|
on Small Business Management |
|
Issue of 2024‒01‒15
27 papers chosen by |
| By: | Jarkko Harju (Tampere University and Finnish Center of Excellence in Tax Systems Research); Toni Juuti (Labour Institute for Economic Research LABORE, Tampere University and Finnish Center of Excellence in Tax Systems Research); Tuomas Matikka (VATT Institute for Economic Research and Finnish Center of Excellence in Tax Systems Research) |
| Abstract: | Using detailed full-population data from Finland, we provide evidence on selection into entrepreneurship and the dynamic implications of establishing a new business. Individuals at the very top of the personal income distribution are much more likely to start a new incorporated business compared to others. There is no similar selection based on parental income, but more than half of new entrepreneurs have entrepreneurial parents. Entrepreneurship is associated with a similar average income gain of 20% relative to comparable wage earners throughout both personal and parental income distributions. However, key firm-level outcomes such as productivity and job creation are positively linked with personal income. This suggests that high-income individuals do not only benefit from entrepreneurship personally, but their businesses are associated with the largest positive spillovers in the economy. In contrast, we find no significant differences in the outcomes of new firms by parental income or parental background in entrepreneurship. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship; income mobility; inequality; productivity |
| JEL: | L26 J24 J3 |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fit:wpaper:17&r=sbm |
| By: | Alicia Martin-Navarro; Felix Velicia-Martin; Jose Aurelio Medina-Garrido; Ricardo Gouveia Rodrigues |
| Abstract: | The tourism sector is a sector with many opportunities for business development. Entrepreneurship in this sector promotes economic growth and job creation. Knowing how entrepreneurial intention develops facilitates its transformation into entrepreneurial behaviour. Entrepreneurial behaviour can adopt a causal logic, an effectual logic or a combination of both. Considering the causal logic, decision-making is done through prediction. In this way, entrepreneurs try to increase their market share by planning strategies and analysing possible deviations from their plans. Previous literature studies causal entrepreneurial behaviour, as well as variables such as creative innovation, proactive decisions and entrepreneurship training when the entrepreneur has already created his or her firm. However, there is an obvious gap at a stage prior to the start of entrepreneurial activity when the entrepreneurial intention is formed. This paper analyses how creativity, proactivity, entrepreneurship education and the propensity for causal behaviour influence entrepreneurial intentions. To achieve the research objective, we analysed a sample of 464 undergraduate tourism students from two universities in southern Spain. We used SmartPLS 3 software to apply a structural equation methodology to the measurement model composed of nine hypotheses. The results show, among other relationships, that causal propensity, entrepreneurship learning programmes and proactivity are antecedents of entrepreneurial intentions. These findings have implications for theory, as they fill a gap in the field of entrepreneurial intentions. Considering propensity towards causal behaviour before setting up the firm is unprecedented. Furthermore, the results of this study have practical implications for the design of public education policies and the promotion of business creation in the tourism sector. |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2312.00517&r=sbm |
| By: | Davide Azzolini; Nicola Doppio; Luca Mion; Iunio Quarto Russo; Alessio Tomelleri |
| Abstract: | Innovating product design is crucial for firms operating in the digital sector as it is closely linked with innovation capability and, therefore, with firm performance and productivity. In this paper, we run a randomized controlled trial to assess if participating in an open innovation initiative increases SMEs’ capability to design more competitive digital products. More specifically, the intervention aimed at increasing firms’ knowledge of the Design Sprint and their readiness to implement user-centered design techniques. 190 SMEs based in 7 different European countries took part in the field trial in spring 2021. We find that the intervention increased participants’ knowledge about user-centered design methods, although no statistically significant effects are found on participants’ intention to adopt that in their firms. This may be traced back to organizational and financial constraints typically related to the small-sized firms involved. |
| Keywords: | Open Innovation, SMEs, Randomized Controlled Trial, User Experience Design, Design Sprint |
| JEL: | D22 M31 O31 |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fbk:wpaper:2024-01&r=sbm |
