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on Small Business Management |
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Issue of 2025–09–01
eleven papers chosen by João Carlos Correia Leitão, Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Serguey Braguinsky; Joonkyu Choi; Yuheng Ding; Karam Jo; Seula Kim |
| Abstract: | We provide evidence that mega firms have played an increasingly important role in shaping new technological trajectories in recent years. While the share of novel patents---defined as patents introducing new combinations of technological components---produced by mega firms declined until around 2000, it has rebounded sharply since then. Furthermore, we find that the technological impact and knowledge diffusion of novel patents by mega firms have grown relative to those by non-mega firms after 2001. We also explore potential drivers of this trend, presenting evidence that the rise in novel patenting by mega firms is tied to their disproportionate increase in cash holdings and the expansion of their technological scope. Our findings highlight an overlooked positive role of mega firms in the economywide innovation process. |
| Keywords: | Mega Firms; Innovation; Novel Patents; Knowledge Diffusion |
| JEL: | O31 O33 O34 L11 L25 |
| Date: | 2025–08–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2025-60 |
| By: | Yassin Allammari (Abdelmalek Essaadi University); Ouiam Boujaddaine (Higher Institute of Nursing and Health Techniques Professions); Ahmed Taqi (Abdelmalek Essaadi University) |
| Abstract: | Although previous studies have established a positive relationship between market orientation (MO), innovation capabilities (IC), and SME performance, the specific context of Moroccan SMEs remains underexplored. This study aims to examine how MO and IC interact to enhance the performance of Moroccan SMEs. A quantitative survey was conducted among 84 SME managers operating in various sectors. Data analysis was performed using the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) method via SmartPLS 4. The results indicate that MO has a positive and direct effect on the performance of Moroccan SMEs. Additionally, IC play a partial mediating role in this relationship. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings provide concrete guidance for SME managers and policymakers, highlighting the strategic importance of strengthening MO and enhancing IC to foster sustainable SME performance in Morocco. |
| Keywords: | Market Orientation, Innovation Capabilities, SME Performance, Moroccan Smes |
| Date: | 2025–02–23 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05161581 |
| By: | Yousra Nassou (UAE - Abdelmalek Essaadi University [Tétouan] = Université Abdelmalek Essaadi [Tétouan]); Zakaria Bennani |
| Abstract: | In response to the dynamic challenges posed by today's business environment, this study investigates the interplay between organizational structure and managerial performance in Moroccan SMEs. Traditional hierarchies are scrutinized for their limitations in adapting to uncertainty, prompting a reevaluation towards decentralized structures (Fernandez, 2017; Mintzberg, 1979). Citing a broad spectrum of literature, the research establishes a clear link between decentralized structures and heightened managerial performance, emphasizing the pivotal role of alignment between the Accounting Information System (AIS) and organizational structure (Chenhall, 2003; Gul and Chia, 1994). The paper culminates in hypothesis, positing that decentralized companies exhibit superior managerial performance (Boubakary et al., 2020). This abstract provides a succinct overview of the study's exploration of organizational design and managerial efficacy, serving as a valuable resource for businesses navigating the intricacies of the modern business landscape. This study delves into the dynamic interplay between organizational structure and managerial performance in Moroccan Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), employing a quantitative research approach. Acknowledging the limitations of traditional hierarchies in adapting to the uncertainties of the contemporary business environment, the research focuses on 96 SMEs in Morocco to scrutinize the efficacy of decentralized structures. |
| Keywords: | SME Morocco business environment decentralization organizational structure, SME, Morocco, business environment, decentralization, organizational structure |
| Date: | 2023–11–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05163954 |
| By: | Sipeng Zeng; Xiaoning Wang; Tianshu Sun |
| Abstract: | Although Artificial Intelligence (AI) holds great promise for enhancing innovation and productivity, many firms struggle to realize its benefits. We investigate why some firms and industries succeed with AI while others do not, focusing on the degree to which an industrial domain is technologically integrated with AI, which we term "domain AI readiness". Using panel data on Chinese listed firms from 2016 to 2022, we examine how the interaction between firm-level AI capabilities and domain AI readiness affects firm performance. We create novel constructs from patent data and measure the domain AI readiness of a specific domain by analyzing the co-occurrence of four-digit International Patent Classification (IPC4) codes related to AI with the specific domain across all patents in that domain. Our findings reveal a strong complementarity: AI capabilities yield greater productivity and innovation gains when deployed in domains with higher AI readiness, whereas benefits are limited in domains that are technologically unprepared or already obsolete. These results remain robust when using local AI policy initiatives as instrumental variables. Further analysis shows that this complementarity is driven by external advances in domain-AI integration, rather than firms' own strategic pivots. Time-series analysis of IPC4 co-occurrence patterns further suggests that improvements in domain AI readiness stem primarily from the academic advancements of AI in specific domains. |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2508.09634 |
