Necessity and Opportunity Entrepreneurs and their Duration in Self-employment: Evidence from German Micro Data

Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (GSOEP), we analyze whether necessity entrepreneurs differ from opportunity entrepreneurs in terms of self-employment duration. Using univariate statistics, we find that opportunity entrepreneurs remain in self-employment longer than necessity entrepreneurs. However, after controlling for the entrepreneurs’ education in the professional area where they start their venture, this effect is no longer significant. We therefore conclude that the difference observed is not an original effect but rather is due to selection. We then go on to discuss the implications of our findings for entrepreneurship-policy making, and give suggestions to improve governmental start-up programs

Determinanten des Erfolgs staatlich geförderter Existenzgründungen – eine empirische Untersuchung

Ein Großteil der Neugründungen in Deutschland ist auf staatliche Förderung von Existenzgründern zurückzuführen. Dieser Anteil hat sich nach Einführung des als „Ich-AG“ bekannten Existenzgründungszuschusses Anfang 2003 stark erhöht. Die Erfolgsfaktorenforschung hat diese Form von Gründungen bislang jedoch wenig untersucht. Im Rahmen einer großzahligen Befragung von geförderten Existenzgründern untersucht dieser Beitrag die Erfolgsdeterminanten solcher geförderter Existenzgründungen. Die Ergebnisse der Analyse zeigen, dass der Gewinn aus der Existenzgründung bei älteren Gründern und bei Gründern mit einer langen Phase der Arbeitslosigkeit vor der Gründung seltener beziehungsweise erst später zur Bestreitung des Lebensunterhalts ausreicht. Dies gilt auch für Franchisegründungen und für Gründungen durch Frauen. In Bezug auf Bildungsvariablen, Gründungserfahrung und Teamgründungen im Vergleich zu Einzelgründungen wurde kein Effekt gefunden. Vorhandene Branchenerfahrung wirkt sich hingegen positiv auf den Erfolg der Gründung aus, Gründungs- und Führungserfahrung dagegen nicht. Die Implikationen unserer Ergebnisse für die Entrepreneurship-Forschung sowie für die Entrepreneurship-Praxis werden diskutiert. Herausforderungen aus Sicht der Gründungspolitik werden aufgezeigt.A large number of new ventures in Germany are undertaken due to government aid. With the introduction of the “Ich-AG” or “me-plc” in January 2003, this share has increased strongly. Entrepreneurship research so far has said very little about the success and the determinants of success of these types of start-ups. With this study, we aim to close this gap. We analyze the success and the determinants of success of these new ventures in a large scale survey of founders that have received governmental aid for their start-up. Our results show that the income generated by the venture is less likely to cover the costs of living in particular for elderly founders and for those founders that have experienced a long period of unemployment before they started their venture. This finding is also true for new ventures founded by women as well as for franchise start-ups. As concerns formal education, founder experience, and the fact whether the venture is founded by a team or not no significant effects exist. Industry experience, however, has a significant positive effect on the success of the new venture whereas founding and management experience have no effect. We discuss the implications of our findings from a perspective of entrepreneurship research as well as from a perspective of governmental start-up policy

Determinanten des Erfolgs staatlich geförderter Existenzgründungen – eine empirische Untersuchung

Ein Großteil der Neugründungen in Deutschland ist auf staatliche Förderung von Existenzgründern zurückzuführen. Dieser Anteil hat sich nach Einführung des als „Ich-AG“ bekannten Existenzgründungszuschusses Anfang 2003 stark erhöht. Die Erfolgsfaktorenforschung hat diese Form von Gründungen bislang jedoch wenig untersucht. Im Rahmen einer großzahligen Befragung von geförderten Existenzgründern untersucht dieser Beitrag die Erfolgsdeterminanten solcher geförderter Existenzgründungen. Die Ergebnisse der Analyse zeigen, dass der Gewinn aus der Existenzgründung bei älteren Gründern und bei Gründern mit einer langen Phase der Arbeitslosigkeit vor der Gründung seltener beziehungsweise erst später zur Bestreitung des Lebensunterhalts ausreicht. Dies gilt auch für Franchisegründungen und für Gründungen durch Frauen. In Bezug auf Bildungsvariablen, Gründungserfahrung und Teamgründungen im Vergleich zu Einzelgründungen wurde kein Effekt gefunden. Vorhandene Branchenerfahrung wirkt sich hingegen positiv auf den Erfolg der Gründung aus, Gründungs- und Führungserfahrung dagegen nicht. Die Implikationen unserer Ergebnisse für die Entrepreneurship-Forschung sowie für die Entrepreneurship-Praxis werden diskutiert. Herausforderungen aus Sicht der Gründungspolitik werden aufgezeigt.A large number of new ventures in Germany are undertaken due to government aid. With the introduction of the “Ich-AG” or “me-plc” in January 2003, this share has increased strongly. Entrepreneurship research so far has said very little about the success and the determinants of success of these types of start-ups. With this study, we aim to close this gap. We analyze the success and the determinants of success of these new ventures in a large scale survey of founders that have received governmental aid for their start-up. Our results show that the income generated by the venture is less likely to cover the costs of living in particular for elderly founders and for those founders that have experienced a long period of unemployment before they started their venture. This finding is also true for new ventures founded by women as well as for franchise start-ups. As concerns formal education, founder experience, and the fact whether the venture is founded by a team or not no significant effects exist. Industry experience, however, has a significant positive effect on the success of the new venture whereas founding and management experience have no effect. We discuss the implications of our findings from a perspective of entrepreneurship research as well as from a perspective of governmental start-up policy.Entrepreneurship; Self-employment; Necessity Entreptreneurship; Entrepreneurship Policy; Determinants of Success