| By: | Pietro Santoleri (European Commission - JRC); Emanuele Russo (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | In the attempt to boost innovation, policy-makers have enacted a myriad of programs targeting innovative start-ups in recent years. Empirical evidence on these initiatives has almost exclusively focused on national-level programs, overlooking those implemented at the local level. This paper provides the first quasi-experimental evidence on the joint effects of local policies focusing on Italy, where regional governments have been very active in providing financial support to these firms. By leveraging discontinuities in program design, we adopt a local randomization approach and document a null effect of these programs over a wide range of firm-level outcomes. However, we find that securing local subsidies increases start-ups' probability to obtain additional public subsidies, which points in the direction of a vicious “Matthew effect” in subsidy allocation. Consistent with a reputation/certification mechanism, the increase in follow-on subsidies occurs for funds disbursed at the local level only, whereas no effect is detected for subsidies allocated by national or international authorities. |
| Keywords: | Regression discontinuity design, Innovation Policy, Place-based Policy, Start-ups. |
| JEL: | D22 G24 G32 L53 O31 O38 R58 |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:termod:202313&r=sbm |
| By: | HONDA Tomohito; ONO Arito; UESUGI Iichiro; YASUDA Yukihiro |
| Abstract: | In this study, we use a detailed and comprehensive dataset on out-of-court debt workouts for distressed small and medium-sized enterprises in Japan to describe characteristics of these workouts. We then investigate their determinants and the subsequent effects on firm performance. We find that most cases of debt restructuring involve a rescheduling (deferral of debt repayment). In contrast, firms infrequently use more drastic measures, some of which could reduce their debt overhang. For the determinants, firms with operating surpluses and negative net worth are more likely to take drastic measures to restructure debt, which is consistent with the debt overhang theory. Firms with operating surpluses are more likely to adopt measures to hold management responsible and to use new outside executives. In terms of performance, firms that use drastic debt restructuring strategies have better gross sales and profits. Firms that use restructuring to hold management more responsible reduce employment and improve profits. These results indicate that firms that use measures to reduce their debt overhang and limit their moral hazard improved their performance. |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:23088&r=sbm |
| By: | Corinne Autant-Bernard (GATE Lyon Saint-Étienne - Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon - Saint-Etienne - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Ruben Fotso (GATE Lyon Saint-Étienne - Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon - Saint-Etienne - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Nadine Massard (UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes) |
| Abstract: | Large firms receive the majority of public R&D funding in most countries. Due to methodological difficulties, however, evaluation of the effect of government-sponsored R&D programmes mainly focuses on small- and medium-sized enterprises. To evaluate the impact of a specific innovation policy on large firms, we propose using the synthetic control method (SCM), initially developed by Abadie et al. (2010). We apply this method to evaluate the impact of a recent French science-industry transfer initiative, inspired from other foreign policy tools, and demonstrate the relevance of the SCM compared to other evaluation methods for large firms. The SCM has the advantage of providing an individual assessment of the policy impact on each firm, revealing very heterogeneous impacts both on R&D inputs and the cooperation behaviours of firms. This study shows that the SCM opens up new perspectives for assessing the impact of policies at the firm level. |
| Abstract: | Les grandes entreprises reçoivent la majorité du financement public de la R&D dans la plupart des pays. Cependant, en raison de difficultés méthodologiques, l'évaluation de l'effet des programmes gouvernementaux de R&D se concentre principalement sur les petites et moyennes entreprises. Pour évaluer l'impact d'une politique d'innovation spécifique sur les grandes entreprises, nous proposons d'utiliser la méthode du contrôle synthétique (MCS), initialement développée par Abadie et al. (2010). Nous appliquons cette méthode pour évaluer l'impact d'une initiative française récente de transfert science-industrie qui s'inspire de dispositifs étrangers et démontrons la pertinence de la MCS par rapport à d'autres méthodes d'évaluation pour les grandes entreprises. La MCS a l'avantage de fournir une évaluation individuelle de l'impact de la politique sur chaque entreprise, révélant des impacts très hétérogènes à la fois sur les intrants de R&D et sur les comportements de coopération des entreprises. Cette étude montre que la MCS ouvre de nouvelles perspectives pour évaluer l'impact des politiques au niveau des entreprises. |
