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on Economics of Strategic Management |
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Issue of 2013‒06‒24
fifteen papers chosen by Joao Jose de Matos Ferreira University of the Beira Interior |
| By: | Bernhard Dachs; Bernd Ebersberger |
| Abstract: | A strong innovation performance based on R&D, product development and the implementation of advanced production technologies is key for the long-term competitiveness of European economies. This study investigates the effects of production offshoring on R&D and innovation activities of the firm in the home country. The analysis is based on a dataset of more than 3000 manufacturing firms from seven European countries. We employ propensity score matching to compare R&D and innovation activities of firms which have offshored production activities in a previous period to a control group of non-offshoring firms. The analysis finds no negative effect of production offshoring on innovation and technological capabilities of firms in the home country. On contrary, offshoring firms spend significantly more on R&D or product design, and invest more in process innovation than non-offshoring firms. These results support a view on internationalisation of firms that regards offshoring as a strategy of international expansion, and not a passive reaction of firms to a loss of their competitiveness. Our results indicate that this expansion goes hand in hand with innovation and process modernization at home. |
| Keywords: | offshoring, innovation, R&D, home country effects, investment |
| JEL: | F23 O31 O33 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wsr:ecbook:2013:i:v-001&r=cse |
| By: | Ana Paula Faria (Universidade do Minho - NIPE); Natália Barbosa (Universidade do Minho - NIPE); Vasco Eiriz (Universidade do Minho - Departamento de Gestão) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the geographical distribution and concentration of firms’ innovation persistence and innovation type - product and process - based upon three waves of the Community Innovation Survey data covering the period 1998-2006. The main findings are: (i) both innovation persistence and innovation type are asymmetrically distributed across Portuguese regions; (ii) the degree of correlation between geographical location and innovative output varies with the innovation type; and (iii); the correlation between geographical unit and innovation increases when the spatial unit of analysis is narrower. Overall, results indicate that firm’s choice of geographical location have a long-lasting effect, engendering no equal probabilities of being persistently innovator. |
| Keywords: | product innovation, process innovation, persistence, location |
| JEL: | O31 L25 R11 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nip:nipewp:12/2013&r=cse |
| By: | Arias Ortiz, Elena (Education Division, Inter-American Development Bank); Crespi, Gustavo (Competitiveness and Innovation Division, Inter-American Development Bank); Tacsir, Ezequiel (UNU-MERIT / MGSoG, and Competitiveness and Innovation Division, Inter-American Development Bank); Vargas, Fernando (Competitiveness and Innovation Division, Inter-American Development Bank); Zuniga, Pluvia (UNU-MERIT / MGSoG) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, a wide range of innovation indicators are analysed in order to describe the innovation behaviour of manufacturing firms in LAC using the recently released Enterprise Surveys 2010. The Enterprise Surveys define innovation rates as the share of firms introducing product and process innovations. The survey also measures the proportion of firms investing in research and development (R&D) and filing for intellectual property rights (IPRs). The aim of this note is to understand the main characteristics of innovative firms and to gather new evidence with regard to the nature of the innovation process in the region. Statistics about the performance of LAC firms are provided using different types of indicators to measure firms' innovative behaviour. In particular, differences in innovation performance and effort by country, sector, and key firm characteristics, such as being a multinational or exporter, are explored. Those firms in LAC that are top R&D performers are identified, and the analysis closes with an exploration of firm characteristics that strongly correlate with the probability of being a top R&D performer in the region. |
| Keywords: | innovation, research and development, Latin America, enterprise surveys |
| JEL: | D22 O31 O33 O34 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:unumer:2013028&r=cse |
| By: | Anna Bottasso (Department of Economics, University of Genoa); Carolina Castagnetti (Department of Economics and Management, University of Pavia); Maurizio Conti (Department of Economics, University of Genoa) |
| Abstract: | Bottazzi and Peri (2007) show that the existence of a cointegrating relationship between the domestic stock of knowledge, domestic R&D and the international knowledge stock can be interpreted as evidence supporting the semi-endogenous growth models versus the endogenous growth ones. We replicate their study in a wide sense by analysing a slighlty wider sample of countries observed over a more recent time period and by estimating the cointegrating vector with an econometric methodology that is robust to cross sectional dependence. Our replication confirms Bottazzi and Peri’s main results but finds stronger spillover effects. |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pav:demwpp:demwp0045&r=cse |
| By: | Krzysztof Szczygielski; Wojciech Grabowski; Richard Woodward |
| Abstract: | Differences in the growth of firms remain a major topic in economics and strategy research.In this paper we investigated the link between innovation performance and employment growth. First we discuss the problem from the theoretical point of view and then we analyze the relationship between innovation performance and the dynamics of employment in the Polish service firms in 2004-2009. Firms that introduced new services or marketing techniques experienced stronger growth. Process innovations contributed to employment reduction. Tellingly, this effect could only be observed in 2008-2009, a subperiod which saw the lowest levels of aggregate demand. This conclusion yields support to the presumption formulated by Pianta (2005) that the impact of innovation on employment growth depends on the macroeconomic situation. |
| Keywords: | Technology Strategy, Poland, Services, Innovation |
| JEL: | L21 L8 O32 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sec:cnstan:0454&r=cse |
| By: | Krzysztof Szczygielski; Wojciech Grabowski; Richard Woodward |
| Abstract: | Differences in the growth of firms remain a major topic in economics and strategy research.In this paper we investigated the link between innovation performance and employment growth. First we discuss the problem from the theoretical point of view and then we analyze the relationship between innovation performance and the dynamics of employment in the Polish service firms in 2004-2009. Firms that introduced new services or marketing techniques experienced stronger growth. Process innovations contributed to employment reduction. Tellingly, this effect could only be observed in 2008-2009, a subperiod which saw the lowest levels of aggregate demand. This conclusion yields support to the presumption formulated by Pianta (2005) that the impact of innovation on employment growth depends on the macroeconomic situation. |
| Keywords: | Poland, services, innovation, firm growth, quantile regression |
| JEL: | D22 L25 L80 O33 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sec:cnstan:0453&r=cse |
| By: | S. Usai; E. Marrocu; R. Paci |
| Abstract: | Building on previous literature providing extensive evidence on flows of knowledge generated by inter-firm agreements, in this paper we aim to analyse how the occurrence of such collaborations is driven by the multi-dimensional proximity among participants and by their position within firms’ network. More specifically, we assess how the likelihood that two firms set up a partnership is influenced by their bilateral geographical, technological, organizational, institutional and social proximity and by their position within networks in terms of centrality and closeness. Our analysis is based on agreements in the form of joint ventures or strategic alliances, announced over the period 2005-2012, in which at least one partner is localised in Italy. We consider the full range of economic activities and this allow us to offer a general scenario and to specifically investigate the role of technological relatedness across different sectors. The econometric analysis, based on the logistic framework for rare events, yielded three noteworthy results. First, all the five dimensions of proximity jointly exert a positive and relevant effect in determining the probability of inter-firm knowledge exchanges, signalling that they are complementary rather than substitute channels. Second, the higher impact on probability is due to the technological proximity, followed by the geographical one, while the other proximities (social, institutional and organizational) have a limited effect. Third, we find evidence on the positive role played by networks, through preferential attachment and transitivity effects, in enhancing the probability of inter-firm agreements. |
| Keywords: | joint ventures, knowledge flows, networks, proximities, strategic alliances |
| JEL: | R12 O33 O31 L14 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cns:cnscwp:201311&r=cse |
| By: | Christian Rupietta (Department of Business Administration, University of Zurich); Uschi Backes-Gellner (Department of Business Administration, University of Zurich) |
| Abstract: | Firms generate new knowledge that leads to innovations by recombining existing knowledge sources. A successful recombination depends on both the availability of a knowledge stock (human capital pool) that contains innovation-relevant knowledge and the regulation of the knowledge flow through the application of human resource management practices. However, while human resource theory expects complementarities between both the human capital pool and the human resource management system it does not explicitly address their implications for knowledge exchange. Moreover, empirical approaches neglect the complexity of complementarities between the two factors. This study analyzes complementarities within and between the human capital pool and the human resource management system and shows their implications for knowledge exchange. We empirically analyze these complementarities by applying fsQCA to identify taxonomies that explain superior innovation performance. We show that firms can achieve superior innovation performance through multiple and complex pathways. Our results show four taxonomies that substantially differ in terms of human capital diversity, application of human resource management practices and the environmental dynamism of the firm. |
| Keywords: | Human Resource Management, Human Capital, Innovation |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iso:educat:0089&r=cse |
| By: | Krogmann, Yin; Riedel, Nadine; Schwalbe, Ulrich |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the inter-firm R&D network formed in the pharmaceutical biotechnology industry during the 1990s from different perspectives: theoretical network formation, firm's structural positions and its collaborations at the entire network level, and the determinants for firm's centrality-based partnering capability. The results indicate that pharmaceutical biotechnology industry has experienced a significant evolutional change in size and structure during 1991-1998. By considering individual structural positions, the descriptive statistics show that in the 1990s, established pharmaceutical companies developed into dominant star players with multiple partnerships while holding central roles in the R&D network. In the network analysis that emphasized aggregate network level, the degree-based and betweenness-based network centralization were not high implying that the distribution of overall positional advantages in the pharmaceutical biotechnology industry is, to a large degree, not unequal and even though most firms in this sector are linked to the R&D network, some of them are more active than others. The current analysis also shows that firm's efficiency, firm's dependency on its complementary resources and firm's experiences at managing partnerships are important determinants for firm's centrality-based partnering capability, which has important managerial implications for understanding firm's strategic partnering behaviour. -- |
