nep-ino New Economics Papers
on Innovation
Issue of 2015‒07‒11
23 papers chosen by
Uwe Cantner
University of Jena

  1. Innovation and Employment in Patenting Firms: Empirical Evidence from Europe By Van Roy, Vincent; Vertesy, Daniel; Vivarelli, Marco
  2. Experimental evidence on the effects of innovation contests By Brueggemann, Julia; Meub, Lukas
  3. Innovation trade and the size of exporting firms By Letizia Montinari; Massimo Riccabonii; Stefano Schiavo
  4. R&D activities and extensive margins of exports in manufacturing enterprises: First evidence for Germany By Joachim Wagner
  5. Organization of innovation and capital markets By Orman, Cuneyt
  6. Evaluative thinking for successful educational innovation By Lorna Earl; Helen Timperley
  7. Exploring Network Behavior Using Cluster Analysis By Rong Rong; Daniel Houser
  8. Perspectives on Innovation and Entrepreneurship By Bullard, James B.
  9. The Agro-Food Industry, Public Health and Environmental Protection: Investigating the Porter Hypothesis in Food Regulation By PONSSARD Jean-Pierre; SINCLAIR DESGAGNÉ Bernard; SOLER Louis-Georges; GIRAUD HERAUD Eric
  10. Innovations of corporate legislation and regulation: changes in the Civil Code and the new Code of Corporate Governance in Russia in 2014 By Elena Apevalova; Natalia Polezhaeva
  11. Key Enabling Technologies and Smart Specialization Strategies. European Regional Evidence from patent data By Sandro Montresor; Francesco Quatraro
  12. Cooperation Cycles: A theory of endogenous investment shocks By Dimitris Papanikolaou
  13. Cross-country evidence on start-up dynamics By Flavio Calvino; Chiara Criscuolo; Carlo Menon
  14. Value Co-creation, Dynamic Capabilities and Customer Retention in Industrial Markets By Preikschas, Michael W.; Cabanelas, Pablo; Rüdiger, Klaus; Lampón, Jesús F.
  15. Quantum macroeconomics theory By Ledenyov, Dimitri O.; Ledenyov, Viktor O.
  16. Quality Predictability and the Welfare Benefits from New Products: Evidence from the Digitization of Recorded Music By Luis Aguiar; Joel Waldfogel
  17. Revenue, New Products, and the Evolution of Music Quality since Napster By Luis Aguiar; Joel Waldfogel
  18. Mortgage Finance and Technological Change By Robin Döttling; Enrico Perotti
  19. Standortanforderungen von Internet-Start-ups: Eine diskursanalytische Untersuchung am Beispiel der Internetökonomie in Berlin By Hufner, Daniel; Mossig, Ivo
  20. Stagnation Traps By Gianluca Benigno; Luca Fornaro
  21. Does Persistence in Start-up Activity Reflect Persistence in Social Capital? By Michael Fritsch; Michael Wyrwich
  22. The Great Depression in Colombia: A Stimulus to Industrialization, 1930-1953 By Juliana Jaramillo-Echeverri; Adolfo Meisel-Roca; María Teresa Ramírez-Giraldo
  23. Roads Leading to Self-Employment: Comparing Transgenerational Entrepreneurs and Self-Made Start-Ups By Blumberg, Boris F.; Pfann, Gerard A.

  1. By: Van Roy, Vincent (European Commission, Joint Research Centre); Vertesy, Daniel (European Commission, Joint Research Centre); Vivarelli, Marco (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore)
    Abstract: This paper explores the possible job creation effect of innovation activity. We analyze a unique panel dataset covering almost 20,000 patenting firms from Europe over the period 2003-2012. The main outcome from the proposed GMM-SYS estimations is the labour-friendly nature of innovation, which we measure in terms of forward-citation weighted patents. However, this positive impact of innovation is statistically significant only for firms in the high-tech manufacturing sectors, while not significant in low-tech manufacturing and services.