| Keywords: | impact evaluation R&D policy large firms synthetic control method Technological Research Institutes (TRIs), impact evaluation, R&D policy, large firms, synthetic control method, Technological Research Institutes (TRIs) |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04313798&r=sbm |
| By: | ITO Tadashi |
| Abstract: | The covid-19 pandemic triggered the widespread use of remote work. Many firms closed their headquarters in Tokyo and moved to neighboring or regional areas. Revitalization of regional economies has been one of the core policy issues of the Japanese government for the last 10 years. Relocation of firms to regional areas could help the regional economies’ development. This study analyses the characteristics of the relocated firms and their CEOs, and the possibility of the relocation of new firms and their effects on the revitalization of the regional economies through new business opportunities or new transactions. The analyses show that 1) only a small portion of firms relocate, as in the case of the other developed countries, and the ratio of firms that relocated between prefectures during the period of about 10 years was merely 0.74%; 2) most firms relocated to neighboring areas; 3) large firms or productive firms, or young (years since establishment) firms and firms run by young CEOs are more likely to relocate; 4) ICT-related firms are more likely to relocate and agglomerate in the central urban areas; 5) relocated firms are more likely to change their transaction partner firms; and 6) firms are likely to relocate closer to their customers’ locations. Moreover, the analyses find a positive correlation between the numbers of firms relocated into areas/industries and the growth rate of those areas/industries. On the other hand, there is a substantial number of large firms that relocated from Tokyo or Osaka areas to regional areas and most of those firms are in manufacturing industries. |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:rdpsjp:23050&r=sbm |
| By: | Michela Loi; Manuel Castriotta; Saulo Dubard-Barbosa (EM - emlyon business school); Maria Chiara Di Guardo; Alain Fayolle (EM - emlyon business school) |
| Abstract: | "Fragmentation is the main obstacle to scientific progress on entrepreneurial intention. To address this issue, we systematise the current literature with a hybrid bibliometric method that combines co-citation and bibliographic coupling analysis for the first time in entrepreneurial intention studies to show the field's knowledge base and research fronts and to examine how divergent perspectives have challenged the core knowledge of the field. We highlight three recurring dimensions of entrepreneurial intention studies: (1) personal factors, (2) social factors and (3) investigational settings. In addition to introducing new constructs, divergent perspectives have emphasised the interplay between these components and challenged the mechanisms connecting them. Based on these findings, we extend previous classifications in the literature by providing a framework that integrates divergent perspectives with the field's knowledge base, helping establish future research avenues and improving the theorising process of entrepreneurial intention." |
| Keywords: | bibliometrics, conceptual framework, divergent perspectives, entrepreneurial intention, entrepreneurship, literature review |
| Date: | 2023–09–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04325752&r=sbm |
| By: | Colin Davis; Ken-ichi Hashimoto |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how national research subsidies affect productivity growth and national welfare through adjustments in the geographic location of research and development (R&D) across countries. Our two-country framework features a tension in the firm-level innovation location decision between accessing technical knowledge and sourcing low-cost high-skilled labor. With trade costs and imperfect international knowledge diffusion, the larger country has a greater share of industry and tends to host a larger share of innovation. In this setting, we find that an R&D subsidy expands the implementing country’s share of innovation and raises the rate of productivity growth. Although the non-implementing country experiences a welfare improvement, the rising cost of the policy generates a concave relationship between the R&D subsidy and the welfare of the implementing country, yielding an optimal R&D subsidy rate. |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dpr:wpaper:1226&r=sbm |
| By: | Rafik Abdesselam (COACTIS - COnception de l'ACTIon en Situation - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne); Malia Kedjar (LARSH - Laboratoire de Recherche Sociétés & Humanités - UPHF - Université Polytechnique Hauts-de-France - INSA Hauts-De-France - INSA Institut National des Sciences Appliquées Hauts-de-France - INSA - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées); Patricia Renou-Maissant (EconomiX - EconomiX - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to identify the drivers of eco-innovation in start-ups. Firstly, a discriminant analysis (DA) is applied to study what is distinctive about eco-innovative start-ups as compared to non-eco-innovative start-ups. Secondly, a typology of eco-innovative start-ups is developed using a hierarchical ascendant clustering (HAC). Analyses are carried out using original data from a survey of 120 eco-innovative and non-ecoinnovative French start-ups. Discriminant analyses reveal that the founders of eco-innovative start-ups are differentiated by characteristics related to their environmental education and professional experience. Furthermore, eco-innovative start-ups are distinguished from the non-eco-innovative start-ups by voluntary environmental practices, such as the adoption of corporate social responsibility policies. Finally, we show that there is a diversity of profiles of eco-innovators. In fact, firms cluster into five main profiles and exhibit different eco-innovation drivers. We highlight that the different types of eco-innovators do not face the same difficulties in accessing funds. These findings have important implications for the implementation of public policy designed to promote eco-innovative activity, and they highlight the need to design policies that take into account the distinctive character of each profile. |
| Keywords: | Eco-innovation Start-ups typology Data analysis methods |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04304153&r=sbm |
| By: | Svetlana Klessova; Sebastian Engell; Catherine Thomas (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UCA - Université Côte d'Azur) |
| Abstract: | Publicly funded multi-actor research, development and innovation projects are a setting where a network of multiple organizational actors form a temporary consortium to jointly create new knowledge and market-upstream innovations. The couplings between the organizational actors and sub-groups of these actors represent joint work that leads to flows of knowledge and flows of activities. The dynamics of the couplings in this empirical context and their implications are not well understood yet. Using an inductive comparative multiple case study of projects funded in European Research and Innovation Programmes, we investigated 4 projects with 54 organizational actors, which produced 50 innovations. The evolutions of all couplings went through the same phases, although the temporality of the phases differed. We identified eight types of evolutions of couplings and their underlying generative mechanisms. These evolutions led to different, mostly negative implications on the planned collaborative innovations. Particularly, we observed a systematic degradation of the couplings that were planned to connect sub-groups of organizational actors. Over time, the projects became less collaborative than planned, and they have a tendency to fragment into isolated activities by subgroups of actors. Based on these findings, we propose an emerging process model which helps to better understand how and why the couplings evolve in multi-actor RDI projects. |
| Keywords: | multi-actor projects, collaborative innovation |
| Date: | 2022–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04314362&r=sbm |
| By: | Quang Hoan Truong (Institute for Southeast Asian Studies, Viet Nam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS)); Van Chung Dong (Viet Nam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS)) |
| Abstract: | This study employs data from the Viet Nam Enterprise Survey (VES) for 2007 and 2011 to examine the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) and product sophistication as well as the interaction between these two factors on the skilled and unskilled labour demand on Viet Nam's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It finds that the FDI presence in the same industry but different regions-and FDI in the same region but different industries - has a positive effect on the skilled labour demand and a negative impact on the unskilled labour demand. FDI in the same industry has a negative effect on the skilled labour demand and an advantageous impact on the unskilled labour demand. The product sophistication index is found to positively affect the skilled labour demand but decreases the demand for unskilled labour. When interacting with product sophistication, FDI presence in the same industry and region positively affects the skilled labour demand. The study also finds the opposite impacts of different types of FDI presence as well as the interaction between FDI presence and product sophistication on the demand for highly, medium-, and basic-skilled labour. Thus, it is important to consider the opposite effects of different types of FDI and the interaction between FDI presence and product sophistication on SME labour demand by skills level. |
| Keywords: | FDI presence; Product sophistication; SMEs; Skilled and unskilled labour demand; Viet Nam |
| JEL: | F15 F23 J23 |
| Date: | 2023–02–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:era:wpaper:dp-2022-40&r=sbm |