What Makes Chinese Firms Productive? - Learning from Indigenous and Foreign Sources of Knowledge

This study investigates how in-house R&D as well as access to national and foreign knowledge sources influences the productivity of Chinese firms. For our main analysis we use data for 1,140 patenting firms listed at mainland China stock exchanges over the time-period 2001-2010. In-house R&D based on indigenous knowledge does indeed improve productivity as does engaging in joint research projects with national partners. In order to benefit from international knowledge, Chinese firms are dependent on an organizational integration of the knowledge source. Joint ventures with foreign partners, acquisitions of foreign firms, and employing foreign researchers inside China contribute to firm productivity, whereas international joint research projects are not sufficient. Our results indicate that at the current stage of China's economic development the absorptive capacity of most firms is sufficient to benefit from foreign sources of knowledge only if an enduring, deep relationship supports the absorption of the knowledge

Evaluation of vardenafil for the treatment of subjective tinnitus: a controlled pilot study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Vardenafil (Levitra^®) represents a potent and highly selective phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitor, which is established for treatment of various diseases. There are several unpublished reports from patients stating that vardenafil has a considerable therapeutic effect on their concomitant tinnitus. This pilot study was conducted to specifically assess the effect of vardenafil in patients with chronic tinnitus.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This trial was based on a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group design. Fourty-two consecutive subjects with mon- or binaural chronic tinnitus received 10 mg vardenafil (N = 21) or matching placebo tablets (N = 21) administered orally twice a day over a period of 12 weeks. Clinical examination and data acquisition took place at each visit: at baseline, after 4 weeks, after 12 weeks (end of treatment with study medication), and at non-medicated follow-up after 16 weeks. Assessment of clinical effectiveness was based on a standardized tinnitus questionnaire (TQ), the Short Form 36 health survey (SF-36), audiometric measurements (mode, pitch and loudness of tinnitus; auditory thresholds) and biomarkers of oxidative stress in patients' blood (malondialdehyde, protein carbonyl, homocysteine and total antioxidative status). Therapeutic efficacy was evaluated by comparison of subjective and objective parameters with baseline data between both treatment groups (ANCOVA).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Vardenafil had no superior efficacy over placebo in the treatment of chronic tinnitus during this study. The primary efficacy criterion 'TQ total score' failed to demonstrate significant improvement compared to placebo. Subjective reports of TQ subscales and general quality of life areas (SF-36), objective audiometric examinations as well as investigated biomarkers for oxidative stress did not reveal any significant treatment effects. The safety profile was favorable and consistent with that in other vardenafil studies.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although hypoxia and ischemia play a special role in the pathogenesis of tinnitus, the PDE5-inhibitor-induced increase of nitric oxide-mediated vasodilatation exerted no specific influence on tinnitus symptomatology. Considering the unclear risk of rarely associated hearing impairment, systemic application of vardenafil or other PDE5 inhibitors prove to be not appropriate for therapy of chronic tinnitus.</p

Social capital of venture capitalists and start-up funding

How does the social capital of venture capitalists (VCs) affect the funding of start-ups? By building on the rich social capital literature, we hypothesize a positive effect of VCs' social capital, derived from past syndication, on the amount of money that start-ups receive. Specifically, we argue that both structural and relational aspects of VCs' social networks provide VCs with superior access to information about current investment objects and opportunities to leverage them in the future, increasing their willingness to invest in these firms. Our empirical results, derived from a novel dataset containing more than 1,500 first funding rounds in the Internet and IT sector, strongly confirm our hypotheses. We discuss the implications of our findings for theories of venture capital and entrepreneurship, showing that the role and effect of VCs' social capital on start-up firms may be more complex than previously argued in the literature

Abstracts from the 8th International Conference on cGMP Generators, Effectors and Therapeutic Implications

This work was supported by a restricted research grant of Bayer AG

The market value of R&D, patents, and trademarks

This paper investigates the effects of trademarks on the market value of firms. The results show that trademarks have a positive effect on firm value. Next, the firms' market values are regressed on indicators of trademark value such as trademark seniorities, the number of oppositions filed, and the number of product and services classes covered. We found that they at least partially reflect trademark value.Market valuation Tobin's q Trademarks Patents Intellectual property Value indicators

Patents, trademarks, and their complementarity in venture capital funding

This paper analyzes the effects of patents and trademarks in the financing of start-ups through venture capitalists (VCs). Patents and trademarks signal a start-up's technological and marketing capabilities. We find that patents and trademarks not only have direct effects on venture capital financing but also have complementary effects. Start-ups that apply for both patents and trademarks yield higher VC funding than do those firms that apply for only one of the two IP rights. Furthermore, we find that the complementarity between patents and trademarks exists only in initial VC funding rounds. Our results suggest that early-phase start-ups seeking their initial VC funding do best when stressing both their technology and marketing capabilities. Accordingly, entrepreneurship policy should encourage start-ups to build both technological and marketing capabilities. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved