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on Economics of Strategic Management |
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Issue of 2015‒03‒05
sixteen papers chosen by João José de Matos Ferreira Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Feser, Daniel; Proeger, Till |
| Abstract: | Knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) constitute a major source of innovative knowledge for small- and medium-sized enterprises. In regional innovation systems, KIBS play a crucial role in distributing innovations and improving the region´s overall innovative capacities. While the specific properties and effects on client firms and sectors have been comprehensively discussed, the internal perspective of client firms, i.e. the processes and problems in selecting, using, evaluating and recommending KIBS, has been neglected to date. Using a qualitative approach, we describe the internal mechanisms and problems of SMEs cooperating with various KIBS and discuss the implications for regional innovation systems from a policy-making perspective. We find that all stages of cooperation of SMEs and KIBS are characterized by strong information asymmetries, distrust and uncertainty about the effects of using external know-how, which yields the interpretation that SMEs perceive KIBS as credence goods. While informal networks are used to reduce information barriers, they regularly prove counterproductive by disseminating worst-case examples. Regional policy aiming at developing instruments for fostering innovative cooperation could thus strengthen formal networks that primarily create trust between KIBS and SMEs to systematically reduce mutual suspicions and information asymmetries. |
| Keywords: | credence goods,knowledge-intensive business services,regional innovation system,small- and medium enterprises |
| JEL: | D21 D40 H25 H40 L23 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cegedp:232&r=cse |
| By: | Tetsugen Haruyama (Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University) |
| Abstract: | The paper develops a patent race model of firms which differ in R&D productivity. It is demon-strated that R&D subsidies generate the cleansing effect where relatively lower productivity firms drop out of the race and innovation accelerates due to expanded R&D investment by the remaining firms and new entrants with higher productivity than those that exit. |
| Keywords: | Patent race, R&D, industrial policy, cleansing effect |
| JEL: | L10 L20 L52 O32 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:koe:wpaper:1425&r=cse |
| By: | Grillitsch , Markus (CIRCLE, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | Smart specialisation features prominently in the European regional policy context. This paper discusses how the configuration of the regional institutional framework affects smart specialisation dynamics and policy. It elaborates why and how institutional diversity and integration promote entrepreneurial discovery processes, spillovers and agglomeration effects, and thereby structural change in regions. Policy challenges arising from the regional institutional framework are identified, discussed and related to well-research system failures of regional innovation systems. |
| Keywords: | regional policy; smart specialisation; institutions; regional innovation systems; system failures |
| JEL: | B52 O17 O43 P48 R10 R11 R58 |
| Date: | 2015–02–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2015_012&r=cse |
| By: | Evrin, Alperen |
| Abstract: | In this paper, I examine the effects of implementing tighter Intellectual Property Rights in a model of International Trade. In my model, firms in different countries have the choice of committing their resources to introducing new products (product innovation) or to imitating and improving upon current products (process innovation). I analyze the impact of stronger patents on innovation decisions, overall welfare and the distribution of welfare among countries. I show that, depending on parameter values, firms in developed countries (North) may altogether specialize in product innovation or may attain incomplete specialization in the sense that some innovate and some imitate. Welfare analysis will depend on the degree of specialization. In the case of incomplete specialization, tighter IPRs increase the incentives for product innovation in the North but, at the same time, increase the imitation done in the South. This finding is contrary to the conventional argument that states the reverse for imitation rates. In the case of complete specialization, stronger patents do not affect the rate of product innovation but reduce the rate of imitation, and welfare is nonmonotonic in IPRs. Finally, I examine the case of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and predict that stronger patents will increase the FDI while lowering the wages worldwide. |
| Keywords: | Patent Policies, Foreign Direct Investment |
| JEL: | F43 O31 O34 O38 |
| Date: | 2013–12–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:62392&r=cse |
| By: | Dessi, Roberta; Yin, Nina |
| Abstract: | This paper explores a new role for venture capitalists, as knowledge intermediaries. A venture capital investor can communicate valuable knowledge to an entrepreneur, facilitating innovation. The venture capitalist can also communicate the entrepreneur's innovative knowledge to other portfolio companies. We study the costs and benefits of these two forms of knowledge transfer, and their implications for investment, innovation, and product market competition. The model also sheds light on the choice between venture capital and other forms of finance, and the determinants of the decision to seek patent protection for innovations. Our analysis provides a rationale for the use of contingencies (specifically, patent approval) in VC contracts documented by Kaplan and Stromberg (2003), and for recent evidence on patterns of syndication among venture capitalists. |
| Keywords: | venture capital, knowledge intermediaries, contracts, innovation, competition, patents. |
| JEL: | D82 D86 G24 L22 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ide:wpaper:29009&r=cse |
| By: | Bruno Merlevede; Victoria Purice (-) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effect of foreign direct investment on the productivity of local firms. We decompose traditional country-wide spillover measures in different components according to both distance between foreign and domestic firms and timesince- foreign-entry. We find larger and faster spillover effects for local suppliers of foreign firms at shorter distance, driven mainly by recent foreign entrants. Irrespective of distance, foreign firms of medium maturity generate backward spillover effects that fade away with longer presence. A positive effect on local competitors is not significantly affected by distance and requires the presence of mature foreign firms. |
| Keywords: | FDI, Spillovers, Dynamics, Timing, Regions, Distance |
| JEL: | F2 D24 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rug:rugwps:14/896&r=cse |
| By: | Asheim , Bjørn (UiS Business School/Centre for Innovation Research, University of Stavanger & CIRCLE, Lund University); Grillitsch , Markus (CIRCLE, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | Smart specialisation as a strategic approach for an innovation-driven regional development policy is extremely important in the European policy context and a precondition for accessing significant amounts of funding. In this paper, we pursue two aims: First, we clarify what smart specialisation means and introduce theoretical perspectives strengthening this policy approach. We will discuss the role of different modes of innovation and knowledge bases for different types of new path development. Second, we aim at identifying the sources for new path development within the smart specialisation framework for a peripheral manufacturing region. We present the key findings from a case study of Møre and Romsdal, in the western parts of Norway, which has been successful economically despite low scores on the typical innovation indicators. The case study was conducted in autumn 2014 and combines an in-depth analysis of relevant policy documents and 17 semi-structured interviews. Thereby, we illustrate to what extent a smart specialisation policy can add value in Norway. As Norway is not part of the EU, it is not compulsory for Norwegian counties to design smart specialisation strategies. |
| Keywords: | Smart specialisation; new path development; periphery; innovation; regional development |
| JEL: | P48 R10 R11 R58 |
| Date: | 2015–02–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2015_011&r=cse |
| By: | Aldieri, Luigi; Vinci, Concetto Paolo |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to explore the impact of intra- and inter-industry spillover components on productivity of large International firms. We use data from all EU R&D investment scoreboards editions issued every year until 2011 by the JRC-IPTS (scoreboards). The analysis is based upon a new dataset composed of 879 worldwide R&D-intensive manufacturing firms whose information has been collected for the period 2002-2010. Given the panel data structure of the sample, ad hoc econometric techniques that deal with both firm’s unobserved heterogeneity and weak exogeneity of the right hand-side variables are implemented. The main contribution to the literature is that of further investigating the industry spillovers at firm level within the Triad for a period of time that considers also the economic crisis. In order to measure the distribution of the firm’s research interests through the different technological areas, we use the patent distribution over technological sectors according to the International Patent Classification (IPC). The patent distribution relies on the whole number of patent applications filed to the European Patent Office until 2011. The empirical results suggest a significant impact of R&D spillover effects on firms’ productivity but the results are quite differentiated according to the spillover stock type and this may represent a relevant source of policy implications. |
| Keywords: | Panel Data Models; R&D Spillovers; Total Factor Productivity growth |
| JEL: | C23 O33 O47 |
| Date: | 2015–02–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:62429&r=cse |
| By: | Bruno Merlevede; Matthijs De Zwaan; Karolien Lenaerts; Victoria Purice (-) |
| Abstract: | This paper introduces two datasets, AUGAMA, a panel of European firms for the period 1996-2011, and EUMULNET, a European Multinational Network data set. These datasets are constructed on the basis of the Amadeus database issued by Bureau Van Dijk Electronic Publishing. We document the process of building these data sets from the raw Amadeus data for 26 European countries. We show that the data sets adequately approximate the structure of the European economy across countries, regions, and industries as portrayed by data from Eurostat (Structural Business Statistics) and Cambridge Econometrics. As an illustration of possible application, we use the datasets to test a number of results from the theoretical literature regarding the productivity of multinational firms vis-a-vis domestic firms. |
| Keywords: | multinationals, firm performance, total factor productivity, firm-level data |
| JEL: | F23 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rug:rugwps:15/900&r=cse |
| By: | Claudia Steinwender |
| Abstract: | A variety of empirical and theoretical trade papers have suggested and documented a positive impact of trade on the productivity of firms. However, there is less consensus about the underlying mechanism at work. While trade papers focus on access to export markets, other papers stress the importance of import competition. Since imports and exports (and even tariffs affecting either) are usually highly correlated, it is unclear which mechanism the existing empirical papers uncover. This paper conducts a "horse race" between export opportunities and import competition. Using Spanish firm level data, instrumenting for exports and imports with tariff changes and controlling for selection, I find robust evidence that access to export markets leads to productivity increases, but only for firms that were already highly productive before. The evidence on import competition is weaker. If anything, initially low-tech firms manage to increase their productivity in response to increased competition from abroad. The latter finding is at odds with most trade models, so I propose a model incorporating non-profit maximizing managers to reconcile theory with the evidence. Empirically, I find that all productivity upgrades are driven by increased R&D, patenting, and product innovation. Access to export markets also leads to the adaptation of foreign technologies. There is no evidence that either mechanism leads to increased full time employment, instead full time workers seem to be replaced by part-time or temporary workers. |
| Keywords: | Import competition, technical change, productivity, exporting |
| JEL: | F12 F13 F14 L25 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1334&r=cse |
| By: | Marzena Starnawska (Gdansk University of Technology, Gdansk, Poland) |