| By: | Alicia Martin-Navarro; Jose Aurelio Medina-Garrido; Felix Velicia-Martin |
| Abstract: | The literature on effectual theory offers validated scales to measure effectual or causal logic in entrepreneurs' decision-making. However, there are no adequate scales to assess in advance the effectual or causal propensity of people with an entrepreneurial intention before the creation of their companies. We aim to determine the validity and reliability of an instrument to measure that propensity by first analysing those works that provide recognised validated scales with which to measure the effectual or causal logic in people who have already started up companies. Then, considering these scales, we designed a scale to evaluate the effectual or causal propensity in people who had not yet started up companies using a sample of 230 final-year business administration students to verify its reliability and validity. The validated scale has theoretical implications for the literature on potential entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial intention and practical implications for promoters of entrepreneurship who need to orient the behaviour of entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs of established businesses who want to implement a specific strategic orientation, entrepreneurs who want to evaluate the effectual propensity of their potential partners and workers, and academic institutions interested in orienting the entrepreneurial potential of their students. |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2312.00916&r=sbm |
| By: | TSURUTA Daisuke |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we investigate the relationship between the use of a public credit guarantee scheme for small businesses and the efficiency of credit allocation using region- and industry-level data from Japan for the period from 1968 to 2005. Studies argue that credit constraints are more severe for small businesses than for large firms. Therefore, a public credit guarantee scheme that mitigates this constraint could enhance social welfare. If credit guaranteed loans were allocated to firms with high value added, the public credit guarantee scheme would enhance the efficiency of credit allocation. Conversely, however, public credit guarantee schemes can squeeze credit allocations for small businesses. When financial institutions offer loans through credit guarantee schemes, they can offer loans to small businesses at low risk to themselves, even though small businesses are high-risk borrowers, which may reduce the incentives of the financial institutions to monitor the activity of small business borrowers. In addition, because the public credit guarantee scheme in Japan is a component of a broader set of social policies aiming to eliminate inequality, credit guaranteed loans can be offered to economically distressed firms. We identify a negative relationship between the amount of credit guaranteed and the value added. Moreover, we find that the greater the amount of credit guaranteed loans offered to firms, the larger the default rate among small businesses. We show that the public credit guarantee scheme reduced the efficiency of credit allocations, which has implications for industry and regional growth. |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:23083&r=sbm |
| By: | Eugene Tan; Teegawende H. Zeida |
| Abstract: | We formulate a framework showing that differences in capital returns and capital intensity between groups of firms can identify relative differences in consumer demand and credit constraints. Using micro-data on Black- and White-owned startups, we find robust evidence that Black-owned startups have lower capital returns, implying that Black-owned startups face lower consumer demand due to race. In contrast, we find mixed evidence of tighter credit constraints due to race. We further show that differences in capital returns are persistent over time, whereas capital intensity differences are transitory. This suggests that lower demand, rather than credit constraints, might be the main barrier to growth for Black-owned startups. |
| Keywords: | Discrimination; Investment; Entrepreneurship |
| JEL: | L26 E22 J15 |
| Date: | 2023–11–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedmoi:97508&r=sbm |
| By: | Goo, Jin Kyung (Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade) |
| Abstract: | As data plays an increasingly important role in many service industries, there has been a growing need for a more effective and systematic legislative and regulatory support structure to foster greater data use in these industries. This report examines the current state of data use in Korean service industries, and proposes ways to further promote data utilization. The demand for data by service firms in South Korea has been growing rapidly. Data use is more common among large corporations and businesses with short business histories. Relative to non-service industries, firm size has a weaker correlation with firm data utilization in the service sector. The extremely diverse nature of the service industry also means that data use is concentrated in a handful of segments, such as the information and communications, finance, and trade and logistics sectors. A survey of service businesses on data use shows that firms in these industries mainly collect and use data for two reasons: to develop and improve their products and services and to support marketing efforts. Of the various types of data available, customer information is most commonly used. However, the survey also found that various laws and regulations constrain firms’ utilization of data. In Korea, the Personal Information Protection Act sets limits on how firms may use customer data, and firms also identified the possibility of legal disputes erupting over personal data use as a significant barrier. In addition, both firms that use data and firms that do not pointed to a quantitative and qualitative lack of skilled workers as the biggest hindrance to increased data use. Policy support should therefore be focused primarily on developing human resources with data skills to facilitate increased data use in service industries. The Korean government has already undertaken various initiatives to educate and train data specialists, but these efforts have been insufficient, and a number of factors have conspired to limit the effectiveness of the programs. Policymakers need to strengthen ties between various courses and extend the training periods of data specialists, while also introducing new Ph.D programs at specialized graduate schools. Guidelines are also needed to expedite data standardization and integration across industries. Systems of governance should also be established in different service industries to help alleviate the legal burden on firms that use data. |
| Keywords: | service industry; data; data utilization; commercial data; personal data; data protection; personal information; regulation; reform; regulatory reform; personal information protection; Korea |
| JEL: | L80 L81 L86 L88 |
| Date: | 2023–09–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:kietrp:2023_017&r=sbm |
| By: | ARATA Yoshiyuki; MIYAKAWA Daisuke; MORI Katsuki |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates firm growth dynamics by using the theory of stochastic processes and data on corporate tax records covering almost all firms in Japan. We show that the growth path of high-growth firms (HGFs) is characterized by a single large jump rather than a gradual increase. Specifically, before the jump occurs, the growth path of a HGF is similar to that of non-HGFs, but then it experiences a rapid increase in size. This growth pattern with a jump is typical (i.e., most likely) for HGFs. To provide further empirical evidence, we consider the ratio of the growth rate in the first period to the entire growth rate over two periods. The histogram of this ratio exhibits a U-shaped curve for HGFs, indicating that high growth over the two periods is explained by high growth either in the first or second period (but not both). This U-shaped curve is consistent with the idea that a single large jump determines the growth path of HGFs. |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:23087&r=sbm |
| By: | Otis, Nicholas G.; Clarke, Rowan Philip; Delecourt, Solene; Holtz, David (University of California, Berkeley); Koning, Rembrand (Harvard Business School) |
| Abstract: | There is a growing belief that scalable and low-cost AI assistance can improve firm decision-making and economic performance. However, running a business involves a myriad of open-ended problems, making it hard to generalize from recent studies showing that generative AI improves performance on well-defined writing tasks. In our five-month field experiment with 640 Kenyan entrepreneurs, we assessed the impact of AI-generated advice on small business revenues and profits. Participants were randomly assigned to a control group that received a standard business guide or to a treatment group that received a GPT-4 powered AI business mentor via WhatsApp. While we find no average treatment effect, this is because the causal effect of generative AI access varied with the baseline business performance of the entrepreneur: high performers benefited by just over 20% from AI advice, whereas low performers did roughly 10% worse with AI assistance. Exploratory analysis of the WhatsApp interaction logs shows that both groups sought the AI mentor’s advice, but that low performers did worse because they sought help on much more challenging business tasks. These findings highlight how the tasks selected by firms and entrepreneurs for AI assistance fundamentally shape who will benefit from generative AI. |
| Date: | 2023–12–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:hdjpk&r=sbm |
| By: | Ferro Gustavo; Gatti Nicolás |
| Abstract: | Knowledge applied to innovation is increasingly recognized as an explanatory factor of economic growth. Innovation derives from the application of knowledge to generate new products or new processes. National Innovation Systems (NIS) performs as the formal or informal network of people within institutions, interacting to produce and apply knowledge to innovation. NIS can be understood as two subsystems: one based on scientifical and technological work, producing codified products (publications and patents), and the other centered on practical actions to diffuse, apply, and use knowledge. Our objective is to assess cost efficiency in the production of codified knowledge outputs (CKO), being our unit of analysis countries. To attain our goal, we apply a Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) to estimate a cost frontier of CKO. The sample is a panel that includes 1189 observations, for 23 years (1996-2019), and 82 countries. Our main results identify determinants and patterns of efficiency and productivity, tendencies, and specifics of countries and groups of them. |
| JEL: | O12 O30 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aep:anales:4620&r=sbm |
| By: | Marina Chugunova (Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition); Anastasia Danilov (HU Berlin) |
| Abstract: | Using a survey with 57 German firms, we evaluate the level of digitalization of the human resource management (HRM) function and document perceived benefits and barriers of technology adoption from organizational and individual users’ perspectives. The results give reason for optimism. Most of the companies report that the core HR processes are digitized. We do not observe adverse effects of the digital HRM tools on users’ job satisfaction and work stress. Still, more than half of companies do not yet use digital tools for strategic HRM decisions. Respondents appreciate the increased speed and cost-efficiency of digital HR processes and associate them with a competitive advantage in talent acquisition. The most prominent barriers to adoption are lack of qualified professionals, high costs, and uncertainty regarding the legal framework. Additionally, we test whether small and medium-sized enterprises differ systematically from larger organizations in how they use digital HRM tools. |
| Keywords: | digital HRM tools; human resource management; digitalization; Germany; |
| JEL: | M12 M15 M50 O33 O52 |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rco:dpaper:485&r=sbm |
| By: | Luu Duc Toan Huynh (Queen Mary University of London); Khanh Hoang (Lincoln University); Steven Ongena (University of Zurich; Swiss Finance Institute; KU Leuven; NTNU Business School; CEPR) |
| Abstract: | We assess the economic effects of two decades of recent sanctions on Russian firms. We find that foreign sanctions leave energy firms in Russia unaffected but do undermine firm performance in the other (non‐energy) sectors. While firms with connections to Russian oligarchs linked to Putin are unaffected, sanctions do not differentiate in their impact between firms with Russian and foreign origins. Interestingly, Russian firms seem to be prepared for the Crimea event and the Ukraine war. Ultimately, we find that increasing export to China at country‐level helps alleviate the negative impact of sanctions on firm performance in Russia. |
| Keywords: | firm performance; sanctions; Russia; political connection |
| JEL: | G20 O16 |
| Date: | 2023–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chf:rpseri:rp23115&r=sbm |
| By: | ARATA Yoshiyuki |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes one of the classic empirical regularities in the literature on firm growth: Zipf's law of the firm size distribution. Firstly, using firm-level data and decomposing the sample by the age of the firms, I found that the Pareto tail is observed within each age cohort. In particular, Zipf's law is observed only among younger firms (e.g., firms under 50 years of age). This empirical finding contradicts previous research which assumes that Zipf's law is observed only when the size distribution of firms from each age cohort is aggregated. To address this empirical inconsistency, this paper provides another explanation for Zipf's law. Specifically, Zipf's law is explained by two assumptions: the random walk assumption (i.e., the log of a firm’s sales follows a random walk) and the heavy-tailed assumption that the growth rate distribution has a heavier tail than an exponential. In my analysis, the stationarity assumption (i.e., the firm size distribution is at the stationary state) is not needed. This new explanation resolves the empirical inconsistency and implies that a large firm arises from a few large jumps in size within a short period. Zipf's law reflects this property of firm growth dynamics. |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:23085&r=sbm |
| By: | Amit Goyal (University of Lausanne; Swiss Finance Institute); Sunil Wahal (Arizona State University) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the relation between inventive input (R&D), inventive output (the economic value of patents, EVP), firm-level profitability and asset growth, and stock returns. Current R&D and EVP forecast future profitability. Neither forecast future asset growth. Factor models motivated by q-theory and the dividend discount model fail to price R&D and EVP correctly, leaving large alphas on the table. But model failure is due to design specifics, not economic underpinnings: using cash-based operating profitability to measure expected profitability resurrects both models. The stock market does not appear to misprice inventive input or output. |