| Keywords: | Inter-firm cooperation,R&D partnerships,Network formation,Social network analysis,Instrumental variable |
| JEL: | C12 C36 D85 L24 L65 O32 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fziddp:752013&r=cse |
| By: | Vítor Caldeirinha (Centro de Estudos de Gestão; School of Economics and Management (ISEG)); J. Augusto Felício (School of Economics and Management; Technical University of Lisbon); Andreia Dionísio (CEFAGE-UÉ, Évora University (UÉ)) |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on the port and container terminal characteristics and evaluates its contribution to performance measured by the efficiency, productivity, activity and customer satisfaction. A Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) methodology was developed to determine which factors are characteristics of a port and container terminal. A questionnaire was submitted to senior managers of companies currently operating in twelve container terminals, both Portuguese and Spanish, and 122 validated answers were obtained. The results confirm the influence of the port and terminal characteristics on the terminal container performance through of the efficiency, productivity, and activity level and customer satisfaction. |
| Keywords: | Port characteristics; Container terminal; Terminal performance. |
| JEL: | R42 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cfe:wpcefa:2013_13&r=cse |
| By: | Hasan, Syed; Klaiber, H.Allen; Sheldon, Ian |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the impact of agglomeration and selection on firms' total factor productivity (TFP) distributions depending on their spatial location, specifically in science parks and large cities in Taiwan. The TFP distributions indicate a mean-shift and greater dispersion whenever firms benefit from agglomeration economies. However, selection due to competition may cause left truncation of the distribution. The empirical analysis shows that firms located in science parks have productivity that lags compared to those located in large cities and they benefit mainly from localization externalities. |
| Keywords: | Agglomeration, Selection, Total Factor Productivity, Science Park, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Productivity Analysis, D24, R58, R12, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149743&r=cse |
| By: | Teresa C. Fort; John Haltiwanger; Ron S. Jarmin; Javier Miranda |
| Abstract: | There remains considerable debate in the theoretical and empirical literature about the differences in the cyclical dynamics of firms by firm size. This paper contributes to the debate in two ways. First, the key distinction between firm size and firm age is introduced. The evidence presented in this paper shows that young businesses (that are typically small) exhibit very different cyclical dynamics than small/older businesses. The second contribution is to present evidence and explore explanations for the finding that young/small businesses were hit especially hard in the Great Recession. The collapse in housing prices accounts for a significant part of the large decline of young/small businesses in the Great Recession. |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:13-30&r=cse |
| By: | Nyström, Kristina (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology); Elvung, Gulzat Zhetibaeva (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we explore the role of new firms as an entry point to the labor market. Because the vast majority of new firms are short-lived, it is a risky decision to accept employment in a new venture. It can be argued that individuals with little (or no) labor market experience are more willing to accept the high risks associated with employment in new firms. Hence, new firms may work as an entry point to the labor market. Nevertheless, some research concludes that one disadvantage of employment in a new firm is that new firms pay less (Shane, 2009). However, this empirical conclusion is primarily based on literature on the wage penalty of small firms. In this paper, we study whether the wage penalty of employment in a new firm persists if we focus solely on labor market entrants. In the empirical analysis, we employ an employer-employee matched dataset that covers the Swedish population during the period from 1998-2008. We use the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) method to study the wage differences between labor market entrants employed in new and incumbent firms. We find an average wage penalty of 2.9 percent for labor market entrants employed in new firms over the studied period. |
| Keywords: | new firms; labor market entrants; wage penalty; propensity score matching; average treatment effect |
| JEL: | C21 J21 J31 M13 |
| Date: | 2013–06–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0319&r=cse |
| By: | Kanter, Christopher A.; Hueth, Brent; Gould, Brian W. |
| Abstract: | Due to differences in ownership structure between cooperative and non-cooperative firms (NCFs), it has been hypothesized that co-ops may be less efficient than their non-cooperative counterparts. Illiquidity of owners’ investment and democratic governance may lead to underinvestment and managerial shirking in cooperative firms, both technical inefficiency sources, and the lack of a clear profit motive generates “inefficient” (relative to a profit-maximizing firm) economic decisions. This is especially true in the dairy product manufacturing sector, where production is capital intensive and factors leading to non-optimal investment decisions may have a large impact on efficiency. In this research we will use a unique dataset that includes plant level panel data for dairy product manufacturers from the Census of Manufactures encompassing the years 1977-2007 to determine whether there is a difference in plant level efficiency between cooperative firms and NCFs, as well as the source of any measured inefficiency. We will employ Data Envelopment and Stochastic Frontier (SFA) analyses to ensure robustness of results across alternative methodologies for productivity measurement. |
| Keywords: | Industrial Organization, Livestock Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150497&r=cse |
| By: | Cui, Jingbo |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Industrial Organization, |
| Date: | 2013–05–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150185&r=cse |