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on Entrepreneurship |
| By: | Falck, Oliver (Ifo Institute for Economic Research); Woessmann, Ludger (Ifo Institute for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | School choice research mostly focuses on academic outcomes. Policymakers increasingly view entrepreneurial traits as a non-cognitive outcome important for economic growth. We use international PISA-2006 student-level data to estimate the effect of private-school competition on students' entrepreneurial intentions. We exploit Catholic-Church resistance to state schooling in 19th century as a natural experiment to obtain exogenous variation in current private-school shares. Our instrumental-variable results suggest that a 10 percentage-point higher private-school share raises students' entrepreneurial intentions by 0.3-0.5 percentage points (11-18 percent of the international mean) even after controlling for current Catholic shares, students' academic skills, and parents' entrepreneurial occupation. |
| Keywords: | private school competition, entrepreneurship, Catholic schools |
| JEL: | I20 L33 L26 Z12 |
| Date: | 2010–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5024&r=ent |
| By: | Wörter, Martin; Rammer, Christian; Arvanitis, Spyros |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the relationship between past innovation output, competition, and future innovation input in a dynamic econometric setting. We distinguish two dimensions of competition that correspond to the concepts of product substitutability and entry barriers due to fixed costs. Based on firm-level panel data for Germany and Switzerland we obtain consistent results for both countries. Innovation output in t-1 as measured by the sales share of innovative products is positively related to the degree of product obsolescence in t, and negatively to the degree of substitutability in t in both countries. Further, we find that rapid product obsolescence provides positive incentives for higher - primarily product-oriented - R&D investments in t+1, while high substitutability exerts negative incentives for future R&D investment. -- |
| Keywords: | Innovation,R&D,Competition |
| JEL: | O3 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:10039&r=ent |
| By: | Carolina Ydrovo Echeverry |
| Abstract: | This document studies the effects of business informality in terms of distortions in resource absorption, particularly labor, by informal companies. It also assesses the consequences of lower demand for labor of informal firms over aggregate productivity. With firm level data from the DANE Micro-establishments Survey, a matching exercise between formal and informal firms is conducted. It was found that the latter hire fewer employees than formal firms with the same characteristics, including Total Factor Productivity. The matching results allow using counterfactual demands of labor of informal firms to calculate and compare the real and counterfactual aggregate productivity levels. The results indicate that if informal firms would demand the amount of employment demanded by similar formal firms, market share distribution of firms would improve and this would positively affect aggregate productivity. |
| Date: | 2010–05–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000089:007198&r=ent |
| By: | Simon Alder |
| Abstract: | This paper provides new evidence on the relationship between innovation, competition and distance to the technology frontier, using enterprise surveys from 40 developing and transition countries. Different from previous empirical studies, the distance to frontier is measured by a firm's technology level relative to its main competitor. This self-reported comparison allows to capture a crucial determinant of a firm's business strategy and its response to competition. The findings from the empirical analysis are as follows. Firstly, firms with more advanced technology compared to their main competitors have more product innovations. Secondly, there is evidence that innovation and competition are more positively correlated at low levels of competition than at high levels. With some measures of competition, the correlation is highest at intermediate levels of competition, which suggests an inverted-U relationship. Thirdly, in certain specifications, competition is most positively correlated with product innovation when a firm is more advanced than its main competitor. In other cases, this correlation is strongest for firms that are at the same technology level as their competitors. However, the differences in the correlations between more and less advanced firms are not always significant. |
| Keywords: | Market structure, competition, innovation, technology adaption, growth |
| JEL: | O16 O31 O33 O38 O40 L16 |
| Date: | 2010–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zur:iewwpx:493&r=ent |
| By: | Francesco Bogliacino (JRC-IPTS); Mario Pianta (University of Urbino) |
| Abstract: | In this article we investigate – both conceptually and empirically – the relationship between three interconnected elements of the Schumpeterian “engine of progress”: the ability of industries’ R&D efforts to turn out successful innovations; the ability of innovations to lead to high entrepreneurial profits; the commitment of industries to invest profits in further technological efforts. We build a simultaneous three-equation model – with appropriate lags – and we test it at industry level – for 38 manufacturing and service sectors – on eight European countries over two time periods from 1994 to 2006. The results show that the model effectively accounts for the dynamics of European industries. Our main results are that demand and innovation are the key determinants for firm profitability; second that both technology adoption and R&D concur to improve innovative performance; third, that R&D is path dependent and is negatively related to the distance from the frontier. Finally, manufacturing and services show similar behaviour. |
| Keywords: | Profits, R&D, Innovation, System Two Stages Least Squares |
| JEL: | L6 L8 O31 O33 O52 |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:wpaper:201005&r=ent |