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on Small Business Management |
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Issue of 2016‒07‒02
twenty papers chosen by João Carlos Correia Leitão Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Annarosa Pesole (European Commission – JRC - IPTS) |
| Abstract: | This report presents an update of the ICT Innovation Output Indicator based on the latest available data, and provides a measure of the performance of the European Union (EU) and its Member States in ICT innovation. The ICT Innovation Output Indicator is the contribution of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to the Innovation Output Indicator elaborated by the European Commission in 2013. The contribution of ICT has been computed for each underlying component of the Innovation Output Indicator for all EU Member States. Depending on the indicator component analysed and data availability, the ICT contribution to innovation can refer either to innovation in the ICT sector as defined by the classification of economic activities, or to ICT use as a general purpose technology in the rest of the economy. The up-to-date ICT contributions for the EU aggregate are: 1. 28% in technological innovation as measured by patents; 2. 19% in absorption of skills as measured by employment in knowledge intensive activities; 3. 27% in competitiveness of knowledge goods as measured by exports of medium-high tech goods; 4. 20% in competitiveness of knowledge services as measured by exports of knowledge intensive services; 5. 23% in innovative firms’ dynamics as measured by employment of innovative fast-growing firms. All data refer to 2013 with the exception of data on patents which refer to 2011. The methodology to compute the ICT Innovation Output Indicator follows the one presented in "How much does ICT contribute to innovation output? An analysis of the ICT component in the innovation output indicator" (Pesole, 2015 ). The reader is referred to this report for more detail on the methodology. The 2013 EU aggregate ICT contributions are very similar to those in 2012 reported by Pesole (2015). The technological innovation component (i.e. ICT PCT patent) increased by two percentage points in 2011 (from 26% to 28%). Similarly, competitiveness of knowledge goods increased from 25% to 27% in 2013. The other contributions remain unchanged. The ICT Innovation Output Indicator delivers a measure of output-oriented ICT innovation that captures both the technological and non-technological aspects of innovation in ICT and ranks Member States' performance. The three top performing countries remain the same as in Pesole 2015: Finland, Ireland and Sweden. |
| Keywords: | ICT innovation output indicator, measurement of ICT innovation |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc100892&r=sbm |
| By: | Fujii, Hidemichi; Cao, Jing; Managi, Shunsuke |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes productive efficiency in relation to CO2 emissions using a unique dataset of 562 Chinese manufacturing firms for the period from 2005 to 2009. We develop a directional distance function approach to identify technical innovators in the area of CO2 emissions. The results indicate that a large number of technical innovators are observed in the textile, paper, steel, and computer industries. Furthermore, there are clearly different trends in productivity change and corporate performance across industries and provinces. This result implies that policy makers need to consider industrial and regional characteristics to develop effective policies that conserve energy and reduce CO2 emissions. |
| Keywords: | Technical innovator; total factor productivity; technology adoption; CO2 emissions; Chinese manufacturing firm |
| JEL: | D24 O14 Q55 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:71851&r=sbm |
| By: | Andrew B. Bernard; Andreas Moxnes; Yukiko U. Saito |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the importance of buyer-supplier relationships, geography and the structure of the production network in firm performance. We develop a simple model where firms can outsource tasks and search for suppliers in different locations. Low search and outsourcing costs lead firms to search more and find better suppliers. This in turn drives down the firm's marginal production costs. We test the theory by exploiting the opening of a high-speed (Shinkansen) train line in Japan which lowered the cost of passenger travel but left shipping costs unchanged. Using an exhaustive dataset on firms' buyer-seller linkages, we find significant improvements in firm performance as well as creation of new buyer-seller links, consistent with the model. |
| Keywords: | production networks, trade, productivity, infrastructure |
| JEL: | F14 D22 D85 L10 L14 R12 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1435&r=sbm |
| By: | Cristian Barra (Università di Salerno); Ornella Wanda Maietta (Università di Napoli Federico II and CSEF); Roberto Zozzi (Università di Salerno) |
| Abstract: | In National Innovation Systems (NIS), knowledge is generally understood to be produced and accumulated through an interactive innovation process that is embedded in a national context which in turn may help determine propensity for innovation. This paper aims to verify how product and process innovation in the European food and drink industry are affected by: i) NIS structure ii) NIS output in terms of WoS indexed publications and the supply of graduates iii) NIS fragmentation and coordination and iv) NIS scientific impact and specialisation. The main source of data on innovation by firms is the EU-EFIGE/Bruegel-UniCredit dataset. This is supplemented by information from the International Handbook of Universities, Eurostat and the bibliometric analysis of academic research output. The results obtained suggest that large research institutions in the public sector may well be detrimental to interaction between university and industry and that the indicators used for public research assessment are not necessarily the most appropriate proxies of local knowledge spillovers. |
| Keywords: | university–industry interaction, firm R&D collaboration, product and process innovation, academic research quality, university education |
| JEL: | O3 I23 D22 R1 |
| Date: | 2016–06–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:447&r=sbm |
| By: | Hashmat U. Khan (Department of Economics, Carleton University); Pythagoras Petratos (Saïd Business School, Oxford University) |
| Abstract: | We consider US Venture Capital (VC) activity as a measure of entrepreneurship and study its relationship with the business cycle. This measure addresses some biases in alternative measures such as self-employment and business ownership that have been considered in previous literature. Despite the well-known volatility in VC activity, it remains an important source of funding for entrepreneurs engaging in innovative business creation. We document key stylized facts for VC entry (seed and start-up stage) and VC exit (late stage) at the aggregate and sectoral level. VC entry is more strongly correlated and is contemporaneous with the business cycle while VC exit lags the cycle by two quarters. There is strong evidence for a bi-directional causality between entrepreneurship and economic activity. A positive shock to VC activity has a positive effect on real GDP. Our findings can help inform policies designed to support entrepreneurship. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital, Business Cycles |
| JEL: | E32 G24 L26 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:car:carecp:16-09&r=sbm |
| By: | Takashi Obinata (The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This Paper investigates the relationship between the growth in research and development investments (R&Ds) and GDP growth, focusing on the sector of execution. By the vector error correction model (VECM), the result shows that R&Ds by business enterprises do not contribute to GDP growth in Japan. However, the growth in R&Ds by universities gives significant positive effects to both GDP growth and the growth in R&Ds of business enterprises sector. According to the U.S. data, the opposite results are observed. While R&Ds by business enterprises contribute to GDP growth, those of universities have no effects on both GDP growth and the R&Ds by business enterprises. Another Estimation by a Structural Equation Model (SEM) gives the robust results, showing that the growth in R&Ds by universities contributes to GDP growth in Japan. |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cfi:jseres:cj105&r=sbm |
| By: | Astebro , Thomas B; Braguinsky , Serguey; Braunerhjelm , Pontus; Broström , Anders |
| Abstract: | Should society encourage scientists at universities to become entrepreneurs? Using data on U.S. university-employed scientists with a Ph.D. in STEM disciplines leaving their university to become entrepreneurs during 1993-2006 and similar data from Sweden we show evidence suggesting that owning your idea outright (the “Professor’s Privilege”) rather than sharing ownership with your university employer (the Bayh-Dole regime) is strongly positively associated with the rate of academic entrepreneurship but not with apparent economic gain for the entrepreneur. Further analysis show that in both countries there is too much entry into entrepreneurship, and selection from the bottom of the ability distribution among scientists. Targeted policies aimed at screening entrepreneurial decisions by younger, tenure-track academics may therefore produce more benefits for society than general incentives. |
| Keywords: | Academic entrepreneurship; economic incentives; Bayh-Dole; Professor’s Privilege |
| JEL: | J20 L26 N32 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ebg:heccah:1118&r=sbm |
| By: | Murphy, Gavin; Siedschlag, Iulia |
| Abstract: | Financing constraints have been identified as an additional source of firm heterogeneity that affects export participation and export performance. This paper examines whether and to what extent financing constraints affect firms' exporting across different types of firms and industries. It uses comparable micro data from France, Germany, Italy and Spain and estimates the sensitivity of firms' extensive and intensive margins of exporting to financing constraints. The empirical results indicate that firms which were less constrained financially were more likely to export, while financing constraints did not affect the export intensity of existing exporters. It appears that financing constraints affect export participation via firms' productivity. The sensitivity of exporting to access to external financing appears to be most important for young, domestic-owned and firms in traditional industries. The sensitivity of the export propensity to financing constraints decreased with firm size. |
| Keywords: | data/exporters/Firm heterogeneity/Productivity |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esr:wpaper:wp530&r=sbm |
| By: | Murphy, Gavin; Siedschlag, Iulia |
| Abstract: | Financing constraints have been identified as an additional source of firm heterogeneity that affects export participation and export performance. This paper examines whether and to what extent financing constraints affect firms' exporting across different types of firms and industries. It uses comparable micro data from France, Germany, Italy and Spain and estimates the sensitivity of firms' extensive and intensive margins of exporting to financing constraints. The empirical results indicate that firms which were less constrained financially were more likely to export, while financing constraints did not affect the export intensity of existing exporters. It appears that financing constraints affect export participation via firms' productivity. The sensitivity of exporting to access to external financing appears to be most important for young, domestic-owned and firms in traditional industries. The sensitivity of the export propensity to financing constraints decreased with firm size. |