    Keywords: technological change, innovation, patents, employment, GMM-SYS
    JEL: O31 O33
    Date: 2015–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9147&r=ino
  2. By: Brueggemann, Julia; Meub, Lukas
    Abstract: Economic research on innovation has long discussed which policy instruments best foster innovativeness in individuals and organizations. One of the instruments easily accessible to policy-makers is innovation contests; however, there is ambiguous empirical evidence concerning how such contests should be designed. Our experimental study provides evidence by analyzing the effects of two different innovation contests on subjects´ innovativeness: a prize for the aggregate innovativeness and a prize for the best innovation. We implement a creative real effort task simulating a sequential innovation process, whereby subjects determine royalty fees for their created products, which also serve as a measure of cooperation. We find that both contest conditions reduce the willingness to cooperate between subjects compared to a benchmark condition without an innovation contest. However, the total innovation activity is not influenced by introducing innovation contest schemes. From a policy perspective, the implementation of state-subsidized innovation contests in addition to the existing intellectual property rights system should be questioned.
    Keywords: innovation prizes,competition,laboratory experiment,real effort task,creativity,innovation policy
    JEL: C91 D89 O31
    Date: 2015
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cegedp:251&r=ino
  3. By: Letizia Montinari (Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (JRC-IPTS)); Massimo Riccabonii (Insititute for advanced studies Lucca); Stefano Schiavo (Department of Economic Geography)
    Abstract: This paper contributes to the literature explaining firm-level heterogenenity in the extensive margin of trade, defined as the number of products exported by each firm. We develop a model where firms must invest in R&D to maintain and increase their portfolio of goods: the process of product innovation by new and incumbent firms is such that the probability to capture new products is a function of the number of varieties already exported. This mechanism, together with the entry/exit dynamics that characterize the economy, gives rise to a Pareto distribution for the number of products exported by each firm. On the other hand, we model export sales as depending on exogenous preference shocks on the demand side, which leads to a lognormal distribution for the intensive margin of trade. Both predictions are consistent with a number of empirical findings recently emerged in the literature; this paper provides additional evidence based on a large dataset of French firms. Finally, a simple extension to the model allows us to derive some interesting insights on the behavior of multi-products firms: sales of different products across destinations are not uncorrelated, but show a rather strict hierarchy.
    Keywords: International trade; Extensive margin; Innovation; Preferential attachment; Multi-product firms
    JEL: F14 F43 L11 O3
    Date: 2013–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/tfpqfk7fp8g29qsj8rsafures&r=ino
  4. By: Joachim Wagner (Leuphana University Lueneburg, Germany)
    Abstract: This paper uses a new tailor-made data set to investigate for the first time the links between innovation activities (measured by employees active in research and development) and the extensive margins of exports (number of destination countries; number of goods exported) for manufacturing enterprises in Germany, the third largest exporter of goods on the world market. It documents that more innovative firms outperform less innovative firms at both margins of exports – they export more goods and they export to a larger number of countries. All these differences are statistically highly significant and large from an economic point of view.
    Keywords: Extensive margins of exports, Germany, innovation, research and development
    JEL: F14
    Date: 2015–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lue:wpaper:343&r=ino
  5. By: Orman, Cuneyt
    Abstract: This paper develops a theory of the firm scope where not only research but also ordinary production employees can generate inventions. Separating research from production (“specialization”) solves the two-tier agency problem of inducing simultaneously research effort and managerial truthful-reporting but is costly when capital markets are imperfect. Improvements in capital markets, therefore, promote specialization, allowing a greater number of specialized firms to be established and also enabling them to undertake innovative projects with larger potential outcomes. Moreover, this capital market improvement effect is stronger for innovative activities that are less capital-intensive and that have weaker synergies with existing production activities. The model can help us understand the explosion of small company innovation in the U.S. since late 1970s and the contribution of venture capital to this change.
    Keywords: Innovation, Organizational form, Agency problems, Technological synergies, Financial imperfections.
