|
on Small Business Management |
|
Issue of 2019‒06‒24
thirteen papers chosen by João Carlos Correia Leitão Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Kancs, d'Artis (European Commission – JRC); Siliverstovs, Boriss (KOF Swiss Economic Institute) |
| Abstract: | We provide a novel evidence about the innovation-employment nexus by decomposing it by R&D intensity in a continuous setup and relaxing the linearity assumption. Using a large international firm-level panel data set for OECD countries and employing a flexible semi-parametric method – the generalised propensity score – allows us to recover the full functional relationship between the R&D-driven innovation and firm employment as well as address important econometric issues, which is not possible in the standard estimation approach used in the previous literature. Our results confirm that the relationship between innovation and employment entails important non-linearities responsible for significant differences in employment response to innovation at different R&D intensity levels. |
| Keywords: | R&D investment, employment, propensity score, firm-level data |
| JEL: | C14 C21 F23 J20 J23 O30 O32 O33 |
| Date: | 2019–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrs:wpaper:201902&r=all |
| By: | Elert, Niklas (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)); Henrekson, Magnus (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | We are grateful for the comments to our article, and for the opportunity to respond to them. In our original contribution, we argued that the application of the EOE perspective could help make Austrian economics more concrete, relevant and persuasive, especially regarding policy prescriptions. At the heart of this perspective is the idea that entrepreneurship, when construed as the act of building an innovative firm, is an inherently collaborative activity. The comments have strengthened our conviction that the EOE perspective is of value for Austrian economics and been of great help in furthering our thinking on the matter. The comments have also helped us see how the perspective fits in with the broader tradition of Austrian economics. |
| Keywords: | Austrian economics; Entrepreneurship; Innovation; Institutions; Schumpeterian entrepreneurship; Spontaneous order |
| JEL: | B53 D20 G32 L23 L26 O33 |
| Date: | 2019–06–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1285&r=all |
| By: | Pablo Blanchard (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía); Adriana Peluffo (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía); Dayna Zaclicever (Comisión Económica para América Latina) |
| Abstract: | International trade is considered a vehicle for technology diffusion, which in turn can induce productivity growth. Particularly, imports may give domestic firms access to a larger variety and/or better quality of intermediate or capital inputs in which new technologies are embodied. However, the lack of sufficiently skilled labor, an issue especially relevant for small developing countries, may prevent firms from taking advantage of these technologies. Using a panel of Uruguayan manufacturing firms for the period 1997-2008, we explore the impact of imported inputs on firms’ productivity and evaluate whether the effect is mediated by the firm’s absorptive capacity, proxied by the proportion of skilled labor. We use two alternative approaches. Firstly, we apply a two-stage approach by first estimating firms’ productivity and then using impact evaluation techniques to analyze causality between imported inputs and productivity. Secondly, we use a direct approach, estimating TFP with imported inputs as a state variable. Our results show that imported intermediates have an enhancing effect on Uruguayan firms’ productivity, and that absorptive capacity plays an important role on this effect. |
| Keywords: | productivity, imports, absorptive capacity |
| JEL: | F14 D24 O33 |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulr:wpaper:dt-03-19&r=all |
| By: | Jorge Nogueira de Paiva Britto (Universidade Federal Fluminense); Leonardo Costa Ribeiro (Cedeplar-UFMG); Lucas Teixeira Araújo (Universidade Federal Fluminense); Eduardo da Motta e Albuquerque (Cedeplar-UFMG) |
| Abstract: | The investigation comprises information about patent citations distributed by different technological domains, which are used to map knowledge flows and to correlate these flows with the evolution of countries' competences. Specifically, the analysis uses information about patent citations to track and discuss the evolution of knowledge flows to a set of selected countries involved in catching-up up processes.. The analysis comprises an analysis of patent citation data extracted from the USPTO database from the period 1982-2006, including information about citations extracted from patents granted by national companies of the selected countries, presented trough technological interaction matrices crossing information of different technological domains of the patents, correlating the technological domains of the patents citing other patents with the technological domains of the patents cited. The hypothesis is that the intensification and diversification of knowledge flows to a greater number of fields broadens the possibilities of identifying attractive opportunities for innovation, magnifying the possibilities of development and catching-up. The analysis tries to identify which technological fields concentrate the absorption and diffusion of knowledge in a given country along different periods, which tends to be connected to the possibilities of catching up processes. |
| Keywords: | Patent Citations; International Knowledge flows; Innovation Systems |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdp:texdis:td606&r=all |
| By: | Ufuk Akcigit (University of Chicago); Emin Dinlersoz (Bureau of the Census); Jeremy Greenwood (University of Pennsylvania); Veronika Penciakova (Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta) |
