Industrial clusters, firm location and productivity – Some empirical evidence for Danish firms

According to the economic literature, industrial clusters are groups of firms on the same location composing a production system with spillovers that can be vertical and/or horizontal. This paper focuses on horizontal clusters by exploring the spatial distribution of industrial clusters in Denmark. The key issue in the theoretical part of the paper is whether firms located in industrial clusters are more productive than their counterparts located separately outside industrial agglomerations. Firms located in clusters are potentially more productive than other firms because of the agglomeration advantages of e.g. networks, knowledge spillovers, human capital mobility etc. In the empirical part of the paper, industrial clusters are identified using municipalities as the spatial dimension. In the first part of the analysis, clusters are identified at the NACE-2 digit industrial level. Next, using firm-level data for the 1990s the relative ‘cluster-firm’ productivity is estimated. The study finds evidence of a significantly higher productivity in clusters. However, the magnitude of the cluster advantages varies a lot across industries and is highest in textile.Industrial clusters; productivity

Persistence in Corporate Performance? - Empirical Evidence from Panel Unit Root Tests

Persistence in corporate performance is analyzed in the framework of empirical tests of unit root behavior concerning firm profits. Data for firm-specific rates of return is applied in a set of panel unit root tests to address the question of persistence in profits both at firm level and for the aggregate level of industry-specific profits. The firm data all reject a null hypothesis of random walk behavior of profits but when smoothing profit rates at a two-digit NACE-code level for industries, the empirical evidence is more mixed as most industries show up with a unit root in aggregate rates of return, i.e. indicating persistence in corporate performance.Corporate performance; Persistence in profits; Panel unit root tests

Does the New Economy Create Higher Productivity?

The rapid and continuous growth in the US in the 1990s and the simultaneous boom in the IT industry created the concept "The New Economy". What connects the two phenomena is that the IT industry alone is considered productive, and increased productivity in other industries, as a result of increased IT use, has brought focus on the IT industry as a catalyst for growth.The Danish Ministry of Finance (2001) points out general increased productivity in Denmark at macro level and this increase is said to be a result of increased IT use. The question is, however, if the influence of IT investments really can be verified. The strongest evidence would be to show that this relationship exists at micro level. The purpose of this article is to investigate whether it is possible to detect increased productivity in the late 1990s, using data from Danish industries for the first time.The result of this analysis shows increased productivity in the IT industry starting in 1993. IT in production counts for increased but stagnated growth, whereas IT in the service industries has seen rapidly increasing productivity.Productivity; New Economy

Do R&D Investments Affect Export Performance?

This paper analyses the role of R&D in the export behaviour of Danish firms. Export behaviour is defined as the likelihood of a firm being an exporter. In the theoretical part of the paper it is argued that export and being R&D active are endogenous with respect to each other, and an empirical model is formulated in order to estimate which factors affect the firm's export. It is argued that besides R&D, firm size, wages and a number of other firm-specific factors controlling for risks are highly important for the export performance. In the empirical part of the paper the model is tested on a sample of 3,500 Danish firms. Using a FIML estimation form in order to deal with endogeneity problems between the R&D and export decisions of the firms, the computation clearly verifies the theoretical model put forward. Moreover, R&D is an important factor for being an exporting firm.firm behaviour; export; R&D

Produktivitetsforskelle mellem danske virksomheder - afhængighed af brancheforhold

No abstractFirm productivity dispersion; Total factor productivity; Competition and productivity; Firm performance

R&D and Productivity in Danish Firms: Some Empirical Evidence.

The aim of the paper is to examine the relationship between R&D capital and productivity using micro data for Danish manufacturing firms. We account for the influence of factors such as ownership, innovative characteristics and source of funding. The return to accumulated R&D capital is estimated to be in the neighbourhood of 9-12 per cent, whereas the short-run effect of R&D is insignificant. Furthermore, we analyse the direct influence from foreign ownership, source of funding, innovative characteristics and ownership dispersion on productivity. However, none of the factors seem to have an impact on firm productivity. The same is the case for the indirect influence coming from interaction with accumulated R&D capital.productivity; R&D; innovation

Skaber den nye økonomi højere produktivitet?

90ernes kraftige og vedvarende vækst i USA og det tilhørende boom i IT-sektoren har været grundlaget for begrebet ‘Den nye Økonomi’. Sammenhængen mellem de to fænomener er, at IT-industrien i sig selv anses for produktiv og produktivitetsstigninger i de øvrige brancher, som følge af øget anvendelse af IT, har derfor sat ekstra fokus på IT-industrien som katalysator for vækst. I Finansredegørelse (2001) påvises der generelle produktivitetsstigninger på makroplan, og der argumenteres for, at denne stigning skyldes øget IT-anvendelse. Spørgsmålet er imidlertid, om man på virksomhedsniveau kan verificere betydningen af IT-investeringer. Det er hensigten med denne artikel, idet der undersøges for første gang på basis af danske virksomhedsdata, om der kan identificeres produktivitetsstigninger i slutningen af 90erne. Resultatet af nærværende analyse viser, at der fra 1993 og fremefter kan spores øget produktivitet i IT-sektoren. Den del af IT-sektoren, der findes i industrien, har haft en stigende men stagnerende vækst. I de seneste år er det først og fremmest IT-sektoren i servicesektoren, der har haft store produktivitetsstigninger