    JEL: D86 D2 D82 O32 G24
    Date: 2015–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:65441&r=ino
  6. By: Lorna Earl; Helen Timperley
    Abstract: In this working paper, Earl and Timperley argue that evaluative thinking is a necessary component of successful innovation and involves more than measurement and quantification. Combining evaluation with innovation requires discipline in the innovation and flexibility in the evaluation. The knowledge bases for both innovation and evaluation have advanced dramatically in recent years in ways that have allowed synergies to develop between them; the different stakeholders can bring evaluative thinking into innovation in ways that capitalise on these synergies. Evaluative thinking contributes to new learning by providing evidence to chronicle, map and monitor the progress, successes, failures and roadblocks in the innovation as it unfolds. It involves thinking about what evidence will be useful during the course of the innovation activities, establishing the range of objectives and targets that make sense to determine their progress, and building knowledge and developing practical uses for the new information, throughout the trajectory of the innovation. Having a continuous cycle of generating hypotheses, collecting evidence, and reflecting on progress, allows the stakeholders (e.g., innovation leaders, policymakers, funders, participants in innovation) an opportunity to try things, experiment, make mistakes and consider where they are, what went right and what went wrong, through a fresh and independent review of the course and the effects of the innovation. This paper describes issues and approaches to each phase of the cycle. It concludes by outlining the synergies to be made, building capacity for evaluative thinking, as well as possible tensions to be addressed.<BR>Dans ce document de travail, Earl et Timperley mettent en avant l’argument que la pensée évaluative est un élément indispensable à une innovation réussie, et qu’il ne s’agit pas seulement de méthodes de mesure et de quantification. Combiner évaluation avec innovation exige de la discipline dans l’innovation et de la souplesse dans l’évaluation. Les bases de connaissances pour l’innovation comme pour l’évaluation ont vu une évolution importante ces dernières années, permettant le développement de synergies entre ces deux domaines ; les différentes parties prenantes peuvent apporter la pensée évaluative à l’innovation, en tirant parti de ces synergies. La pensée évaluative contribue aux nouveautés en matière d’apprentissage en fournissant des preuves pour documenter, recenser et mesurer le progrès, les succès, les échecs et les obstacles dans l’innovation en cours. Il s’agit de réfléchir aux preuves qui seraient utiles au cours des activités de l’innovation, et donc d’établir un champ d’objectifs et de cibles propices à déterminer le progrès de ces activités, acquérir des connaissances et développer des usages pratiques des nouvelles informations tout au long de la trajectoire de l’innovation. La génération d’hypothèses en cycle continu, le recueil de preuves, et la réflexion sur le progrès permettent aux parties prenantes (par exemple, les leaders de l’innovation, les responsables politiques, les bailleurs de fonds, et les personnes prenant part à l’innovation) d’essayer, d’expérimenter, de faire des erreurs et de considérer où sont ces erreurs, ce qui s’est bien passé ou ce qui a mal tourné, grâce à un bilan nouveau et indépendant du déroulement et des effets de l’innovation. Ce document décrit les enjeux et les approches de chacune des phases du cycle. Il conclut en indiquant les synergies qu’il reste à accomplir, ouvrant le champ à la pensée évaluative, ainsi que des tensions éventuelles à traiter.
    Date: 2015–07–03
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaab:122-en&r=ino
  7. By: Rong Rong (Department of Economics, Weber State University); Daniel Houser (Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science and Department of Economics, George Mason University)
    Abstract: Innovation occurs in network environments. Identifying the important players in the innovative  process,  namely  “the  innovatorsâ€,  is  key to understanding the process of innovation. Doing this requires flexible analysis tools tailored to work well with complex datasets generated within such environments. One such tool, cluster analysis, organizes a large data set into discrete groups based on patterns of similarity. It can be used to discover data patterns in networks without requiring strong ex ante assumptions about the properties of either the data generating process or the environment. This paper reviews key procedures and algorithms related to cluster analysis. Further, it demonstrates how to choose among these methods to identify the characteristics of players in a network experiment where innovation emerges endogenously. Length: 30
    Keywords: cluster analysis, k-means algorithm, innovation, networks, laboratory experiment
    JEL: C46 C81
    Date: 2014–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gms:wpaper:1049&r=ino
  8. By: Bullard, James B. (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis)
    Abstract: St. Louis Fed President James Bullard discussed innovation and entrepreneurship as a local development strategy, trends in startup firms in recent decades, and the return of "bubble" talk about the technology market as he delivered the keynote address at the Emerging Venture Leaders Summit in St. Louis. Earlier in the day, he met with key leaders in the St. Louis innovation and startup communities.
    Date: 2015–06–30
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedlps:246&r=ino
  9. By: PONSSARD Jean-Pierre; SINCLAIR DESGAGNÉ Bernard; SOLER Louis-Georges; GIRAUD HERAUD Eric
    Abstract: Sustainable food concerns have pushed public authorities to act by means of regulations,\r\nstandards and other devices, and businesses to innovate in their products and production processes.\r\nWe argue that the Porter Hypothesis – which asserts that properly designed and implemented\r\nenvironmental regulation might be good for society as well as the targeted firms – might well be verified in this context. After reviewing and illustrating the working principles and main criticisms of this hypothesis, we provide a more in-depth discussion of nutritional issues. While the literature generally points to organizational imperfections and market failures to validate the Porter Hypothesis,we submit and model another rationale for the agro-food industry, a rationale that is based on consumer behavior.
    Keywords: Sustainable food; Regulation; Innovation; Consumer behavior; Porter Hypothesis.
    JEL: L13 L51 Q55 Q58
    Date: 2015
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:grt:wpegrt:2015-21&r=ino
  10. By: Elena Apevalova (RANEPA); Natalia Polezhaeva (RANEPA)
    Abstract: This paper deals with the issues of innovation in corporate legislation. The authors focus on the Civil Code reform and the new Code of Corporate Governance.
    Keywords: Russian economy; civil code, corporate governance legislation
    JEL: K11 K23
    Date: 2015
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gai:ppaper:231&r=ino
  11. By: Sandro Montresor (Kore University of Enna); Francesco Quatraro (University of Turin)
    Abstract: The paper aims at investigating whether Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) can have a role in facilitating regional Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3). Drawing on the economic geography approach to S3, we formulate some hypotheses about the impact that KETs-related knowledge can have on the construction of new regional technological advantages (RTAs). By crossing regional data on patent applications, in KETs-mapped classes of the International Patent Classification (IPC), with a number of regional economic indicators, we test these hypotheses on a panel of 26 European countries over the period 1980-2010. KETs show a positive impact on the construction of new RTAs, pointing to a new “enabling” role for them. KETs also exert a negative moderating role on the RTAs impact of the density of related pre-existing technologies, pointing to the KETs capacity of making the latter less binding in pursuing S3. Overall, the net-impact of KETs is positive, pointing to a new case for plugging KETs in the S3 policy tool-box.
    Keywords: Key Enabling Technologies; Smart Specialization Strategies; Revealed Technological Advantages
    JEL: R11 R58 O31 O33
    Date: 2015
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:wpaper:201505&r=ino
  12. By: Dimitris Papanikolaou (Northwestern University)
    Abstract: We provide a theory of endogenous shocks to the marginal efficiency of investment that is based on a limited commitment friction in the creation of new capital. Inventors generate ideas but are inefficient at implementing them. When inventors collaborate with firms, their ideas can be implemented more efficiently. However, firms cannot commit to appropriately compensate inventors. The best ideas are those most at risk of theft, since reputational concerns are insufficient to always discipline firms. The fear of expropriation leads inventors to implement their best ideas inefficiently without firms. Good news about future technological progress increases the value of future business and thus disciplines firms away from expropriating better ideas, leading to increases in measured productivity and the returns to new investment. In contrast to standard models, this mechanism leads to an investment boom and increased economic growth in response to good news about future technologies.
    Date: 2015
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:red:sed015:71&r=ino
  13. By: Flavio Calvino; Chiara Criscuolo; Carlo Menon
    Abstract: The report provides a description of start-up dynamics exploiting the richness of the recently collected DynEmp v.2 database. The contribution of new firms in terms of new jobs to the existing workforce can be expressed as a combination of four different elements: the start-up rate; the average size of firms at point of entry; the survival rate; and the average growth rate of survivors. This decomposition shows that the four elements interplay in very different ways, even across economies with similar aggregate start-up contributions. The most homogenous component across countries is the survival rate, which is equal to just above 60% after three years from entry, to about 50% after five years, and to just over 40% after seven years. Furthermore, in most countries the probability of exiting is highest at the age of two, and decreases (linearly) beyond that age. When looking at employment growth of surviving businesses, it is found that the large majority of surviving micro start-ups do not grow; however, the tiny proportion of small start-ups which do grow creates a disproportionate amount of jobs.
    Keywords: entrepreneurship, start-ups, firm demographics, employment dynamics
    JEL: D22 L11 L26
    Date: 2015–07–03
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stiaaa:2015/6-en&r=ino
  14. By: Preikschas, Michael W.; Cabanelas, Pablo; Rüdiger, Klaus; Lampón, Jesús F.
    Abstract: The paper analyses how value co-creation processes can influence the generation of dynamic capabilities and the retention of industrial customers. The authors explore its influence with the support of Social Exchange Theory, Resource-Based View and Service-Dominant Logic. The methodology applied was qualitative research, based on 29 semi-structured in depth interviews with owners, managing directors, and technical managers with previous experience in co-creation processes. The research was performed in four different European countries and is focused on the mobile crane industry. The findings confirm that co-creation processes promote the generation of dynamic capabilities linked to adaptation, knowledge, innovation and relationship management. In addition, the closer contact with customers and the availability of their expertise favour the development of solutions that better meet their needs, bridging the cognitive gap which often exists between partners. Regarding customer retention, the results show that there is a correlation between the co-creation processes and the customers’ predisposition to buy and cross selling. Although value co-creation is a topical subject, research in industrial marketing literature analysing the effects of co-creation processes has been scarce up to now. This paper aims to contribute to the debate by analysing how the co-creation of value can influence the generation of dynamic capabilities in companies and how it affects the retention of industrial customers. Through an eclectic approach, based on social exchange theory and the resource-based view as well as service-dominant logic, the researchers can address the dual challenge associated with the main research question: on the one hand encouraging cooperation and on the other managing relations to seek mutual benefit.
    Keywords: Value co-creation; Dynamic Capabilities; Customer Retention; Industrial Markets; co-Innovation; Qualitative Research.
    JEL: M10 M31 M39
    Date: 2014–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:65391&r=ino
  15. By: Ledenyov, Dimitri O.; Ledenyov, Viktor O.
    Abstract: The quantum macroeconomics theory is formulated for the first time, assuming that the business cycle has the discrete-time oscillations spectrum in analogy with the electronics excitations discrete-time spectrum in the Bohr’s atom model in the quantum physics. The quantum macroeconomics theory postulates that the discrete-time transitions from one level of GIP((t), GDP(t), GNP(t) to another level of GIP((t), GDP(t), GNP(t) will occur in the nonlinear dynamic economic systems at the time, when: 1) The land, labour and capital resources are added / released to the production/service processes in the form of quanta; 2) The disruptive scientific/technological/financial/social/political innovation is introduced, creating the resonance conditions necessary to amplify/attenuate the value of GIP((t), GDP(t), GNP(t), during the evolution process of the nonlinear dynamic economic system in the time domain. The authors think that the general information product on the time GIP((t), the general domestic product on the time GDP(t), and the general national product on the time GNP(t), are the discrete-time digital signals (the Ledenyov discrete-time digital waves with the Markov information) in distinction from the continuous-time signals (the Kitchin, Juglar, Kuznets, Kondratieff continuous waves), because of the discrete-time nature of the disruptive scientific/technological/financial/social/political innovations. The authors apply the quantum macroeconomics theory to research and develop a new software program for the accurate characterization and forecasting of GIP((t), GDP(t), GNP(t) dependences changes in the economies of scales and scopes in the time domain for the use by the central / commercial banks.
    Keywords: quantum macroeconomics theory, quantum econophysics science, dependence of general information product on time GIP(t), dependence of general domestic product on time GDP(t), dependence of general national product on time GNP(t), discrete change levels of GIP(t)/GDP(t)/GNP(t), Ledenyov discrete-time digital waves, discrete-time digital signals generators, spectrum analysis / amplitude / frequency / wavelength / period / phase of discrete-time digital signal, mixing / harmonics / nonlinearities of discrete-time digital signal, continuous-time signals, Juglar fixed investment cycle, Kitchin inventory cycle, Kondratieff long wave cycle, Kuznets infrastructural investment cycle, econophysics, econometrics, nonlinear dynamic economic system, economy of scale and scope, macroeconomics.
    JEL: E0 E00 E01 E10 E20 E30 E32 E37 E40 E44 E50 E58 F4 F44 F47
    Date: 2015–07–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:65442&r=ino
  16. By: Luis Aguiar (European Commission - JRC - IPTS); Joel Waldfogel (University of Minnesota - Carlson School of Management)
    Abstract: We explore the consequence of quality unpredictability for the welfare benefit of new products, using recent developments in recorded music as our context. Digitization has expanded consumption opportunities by giving consumers access to the "long tail" of existing products, rather than simply the popular products that a retailer might stock with limited shelf space. While this is clearly beneficial to consumers, the benefits are somewhat limited: given the substitutability among differentiated products, the incremental benefit of obscure products - even lots of them - can be small. But digitization has also reduced the cost of bringing new products to market, giving rise to a different sort of long tail, in production. If the appeal of new products is unpredictable at the time of investment, as is the case for cultural products as well as many others, then creating new products can have substantial welfare benefits. Technological change in the recorded music industry tripled the number of new products between 2000 and 2008. We quantify the effects of new music on welfare using an explicit structural model of demand and entry with potentially unpredictable product quality. Based on plausible forecasting models of expected appeal, a tripling of the choice set according to expected quality adds more than fifteen times as much consumer surplus as the usual long-tail benefits from a tripling of the choice set according to realized quality.
    Keywords: music, Welfare, Entry, Digitization, Recorded Music
    JEL: D60 L13 L82 O33
    Date: 2015–02
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:decwpa:2015-02&r=ino
  17. By: Luis Aguiar (European Commission - JRC - IPTS); Joel Waldfogel (University of Minnesota - Carlson School of Management)
    Abstract: Recorded music revenue has fallen sharply since the appearance of the first digital sharing technology (Napster) in 1999. By 2012, it was down by about 70 percent in North America and Europe compared to 1999. Several factors may have contributed to this decline in revenue, including the change from physical CD formats to digital downloading and widespread file sharing. The fall in revenue raises a serious question about the viability of continued investment in new recorded music products, but it is not by itself the only question of interest for public policy. The purpose of copyright is precisely to protect investment in new artwork and give artists and producers a financial incentive to invest in new recordings. If that incentive is no longer strong enough to ensure a steady stream of new high-quality products, there may be a need for policy makers to intervene to reinforce copyright protection in music. From this perspective, the correct barometer for the health of the copyright system is whether creators bring forth valuable new products. The paper investigates the impact of recent technological change - that on may collectively term \digitization" - on the quantity and quality of music products produced in North America and 15 European countries. The number of new works has risen significantly since 2000; but the number of new products is a poor indicator of the value that society derives from music given the skew in sales distributions. Instead, one should take into account the evolution of the quality of new music products as well. The evolution of vintage quality can be inferred from consumption data by year and by vintage. In any given year, older music tends (on average) to sell less due to depreciation. Given data on sales by vintage for multiple calendar years, one can ask whether different vintages sell more or less than others, after accounting for depreciation. Using this approach on fragmentary sales data for the US only, Waldfogel (2012) found that the quality of music in the eyes of US consumers has grown sharply since Napster.
