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on Small Business Management |
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Issue of 2011‒11‒28
fourteen papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Duschl, Matthias; Schimke, Antje; Brenner, Thomas; Luxen, Dennis |
| Abstract: | In this paper the relationship between firm growth and external knowledge sources, such as related firms and universities, is studied. The spatial characteristics of these relationships are examined by geolocating firms into a more realistic relational space using travel time distances and using flexible distance decay function specifications. This approach properly accounts for growth relevant knowledge spillovers and allows for estimating their spatial range and functional form. Applying quantile regression techniques on a large sample of German manufacturing firms, we show that the impact of external factors substantially differ along firms' size, type of knowledge source and growth level. -- |
| Keywords: | Firm growth,external factors,universities,agglomeration,space,spatial range,distance decay functions,knowledge spillovers,high growth firms,quantile regression |
| JEL: | C31 D92 L25 R11 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:kitwps:36&r=sbm |
| By: | Agustí Segarra (Research Group of Industry and Territory, Department of Economics, Universitat Rovira i Virgili.) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the factors that determine firm’s R&D cooperation with different partners, paying special attention on the role of tertiary education (degree and PhDs level) in facilitating the connection between the firms and the to scientific bodies (technology centres, public research centres and universities). Here, we attempt to answer two questions. First, are innovative firms that carry out internal and external R&D activities more likely to cooperate on R&D projects with other partners? Second, do Spanish innovative firms with a high participation of researchers with degrees or PhDs tend to cooperate more with scientific partners? To answer both questions we apply a three-dimensional approach on a firm level Panel Data with a sample of 4.998 manufacturing and services Spanish firms. First, we run a complementary test between external R&D acquisition and skilled research workers and find that firms which carry out external R&D activities obtain a greater return on R&D cooperation when they have skilled workers in R&D, especially in high-tech manufactures and KIS services. Second, we carry out a 2-step tobit model to estimate, in the first stage, the determinants that explain whether Spanish innovative firms cooperate or not; and in the second stage the factors that affect the choice of partners. And third, we apply an ordered probit model to test the marginal effects of explanatory variables on the different partners. Here we contrast some of the most interesting empirical hypotheses of previous studies, and which emphasize the role of employees with degrees and PhDs in facilitating cooperative R&D between firms and scientific partners. |
| Keywords: | Determinants R&D cooperation, industry-university flows, PhD research workers |
| JEL: | O31 O33 O38 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:xrp:wpaper:xreap2011-17&r=sbm |
| By: | Riccardo Crescenzi; Luisa Gagliardi; Marco Percoco |
| Abstract: | Social capital has remained relatively underexplored in innovation literature. Existing studies have failed to reach a consensus on its impact on local innovative performance: some empirical analyses emphasize a positive effect, others speak about a 'dark side' of social capital. This paper aims to fill this gap by shedding new light on the differential role of 'bonding' and 'bridging' social capital. The quantitative analysis of the innovative performance of the Italian provinces shows that social capital is an important predictor of innovative performance after controlling for 'traditional' knowledge inputs (R&D investments and human capital endowment) and other characteristics of the local economy. However, only 'bridging' social capital - based on weak ties - can be identified as the key driver of the process of innovation while 'bonding' social capital is shown to be negative for innovation. Instrumental variable analysis makes it possible to identify clear causal links between bridging (positive) and bonding (negative) social capital and innovation. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, social capital, knowledge transfer, regional development |
| JEL: | O31 O33 R15 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:sercdp:0096&r=sbm |
| By: | José Belso-MartÃnez; Xavier Molina-Morales; Francisco Más-Verdú |