| Abstract: | Venture capital and growth are examined both empirically and theoretically. Empirically, VC-backed startups have higher early growth rates and patenting levels than non-VC-backed ones. Venture capitalists increase a startup's likelihood of reaching the right tails of the firm size and innovation distributions. Furthermore, outcomes are better for startups matched with more experienced venture capitalists. An endogenous growth model, where venture capitalists provide both expertise and financing for business startups, is constructed to match these facts. The presence of venture capital, the degree of assortative matching between startups and financiers, and the taxation of VC-backed startups matter significantly for growth. |
| Keywords: | assortative matching, endogenous growth, IPO, management, mergers and acquisitions, research and development, selection effects, startups, synergies, taxation, treatment effects, venture capital |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eag:rereps:30&r=all |
| By: | Olga Diukanova (European Commission - JRC); Andrea Conte (European Commission - JRC); Simone Salotti (European Commission - JRC) |
| Abstract: | The European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) is supporting an Innovation Agenda for the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Republic of North Macedonia and Serbia). Smart Specialisation is the European Union (EU) place-based policy aiming at more thematic concentration in research and innovation (R&I) investments via the evidence-based identification of the strengths and potential of a given economy. Access to data and economic analysis are key to a better identification of both current and future socio-economic policy challenges. The EU Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) supports reforms in the enlargement countries with financial and technical help. Out of the almost €650 million destined to Albania over the programming period 2014-2022, €44 are supporting competitiveness and innovation. Policy simulations using CGE modelling techniques show positive macro-economic effects of the IPA funds for competitiveness and innovation both in the short run and in the long run thanks to productivity improvements. |
| Keywords: | rhomolo, region, growth, impact assessment, modelling, R&D, R&I, Western Balkans, Albania, investment |
| JEL: | C68 E62 R13 |
| Date: | 2019–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc115438&r=all |
| By: | SHIMAMOTO Daichi; Yu Ri KIM; TODO Yasuyuki |
| Abstract: | This study examines the effect of social interactions on exporting activities of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in traditional apparel and textile clusters in Vietnam. To deal with econometric issues due to the reflection problem of Manski and endogeneity of network formation, we apply the estimation method developed by Bramoullé et al. (2009). Specifically, we eliminate the sub-network fixed effects using within transformation and instrument the average share of exports among peers of the focal firm by attributes of its peers' peers. This method enables us to identify the effects of exporting activities of the focal firm's peers on its own exporting activities (the endogenous effect according to Manski) and the effect of its peers' attributes (the exogenous effect). We find that peers' export share has a negative and significant effect on own export share, suggesting that the negative competition effect surpasses the positive learning effect. We also find that firms are encouraged to export by their large peers, possibly because firms can obtain technology spillovers from large peers and thus can be productive enough to start exporting. |
| Date: | 2019–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:19020&r=all |
| By: | Zahler, Andrés; Goya, Daniel; Caamaño, Matías |
| Abstract: | We study the effect of different types of barriers to innovation (financial, demand, knowledge, market, cooperation, and regulatory barriers) on firm level innovation inputs and outputs. Using a pooled sample of three Chilean innovation surveys, based on an instrumental variables approach, we find that the probability of generating innovation outcomes is signficantly reduced by demand and financial barriers. Regarding inputs for innovation, we find a clear negative relationship between financial and demand obstacles and the propensity to incur (non-R&D) innovation expenditures, but not with its intensity. We also provide evidence of heterogeneous effects across sectors, finding that knowledge obstacles are relevant for manufacturing and market structure obstacles for services, while demand and financial obstacles appear to matter across the board. |
| JEL: | O31 O32 D22 |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:73&r=all |
| By: | Ashish Arora; Sharon Belenzon; Andrea Patacconi; Jungkyu Suh |
| Abstract: | A defining feature of modern economic growth is the systematic application of science to advance technology. However, despite sustained progress in scientific knowledge, recent productivity growth in the U.S. has been disappointing. We review major changes in the American innovation ecosystem over the past century. The past three decades have been marked by a growing division of labor between universities focusing on research and large corporations focusing on development. Knowledge produced by universities is not often in a form that can be readily digested and turned into new goods and services. Small firms and university technology transfer offices cannot fully substitute for corporate research, which had integrated multiple disciplines at the scale required to solve significant technical problems. Therefore, whereas the division of innovative labor may have raised the volume of science by universities, it has also slowed, at least for a period of time, the transformation of that knowledge into novel products and processes. |