    Keywords: recorded music sales, digitization, internet, quality of music
    Date: 2015–03
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:decwpa:2015-03&r=ino
  18. By: Robin Döttling (University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands); Enrico Perotti (University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
    Abstract: We explore how house prices evolve under technological progress, when housing serves for consumption as well as store of value. Technological change leads to human capital substituting physical capital and manual labor. Reduced use of physical capital implies that firms have less tangible collateral to pledge for external finance. This results in lower business demand for credit and a decline in interest rates. Over time, savings are redirected to mortgage credit, where houses serve as collateral. Under fixed land supply, house prices rise in real terms. The combination of growing wage inequality and mortgage credit leads to high household leverage for low-skill workers, increasing default rates and foreclosures. Restraining mortgage borrowing is more effective than subsidies to limit mortgage defaults, by containing both leverage and house price appreciation. It also leads to lower interest rates, supporting more corporate investment and higher wages.
    Keywords: Inequality; mortgage credit; housing; human capital; skill-biased technological change
    JEL: D33 E22 E44 R21
    Date: 2015–07–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20150079&r=ino
  19. By: Hufner, Daniel; Mossig, Ivo
    Abstract: Sie nennen sich Soundcloud, Researchgate, 6Wunderkinder oder Zalando - junge Gründer, die das Internet im Rahmen ihrer Geschäftsideen auf vielfältige Weise nutzen, zieht es nach Berlin. Nationale Gründerstatistiken zeigen, dass sich Internetunternehmen nirgendwo besser gründen lassen als in Berlin, Hamburg oder München. Allerdings finden Hamburg und München in der medialen Berichterstattung kaum Beachtung. Mit viel Hysterie und Enthusiasmus rufen Medien und Blogs stattdessen die Bundeshauptstadt als Start-up-Metropole der Zukunft aus. Doch warum ist das so? Wonach suchen digitale Existenzgründer in Berlin, was sie an anderen IT-Gründerhochburgen wie Hamburg oder München nicht finden? Warum konzentrieren sich Web- und Softwareunternehmen an einem Standort wie diesen? Antworten darauf gibt eine diskursanalytische Untersuchung der drei wichtigsten deutschsprachigen Gründer-Blogs. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Berlin spezielle Standortansprüche der Gründer von Internetunternehmen bedient. Insgesamt identifiziert die Diskursanalyse drei zentrale Anforderungsbereiche: Die lokale Verfügbarkeit von Wagniskapital, die dortige Internationalität sowie ein szene-basiertes Ökosystem und sozio-kulturelles Raumangebot.
    Abstract: They call themselves Soundcloud, Researchgate, 6Wunderkinder or Zalando - young entrepreneurs with an affinity to the web prefer to move to Berlin. National founder statistics reveal: Nowhere else can internet companies be better established than in Berlin, Hamburg or Munich. However, Hamburg and Munich don't draw that much attention in the broad medial discussion about growing startup-cities. Instead, with a lot of hysteria and enthusiasm mass media and blogs proclaim Berlin as the start-up capital of the future. But what's the matter? What are the internet start-ups especially looking for in Berlin? Why do web- and software companies concentrate at specific locations? Answers will be given by a discourse analysis of three important german-speaking start-up-blogs. The results illustrate that foundings of internet companies are based on specific requirements on locations such as Berlin. Overall, the discourse analysis identifies three main requirements: The local availability of venture capital, a location with international structures as well as a community-based ecosystem and sociocultural space.
