Skill-biased acquisitions? Human capital and employee mobility in small technology firms

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between acquisitions and mobility of knowledge workers and managers in small technology companies and how individual skills and capabilities moderate this relationship. Relying on the matched employer–employee data of the Swedish high-tech sectors from 2007 to 2015, we find that acquisitions increase the likelihood of employee departures, mainly in the form of switching to another employer, but that these acquisition effects are weaker for employees with technological competences. By contrast, the acquisition effects are found to be weaker for employees with managerial competences only when acquirers have a strong employee retention motive. When acquirers do not have a strong retention motive, managers, compared to other employees, are more likely to exit the (national) labor market after acquisitions. Our results suggest that the retention motive is a critical condition to explain post-acquisition employee turnover. Both technological and managerial competences are the types of human capital valued by acquirers when they have a strong retention motive

Large firm acquisitions, spin-offs and links in the development of regional clusters of technology-intensive SMEs

This chapter focuses on technology-related ownership changes between large and small high-technology firms. These include the spin-off of new Small and Medium Sized Enterprise (SME) from large firms, intermediate links between large and small firms, and large firm acquisition of technology-intensive SMEs. The chapter analyses patterns of large firm-small firm linkages, collaboration and ownership changes in the 10 European regions studied by the network. It argues that the entrepreneurial spin-offs concept is subdivided with respect to the latest employer: \u27main incubator\u27 or \u27spin-off parent\u27. The chapter describes the interaction between large and small technology-intensive European firms. Empirical evidence from research by members of the Targeted Socio-Economic Research European network will be used to consider the questions. The questions are related to concepts like high-technology regions and industries; local technology-intensive SMEs; and a link between regional high-technology clusters and networks

Internal venturing: sponsored corporate spin-offs in Sweden

This paper investigates how spin-off firms perceive support from parent firms. The question was addressed by administering a questionnaire to 51 firms listed on the new Swedish stock markets (NGM and Aktietorget) set up in the mid-1990s. Spin-offs were identified as new firms, where the founder had drawn on experiences with his or her previous employer when starting the new firm. The sponsoring of spin-off firms (financing and other resources) was compared to the sponsoring of other new firms listed on these new stock markets. We found that more than a third of all corporate spin-offs had received sponsoring from their parents. However, it was quite unusual that the parent firms became minority owners or contributed financially to spin-off firms. Instead, sponsoring with other resources, especially personnel and equipment, was more common. Even so, sponsoring from the founders’ previous employers was found to be at least as – if not more – common among other ventures listed on the new stock market. Especially ventures based on external ideas seem to attract resources from previous employers. The results suggest that there are two types of relationships between established firms and former employees starting new firms. The first type is where the relationship is based on a business opportunity originating in the established firm and where this perceived opportunity is embodied in the former employee. This is the logic for entrepreneurial spin-offs found in literature. The second type is where the relationship is only based on a business opportunity embodied in the former employee, but where the opportunity did not originate in the established firm where the founder used to work. The second type is relevant because of the finding that former employers sponsor new firms of this kind as well. Finally, we conclude that the spin-off mechanism is indeed important for generating new ventures. However, the results suggests that established firms still to a large extent ignore the potential of listing sponsored entrepreneurial spin-off ventures on the stock exchange, and instead focus such activities on relatively more mature spin-offs

Sponsored spin-offs, industrial growth and change

This paper focuses on the role of sponsored spin-offs for industrial growth and dynamics. A sponsored spin-off is a firm born out of the venturing activities and the active involvement of an established organization; in this paper the latter in the form of retained partial ownership in the new firm. Sponsored spin-offs are one mechanism whereby the respective potential advantages of large and new firms may be exploited. Little is known about the nature and magnitude of contributions by existing firms to the creation of new technology-based firms and the effects these new firms have on innovation, change and renewal. In this paper, an empirical sample of 101 Swedish IPO firms is used in the analysis of three research questions. (1) Are sponsored spin-offs an important mechanism for the creation of new technology-based firms? (2) Are sponsored spin-off firms important for industrial growth? (3) Are sponsored spin-offs influencing industrial renewal and change? The results add to the understanding of how, and to what degree the venturing activities of existing firms contribute to the creation of new firms, as well as how and to what extent these spin-offs differ from other new firms in terms of their impact on industrial growth and change. \ua9 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved