nep-ent New Economics Papers
on Entrepreneurship
Issue of 2023‒08‒14
seven papers chosen by
Marcus Dejardin
Université de Namur

  1. Where do gazelles and high-growth firms occur in Germany? By Tomenendal, Matthias; Raffer, Christian
  2. Assessing the Institutions-Innovation Channel within the Inequality-Growth Nexus By Sun, Yang; Easaw, Joshy; Logothetis, Vassilis
  3. Firm resilience and growth during the economics crisis: lessons from the Greek depression By Christos, Genakos; Kaplanis, Ioannis; Tagaraki, Maria Theano; Tsakanikas, Aggelos
  4. Exploring new metrics to measure environmental innovation By Damien Dussaux; Alberto Agnelli; Nordine Es-Sadki
  5. Financial Inclusion and Hurdles to Funding Tunisian Female Entrepreneurs By Philippe Adair; Imène Berguiga
  6. Financial Inclusion and Barriers to Funding Micro-Entrepreneurs in MENA Countries Prior and During the COVID-19 Pandemic By Imène Berguiga; Philippe Adair
  7. Sustainable business models: Bean-to-bar generation value in the cocoa production chain By Kever Bruno Paradelo Gomes; Cledinaldo Aparecido Dias

  1. By: Tomenendal, Matthias; Raffer, Christian
    Abstract: There is still a rather small number of studies on gazelles in Germany, home to Europe's largest economy and its capital Berlin, one of Europe's main startup hubs. In particular, a recent overview on the occurrence of gazelles in Germany, which differentiates gazelles (up to five years old) from other high-growth firms (no age restriction) is missing. Applying descriptive statistics to a data set of 5, 328 high-growth firms we provide such an overview in terms of regional and sectoral distribution of German gazelles as well as their spatial link to regional business clusters. We find that most German high-growth firms (and equally gazelles) exist in the most populated German states. They mostly exist in traditional business sectors like construction and manufacturing. Relatively more gazelles than older high-growth firms exist in the sector of further business-related services. In the sectors construction, information and communication, further business-related services, and art, entertainment and recreation, we identify weak but significant positive spatial associations between the number of cluster initiatives and the number of gazelles. No such association exists for the entirety of high-growth firms in Germany.
    Keywords: gazelles, German gazelles, high-growth firms, distribution of gazelles, occurrence of gazelles, clusters, cluster embeddedness
    Date: 2023
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:bpswps:2&r=ent
  2. By: Sun, Yang (Cardiff Business School); Easaw, Joshy (Cardiff Business School); Logothetis, Vassilis (Cardiff Business School)
    Abstract: The present paper assesses the interactions between innovation and economic institutions within the context of the inequality-growth nexus. By carrying out fixed effects estimations on a cross-country panel, we find that both institutional quality and innovations improve economic growth at the expense of income equality. We show that the marginal effects of innovations on growth and inequality diminish as institutions increase in quality, and the effects of institutions can be influenced by level of innovations. This indicates that while institutions and innovations can be inequality-inducing, their interactions dampen the effect. Similarly, both variables positively affect growth but their interactions are negative. More importantly, we note a series of transitory interactive effects on growth which show property right protection as the principal growth-enhancing institutions in earlier stages of development, and broader institutional quality in later stages. These results are verified and reinforced by GMM and IV estimations, the latter of which uses judicial independence as an instrument, as well as additional robustness tests.
    Keywords: income inequality, economic growth, institutions, entrepreneurship, innovation.
    JEL: C33 C36 D63 O33 O34 O43 O47
    Date: 2023–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdf:wpaper:2023/21&r=ent
  3. By: Christos, Genakos; Kaplanis, Ioannis; Tagaraki, Maria Theano; Tsakanikas, Aggelos
    Abstract: The global financial crisis that burst in 2008 adversely affected business performance in many countries, especially in Europe. However, the impact of the crisis on entrepreneurship and business dynamics differed amongst countries, depending on their businesses resilience, the policies implemented, but also their predominant productive structure. The magnitude and length of the Greek depression have no precedent among modern middle and high-income economies. Still, to date, there is no systematic analysis of the impact of the crisis on entrepreneurship and business dynamism. This study attempts to fill this gap by examining individual firm, sectoral and regional level characteristics that might affect existing firm resilience and new firm survival rate. We use two sources of data with the most extensive coverage of small (sole proprietorship) and large (other legal status firms) firms containing information on entry and exit in Greece. Matching data from patents and trademarks allow us to examine the interplay between entrepreneurship and innovation. Our analysis focuses on the factors that help or hinder firm survival and growth. We find that the crisis increased the exit likelihood for a firm by 5% to 16%. Larger firms, with significant fixed assets, lower financial leverage, operating in concentrated industries, but also those that are innovation and export oriented tend to have better chances of survival compared to their counterparts. These results are important for designing business policies not only in Greece but also other countries facing similar crises.