| Keywords: | data/exporters/Firm heterogeneity/Productivity |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esr:wpaper:wp531&r=sbm |
| By: | Claude Diebolt; Ralph Hippe |
| Abstract: | Human capital is supposed to be an important factor for innovation and economic development. However, the long-run impact of human capital on current innovation and economic development is still a black box, in particular at the regional level. Therefore, this paper makes the link between the past and the present. Using a large new dataset on regional human capital and other factors in the 19th and 20th century, we find that past regional human capital is a key factor explaining current regional disparities in innovation and economic development. |
| Keywords: | Human Capital, Economic Development, Innovation, Regions, Europe. |
| JEL: | I25 N90 O18 R11 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulp:sbbeta:2016-31&r=sbm |
| By: | Marianne Matthee; Neil Rankin; Tasha Naughtin Author-Name: Carli Bezuidenhout1 |
| Abstract: | Existing South African work on firm-level data has been limited by access to large datasets that track firms over time. This paper overcomes this by analysing a new dataset of the population of manufacturing firms that are matched to their export transactions. South African firm-level exporting is similar to the stylized facts of firm-level exporting found internationally. Moreover, heterogeneity that exists within exporting is evident. Not only do exporters differ in terms of the amount exported, but also in terms of the number of products and destinations they export too. These in turn are related to firm-level characteristics including productivity. |
| Keywords: | heterogeneous firms, exports, productivity, firm-level data, multi-destination, multiproducts |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2016-038&r=sbm |
| By: | Colombelli, Alessandra; Quatraro, Francesco (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | There is wide consensus about the importance of green technologies for achieving superior economic and environmental performances. The literature on their determinants has neglected the creation of green start-ups as a channel to bring about green technologies in the market. Drawing upon the knowledge spillovers theory of entrepreneurship, we test the relevance of local knowledge stocks, distinguishing between clean and dirty stocks, for the creation of green start-ups. Moreover, the effects of the technological composition of local stocks is investigated, by focusing on technological variety, both related and unrelated, as well as on coherence. Consistently with recent literature, green start-ups are associated to higher levels of variety, pointing to the relevance of diverse and heterogeneous knowledge sources, but in related and complementary technological fields. |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:labeco:201604&r=sbm |
| By: | Barinova, V.A. (Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA)); Zemtsov, S.P. (Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA)); Sorokina, A.V. (Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA)) |
| Abstract: | This work analyzes the main patterns of development of fast-growing companies on the basis of domestic and foreign literature. Also, some hypotheses about the possible internal factors of increased competitiveness were put. These hypotheses were tested on the data about development of domestic high-tech companies - "gazelles" - with usage of statistical and econometric methods of data analysis and based on experience of different companies. |
| Keywords: | high-tech, fast-growing companies, econometrics, competitiveness, development |
| Date: | 2015–03–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rnp:ppaper:2303&r=sbm |
| By: | Pasquale Pavone; Valentina Fiordelmondo; Margherita Russo |
| Abstract: | There is an increasing attention on the needs to support SMEs in enhancing their innovation op-portunities and capabilities. Through a policy measure to foster the regional innovation system, 12 innovation poles were active in Tuscany in the period 2011-2014 to provide to their members (af-filiation is needed) a range of knowledge-intensive services such as knowledge and technology mapping, R&D partnership formation, technical assistance in R&D projects, technology transfer. Each pole was created as a consortium of organizations operating as public or private research cen-tres and service centres (universities, innovation centres or technology transfer centres and firms). In this paper we adopt a statistical analysis of textual content produced by the innovation poles to identify distinctive or common elements in the various texts they produced in three years of activi-ty and to draw some assessment of their communication on their activities. Documents under analysis are of different types: designed as written texts (on Smart Specializa-tion Strategy and monitoring the activities of the poles), transcripts of spoken language (the re-cordings of interviews); web communication. Through and automatic analysis we propose a sys-tematic comparison of all these documents that would not be possible through direct reading of texts: on the whole it is over 56,000 graphic forms, for a total of over two million occurrences. To compare both the intra diversity across the same type of document and across the different types of documents, first we analyse each of the four body separately, in order to identify the specific con-tent and the four languages used by the poles of innovation: "report", texts structured in the format of the monitoring; "design", the documents on smart specialization strategy; "reflection and analy-sis", in the transcription of interviews; and "communication", that characterizes the web sites. For this analysis, each document is associated with one or more categories (such as, for example, pole' band category, date of the document) that allow us to group or isolate relevant content in different contexts. In this work we first introduce the set of processing of texts aimed at the selection of graphic forms on which we focus our analysis. Then, we present for each corpus the description of the analysed documents, the results of calculations performed for the treatment of the text and the analysis of the main components that explain the variability of language within each corpus. These analyses (represented by the factorial of two main components) interpret the selection of graphic forms be-ing analysed with respect to categorical variables, defined for each document in each of the corpo-ra. The analysis concludes |