| Abstract: | Recently, network literature has considered the crucial importance of the resources which firm obtains through its network of external relationships. Specifically, this paper analyzes if the mediator effect of the internal resources on the association between Knowledge-Intensive Business Services (KIBS) and the growth of the New Innovative Firms (NIFs) is moderated by the belonging of the firm to an industrial cluster. The paper presents several contributions. First, this research shows like firms with higher internal resources exploit better the external resources and enhancing firm’s performance. In this way we integrate both, network strategic perspective (external resources represented by the KIBS) and those authors from Resource-Based View, giving priority to internal resources. Moreover, we prove like the moderator role played internal resources is not constant on the contrary is changing when firm belong to an industrial cluster. Additionally, we consider as a contribution the application in this context of the particular and new analysis techniques to combine mediator and moderator effects as it is suggested in Preacher et al., (2007). |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p1732&r=sbm |
| By: | Lofstrom, Magnus (Public Policy Institute of California); Bates, Timothy (Wayne State University, Detroit); Parker, Simon C. (University of Western Ontario) |
| Abstract: | Drivers of entrepreneurial entry are investigated in this study by examining how entry into small-business ownership is shaped by industry-specific constraints. The human- and financial-capital endowments of potential entrepreneurs entering firms in various industries are shown to differ profoundly, depending on the type of venture entered. The educational credentials of highly educated potential entrepreneurs, in particular, predict avoidance of small-firm ownership in some industries as well as attraction to others. Recognizing that individuals choose an industry sector jointly with their decision to enter entrepreneurship, we find that the conventional practice of conflating different industry types in empirical analyses of transitions to entrepreneurship generates misleading findings about the determinants of entrepreneurship. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship, self-employment, capital constraints, transitions, entry barriers, business start-ups |
| JEL: | J24 L26 M13 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6103&r=sbm |
| By: | Dessi, Roberta (IDEI, Toulouse School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Innovative start-ups and venture capitalists are highly clustered, benefiting from localized spillovers: Silicon Valley is perhaps the best example. There is also substantial geographical variation in venture capital contracts: California contracts are more "incomplete". This paper proposes an economic explanation for these observations, often attributed to regional cultural differences. In the presence of significant spillovers, it becomes optimal for an innovative start-up and its financier to adopt contracts with fewer contingencies: these contracts maximize their ability to extract (part of) the surplus they generate through positive spillovers. This relaxes ex-ante financing constraints and makes it possible to induce higher innovative effort. |
| JEL: | D82 D86 G24 L22 |
| Date: | 2011–09–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:24944&r=sbm |
| By: | Elvira Uyarra |
| Abstract: | Despite the popularity of the concept 'regional innovation system' (RIS) in the academic literature and in policy practice, multiple interpretations and uses of the term coexist. For instance while some scholars view RIS as subsystems of national or sector-based systems presenting particular spatial features, other portray them as smaller-scale versions of national systems (Lagendijk, 1999; Howells, 1999; Iammarino, 2005, Uyarra, 2010). Doloreux & Parto (2005) identify three dimensions of regional innovation systems, namely: the interactions between different actors in the innovation process, the role of institutions, and the use of regional innovation systems analysis to inform policy decisions. More generally, Werker & Athreye (2004) differentiate between micro and meso approaches explaining regional innovation; while the former concentrate on the entrepreneurial behaviour of innovative firms, the latter focus on the structural elements manifested in the institutional set-up of regional and industrial systems. Boschma & Frenken (2006) distinguish between institutional and evolutionary views to innovation and geography as alternatives to neoclassical views. Related literature on national innovation systems (NIS) is no less heterogeneous, with numerous usages and interpretations (Miettinen, 2002; Balzat & Hanusch, 2004; Sharif, 2006; Lundvall, 2007). Despite the popularity of the concept ‘innovation system’ in the academic literature and in policy practice, the term itself remains ambiguous (Doloreux & Parto 2005; Uyarra, 2010). This fuzziness (Markusen, 2003), even ‘black boxing’ of the term, may have obscured certain aspects influencing regional development while overstating others (Uyarra & Flanagan, 2010). |
| Keywords: | Regional systems of innovation, institutions,innovation policy |
| JEL: | B52 R1 O31 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:trn:utwpol:1113&r=sbm |
| By: | Gert-Jan Linders; Tatyana Bulavskaya; Henri De Groot; Ferdinand Paraguas |