    Keywords: Startups,Internet,Standortanforderungen,kreative urbane Milieus,Diskursanalyse,Berlin,startups,internet,location requirements,creative urban milieu,discourse analysis
    Date: 2014
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:brebwr:12014&r=ino
  20. By: Gianluca Benigno; Luca Fornaro
    Abstract: We provide a Keynesian growth theory in which pessimistic expectations can lead to permanent, or very persistent, slumps characterized by unemployment and weak growth. We refer to these episodes as stagnation traps, because they consist in the joint occurrence of a liquidity and a growth trap. In a stagnation trap, the central bank is unable to restore full employment because weak growth pushes the interest rate against the zero lower bound, while growth is weak because low aggregate demand results in low profits, limiting firms’ investment in innovation. Policies aiming at restoring growth can successfully lead the economy out of a stagnation trap, thus rationalizing the notion of job creating growth.
    Keywords: secular stagnation, liquidity traps, growth traps, endogenous growth, sunspots
    Date: 2015–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bge:wpaper:832&r=ino
  21. By: Michael Fritsch (School of Economics and Business Administration, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena); Michael Wyrwich (School of Economics and Business Administration, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena)
    Abstract: Emerging literature shows that spatial differences in entrepreneurship tend to persist over longer periods of time. A potential mechanism underlying this pronounced persistence is that high levels of start-up activity lead to the emergence of a regional culture and a supporting environment in favor of entrepreneurship that particularly involves social capital. This chapter summarizes the available empirical evidence on the regional persistence of entrepreneurship and elaborates in detail how different elements of such a culture, such as social capital, can exert an influence on the level of new business formation and self-employment. As a demonstration for the relevance of a regional entrepreneurship culture for new business formation, we highlight the case of Germany where we find pronounced persistence of start-up activity despite radical structural and institutional shocks over the course of the 20th century. The German case suggests that there is a long-lasting local culture of entrepreneurship that can survive disruptive changes. We discuss the relationship between place-specific social capital and a regional culture of entrepreneurship and draw policy conclusions.
    Keywords: Entrepreneurship, social capital, economic development, self-employment, new business formation, entrepreneurship culture, institutions
    JEL: L26 R11 O11
    Date: 2015–07–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2015-009&r=ino
  22. By: Juliana Jaramillo-Echeverri (Banco de la República de Colombia); Adolfo Meisel-Roca (Banco de la República de Colombia); María Teresa Ramírez-Giraldo (Banco de la República de Colombia)
    Abstract: This paper analyzes the role of the Great Depression and protectionism in the Colombian industrialization of the early 1930s as well as the role of other determinants in the rapid industrialization that took place during the period 1934-1953. We conclude that the market pushed industrialization by reducing costs, generating economies of scale, learning by doing, giving place to agglomeration economies, and rapid technological change. This paper also examines the structure of the Colombian manufacturing sector in 1945, which was the result of the deep socio-economic transformations that took place in the previous decade. The results indicate that the industrialization process was uneven across regions, and that it was spatially concentrated. Estimations of a production function for industry in 1945 show that there were important differences in factor elasticities and productivities among sectors and regions, which led to different regional patterns of industrialization. In addition, the results indicate that labor productivity in 1945 was positively and significantly related to education and capital, whereas it was negatively related to the unskilled workers and the age of the firms. Classification JEL: N1, N66, O14
    Keywords: Industrialization, Great Collapse, market-led industry, Colombia.
    Date: 2015–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdr:borrec:892&r=ino
  23. By: Blumberg, Boris F. (Maastricht University); Pfann, Gerard A. (Maastricht University)
    Abstract: This paper studies the event history of business foundation. Three theoretical concepts of human, financial and social capital are linked to investigate variations over time of people's decision processes to become self-employed. Data from a cohort of Dutch inhabitants born in 1939/1940 who have been interviewed three times during their lives in 1952, 1983, and 1993 allows for testing theoretical hypotheses that state clear differences between two different roads towards business ownership. Empirical results show that the baseline hazard decreases with time for transgenerational entrepreneurs with self-employed parents, but increases for self-made startups. Social capital in the form of strong ties is a better predictor of enterprise than human capital.
    Keywords: entrepreneurship, family business, new venture creation
    JEL: D92 M14 M21
    Date: 2015–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9155&r=ino

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