    Keywords: entrepreneurship; business dynamism; innovation; crisis policy; resilience
    JEL: D20 L20 L25 O30 R11
    Date: 2023–07–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:119705&r=ent
  4. By: Damien Dussaux; Alberto Agnelli; Nordine Es-Sadki
    Abstract: Several efforts have been made to track progress on environmental innovations using very different approaches. However, many lack coverage, granularity, timeliness and may involve high data collection costs, especially when conducted on a large scale. Traditional indicators also overlook commercialised innovation and breakthrough innovation. This issue is particularly relevant for environmental innovation, where scaling-up is considered key to address the climate, biodiversity and pollution crises. The paper reviews potential metrics to measure commercialised climate change-related innovation and to measure breakthrough environmental innovation. By comparing advantages and drawbacks of various options, the paper selects two families of metrics to measure commercialised climate change-related innovation: one based on patent assignments and the other one based on licensing agreements. For breakthrough environmental innovation, the paper concludes that a family of metrics based on venture capital data is currently the most promising option to pursue. The paper then develops the selected new metrics and provides trends in environmental innovation over time, across sectors and when possible across countries. The paper concludes that additional data sources should be explored to extend the application of the proposed new metrics in more countries and consider a more comprehensive set of supports to innovation.
    Keywords: assignment, breakthrough innovation, green innovation, innovation metrics, licensing, patent, transfer, venture capital
    JEL: O31 Q55
    Date: 2023–07–24
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:envaaa:221-en&r=ent
  5. By: Philippe Adair; Imène Berguiga
    Date: 2023
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eru:erudwp:wp23-01&r=ent
  6. By: Imène Berguiga; Philippe Adair
    Date: 2023
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eru:erudwp:wp23-03&r=ent
  7. By: Kever Bruno Paradelo Gomes (Instituto Federal of Brasília); Cledinaldo Aparecido Dias (University Federal of Minas Gerais)
    Abstract: After a historic period of conventional cocoa bean production, southern Bahia has shown a strong trend towards diversification and inclusion in the special cocoa market. Producers in the region are cultivating fruits of superior quality and low environmental impact. Inserted in a production model based on the concept of sustainable business, these producers, agrifood entrepreneurs, seek to promote experiences to their consumers in their different alternative lifestyles, such as the philosophy of the Bean-to-bar production model. Elaborated as a theoretical essay, the development of this article aims to identify the contribution of the Bean-to-bar process in generating value in the cocoa production chain, inserted within a context of Short Circuits of Commercialization in the generation of innovative business. It is noted that a good monitoring of the entire process of transforming the input into a product allows entrepreneurs to explore with greater vigor the organoleptic properties of cocoa beans. Among the main initiatives that boosted the performance of the cocoa production chain in southern Bahia, Fortaleza Slow Food, the creation of the Cocoa Innovation Center and the Geographical Indication stand out. The strategies developed make it possible to diversify and foster rural communities. It is essential to understand the dynamics of these processes of local productive arrangements from the integration of public policies in the promotion, valuation of family farming products, sustainable cocoa beans with superior quality and local development. The search for recognition of the value attributed to cocoa products in the southern region of Bahia, from production (bean) to transformation into the final product (bar), intensifies the environmental perspective on the part of cocoa farmers. In this process, the sociocultural dimensions are present mainly in the cabucra production system, valuing and strengthening local family farming. The commercialization of almonds in the short chain segment enables business efficiency, giving space for increased profitability and reduced environmental impact. The frugal innovation model, oriented towards sustainability, becomes a path for the development of innovative businesses that generate value in the cocoa production chain. In this sense, for this topic to become solidified as a field of research that can bring relevant theoretical and practical contributions, it is suggested that new studies focus, among others, on business models that prioritize the cause and not simply the trends.
    Keywords: Agri-food chains. Entrepreneurship. Social business. Sustainability
    JEL: L26 Q01 Q19
    Date: 2022–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iefpro:11615531&r=ent

This nep-ent issue is ©2023 by Marcus Dejardin. It is provided as is without any express or implied warranty. It may be freely redistributed in whole or in part for any purpose. If distributed in part, please include this notice.
General information on the NEP project can be found at http://nep.repec.org. For comments please write to the director of NEP, Marco Novarese at <director@nep.repec.org>. Put “NEP” in the subject, otherwise your mail may be rejected.
NEP’s infrastructure is sponsored by the School of Economics and Finance of Massey University in New Zealand.