| Abstract: | Discussion on the possibilities for and barriers to income convergence and catch-up growth is at the heart of the debate on European regional economic policy. This study presents an empirical analysis of the determinants of regional productivity growth in Europe, using the most recent Cambridge Econometrics regional database, EU KLEMS growth and productivity accounts and EuroStat R&D data. We apply a reduced-form empirical specification for semi-endogenous productivity growth that allows for differences in steady state income levels and long-run growth rates. Productivity growth in a region depends on its level of human capital, the investments in R&D, and the productivity gap with the technology frontier. Empirical findings show that these factors are interrelated. Apart from a technology gap, absorptive capacity is important to realize catch-up. Both convergence and divergence of productivity across regions are possible. Results show that all considered factors have significant effect on disparity in regional productivity growth, although effects across manufacturing and service sectors are different. The estimated model also features stable dynamic properties in response to an exogenous shock. Keywords: Semi-endogenous Growth, Regional Convergence, International Transfer of Technology, human capital, R&D. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p64&r=sbm |
| By: | Fernandes, Cristina; Ferreira, João |
| Abstract: | Knowledge is increasingly perceived as a central factor for company competitiveness. With the transfer of knowledge one of the core functions of knowledge intensive business service (KIBS) companies, the objective of our research incorporates analysis on how the transfer of knowledge takes place between the higher education sector and the KIBS universe. Our empirical results demonstrate that cooperation between KIBS and universities occurs independent of their location (rural or urban) and typology (professional or technological). We furthermore found that rural KIBS have increased their levels of graduate employment faster than their urban KIBS peers. |
| Keywords: | knowledge; spillovers; cooperation; universities; KIBS |
| JEL: | L84 M1 O32 O3 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:34751&r=sbm |
| By: | Meyborg, Mirja |
| Abstract: | In recent years, it has widely been accepted that the ability to create, access and use knowledge and technology is becoming a fundamental determinant of long-term development and competitiveness. Thus, it is not surprising that universities have increasingly become involved in economic development and are often believed to play a key role in regional economic development. This paper firstly examines how far all West-German universities are already involved in close network collaborations. Second, it demonstrates how many distinct linkages 45 chosen West-German universities already possess within the innovation network, and third, to what extent they are already needed as a link in the chains of contacts. Thereby, special attention is given to the eight West-German elite-universities. We basically found out that university interactions, especially university-enterprise networks, become much more important over the last 20 years, as their cooperation activity strongly increased over time. Besides, their distinct linkages to other actors as well as their importance as an intermediary within the innovation network highly increased over the last decade, too; this especially holds for the eight West-German elite universities. -- |
| Keywords: | Human Capital,Economic Growth,Social Network Analysis,Patent Analysis,Patent Collaboration,Network Interaction,West-German University,Elite-University |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:kitwps:35&r=sbm |
| By: | Schilirò, Daniele |
| Abstract: | The aim of the contribution is to focus on the innovation of Italian medium and medium -large multinationals who represent the "fourth capitalism” and also to evaluate their performance. The enterprises of “fourth capitalism " are the set of medium and medium-large enterprises who seem to be stronger on foreign markets, either through exports or through foreign direct investment. The paper uses the data set from Mediobanca Research Unit to provide a descriptive analysis of the performance of Italian multinational enterprises of the "fourth capitalism", showing the complex approach to the internationalization of these enteprises, where innovation plays a key role. Flexibility and specialization in the production are also important elements that drive the decision to invest and produce abroad for these enterprises. The commercial dimension also plays a key role for the firms of the "fourth capitalism", as it leads to the direct control of foreign markets. The study points out that one of the strategic objectives of Italian multinationals of the “fourth capitalism” is their strong customer focus and organizational effort to provide their services to the customers, which require substantial investment in immaterial assets. Finally, the work highlights some external constraints that penalize the Italian multinational enterprises of the “fourth capitalism”, as the high cost of bureaucracy, excessive and unfair taxation, lack of support to internationalization by public institutions. |