| By: | Klarl, Torben; Kritikos, Alexander S.; Poghosyan, Knarik |
| Abstract: | While Equity Crowdfunding (ECF) platforms are a virtual space for raising funds, geography remains relevant. To determine how location matters for entrepreneurs using equity crowdfunding (ECF), we analyze the spatial distribution of successful ECF campaigns and the spatial relationship between ECF campaigns and traditional investors, such as banks and venture capitalists (VCs). Using data from the two leading German platforms - Companisto and Seedmacht - we employ spatial eigenvalue filtering and negative binomial estimations. In addition, we introduce an event study based on the implementation of the Small Investor Protection Act in Germany allowing us to obtain causal evidence. Our combined analysis reveals a significant geographic concentration of successful ECF campaigns in some, but not all, dense areas. ECF campaigns tend to cluster in dense areas with VC activity, while they are less prevalent in dense areas with high banking activity, and are rarely found in rural areas. Thus, rather than closing the so-called regional funding gap, our results suggest that, from a spatial perspective, ECF fills the gap when firms in dense areas seek external financing below the minimum equity threshold offered by VCs and when there are few banks offering loans. |
| Keywords: | Crowdfunding, Finance Geography, Entrepreneurial Finance, Venture Capital (VC) Proximity |
| JEL: | G30 L26 M13 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1654 |
| By: | Luisa Corrado; Stefano Grassi; Aldo Paolillo (Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge) |
| Abstract: | Recent studies suggest that space activities generate significant economic benefits. This paper attempts to quantify these effects by modelling both business cycle and long-run effects driven by space sector activities. We develop a model in which technologies are shaped by both a dedicated R&D sector and spillovers from space-sector innovations. Using U.S. data from the 1960s to the present day, we analyse patent grants to distinguish between space and core sector technologies. By leveraging the network of patent citations, we further examine the evolving dependence between space and core technologies over time. Our findings highlight the positive impact of the aerospace sector on technological innovation and economic growth, particularly during the 1960s and 1970s. |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jbs:wpaper:202502 |
| By: | Reynolds, Robert Wallace |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes the Dual-Track Universal Framework (DTUF), a two-path architecture designed to address both existential economic security and entrepreneurial opportunity in the age of AI displacement and innovation asymmetry. DTUF consists of a dignity-linked base income tied to community service and a participation-linked innovation currency that democratizes access to professional services and startup resources. Unlike traditional Universal Basic Income proposals, DTUF preserves human agency through meaningful contribution while creating systematic pathways for innovation regardless of initial wealth. The framework leverages existing institutional structures, from Small Business Administration categorizations to professional licensing requirements, to create a parallel economy that coexists with current systems rather than replacing them wholesale. Through theoretical modeling and comparative analysis, I demonstrate how DTUF addresses key limitations of existing UBI proposals while mitigating the innovation access gaps that perpetuate wealth concentration in knowledge economies. |
| Date: | 2025–07–24 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:jdwqn_v1 |
| By: | François Derrien (HEC Paris - Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales); Jean-Stéphane Mésonnier (Centre de recherche de la Banque de France - Banque de France, ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Guillaume Vuillemey (HEC Paris - Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research) |
| Abstract: | Firm births are key drivers of employment growth, productivity gains, and "creative destruction". We show that set-up costs create sizable financial constraints for new firms. When firms face high set-up costs, they can only be established by leveraging up and lengthening debt maturity. We empirically confirm these predictions in a large sample of young French firms. Leverage is higher and debt maturity is longer in high set-up cost industries. Last, we show that, following an exogenous shock that reduces banks' supply of long-term loans, there is relatively lower firm creation in high set-up cost manufacturing industries. |
| Date: | 2025–01–17 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05156025 |
| By: | Enriques, Luca; Nigro, Casimiro A.; Tröger, Tobias |
| Abstract: | A vast literature has examined the contractual technology that venture capital (VC) funds and entrepreneurs deploy in the U.S. to define an agency cost-minimising structure of their relationship, leading many to conclude that U.S. VC contracts are the best real-world solution to the challenges bedeviling the financing of high-tech innovative startups and a model for VC transactional practice worldwide. Yet, whether VC funds and entrepreneurs can replicate the allocation of cash-flow and control rights resulting from U.S. VC contracts in non-U.S. jurisdictions has long been open to discussion. Research by financial economists and legal scholars have reached diverging conclusions. The existing literature exhibits three limitations, though. First, it has generally investigated at most only how a subset of the individual components of U.S. VC contracts fare under non-U.S. corporate laws. Second, it has typically considered the law on the books as opposed to the law in action. Third, it has relied on a loose definition of what qualifies as an effective substitute. This article examines how U.S. VC contracts fare under the corporate law regimes in force in two important European jurisdictions: Germany and Italy. It does so by taking a new approach to the matter. First, it considers the entire set of arrangements included in U.S. VC contracts rather than a sample. Second, it assesses the legality of those arrangements in the light of the applicable corporate law in action rather than the law on the books. Third, in assessing arrangements that deviate from U.S. private ordering solutions due to restrictive corporate law, it focuses on contract functionality rather than contract design. The results of the inquiry are straightforward: German and Italian corporate laws literally crash contracting parties' ambition to transplant U.S. VC contracts into their own jurisdictions and only allow for alternative arrangements that, if available at all, are costlier and/or less functional. |
| Keywords: | Comparative Corporate Law, Comparative Corporate Governance, Entrepreneurship, Financial Contracting, Private ordering, Start-ups, Venture Capital |
| JEL: | G38 K22 L26 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:safewp:324639 |
| By: | Heng Geng (Victoria University of Wellington); Harald Hau (University of Geneva); Pengfei Liu (University of Auckland) |
| Abstract: | Corporate Opportunity Waiver (COW) laws permit firms to suspend fiduciary duties related to corporate opportunities. Fich, Harford, and Tran (2023) argue that these laws reduced firm innovation and lowered corporate valuation for research-intensive firms. However, we are unable to replicate these results. We further show that the reported decline in Tobin's q is confounded by the effects of the dot-com bubble burst. Moreover, public firms subject to COWs reduce takeover defenses, contradicting their argument that COW laws weaken corporate governance. Overall, their conclusion that COW laws foster managerial disloyalty and harm shareholder value is not supported by the data. |
| Keywords: | COW laws, fiduciary duties, shareholder value, innovation |
| JEL: | G34 G38 O34 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chf:rpseri:rp2567 |
| By: | Arenal Alberto (Universidad Politecnica de Madrid); Armuna Cristina (Universidad Politecnica de Madrid); Feijoo Claudio (Universidad Politecnica de Madrid); Ramos Sergio (Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia); Xu Zimu (Cranfield University Cranfield School of Management); Moreno Ana Maria (Universidad Politecnica de Madrid) |
| Abstract: | Beyond the mainstream discussion on the key role of China in the global AI landscape, the knowledge about the real performance and future perspectives of the AI ecosystem in China is still limited. This paper evaluates the status and prospects of China's AI innovation ecosystem by developing a Triple Helix framework particularized for this case. Based on an in-depth qualitative study and on interviews with experts, the analysis section summarizes the way in which the AI innovation ecosystem in China is being built, which are the key features of the three spheres of the Triple Helix -governments, industry and academic/research institutions-as well as the dynamic context of the ecosystem through the identification of main aspects related to the flows of skills, knowledge and funding and the interactions among them. Using this approach, the discussion section illustrates the specificities of the AI innovation ecosystem in China, its strengths and its gaps, and which are its prospects. Overall, this revisited ecosystem approach permits the authors to address the complexity of emerging environments of innovation to draw meaningful conclusions which are not possible with mere observation. The results show how a favourable context, the broad adoption rate and the competition for talent and capital among regional-specialized clusters are boosting the advance of AI in China, mainly in the business to customer arena. Finally, the paper highlights the challenges ahead in the current implementation of the ecosystem that will largely determine the potential global leadership of China in this domain. |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2508.16526 |