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on Small Business Management |
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Issue of 2010‒10‒16
nine papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Mercedes Delgado; Michael Porter; Scott Stern |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the role of regional clusters in regional entrepreneurship. We focus on the distinct influences of convergence and agglomeration on growth in the number of start-up firms as well as in employment in these new firms in a given region-industry. While reversion to the mean and diminishing returns to entrepreneurship at the region-industry level can result in a convergence effect, the presence of complementary economic activity creates externalities that enhance incentives and reduce barriers for new business creation. Clusters are a particularly important way through which location-based complementarities are realized. The empirical analysis uses a novel panel dataset from the Longitudinal Business Database of the Census Bureau and the U.S. Cluster Mapping Project (Porter, 2003). Using this dataset, there is significant evidence of the positive impact of clusters on entrepreneurship. After controlling for convergence in start-up activity at the region-industry level, industries located in regions with strong clusters (i.e. a large presence of other related industries) experience higher growth in new business formation and start-up employment. Strong clusters are also associated with the formation of new establishments of existing firms, thus influencing the location decision of multiestablishment firms. Finally, strong clusters contribute to start-up firm survival. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship, Industry Clusters, Dynamic Economies of Agglomeration |
| Date: | 2010–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:10-31&r=sbm |
| By: | Michael Polder; George van Leeuwen; Pierre Mohnen; Wladimir Raymond |
| Abstract: | We propose a model where both R&D and ICT investment feed into a system of three innovation output equations (product, process and organizational innovation), which ultimately feeds into a productivity equation. We find that ICT investment and usage are important drivers of innovation in both manufacturing and services. Doing more R&D has a positive effect on product innovation in manufacturing. The strongest productivity effects are derived from organizational innovation. We find positive effects of product and process innovation when combined with an organizational innovation. There is evidence that organizational innovation is complementary to process innovation. |
| Keywords: | Innovation; ICT; R&D; Productivity |
| JEL: | L25 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aal:abbswp:10-24&r=sbm |
| By: | Lucia Foster; Cheryl Grim |
| Abstract: | Innovation drives economic growth and productivity growth, and as such, indicators of innovative activity such as research and development (R&D) expenditures are of paramount importance. We combine Census confidential microdata from two sources in order to examine the characteristics of the top R&D performing firms in the U.S. economy. We use the Survey of Industrial Research and Development (SIRD) to identify the top 200 R&D performing firms in 2003 and, to the extent possible, to trace the evolution of these firms from 1957 to 2007. The Longitudinal Business Database (LBD) further extends our knowledge about these firms and enables us to make comparisons to the U.S. economy. By linking the SIRD and the LBD we are able to create a detailed portrait of the evolution of the top R&D performing firms in the U.S. |
| Date: | 2010–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:10-33&r=sbm |
| By: | Geuna Aldo; Bodas Freitas Isabel Maria; Rossi Federica (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | This analysis is based on a representative sample of firms in the Italian region of Piedmont, and investigates the nature and intensity of collaborations between regional firms and universities in different locations. It contributes to the literature on university industry knowledge transfer in investigating institutional collaborations, typically mediated by the university through its administrative structures such as departments or dedicated units such as technology transfer offices, and contractual personal collaborations between firms and individual academics, involving formal and binding contractual agreements, but carried out without the direct involvement of the university.We explore and compare the characteristics of firms involved in these two different governance forms of knowledge transfer, with those of firms that do not collaborate with universities. Our analysis shows that firms that use contractual personal collaborations are generally smaller and more often interested in the acquisition of external embodied and disembodied knowledge and open innovation strategies. |
| Date: | 2010–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:labeco:201013&r=sbm |
| By: | Fardad Zand; Cees van Beers |
| Abstract: | Despite the ubiquitous proliferation and importance of Enterprise Systems (ES), little research exists on their post-implementation impact on firm performance, especially in Europe. This paper provides representative, large-sample evidence on the differential effects of different ES types on performance of European enterprises. It also highlights the mediating role of innovation in the process of value creation from ES investments. Empirical data on the adoption of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Supply Chain Management (SCM), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Knowledge Management System (KMS), and Document Management System (DMS) is used to investigate the effects on product and process innovation, revenue, productivity and market share growth, and profitability. The data covers 29 sectors in 29 countries over a 5-year period. The results show that all ES categories significantly increase the likelihood of product and process innovation. Most of ES categories affect revenue, productivity and market share growth positively. Particularly, more domainspecific and simpler system types lead to stronger positive effects. ERP systems decrease the profitability likelihood of the firm, whereas other ES categories do not show any significant effect. The findings also imply that innovation acts as a full or partial mediator in the process of value creation of ES implementations. The direct effect of enterprise software on firm performance disappears or significantly diminishes when the indirect effects through product and process innovation are explicitly accounted for. The paper highlights future areas of research. |