| JEL: | O3 |
| Date: | 2019–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25893&r=all |
| By: | Andreia Inamorato dos Santos (European Commission - JRC) |
| Abstract: | These guidelines are for the academic staff of higher education institutions, with the goal of helping them move towards the use of open educational practices (OEP) in order to widen participation in education. The guidelines are meant to provide an understanding of each of the ten dimensions of open education based on the OpenEdu Framework (JRC, 2016), and to show how academics can start using OEP to prompt inclusion and innovation as important values, starting from their day-to-day activities such as teaching, knowledge creation and research. |
| Keywords: | open education, higher education, open educational practices, OEP, open educationalresources, OER, universities, academics, teaching, teachers |
| Date: | 2019–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc115663&r=all |
| By: | Deasy Pane; Arianto A. Patunru |
| Abstract: | ‘Learning-by-exporting’ hypothesis suggests that once a firm enters a foreign market, its productivity will increase thanks to the exposure to new knowledge and experience abroad. We test this hypothesis using Indonesia’s firm level data from 2000 to 2012. The methodology involves scrutinizing the learning process of exporters by incorporating ‘export age’ – the number of years engaged in exporting activities – as an explanatory variable in the model. We find that exporter’s total factor productivity increases with export age, but not linearly. Furthermore, larger exporting firms and those in particular industries undergo a clearer learning process. However, even though export experience can boost productivity, it is only applicable for firms that have high productivity from the beginning, supporting the ‘self-selection’ hypothesis. |
| Keywords: | Indonesia, learning-by-exporting, Indonesia, export performance, productivity |
| JEL: | F12 F14 L23 L25 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pas:papers:2019-05&r=all |
| By: | Giordano, Claire; Lopez-Garcia, Paloma |
| Abstract: | Firms are heterogeneous, even within narrowly defined sectors. This paper surveys the relevant theoretical and empirical literature on firm heterogeneity and external trade. By innovatively exploiting rich cross-country micro-aggregated data sourced from the ECB Competitiveness Research Network (CompNet), this study then investigates the main implications of firm heterogeneity for trade of EU countries, showing a set of stylised facts. On the one hand, exporting firms are larger, more productive and pay higher wages than non-exporting firms. Only these firms are able to bear export costs, related to various factors, such as tariff and non-tariff trade barriers, the quality of the legal system or access to finance. Hence, only few enterprises actually export, and the intensity of aggregate export concentration within few large firms varies across countries and sectors. On the other hand, opening to trade boosts individual firms’ productivity growth, via a number of channels, and also enhances allocative efficiency across firms, in turn increasing aggregate productivity growth. One of the main standard determinants of export growth, namely changes in the real effective exchange rate, impacts aggregate performance differently across countries and sectors, depending on sectoral composition and on firm characteristics within a given sector JEL Classification: F14, L25 |
| Keywords: | firm heterogeneity, productivity, real effective exchange rates, Trade |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbops:2019225&r=all |
| By: | Karel Haegeman (European Commission - JRC); Eskarne Arregui (European Commission - JRC); Nicholas Harrap (European Commission - JRC); Karolina Horbaczewska (European Commission - JRC); Cristina Torrecillas; Susana Valero (European Commission - JRC) |
| Abstract: | Challenge-driven innovation in the EU calls for closer collaboration between territorial innovation initiatives and non-territorial innovation, in order to build critical mass and take full advantage of synergies and complementarities. This report investigates in particular the motivations and practices for strengthening collaborations between Joint Undertakings (JUs) (focusing on non-territorial innovation) and national and regional ESI Funds’ managing authorities (focusing on territorial innovation) and offers guidance to take the necessary steps to start or upscale them. Collaborations with JUs can also help to optimise the S3 priority setting by refining priorities and positioning them within the European research agendas of the JUs. From their side, JUs can benefit from stronger links with S3 in order to maximise the impact of their agendas and projects, and build more critical mass. Typologies of current collaboration modes are identified, while highlighting bottlenecks and challenges faced in implementation. With a view to further unlock the untapped potential of JUs and ESI Funds’ Managing Authorities working together, guidance is provided on the type of actions and initiatives that could be taken to reinforce such alliances. The practical knowledge about existing mechanisms and their limitations presented in this report can assist in the optimisation of such interactions and lead to more effective implementation of national and regional Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3) and of Joint Undertakings. This publication is part of the Stairway to Excellence project, funded by the European Parliament, and implemented by the Joint Research Centre in close cooperation with DG REGIO. |
| Keywords: | Excellence, cohesion, Smart Specialisation Strategies, funding synergies, H2020, Joint Undertakings, governance of innovation |
| Date: | 2019–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc116094&r=all |