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on Small Business Management |
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Issue of 2010‒02‒20
seven papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Ewa Balcerowicz; Marek Peczkowski; Anna Wziatek-Kubiak |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the differences in innovation behaviour, i.e. differences in innovation sources and innovation effects, among manufacturing firms in three NMS: the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. It is based on a survey of firms operating in four manufacturing industries: food and beverages, automotive, pharmaceuticals and electronics. The paper takes into account: innovation inputs in enterprises, cooperation among firms in R&D activities, the benefits of cooperation with business partners and innovation effects (innovation outputs and international competitiveness of firms' products and technology) in the three countries. After employing cluster analysis, five types of innovation patterns were detected. The paper characterises and compares these innovation patterns, highlighting differences and similarities. The paper shows that external knowledge plays an important role in innovation activities in NMS firms. The ability to explore cooperation with business partners and the benefits of using external knowledge are determined by in-house innovation activities, notably R&D intensity. |
| Keywords: | Innovation patterns of firms, strategy of innovation, innovation behaviour, innovation sources, taxonomies of innovative firms, EU new member states |
| JEL: | L25 O31 O32 O33 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sec:cnstan:0394&r=sbm |
| By: | Ewa Balcerowicz; Marek Peczkowski; Anna Wziatek-Kubiak |
| Abstract: | For many years, analysis on innovations focused on high technology industries which were treated as synonymous with high competitiveness and growth. New research on low and medium technology industries has revealed that their growth is also based on innovations, though their sources differ from high technology industries. As the 'catching up' economies of the EU New Member States (NMS) are based on low and medium technology industries, the differences in innovativeness between high and low technology sector firms as well as within each of the sectors can play an important role in the future development of these countries. This paper aims to show the differences in innovation patterns among manufacturing firms operating in low and high technology sectors in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. It is based on a survey of firms which took into account innovation inputs, cooperation among firms in R&D activities, the benefits of cooperation with business partners, innovation outputs and international competitiveness. The sample consisted of 358 firms operating in both low and medium technology industries (food and beverages and automotive) and high technology industries (pharmaceuticals and electronics). After employing cluster analysis, five types of innovation patterns were detected, characterised and compared in firms operating in the low and medium technology (LMT) sectors, and four in the high technology (HT) sector. Differences and similarities in innovation patterns between firms operating in each of the two sectors are discussed. The paper shows that external knowledge plays a crucial role in innovation activities in NMS' firms. The ability to explore cooperation with business partners and the use of external knowledge are more important for the international competitiveness of the NMS' products than in-house innovation resources. |
| Keywords: | Innovation of firms, Innovation patterns, Innovation sources, Diversification of innovations, Low-tech industries, High-tech industries, EU New Member States |
| JEL: | L25 O31 O32 O33 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sec:cnstan:0390&r=sbm |
| By: | O.A. Carboni |
| Abstract: | <p>This paper is a contribution to the empirical literature on R&D cooperation. It explores the variables that determine a firm's R&D collaborative expenditure by means of a sample of Italian firms. A tobit model, adjusted for heteroscedasticity and non-normality (Inverse Hyperbolic Sin transformation to the dependent variable), is used to deal with the large number of zero responses. Size, public grants and innovation are found to be effective in determining the level of cooperative R&D expenditure. Absorptive capacity, expressed by the in-house stable R&D effort, also plays an important role. This is in line with the idea that internal R&D is required if a firm is to take advantage of the outcomes of external R&D investment.</p> |
| Keywords: | Truncated and censored models; R&D cooperation; firm behaviour |
| JEL: | O32 O31 D21 C24 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cns:cnscwp:200909&r=sbm |
| By: | Bogliacino, Francesco (Universidad EAFIT); Vivarelli, Marco (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore) |
| Abstract: | In this study we use a unique database covering 25 manufacturing and service sectors for 16 European countries over the period 1996-2005, for a total of 2,295 observations, and apply GMM-SYS panel estimations of a demand-for-labour equation augmented with technology. We find that R&D expenditures have a job-creating effect, in accordance with the previous theoretical and empirical literature discussed in the paper. Interestingly enough, the labour-friendly nature of R&D emerges in both the flow and the stock specifications. These findings provide further justification for the European Lisbon-Barcelona targets. |
| Keywords: | technological change, corporate R&D, employment, product innovation, GMM-SYS |
| JEL: | O33 |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4728&r=sbm |
| By: | Escribano Sáez, Álvaro; Fosfuri, Andrea; Tribó, Josep A. |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we argue that those firms with higher levels of absorptive capacity can manage external knowledge flows more efficiently, and stimulate innovative outcomes. We test this contention with a sample of 2265 Spanish firms, drawn from the Community Innovation Surveys (CIS) for 2000 and 2002, produced by the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE). We find that absorptive capacity is indeed an important source of competitive advantage, especially in sectors characterized by turbulent knowledge and strong intellectual property rights protection. The implications for management practice and policy are also discussed. |
| Keywords: | Absorptive capacity; Innovation; External knowledge flows; |
| JEL: | O32 O33 |
| Date: | 2009–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:carlos:info:hdl:10016/6666&r=sbm |
| By: | Matteo Bugamelli (Banca d'Italia); Riccardo Cristadoro (Banca d'Italia); Giordano Zevi (Banca d'Italia) |
| Abstract: | We study the effects of the world economic crisis which began in 2007 on the Italian productive system. National accounts data are supplemented with information gathered in spring 2009 from the Bank of Italy’s survey on industrial and service firms, and from interviews with about 70 of their managers. Our sources confirm that this recession is the most severe recorded since the Second World War and that more than in the past, the recovery of the Italian economy will have to rely on internal demand dynamics and on firms’ ability to respond to increased competitive pressure. Our rich dataset allows us to formulate some initial responses to important issues by distinguishing between firms according to size, sector and propensity to export. When the crisis struck, the Italian productive system was in the middle of a profound, albeit partial, restructuring process, the first fruits of which were beginning to be seen. It is therefore important to understand whether some of the firms that have been most involved in the restructuring process and which are therefore in debt today, are encountering external funding difficulties in this context of widespread falling demand—difficulties serious enough to threaten their very survival. |
| Keywords: | cyclical fluctuations, recession, investment, firms’ strategies, microdata, restructuring |
| JEL: | C21 E22 E23 L20 |
| Date: | 2009–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_58_09&r=sbm |
| By: | Richard Jensen; Jerry Thursby; Marie C. Thursby |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a theoretical model of faculty consulting in the context of government and industry funding for research within the university, which then frames an empirical analysis of the funding and consulting of 458 individual faculty inventors from 8 major US universities. In the theory, firms realize that they free ride on government sponsored research of the faculty they hire as consultants and faculty realize their university research projects indirectly benefit from their firm experience. The model accounts for faculty quality, project characteristics, faculty share of license revenue from university research, and the university's research support. Empirically we find that government research funding is positively related to consulting, independent of faculty quality. We find that government and industry funding for university research are strategic complements as well as evidence of the ability of universities to leverage their research infrastructure to attract research funding. |
| JEL: | O31 O34 O38 |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15732&r=sbm |