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on Small Business Management |
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Issue of 2011‒02‒12
twelve papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Michael Fritsch (School of Economics and Business Administration, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena) |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews the current state of knowledge about the effect of new business formation on regional development. After a brief sketch of the origins of research on this issue, the main results of different lines of inquiry are discussed. Main issues are the development of start-up cohorts, the relative magnitude of direct and indirect effects, and results by type of entry and by industry, as well as differences in the effects that have been found for different types of regions. After interpreting the results based on a common framework, I put forward a number of important questions for further research and draw some conclusions for entrepreneurship policy. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship, new business formation, employment, regional development |
| JEL: | L26 M13 O1 O18 R11 |
| Date: | 2011–02–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2011-006&r=sbm |
| By: | Block, Joern; Spiegel, Frank |
| Abstract: | Family firms are important not only for a region but for the economy as a whole. In particular, the long-term orientation and the local embeddedness of family firms suggest a positive effect on regional innovation activity. Yet, despite the widely acknowledged importance of family firms for the economy, little research exists on this issue. This paper analyses the effect of family firms on regional innovation. Using a dataset of 326 German regions, our regressions show that regions with a higher share of family firms also show higher levels of innovation activity, as measured by the number of successful patent applications. The implications of these findings for policy and research are discussed. |
| Keywords: | innovation; family firms; geography; Mittelstand; patents |
| JEL: | L26 O3 |
| Date: | 2011–02–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:28604&r=sbm |
| By: | Marco Capasso; Elena Cefis; Koen Frenken |
| Abstract: | We compare the industrial dynamics in the core, semi-periphery and periphery in The Netherlands in terms of firm entry-exit, size, growth and sectoral location patterns. The contribution of our work is to provide the first comprehensive study on spatial differentiation in industrial dynamics for all firm sizes and all sectors, including services. We find that at the aggregate level the spatial pattern of industrial dynamics is consistent with the spatial product lifecycle thesis: entry and exit rates are highest in the core and lowest in the periphery, while the share of persistently growing firms is higher in the periphery than in the core. Disaggregating the analysis to the sectoral level following the Pavitt-Miozzo-Soete taxonomy, findings are less robust. Finally, sectoral location patterns are largely consistent with the spatial product lifecycle model: Fordist sectors are over-represented in the periphery, while sectors associated with the ICT paradigm are over-represented in the core, with the notable exception of science-based manufacturing. |
| Keywords: | Entry, exit, spatial product lifecycle, Fordist paradigm, ICT paradigm |
| JEL: | L25 L26 L60 L80 O18 O33 R10 |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1103&r=sbm |
| By: | Florian Noseleit |
| Abstract: | The ability to adjust to structural change is vital to economic development, and entries can be active participants in this process. While the importance of factor reallocations for growth is widely accepted, the role of entrepreneurs in managing these reallocations is rarely, if ever, mentioned in the empirical growth literature. This paper analyzes the role of entrepreneurial activity for adjustments of the sectoral structure and its relevance for regional economic development. The historical framework is the accelerated economic transformation that occurred in industrialized countries during the mid 1970s, resulting in an increasing need to adjust. Based on German data from 1975 to 2002, evidence is presented that sectoral reallocations are an important means for transforming entrepreneurial activity into growth. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship, new business formation, regional development, structural change |
| JEL: | L26 M13 O1 O18 R11 |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1104&r=sbm |
| By: | Sergio Mariotti (DIG - Politecnico di Milano); Marco Mutinelli (University of Brescia); Marcella Nicolini (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei); Lucia Piscitello (DIG - Politecnico di Milano) |
| Abstract: | The paper analyses productivity spillovers from foreign MNEs on domestic manufacturing firms. Using a database on foreign MNEs in Italy, our results reveal that local firms do benefit from the presence of foreign MNEs, and the effect is higher when local and foreign firms in manufacturing sectors are co-located. However, spillovers benefiting domestic firms are likely to be less influenced by co-location when foreign MNEs are in services sectors as the latter are different from manufacturing industries under a number of aspects that overcome the effect of distance. Indeed, in these sectors, proximity and interaction are often obtained through professional mobility and temporary inter-organizational routines. |
| Keywords: | Multinational Firms, Co-Location, Proximity, Spillover Effects, Customer-Supplier Interaction, Vertical Linkages |
| JEL: | D24 F23 O19 R30 |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2011.06&r=sbm |
| By: | Gerrit de Wit; Mercedes Teruel |
| Abstract: | High-growth firms have been shown to be a key factor for economic growth and structural change. This paper analyses the determinants of the number of highgrowth firms in a country for 17 OECD countries between 1999 and 2005, using the Amadeus data set, the GEM data set, and others. The first contribution of this paper is that it is - as far as we know - the first empirical analysis of highgrowth firms at the country level on the basis of actual measured growth. Second, we find indicative empirical evidence for three driving forces of high growth, viz. entrepreneurship, institutional settings, and opportunities for growth, all in accordance with theory and empirical findings in related fields of research. Third, the paper gives a tentative explanation of the differences in the average percentage of high-growth firms between countries. Finally, the paper gives some clues for policy makers how to promote high-growth firms. |
| Date: | 2011–01–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eim:papers:h201107&r=sbm |
| By: | Jackie Krafft (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - CNRS : UMR6227 - Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis); Francesco Quatraro (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - CNRS : UMR6227 - Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, Department of Economics, University of Turin - University of Turin); Pier-Paolo Saviotti (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - CNRS : UMR6227 - Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, GAEL - Grenoble Applied Economic laboratory - Aucune) |
