategies. We then investigate the extent to which different stocks and combinations of knowledge might explain such heterogeneity in innovative efforts and positioning in the landscape. Our results suggest that a stock of ''brown'' knowledge closely related to ''green'' knowledge proves to be valuable for firm's success in each trajectory. Moreover, firms with a broad array of different knowledge sources are capable of reaching a leadership position in the technological landscape. |
| Keywords: | Low emission vehicles; relatedness; diversification; knowledge. |
| Date: | 2022–03–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2022/10&r= |
| By: | Weiss, Tim; Perkmann, Markus; Phillips, Nelson |
| Abstract: | Research on new venture creation in Africa is growing rapidly. This increasing interest reflects both the potential for entrepreneurship to contribute to the economic and social development of Africa, as well as the potential for this research to provide new insights that challenge and extend theories developed primarily from studies of North American and European new ventures. In this editorial essay, we argue for an expansion of this important research stream to include a focus on how technology ventures scale in Africa. We identify seven topics that offer interesting opportunities for research on scaling in Africa: (1) the effect of venture location on scaling; (2) the effect of founding team diversity on scaling; (3) the effect of entrepreneurial strategies on scaling; (4) the effect of nascent ecosystems on scaling; (5) the effect of the institutional environment on scaling; (6) the effect of nascent financial markets on scaling; and (7) the societal effects of scaling. We discuss each of these topics, their potential to contribute to the existing literature, and provide examples of African technology firms that have scaled to illustrate each topic. We conclude with a discussion of how African social, political, and regulatory change, combined with rapidly developing entrepreneurial ecosystems, are creating a context where the successful scaling of technology ventures is becoming increasingly common, and research is therefore increasingly valuable. |
| Date: | 2021–10–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:z6rjg&r= |
| By: | John Eric Humphries (Yale University); Christopher Neilson (Princeton University); Gabriel Ulyssea (Oxford University) |
| Abstract: | This note provides new evidence on how small business owners have been impacted by COVID-19, and how these effects have evolved over time since the passage of the CARES Act. As part of a broader and ongoing project, we collected survey data from more than 8,000 small business owners in the U.S. from March 28th, one day after the CARES Act was passed, through April 20th. The data include information on their firm size, layoffs, beliefs about the future prospects of their businesses, as well as their awareness of existing government relief programs. We provide three main findings. First, by the time the CARES Act was passed, surveyed small business owners were already severely impacted by COVID-19-related disruptions, with 60% having laid of workers. Second, business owners’ expectations about the future are in general negative and have continuously deteriorated throughout our study period, with 37% of respondents in the first week reporting that they did not expect to recover within 2 years, growing to 46% by the last week. Third, we show that the smallest businesses had the least awareness of government assistance programs, the slowest growth in awareness after the passage of the CARES Act, and never caught up with the larger businesses. The latter indicate that small businesses may have missed out on initial Paycheck Protection Program funds because of low baseline awareness and differential access to information relative to larger firms. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19, Small business, CARES Act |
| JEL: | H00 H50 J00 |
| Date: | 2020–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pri:econom:2020-48&r= |
| By: | Michelle Harbour (UQO - Université du Québec en Outaouais); Jacques-Bernard Gauthier |
| Abstract: | The communication of scientific knowledge through the publications of scientific periodicals is organized in a complex and dynamic business ecosystem where convergent and divergent objectives coexist. The purpose of this paper is to study the cooperation strategies that ensure the maintenance and development of this business ecosystem. Our results show the coexistence of three cooperation strategies: homeostatic cooperation, pressure cooperation and adaptation cooperation. Our study provides two main contributions. First, we now have a new perspective the strategic dynamics of this business ecosystem. We have seen that the publication of scientific periodicals is an expanding community business ecosystem, through the active role of the actors in the different strata of this ecosystem. We also found that these actors can act on different cooperation strategies simultaneously. Second, the identification of three types of cooperation strategies mobilized by stakeholders is also an important contribution to the literature on business ecosystems and to the literature on cooperation strategies. |
| Abstract: | La communication des connaissances scientifiques par le biais des revues savantes est organisée en un écosystème d'affaires complexe et dynamique où coexistent des objectifs convergents et divergents. Le but de ce papier est d'étudier les stratégies de coopération qui assurent le maintient et le développement de cet écosystème d'affaires. Nous résultats montrent la coexistence de trois stratégies de coopération : des coopération homéostatiques, des coopérations de pression et des coopérations d'adaptation. Deux principales contributions émergent de nos résultats. Notre première contribution est que notre étude offre une nouvelle perspectives sur la dynamique stratégique d'un écosystème d'affaires. En effet, nous avons vu que la publication de périodiques scientifique est un écosystème d'affaires identifié comme une communauté d'affaires par le rôle actif des différents acteurs dans plusieurs strates de cet écosystème. Nous avons constaté que plusieurs acteurs mobilisent plusieurs stratégies de coopération et ce, simultanément. Notre seconde contribution consiste en l'identification de trois types de stratégies de coopération. |