| Abstract: | Entrepreneurial behavior in challenging institutional environments have been widely investigated in the literature. One of the characteristics of these environments is resource scarcity. This is particularly valid in the context of social entrepreneurship and social enterprises. The aim of this paper is to identify entrepreneurial behaviors in social entrepreneurship and what is happening behind these processes in the context of transition country, against the backdrop of challenging environment and weak institutional framework in particular in Poland. We use a purposive sample of 5 social cooperatives, and report the data from several in-depth interviews with their representatives as well as observation from the cooperatives. We have attempted to widen the existing categories on entrepreneurial behavior namely boundary blurring and diversification, and discuss them in social entrepreneurship context. |
| Keywords: | social entrepreneurship, social enterprise, entrepreneurial behavior, social cooperatives, institutions |
| JEL: | L31 L26 P13 D22 D02 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gdk:wpaper:28&r=cse |
| By: | Atabati, Omid; Farzad, Babak |
| Abstract: | We study the dynamics of a game-theoretic network formation model that yields large-scale small-world networks. So far, mostly stochastic frameworks have been utilized to explain the emergence of these networks. On the other hand, it is natural to seek for game-theoretic network formation models in which links are formed due to strategic behaviors of individuals, rather than based on probabilities. Inspired by Even-Dar and Kearns' model [8], we consider a more realistic framework in which the cost of establishing each link is dynamically determined during the course of the game. Moreover, players are allowed to put transfer payments on the formation and maintenance of links. Also, they must pay a maintenance cost to sustain their direct links during the game. We show that there is a small diameter of at most 4 in the general set of equilibrium networks in our model. We achieved an economic mechanism and its dynamic process for individuals which firstly; unlike the earlier model, the outcomes of players' interactions or the equilibrium networks are guaranteed to exist. Furthermore, these networks coincide with the outcome of pairwise Nash equilibrium in network formation. Secondly; it generates large-scale networks that have a rational and strategic microfoundation and demonstrate the main characterization of small degree of separation in real-life social networks. Furthermore, we provide a network formation simulation that generates small-world networks. |
| Keywords: | network formation; linking game with transfer payments; pairwise stability; pairwise Nash equilibrium; small-world phenomenon |
| JEL: | C79 D85 |
| Date: | 2014–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:62529&r=cse |
| By: | Michael, Bryane; Falzon, Joseph; Shamdasani, Ajay |
| Abstract: | Do financial regulation advisors help their clients become more profitable? In this paper, we present a model where financial service firms may add to their own compliance teams or hire outside compliance advisors. We derive the conditions under which a financial services firm will want to hire a compliance services company, and show how much money they should spend. Financial services firms in competitive locations like Hong Kong and Singapore will particularly benefit (at least in the short run) from their services. We also show that their advice may lead to an embarrass de riches – whereby the lower compliance costs and higher profit advantages they confer may lead to more regulation. Regulators may furthermore tighten regulation – with the expectation that financial service firms will adapt somehow. We present a fresh perspective on the Menon Hypothesis, deriving conditions under which financial regulations help the competitiveness of an international financial centre. We provide five potential policy responses for dealing with ever ratcheting financial regulations. |
| Keywords: | compliance,financial law,compliance capacity,optimal regulation |
| JEL: | G24 K40 |
| Date: | 2015–02–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:107400&r=cse |
| By: | Gardete, Pedro M. (Stanford University) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes a model of competition under asymmetric information to investigate whether firms have an incentive to share demand information with their competitors. The question naturally arises because the result that better information benefits a single-agent does not generalize to multi-agent settings. The paper also proposes parametric identification and estimation methods for a broad class of games of asymmetric information. Data from the Dynamic Random-Access Memory (DRAM) industry is used to determine the parameter region of study. I find that firms may indeed benefit from sharing demand information with their competitors, in contrast with the results established by the standard linear-normal models. Moreover, capacity constraints may induce asymmetric effects of information on different competitors. Finally, downstream firms and consumers also benefit from information sharing due to higher coordination between the market needs and the industry output. |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:stabus:3133&r=cse |
| By: | José María Durán-Cabré (Universidad de Barcelona & IEB); Alejandro Esteller-Moré (Universidad de Barcelona & IEB); Luca Salvadori (Universidad de Barcelona & IEB, TARC) |
| Abstract: | The literature on horizontal tax interdependence pays limited attention to interactions in administrative policies, although they can play a large role in determining the amount of tax revenues collected. We investigate the incentives for sub-central tax authority cooperation in a decentralized context, with the aim of identifying the determinants of that cooperation. Our results are congruent with standard theory; in particular, the existence of reciprocity is essential for sharing tax information, but there is sluggishness in this process, which is partly the result of the short-sighted behaviour of tax authorities influenced by budget constraints. Hence, this is good news for the functioning of a decentralized tax administration, as in the medium-long run the gains to be made from sharing tax information are achieved. |
| Keywords: | Tax information sharing, reciprocity, fiscal federalism |
| JEL: | H71 H77 H83 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:2013/6/doc2015-7&r=cse |
| By: | Blankespoor, Elizabeth (Stanford University); deHaan, Ed (Stanford University) |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:stabus:3038&r=cse |