| Abstract: | This paper applies the methodological tools typical of social network analysis (SNA) within an evolutionary framework, to investigate the knowledge base dynamics of the biotechnology sector. Knowledge is here considered a collective good represented as a co-relational and a retrieval-interpretative structure. The internal structure of knowledge is described as a network the nodes of which are small units within traces of knowledge, such as patent documents, connected by links determined by their joint utilisation. We used measures referring to the network, like density, and to its nodes, like degree, closeness and betweenness centrality, to provide a synthetic description of the structure of the knowledge base and of its evolution over time. Eventually, we compared such measures with more established properties of the knowledge base calculated on the basis of co-occurrences of technological classes within patent documents. Empirical results show the existence of interesting and meaningful relationships across the different measures, providing support for the use of SNA to study the evolution of the knowledge bases of industrial sectors and their lifecycles. |
| Keywords: | Knowledge Base, Social Network Analysis, Variety, Coherence, Industry lifecycles; exploration/exploitation |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00539002&r=sbm |
| By: | Serova, Elena G. |
| Abstract: | Paper presented at the 5th European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (ECIE 2010), September 16-17, Athens, Greece. |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sps:cpaper:173&r=sbm |
| By: | Florian Mayneris (CORE) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates theoretically and empirically the endogenous investment decision of firms conditioning on export decision. It shows that theoretically, whatever the form of preferences, firms that start exporting invest more and grow more than the others. However, it is shown that when preferences are CES, within each category of firms (domestic and switchers), initial productivity and investment are strategic complements, inducing intra-industrial divergence. On the contrary, when preferences are quadratic, initial productivity and investment are strategic substitutes: less productive firms invest more and grow more than the others, inducing intra-industrial convergence. Empirical results on French data support the predictions of the quadratic preferences model. |
| Keywords: | Export Decision, Investment, Firm Heterogeneity |
| JEL: | D21 D24 F12 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2010.153&r=sbm |
| By: | Joachim Wagner (Institute of Economics, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Germany) |
| Abstract: | This paper summarizes in a non-technical way what we know from empirical studies based on firm-level data about the mutual links between international activities of firms and productivity. It is written with a view to inform policy makers in an evidencebased way. A special focus is on the empirical evidence we have from studies using firm-level data from the Nordic countries. It is argued that this empirical evidence does not provide a sound basis to search for similarities and differences (and their causes) between the Nordic countries, and the empirical results reported cannot qualify as stylized facts that can inform policy makers in an evidence-based way. |
| Keywords: | International firm activities, productivity, firm level data, Nordic countries |
| JEL: | F14 F23 L25 |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lue:wpaper:194&r=sbm |
| By: | Armando Silva (Instituto Politécnico do Porto, Escola Superior de Estudos Industriais e de Gestão) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the links between financial constraints and firm export behavior, at the firm level, by using data on Portuguese manufacturing enterprises. Theoretical models of Chaney (2005) and Manova (2010) suggest that credit constraints are detrimental for exports but no model explains consistently why exports could improve firms´ financial health. Previous empirical literature has not yet reached a consensus on these subjects and there is a great heterogeneity in measuring financial constraints and how to assess the causality relationships; results are also quite heterogeneous. Developing a very recent trend, we approximate credit constraints by using a financial score built on eight variables; to assess the effects of exports on the financial status of firms we apply, for the first time to these types of studies, a propensity score matching with difference in differences. This procedure is used to deal with the endogeneity problems, stemming from the fact that new exporters have most likely initial better financial health. We find that firms enjoying better financial health are more likely to become exporters and that new exporters show improvements in their financial situation. These findings have important policy implications as they suggest that public intervention to support exports is clearly justified. |
| Keywords: | exports, matching, financial constraints, corporate finances |
| Date: | 2011–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:por:fepwps:402&r=sbm |
| By: | Martin Binder; Alex Coad |
| Abstract: | Despite lower incomes, the self-employed consistently report higher satisfaction with their jobs. But are self-employed individuals also happier, more satisfied with their lives as a whole? High job satisfaction might cause them to neglect other important domains of life, such that the fulfilling job crowds out other pleasures, leaving the individual on the whole not happier than others. Moreover, self-employment is often chosen to escape unemployment, not for the associated autonomy that seems to account for the high job satisfaction. We apply matching estimators that allow us to better take into account the above-mentioned considerations and construct an appropriate control group. Using the BHPS data set that comprises a large nationally representative sample of the British populace, we find that individuals who move from regular employment into self-employment experience an increase in life satisfaction (up to two years later), while individuals moving from unemployment to self-employment are not more satisfied than their counterparts moving from unemployment to regular employment. We argue that these groups correspond to "opportunity" and "necessity" entrepreneurship, respectively. These findings are robust with regard to different measures of subjective well-being as well as choice of matching variables, and also robustness exercises involving "simulated confounders". |
| Keywords: | self-employment, happiness, matching estimators, unemployment, BHPS, necessity entrepreneurship Length 26 pages |
| JEL: | C21 J24 J28 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esi:evopap:2010-20&r=sbm |