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on Small Business Management |
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Issue of 2012‒10‒06
six papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Johansson , Börje (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology); Lööf , Hans (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology); Nabavi, Pardis (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: | This paper empirically examines how systematic differences in firm productivity can be explained by a firm’s cumulated internal knowledge and access to external knowledge in its environment. To capture this conjunction of internal and external knowledge we use information about 5,000 Swedish firms in 290 municipalities and 72 functional regions and we use detailed information about individual firms’ accessibility to knowledge-intensive producer services. In addition, we observe the long-run frequency of R&D and innovation engagement for all these firms through 74.000 patent applications and three Community Innovation Surveys. Our panel data estimates for the period 1997-2008, suggest that only firms which commit themselves to accumulation of internal knowledge benefit from being located in places with a large mass of external knowledge. We also find strong evidence that innovators are more productive than other firms across all locations. |
| Keywords: | Innovation; Spillovers; Accessibility; Productivity; Patent; Community Innovation Survey |
| JEL: | C23 O31 O32 |
| Date: | 2012–09–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0283&r=sbm |
| By: | Daria Ciriaci (JRC-IPTS); Pietro Moncada-Paternò-Castello (JRC-IPTS); Peter Voigt (Institut d'Economia de Barcelona, IEB) |
| Abstract: | This study examines serial correlation in employment, sales and innovative sales growth rates in a balanced panel of 3,300 Spanish firms over the years 2002-2009, obtained by matching different waves of the Spanish Encuesta sobre Innovacion en las Empresas, the Spanish innovation survey conducted annually by the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE). The main objective is to verify whether the changes (increase/decrease) in these figures are persistent over time, whether such persistence (if any) differs between SMEs and larger firms, and if it is affected by a firm's age. To do so, we adopted a semi-parametric quantile regression approach. This methodology is well suited to cases where outliers (high-growth firms) are the subject of investigation and/or when they have to be assumed as being very heterogeneous. Empirical results indicate that among those innovative firms experiencing high employment growth, the smaller and younger grow faster than larger firms, but the jobs they create are not persistent over time. However, while being smaller and younger helps growing more in terms of employment and sales, it is not an advantage when innovative sales growth is considered: in this case larger firms experience faster growth. |
| Keywords: | Serial correlation; quantile regression model; Spanish firms; firm size, firm age; job creation; fast growing firms |
| JEL: | L11 L25 |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:wpaper:201203&r=sbm |
| By: | Marco Marinucci (Banca d'Italia) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an introduction to the economic analysis of R&D cooperation among firms. Basing on some stylized facts, we survey the relevant theoretical literature in order to discuss the benefits and the costs that firms face when they cooperate in R&D. We then analyze the pros and the cons of R&D cooperation from a policy-making perspective. We find that R&D cooperation is usually considered welfare improving and can be promoted by several policies. Finally, we discuss paths of research not yet taken in the theoretical literature. |
| Keywords: | R&D Cooperation, R&D spillovers, Welfare, Innovation |
| JEL: | O30 L40 L24 |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_130_12&r=sbm |
| By: | Ugo Rizzo; Francesco Nicolli; Laura Ramaciotti |
| Abstract: | This work investigates the variety of development processes of start up firms in a regional setting. The existing literature on entrepreneurship lacks accurate analysis of the processes that lead an idea of business to become an established firm. The present paper moves one step towards filling this gap by dynamically investigating the process development of a self-contained population of 78 new technology based firms (NTBFs) in the North Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. By clustering the firms in similar organisational configurations at three different points in time, the results show that it is possible to observe that firms develop along different, sometimes overlapping paths. Our findings contributes to the understanding of the dynamics of the entrepreneurial process and lead to important policy implications. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship; Firm development process; New technology-based firms; Start-ups; Regional policies; Cluster analysis |
| JEL: | L26 L53 O32 O38 |
| Date: | 2012–09–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:udf:wpaper:201213&r=sbm |
| By: | Philippe Desbrières (Université de Bourgogne) |
| Abstract: | (VF)Le financement par fonds propres des firmes entrepreneuriales a fait l’objet d’une littérature foisonnante depuis les années 1980. Dans un premier temps, ce chapitre est consacré au courant de la finance entrepreneuriale, qui s’est essentiellement focalisé sur les problématiques liées au différentiel d’informations existant entre capital-investisseurs et entrepreneurs et sur les mécanismes de gouvernance disciplinaires mis en place en réponse. Mais ces travaux ignorent la notion de connaissance, pourtant centrale dans la relation établie entre capital-investisseurs et entrepreneurs, qui ne partagent pas tous le même modèle cognitif. La seconde partie de l'article est donc centrée sur la littérature stratégique qui a largement contribué à l’enrichissement des approches classiques de la finance entrepreneuriale en étudiant le rôle de soutien et d’orientation de ces investisseurs et en renouvelant la compréhension de leur contribution au processus de création de richesse des firmes qu’ils financent, de même que celle du système de gouvernance des firmes entrepreneuriales qui prend une orientation cognitive majeure. (VA)The equity financing of entrepreneurial firms has been a growing literature since the 1980s. This paper is firstly devoted to current entrepreneurial finance, which has mainly focused on issues related to the differential information between entrepreneurs and investors and on governance mechanisms in place in response. But these studies ignore the notion of knowledge, yet central to the relationship between venture capitalists and entrepreneurs, who do not have the same cognitive model. The second section is focused on the strategic literature which has largely contributed to the enrichment of traditional approaches to entrepreneurial finance by studying the role of support and advice to investors and renewing the understanding of their contribution to the process wealth creation of the firms they fund, as well as the governance system of entrepreneurial firms that takes a major cognitive orientation. |
| Keywords: | finance entrepreneuriale;stratégie;gouvernance d’entreprise;vision disciplinaire;vision cognitive;entrepreneurial finance;strategy;corporate governance;disciplinary view;cognitive view. |
| JEL: | G30 P50 |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dij:wpfarg:1120801&r=sbm |
| By: | McCann, Fergal (Central Bank of Ireland); McIndoe-Calder, Tara (Central Bank of Ireland) |
| Abstract: | Using unique borrower-level balance sheet information for a cross-section of 6,000 Irish SME loans, this paper tests the determinants of default at the micro level. Typical financial ratios, such as the ratio of the loan to total assets, the current ratio, leverage ratio, liquidity ratio and profitability ratio, are found to be significant predictors of default. Further, the length of time the borrowing firm’s owner has been with the firm mitigates the likelihood of default. Conditional on the above, significant sector-level effects remain. The paper moves beyond average effects of the above-mentioned variables by repeating the analysis across seven sectors of economic activity, and across the quintiles of firm size, exposure and credit quality. The share of defaults is shown to fall as firms get larger, and to rise as loans get larger relative to assets. The results suggest that different warning signals can be identified, particularly for borrowers of different sizes and with small versus large loans. These results contribute to the literature on “fundamentals-based” modelling of corporate default risk, and represent one of very few sets of results on the determinants of default in SME lending in particular. |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbi:wpaper:06/rt/12&r=sbm |