| Keywords: | Enterprise Systems; ERP; SCM; CRM; KMS; DMS; IT Adoption; Post-implementation Phase; IT Business Value; Innovation; Firm Performance; Europe |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aal:abbswp:10-26&r=sbm |
| By: | Johannes Pöschl (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw); Robert Stehrer (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw); Roman Stöllinger (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we provide detailed evidence on the importance and performance of exporters compared to non-exporters in Austrian manufacturing industries based on firm-level data. The centrepiece of the study is the issue of the export premium, i.e. the size and performance advantages of exporting firms compared to their purely domestic peers. We find evidence for the existence of large export premia for all seven size and performance premia considered. These results are largely in line with the results found for other European countries. When estimating the export premium at the level of individual industries, we find significant differences with respect to the magnitude of the export premia. Significant export premia are still found when controlling for other firm characteristics such as employment and R&D-related variables where we find lower but more plausible magnitudes for the size and performance premia of exporters. We further test the robustness of the export premium results using random and also fixed effects estimators. The random effects model delivers statistically significant export premia for all measures as well. Care has to be taken when interpreting the estimated coefficients in the firm fixed effects model as the coefficients signal differences in size and productivity for 'export switchers', i.e. firms changing their export status. Finally we employ a probit model to investigate the impact of past firm characteristics on the probability to export. The major result is that while lagged firm productivity and size matter, the most important factor influencing this probability is the past export status pointing to a strong persistence of exporting. |
| Keywords: | exports, firm heterogeneity, export premium, Austrian manufacturing firms |
| JEL: | F14 L25 |
| Date: | 2010–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wii:wpaper:67&r=sbm |
| By: | Keld Laursen; Francesca Masciarelli; Toke Reichstein |
| Abstract: | External knowledge acquisition represents a precondition for firms’ competitive advantage. However, young firms find it particularly difficult to gain access to external sources of knowledge: young firms suffer from a liability of newness by exhibiting significantly lower propensities to invest in external R&D than their older counterparts. We explore the role of geographically bound social capital in moderating this liability. By employing a Nested Logit approach, our findings show that geographically bound social capital moderates the liability of newness related to R&D acquisition, suggesting that the liability exists only in regions associated with low levels of social capital. |
| Keywords: | Research and development; social capital; liability of newness; geography |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aal:abbswp:10-25&r=sbm |
| By: | Czarnitzki, Dirk; Dick, Johannes M. H.; Hussinger, Katrin |
| Abstract: | Established firms often face significant obstacles to innovation. As a solution, it has been suggested to form corporate ventures. Based on a sample of corporate and independent ventures in German manufacturing, we show that corporate ventures are more innovative than the control group, i.e. the independent ventures. In particular, corporate ventures are more successful at developing radical innovations. This effect, however, decreases with the ventures' degree of ownership concentration. We conclude that corporate ventures with a high ownership concentration are more likely to be controlled and monitored by their corporate sponsors, resulting in less favorable conditions for radical innovation. -- |
| Keywords: | corporate entrepreneurship,start-ups,radical innovation |
| JEL: | L26 M13 O31 O32 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:10060&r=sbm |
| By: | Almeida, Rita K.; Aterido, Reyes |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the link between firm size and the investment in job training by employers. Using a large firm level data set across 99 developing countries, we show that a strong and positive correlation in the investment in job training and firm size is a robust statistical finding both within and across countries with very different institutions and level of development. However, the findings do not support the view that this difference is mostly driven by market imperfections disproportionally affecting small and medium enterprise sector (SMEs). Rather, our evidence is supportive of SMEs having a smaller expected return from the investment in job training than larger firms. Therefore, the findings call for caution when designing pro-SME policies fostering the investment in on the job training. |
| Keywords: | Education For All,Labor Policies,Primary Education,Microfinance,Labor Markets |
| Date: | 2010–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:hdnspu:54967&r=sbm |