| Keywords: | linguistic analysis; web communication; innovation poles; regional innovation policies |
| JEL: | R10 O25 Y8 C88 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mod:cappmo:0142&r=sbm |
| By: | Johannes Fedderke; Nonso Obikili; Nicola Viegi |
| Abstract: | This paper uses newly available firm-level tax data to evaluate the market structure in South African manufacturing sectors in the period 2010.12. To describe the market structure we compute markups for South African manufacturing firms and concentration indexes for 4-digit manufacturing sectors. We find both significant markups and significant concentration across most sectors.We compare computed markups and concentration with early estimates in South Africa and with other international benchmark countries. We then examine the market structure based on the concentration, firms. size, and entry and exit dynamics to rule out some potential explanations for relatively high markups. We find that the relationships are not monotonic and point to the importance of specific barriers to entry in explaining the relationship between these three characteristics. |
| Keywords: | Business, Manufacturing industries, Pricing |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2016-040&r=sbm |
| By: | James R. Hines Jr.; Niklas Potrafke; Marina Riem; Christoph Schinke |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the determinants of inter vivos (lifetime) transfers of ownership in German family firms between 2000 and 2013. Survey evidence indicates that owners of larger firms, and firms with strong current business conditions, transfer ownership at higher rates than others. When a firm’s self-described business condition improves from “normal” to “good” the likelihood of an inter vivos transfer increases by 46 percent. Inter vivos transfer rates also rose following a 2009 reform that reduced transfer taxes. These patterns suggest that transfer taxes significantly influence rates and timing of inter vivos ownership transfers. |
| JEL: | D22 D31 H24 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22301&r=sbm |
| By: | Manuel Mira Godinho (University of Lisbon); Vitor Corado Simões (Technical University of Lisbon); Jana Zifciakova (European Commission – JRC - IPTS) |
| Abstract: | The 2015 series of RIO Country Reports analyse and assess the policy and the national research and innovation system developments in relation to national policy priorities and the EU policy agenda with special focus on ERA and Innovation Union. The executive summaries of these reports put forward the main challenges of the research and innovation systems. |
| Keywords: | R&I system, R&I policy, ERA, innovation union, Semester analysis, Portugal |
| JEL: | I20 O30 Z18 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc101210&r=sbm |
| By: | Priscila Ferreira (Universidade do Minho, NIMA); George Saridakis (SBRC, Kingston Business School, Kingston University) |
| Abstract: | We examine how the impact of the recent crises on firm performance, in terms of risk of shutdown, differed depending on firm size. We use a panel of linked employer-employee data covering the period 2002-2012 and investigate whether the effect of firm size varies over the business cycle and with the type of shock associated with two phases of economic contraction: the Financial Crisis and the Sovereign Debt Crisis. Our results show that smaller firms are more likely to shutdown than larger firms, with micro firms being nearly three times more likely to shutdown than large firms. However, within each size band, micro firms are found to experience at least similar rates of survival during the two crises, relative to large firms, to those observed in the pre-crisis period; while medium sized firms are found to be more vulnerable during the financial crisis period, but show more resilience during the sovereign debt crisis. Overall, however, the results suggest that during the sovereign debt crisis firms faced higher probability of closing than during the financial crisis. |
| Keywords: | firm survival, SMEs, financial crisis, sovereign debt crisis, Portugal |
| JEL: | C33 J21 L25 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nim:nimawp:61/2016&r=sbm |
| By: | Leopoldo Nascia (Istituto Nazionale di Statistica (Rome, Italy)); Mario Pianta (Università degli Studi di Urbino "Carlo Bo" (Urbino, Italy)); Giovanni La Placa (European Commission – JRC - IPTS) |
| Abstract: | The 2015 series of RIO Country Reports analyse and assess the policy and the national research and innovation system developments in relation to national policy priorities and the EU policy agenda with special focus on ERA and Innovation Union. The executive summaries of these reports put forward the main challenges of the research and innovation systems. |
| Keywords: | R&I system, R&I policy, ERA, innovation union, Semester analysis, Italy |
| JEL: | I20 O30 Z18 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc101197&r=sbm |
| By: | Gibson, J.; Scarpa, R. |
| Keywords: | Consumer/Household Economics, |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare16:235310&r=sbm |