| Keywords: | Italian multinational firms; fourth capitalism; innovation; internazionalization; |
| JEL: | L25 O30 F23 L10 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:34916&r=sbm |
| By: | Toole, Andrew A.; King, John L. |
| Abstract: | Prior research shows long-run productivity growth in agriculture is associated with increases in the stock of public scientific knowledge and private patented inventions. However, private inventions may be a function of the stock of public knowledge. In this paper, we examine the possibility that public knowledge contributes to productivity through its relationship with private sector invention. Our analysis identifies connections between the stock of public knowledge and private firm R&D and examines whether the degree of 'connectedness' to public science is associated with greater firm-level research productivity in agriculture. Bibliographic information identifies the nature and degree to which firms use public agricultural science through citations and collaborations on scientific papers. Fixed effects models show that greater citations and collaborations with university researchers are associated with greater private agricultural research productivity. -- |
| Keywords: | Public science,research productivity,patents,citations,collaboration,R&D,bibliometrics |
| JEL: | Q16 O31 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:11064&r=sbm |
| By: | Toole, Andrew A. |
| Abstract: | While most economists believe that public scientific research fuels industry innovation and economic growth, systematic evidence supporting this relationship is surprisingly limited. In a recent study, Acemoglu and Linn (2004) identified market size as a significant driver of drug innovation in the pharmaceutical industry, but they did not find any evidence supporting science-driven innovation from publicly funded research. This paper uses new data on biomedical research investments by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) to examine the contribution of public research to pharmaceutical innovation. The empirical analysis finds that both market size and NIH funded basic research have economically and statistically significant effects on the entry of new drugs with the contribution of public basic research coming in the earliest stage of pharmaceutical drug discovery. The analysis also finds a positive return to public investment in basic biomedical research. -- |
| Keywords: | R&D,NIH,social return,biomedical,research lags,public science,new molecular entities |
| JEL: | O31 O32 L65 H51 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:11063&r=sbm |
| By: | Elisabete Tomaz; Catarina Selada; Inês Vilhena da Cunha |
| Abstract: | During the last decades, creative and cultural approaches have been implemented in regional and urban development strategies as key drivers for competitiveness and growth. However, research literature tends to focus mainly in big cities and metropolis, not recognizing the potential of small cities in intermediate and rural regions in fostering territorial cohesion. Nevertheless, public policies based on creativity and innovation are being experienced in non-metropolitan and rural contexts around Europe, Canada and USA focused on economic revitalisation, urban regeneration and reversing de-population trends. These approaches are mainly based on historic precedents (‘path dependency’), in the exploitation of distinctive local attributes and assets regarding culture, environment, lifestyle and quality of life, besides specific investments in infrastructures or support programmes (such as incubators, live-work houses, and specific financing systems), which intend to induce the attraction of talent and the development of creative businesses. The main aim of this investigation is to examine the recent approaches to cultural and creative economy that are being implemented by small and medium-sized cities in Europe that still remain largely unstudied. The objective is to establish a typology of creative-based strategies through the analysis of the definitions adopted by regional and local authorities as well as the justifications and planning instruments used that reflect different priority goals or purposes. The paper engages the debate on rural and urban relationships as well as on the regional interdependencies. It is also stressed the demand for adapting widespread development policies to local specificities and to build up innovative forms of governance for a fully engagement of the local actors at different levels, in search of a competitive but also cohesive society. As a result, it is our intention to contribute to the theoretical thinking about the crucial factors for the sustainability of small local economies in regional development. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p893&r=sbm |