| Keywords: | Research & Development, Patents, Innovation, Intangibles, Profitability, Asset Pricing, Expected Returns, Accruals |
| JEL: | G11 G12 G13 |
| Date: | 2023–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chf:rpseri:rp23107&r=sbm |
| By: | Meller Leandro Matías |
| Abstract: | The objective of this article is to analyse the relation between the conditions for the optimality of patent policy and the elasticities of the social and private values of innovation. It is also an objective to study the influence of the coexistence of independent innovations and the cumulative nature of innovation in such conditions. Three models have been proposed: the first one textcite{takalo2001} represents a scenario with an isolated innovation, the second one features two independent innovations, and the third model features two linked innovations, one of which is a ``research tool'' for the development and the introduction of the other one. Sufficient conditions for the optimality of patents with maximum breadth or infinite length were presented. |
| JEL: | O34 K3 |
| Date: | 2023–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aep:anales:4669&r=sbm |
| By: | Nizalova, Olena; Shepotylo, Oleksandr |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the indirect economic impact of tuberculosis epidemic in one of the high-burden countries, focusing on the productivity at the individual level measured by the average wages and at firm level measured by the average total factor productivity (TFP). We use unique administrative data collected at the level of firms and regions for 2003-2009 and find that the ongoing tuberculosis (TB) epidemic has considerable indirect economic costs in terms of lost productivity and related inefficien- cies. First of all, both firms and individuals in regions with higher TB prevalence have significantly lower TFP and wages. Moreover, consistent with the Compensating Wage Differentials theory and after controlling for the TB prevalence, the risk of contracting the disease - TB incidence rate - is associated with higher wages and higher produc- tivity - a kind of premium for individuals and firms to operate in a risky environment. The latter can also be viewed as a source of inefficiency as this may prevent firms from entering more competitive markets. Additional analysis reveals strong spatial effects which are consistent with the infectious nature of the diseases and emphasize the im- portance of containing the epidemic. Overall, we estimate that a 10% decrease in the TB prevalence can lead to a 1.05% gain in GDP: 0.15% in terms of higher individual productivity and 0.89% in terms of firms' productivity. |
| Keywords: | Tuberculosis, Productivity, Regional Wage, Total Factor Productivity, TB Epidemic |
| JEL: | O18 I15 J24 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1360&r=sbm |
| By: | Giang Nguyen (EM - emlyon business school); My Nguyen; Anh Viet Pham; Man Duy Marty Pham |
| Abstract: | "This study examines how the geographical structure of social networks shapes venture capital (VC) investment decisions. We find that VC firms invest more in portfolio companies in socially connected regions. The effect is more pronounced among independent, smaller, less reputable, early–stage–focused VC firms and those not from a VC hub. We further document that social connectedness lowers the likelihood of a successful exit since it induces VC firms to undertake suboptimal investment decisions. Overall, our findings highlight the role of social connectedness in constituting the geographical differences in VC firms' capital allocation and investment outcomes." |
| Keywords: | Social connectedness, Venture capital, Capital allocation, Investment performance |
| Date: | 2023–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04325756&r=sbm |
| By: | Yuki Higuchi (Faculty of Economics, Sophia University, Japan); Vu Hoang Nam (Faculty of International Economics, Foreign Trade University, Viet Nam); Tetsushi Sonobe (Asian Development Bank Institute, Japan) |
| Abstract: | We conducted randomised experiments to provide management training for 312 small Vietnamese manufacturers in 2010 and repeatedly collected follow-up data in the span of a decade. Analysing panel data constructed from our original surveys with an attrition rate of 4%, we find that our training significantly improved the management quality of the treated entrepreneurs, and such improvement was sustained for at least 5 years. The control entrepreneurs, however, caught up in the longer run. |
| Keywords: | management training, Kaizen, small and medium-sized enterprises, RCT, Viet Nam. |
| JEL: | L2 M1 O1 |
| Date: | 2023–03–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:era:wpaper:dp-2022-42&r=sbm |