| Keywords: | Business ecosystem,cooperation strategies,publishing,scientific periodicals |
| Date: | 2022–02–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03563270&r= |
| By: | Jin, Cheng; Razzaq, Asif; Saleem, Faiza; Sinha, Avik |
| Abstract: | The present study investigates the dynamic and asymmetric impacts of eco-innovation and human capital development on ambient pollution by validating the Environment Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis in China from 1988Q1 to 2018Q4. The findings confirm non-normality and structural breaks in data. Thus, Quantile Autoregressive Distributive Lag (QARDL) model and Granger Causality-in-Quantiles are applied to address non-linearity and structural breaks. The long-run results exhibit that eco-innovation and human capital have a significant negative relationship with carbon emissions, mainly from lower (0.05) to medium (0.5) quantiles and medium (0.50) to higher (0.95) emissions quantile. Moreover, economic growth contributes to higher emissions across all quantiles. In contrast, the square of economic growth has a significant negative association with emissions, confirming the validity of EKC from medium (0.40) to higher (0.95) quantiles. Lastly, Granger causality confirms a two-way causality between eco-innovation, human capital, and carbon emissions, and a one-way causality from human capital, economic growth to carbon emissions. These findings offer valuable policy recommendations. |
| Keywords: | Eco-innovation; Human capital; Environmental sustainability; Carbon emissions; Quantile ARDL |
| JEL: | Q5 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:111922&r= |
| By: | Ali-Yrkkö, Jyrki; Mattila, Juri; Pajarinen, Mika; Ylhäinen, Ilkka |
| Abstract: | Abstract This study examines mergers and acquisitions and their economic impact on companies. The study examined which companies in Finland become the targets of acquisitions, how the economic activities of the target companies develop after the change of ownership and whether there is a difference between domestic and foreign acquisitions in these respects. The study was conducted using firm-level data that included nearly 2,000 acquisitions, supplemented by a qualitative review of 19 research interviews. The results of the study show that companies’ innovation activities have a positive relation to the likelihood of being acquired, especially by foreign buyers. However, foreign acquisitions did not have a significant impact on the development of the value added, productivity, profitability or employment of target companies when compared with the control group. |
| Keywords: | Mergers and acquisitions, M&A, Impact, Foreign ownership, Foreign company, Productivity |
| JEL: | D22 F23 G34 O30 |
| Date: | 2022–03–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rif:report:125&r= |
| By: | Joel Bowman |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses the consequences of zombie businesses in Australia between 2001/02 to 2018/19. Zombie businesses are broadly defined as businesses whose ability to meet interest expenses from current profits is less compared with other firms operating within the same industry. This work finds that an increasing share of labour sunk into zombie businesses is correlated with weaker activity for viable businesses operating within the same industry. However, it does not find that zombie firms adversely affect the allocative efficiency of labour and capital and does not reduce the responsiveness of business exits to productivity. Further, the spillover effect of zombie firms does not appear to be propagated by the crowding out of financing or the imposition of additional entry barriers for firms operating within the same industry. Overall, the stable share of labour allocated to zombie firms at an aggregate level since 2007 suggests that it is unlikely that the adverse effects of zombie firms explain the slowdown in Australia’s economic activity since the mid 2000s. |
| Keywords: | Zombie Firms, Labour Productivity, Firm Dynamics, Resource Allocation |
| JEL: | D24 E22 G33 J24 L25 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:camaaa:2022-23&r= |
| By: | Anne Plunket (RITM - Réseaux Innovation Territoires et Mondialisation - UP11 - Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11); Felipe Starosta de Waldemar (RITM - Réseaux Innovation Territoires et Mondialisation - UP11 - Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of regional technological relatedness on the emergence of recombinant novelty (i.e. new combinations of subclasses occurring for the first time) in French regions using patent data over 1990-2010. We find that relatedness favors incremental innovations which reuse already applied combinations, whereas increasing levels of relatedness reduces the likelihood of novelty. However, the impact is less negative when combined technologies are new, unrelated or not locally specialized because it facilitates learning and technological recombination. We also find that universities and large incumbents are less dependent on relatedness than small and novel players to create novelty. |
| Keywords: | innovation,recombinant novelty,technological relatedness,Regional development |
| Date: | 2022–02–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03567051&r= |