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on Small Business Management |
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Issue of 2012‒05‒08
seven papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Bastian Rake (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Graduate College "The Economics of Innovative Change") |
| Abstract: | Recent empirical contributions emphasize the importance of (potential) market size for the development of new pharmaceuticals. At the same time many scholars point out the importance of of scientific advances for the industry's R&D activities. Against this background I analyze the relationship between (potential) market size, technological opportunities, and the number of new pharmaceuticals in the United States. Technological opportunities are operationalized as growth rates of the relevant knowledge stock as proposed by Andersen (1999, 1998). I analyze a unique dataset by using an "entry stock" Poisson quasi-maximum likelihood estimator. The results reveal a rather robust and significantly positive response of the number of new pharmaceuticals, i.e., new molecular entities or new drug approvals, to market size and technological opportunities. |
| Keywords: | Determinants of Innovation, Pharmaceuticals, Demand, Technological Opportunities |
| JEL: | O31 J10 J20 |
| Date: | 2012–05–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2012-018&r=sbm |
| By: | Matté Hartog; Ron Boschma; Markku Sotarauta |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of related variety on regional employment growth in Finland between 1993 and 2006 by means of a dynamic panel regression model. We find that related variety in general has no impact on growth. Instead, after separating related variety among low-and-medium tech sectors from related variety among high-tech sectors, we find that only the latter affects regional growth. Hence, we find evidence that the effect of related variety on regional employment growth is conditioned by the technological intensity of the local sectors involved. |
| Keywords: | evolutionary economic geography, Finland, high-tech, regional employment growth, related variety |
| JEL: | D62 O18 R11 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1205&r=sbm |
| By: | Bouzid, Inès |
| Abstract: | L’objectif de cette recherche est de comprendre le rôle que peuvent jouer les alliances complémentaires et additives d’une PME pour concilier les innovations d’exploration et les innovations d’exploitation. La compréhension du contexte de la conclusion des alliances par la PME et les liens qui peuvent exister entre les différentes natures des alliances et des innovations étudiées a été conduite selon deux approches. En effet, la recherche réunit les apports d’une approche exploratoire qualitative et ceux d’une étude confirmatoire quantitative. La recherche montre que la conduite des innovations d’exploration et d’exploitation au moyen des alliances stratégiques est influencée par un ensemble de facteurs contextuels, organisationnels et stratégiques. La phase exploratoire a permis de distinguer clairement les alliances de la PME avec l’industrie et celles avec le monde académique. La phase confirmatoire quant à elle a permis d’éclairer les spécificités des différentes alliances des PME en termes de ressources mobilisées, de choix des partenaires, d’objectifs stratégiques et d’innovations conduites. Cette recherche montre que la conciliation des innovations d’exploration et d’exploitation au sein d’une même PME, au moyen de la mise en oeuvre des alliances complémentaires et additives, s’opère avec différentes natures de partenaires. |
| Abstract: | The aim of this research is to understand the role played by the complementary and additive alliances of Small to Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) in order to conciliate both explorative and exploitative innovation. The understanding of the context of the conclusion of SMEs alliances and the links which can exist between the various natures of the alliances and the studied innovations was led according to two approaches. In fact, the research brings together both the contributions of a qualitative exploratory approach with those of a quantitative confirmatory study. The research shows that the driving of both explorative and exploitative innovations by means of the strategic alliances is influenced by a set of contextual, organizational and strategic factors. The exploratory phase has allowed distinguishing clearly between the SMEs’s alliances with the industry and those with the academic word. In the other hand, the confirmatory phase has allowed to clarify the specificities of the various alliances of the SMEs in terms of mobilized resources, partner’s choice, strategic objectives and driven innovation. This research shows that the conciliation of explorative and exploitative innovation within the same SMEs, by means of the implementation of the complementary and additive alliances, takes place with various natures of partners. |
| Keywords: | Explorative innovation; Exploitative innovation; Complementary alliance; Additive alliance; Resources and competencies; SMEs; Innovation d’exploration; Innovation d’exploitation; Alliance complémentaire; Alliance additive; Ressources et compétences; PME; |
| JEL: | L14 C93 O31 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:dauphi:urn:hdl:123456789/9074&r=sbm |
| By: | Valerien O. Pede (Social Sciences Div., International Rice Research Institute); Raymond J.G.M. Florax (Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, W. Lafayette, IN); Henri L.F. de Groot (USDA:Economic Research Service, Washington, DC) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the determinants of technological catch-up and examines at a refined level of spatial and sectoral aggregation to what extent geographical and/or technological proximity to the technology leader impact regional employment growth. Technological progress is endogenously determined and depends on specialization, competition and diversity. We also allow technological progress to depend on agglomeration economies in proximate regions, and model technological progress by means of a hierarchical process of catch-up to the technology leader. Results indicate that human capital plays a crucial role in promoting sectoral employment growth. The effect of technological distance varies, depending on which sector is considered. Technological distance to the leader shows a positive and significant effect on employment growth in the sectors Construction & Manufacturing, Information & Utilities, and Services. No effect of technological distance was found for Finance & Management, Transportation & Trade, and Natural Resources. The effect of geographical distance to the technology leader on employment growth also varies across sectors. A negative effect is observed for Construction & Manufacturing and Finance & Management, while the effect is positive for Natural Resources and Transportation & Trade, and statistically not different from zero for Information and Utilities and Services. |
| Keywords: | regional employment growth, technology leadership, space |
| JEL: | R11 R12 C21 O32 O47 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pae:wpaper:11-1&r=sbm |
| By: | Rosendahl Huber, Laura (University of Amsterdam); Sloof, Randolph (University of Amsterdam); van Praag, Mirjam (University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this study is to analyze the effectiveness of early entrepreneurship education. To this end, we conduct a randomized field experiment to evaluate a leading entrepreneurship education program that is taught worldwide in the final grade of primary school. We focus on pupils' development of relevant skill sets for entrepreneurial activity, both cognitive and non-cognitive. The results indicate that cognitive entrepreneurial skills are unaffected by the program. However, the program has a robust positive effect on non-cognitive entrepreneurial skills. This is surprising since previous evaluations found zero or negative effects. Because these earlier studies all pertain to education for adolescents, our result tentatively suggests that non-cognitive entrepreneurial skills are best developed at an early age. |
| Keywords: | skill formation, field experiment, entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurship |
| JEL: | L26 I21 J24 C93 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6512&r=sbm |
| By: | Luciana Lazzeretti (University of Firenze); Silvia Rita Sedita (University of Padova); Annalisa Caloffi (University of Padova) |
| Abstract: | Why has the cluster concept proved so successful in this millennium? Which are the authors, the scientific areas, and journals that have helped to enliven the debate in this era, characterized by the transition from a solid modernity to a liquid modernity, as the well-known sociologist Zygmunt Bauman would say? With this work, we have aimed to answer these research questions by adopting an evolutionary approach. By means of a bibliometric analysis based on descriptive statistics and social network analysis tools, we have identified the founders and the main disseminators of the cluster concept across time. The point of departure is an original database, created by the authors, consisting of 1586 academic articles about industrial clusters that have been published from 1989 to 2010 in international scientific journals (source: ISI Web of Science). Our claim is that the Porterian contribution on clusters opens up a global debate over a concept that was Òin the airÓ many years before. The cluster concept is rooted in the Marshallian tradition, and is strongly related to the Italian and European literature, which is more familiar with the narrower concept of the industrial district. By relaxing some of the specific features that characterized the industrial district model, a more inclusive concept is promoted, which, in a prey-predator relationship, assimilates previous contributions. By now, the cluster concept has gained international recognition and been constantly sustained by a theoretical discussion that encompasses a variety of disciplines and approaches. Our evidence shows that this success can be attributed basically to the liquid properties we have identified: multi-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary qualities and global dimension. |
| Keywords: | cluster, industrial districts, liquid modernity, bibliometric analysis, co-citation analysis. |
| JEL: | R1 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pad:wpaper:0144&r=sbm |
| By: | Tony Champion; Alan Townsend |
| Abstract: | While it is now accepted that the 2008-09 recession accentuated regional differences in Britain, it is more difficult to identify the role of major cities, especially over a longer time scale. Using previously established methods focussed on employment, this paper assesses the record of nine city regions in the 2008-09 recession, both in its own right and in comparison with the previous two recessions. The 2008-09 recession is found to have impacted the nine city regions less than the previous ones in absolute terms but not in relative terms compared with the London city region or the rest of Britain. Over the whole period from 1978, the paper has found the city regions to be fairly tightly in the grip of national cyclical trends of recession and recovery, but generally performing less resiliently than Britain as a whole. In comparison, London showed appreciably more cyclical behaviour between 1989 and 2002 than at other times, with the most remarkable recovery from recession in this period. The public sector helped the performance of second-order city regions from 1997 to 2010, including the peak of growth rates in city regions and their cores in 1998-2002, but its employment reductions will dominate the prospects for provincial cities for several years to come. |
| Keywords: | Recession, resilience, employment change, second-order city, city region, Great Britain |
| JEL: | J21 O18 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:sercdp:0104&r=sbm |