nep-ent New Economics Papers
on Entrepreneurship
Issue of 2011‒05‒07
six papers chosen by
Marcus Dejardin
Notre-Dame de la Paix University

  1. What do Basel Capital Accords mean for SMEs? By Clara Cardone Riportella; Antonio Trujillo; Anahí Briozzo
  2. REGIONAL POLICY AS CHANGE MANAGEMENT - a theoretical discussion with empirical illustrations By Andersson, Martin; Johansson, Börje
  3. Long-run factors of firm growth - a study of German firms By Schimke, Antje; Brenner, Thomas
  4. Bankruptcy law and practice in 19th century France By Pierre-Cyrille Hautcoeur; Nadine Levratto
  5. Stimulating managerial capital in rmerging markets : the impact of business and financial literacy for young entrepreneurs By Bruhn, Miriam; Zia, Bilal
  6. What lies beneath the internationalization of firms in a regional innovation system? By Silvia R. Sedita; Fiorenza Belussi; Gianluca Fiscato

  1. By: Clara Cardone Riportella; Antonio Trujillo; Anahí Briozzo
    Abstract: This paper analyses the impact of the new Basel Capital Accords (Basel II and Basel III) on the bank’s capital requirements in a portfolio of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) when the internal ratings-based (IRB) approach is used. To do this, the study uses a large database of Spanish firms and covers the period from 2005 to 2009. We also examine the effect on the credit risk premium charged by banks of the guarantee offered by a Loan Guarantee Association (LGA) to a SME; and whether this foreseeable decrease in the interest rates applicable to the SME is compensated by the cost of this guarantee
    Keywords: Bank capital requirements, Credit risk mitigation, Bank financing of SMEs, Basel II, Basel III Loan Guarantee Association
    JEL: G21 G32
    Date: 2011–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:wbrepe:wb111004&r=ent
  2. By: Andersson, Martin (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology); Johansson, Börje (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology)
    Abstract: The paper focuses on challenges and potentials for policy in the presence of fundamental change processes that influence the long-term evolution of regions. The perspective in the paper implies that policy can be viewed as ‘management of change’. We present a conceptual model for understanding the nature of fundamental change processes, which emphasizes slowly changing regional characteristics and invariant self-organized response mechanisms. It is supported by empirical examples of the invariant character of regional development and innovation phenomena, such as long-term population growth, export dynamics and persistence in new firm formation across regions in Sweden. The examples are put in perspective by studying the behavior of dynamic systems. A discussion of how policy may support new trajectories are provided.
    Keywords: business renewal; innovation; regional policy; persistence; change-processes; dynamic systems; path-dependence
    JEL: O31 R11 R12 R58
    Date: 2011–04–26
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0249&r=ent
  3. By: Schimke, Antje; Brenner, Thomas
    Abstract: This paper investigates whether the economic factors that are related to firm growth in the literature also determine the development path of firms. This means that we test which economic factors possess the ability to remain effective for a longer period of time. We examine three variables: firm size, innovation effort and export share. To this end, we use panel-data on 178 German manufacturing firms over the period from 1992 to 2007. We find that the determinants of permanent growth path are not the same as the determinants of firm growth at one point in time. --
    Keywords: firm growth,firm growth paths,firm size,export,innovation effort
    Date: 2011
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:kitwps:21&r=ent
  4. By: Pierre-Cyrille Hautcoeur (EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris, PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - Ecole des Ponts ParisTech - Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris - ENS Paris); Nadine Levratto (EconomiX - CNRS : UMR7166 - Université de Paris X - Nanterre, Euromed Marseille - Ecole de management - Euromed Marseille)
    Abstract: In this paper, we try to measure the impact of the changes in French bankruptcy law in the 19th century focusing on the behaviour of economic agents as users of bankruptcy law for the sake of finding the best solution to their economic problems. Debtors used bankruptcy law in order to minimize their debt level when facing difficulties in servicing it, but they had to convince their creditors and/or the courts of their good faith, and faced the adverse effects of bankruptcy on their reputation and on the smooth functioning of their business. Creditors used bankruptcy law in order to force their debtors to pay, if they could. Judges - who in the French system of specialized commercial courts were elected entrepreneurs - applied the law within a specific economic context (both a specific local context and at a specific moment in the business cycle) which could affect them. The first part of the paper presents the evolution of French bankruptcy law during the 19th century in its historical context. The second part briefly describes the theoretical model we use in order to understand the choices facing debtors and creditors in the face of financial distress. The last part proposes some major stylized facts concerning bankruptcies during that period (based on contemporary official statistics) and tries to understand their relationship with the legal evolution described before.
    Keywords: bankruptcy law ; failure ; firm size ; law implementation ; legal origin ; merchant courts ; France ; 19th century
    Date: 2011–04–21
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-00587828&r=ent
  5. By: Bruhn, Miriam; Zia, Bilal
    Abstract: Identifying the determinants of entrepreneurship is an important research and policy goal, especially in emerging market economies where lack of capital and supporting infrastructure often imposes stringent constraints on business growth. This paper studies the impact of a comprehensive business and financial literacy program on firm outcomes of young entrepreneurs in an emerging post-conflict economy, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The authors conduct a randomized control trial and find that while the training program did not influence business survival, it significantly improved business practices, investments, and loan terms for surviving businesses. Entrepreneurs with higher ex-ante financial literacy further exhibited some improvements in business performance and sales.
    Keywords: Financial Literacy,Access to Finance,Business in Development,Competitiveness and Competition Policy,Business Environment
    Date: 2011–04–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5642&r=ent
  6. By: Silvia R. Sedita (University of Padova); Fiorenza Belussi (University of Padova); Gianluca Fiscato (University of Milano)
    Abstract: The aim of the paper is to identify the internationalization models of SME industrial district firms within a very integrated and dynamic Regional Innovation System (RIS) of Italy. By doing so, we investigate which are the strategies of firms embedded in a RIS to access global suppliers and markets. Accordingly, this paper explores the role of SMEs firmsÕ dynamic capabilities, its linkage with the industry investments in ICT (information and communication technologies) and the impact of the utilization of regional knowledge intensive business services (KIBS) in shaping the degree of internationalization of local firms. The analysis is based on a survey addressed during 2004 to entrepreneurs or managers of a sample of 125 SMEs firms operating in 7 industrial districts (biomedical, ceramics, shipbuilding, footwear, textile, plastics and packaging) of the Emilia Romagna. The results coming from a structural equation model revealed factors that impact on firmsÕ degree of internationalization in the input (relocalisation of foreign purchases through global value chains) and in the output dimension (export sales). Some interesting insights on what lies beneath the internationalization of firms in a very dynamic regional innovation system like that one of Emilia Romagna are provided.
    Keywords: industrial districts, dynamic capabilities, ICT (information and communication technologies), internationalization; regional innovation systems.
    JEL: F23 O32 R58
    Date: 2011–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pad:wpaper:0132&r=ent

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