The role of learning in innovation: in-house versus externally contracted R&D experience

En este trabajo se analiza el papel del aprendizaje en el éxito innovador de las empresas, tomando en consideración la naturaleza heterogénea de las actividades innovadoras, y en particular, distinguiendo entre el aprendizaje que proviene de la realización interna de actividades de I+D y el aprendizaje que proviene de la contratación externa de estas actividades. Para este trabajo se utiliza una muestra representativa de empresas manufactureras en España durante el período 1990-2006, y dentro del marco de una función de producción de innovaciones, se estiman modelos ¿count¿ con el fin de investigar la influencia que tiene en la obtención de resultados innovadores la experiencia que proviene de la I+D realizada dentro de la empresa y de la contratada externamente. Nuestros resultados muestran que el aprendizaje tiene un papel importante en la obtención de innovaciones de producto cuando las empresas organizan sus actividades de I+D internamente, y que la experiencia que proviene de la contratación externa de actividades de I+D no influye sobre el número de innovaciones de producto. This paper analyses the role of learning in firms¿ innovation success, taking into account the heterogeneous nature of innovation activities, and in particular, distinguishing between learning arising from the internal organization of R&D activities and learning from externally contracting these activities. We use a representative sample of Spanish manufacturing firms for the period 1990-2006, and within an innovation production function approach, we estimate count data models to investigate the influence of firms¿ in-house and externally contracted R&D experience in the achievement of innovative results. Our results show that learning is important in the achievement of product innovations when the firms organize R&D activities internally, and that experience from externally contracted R&D activities does not influence the number of product innovations.innovation, accumulation of knowledge, in-house R&D experience, externally contracted R&D experience, count data models. innovación, acumulación de conocimiento, experiencia en I+D interna, experiencia en I+D contratada externamente, modelos para datos ¿count¿.

The Export Strategy and SMEs Employment Resilience During Slump Periods

The Spanish economy was the most hit by the Great Recession. It suffered a greater decrease in the gross domestic product (GDP) (affecting especially internal demand). However, it suffered a greater increase in exports (the so-called Spanish “miracle”). Particularly, Spanish SMEs incorporation into exports has been spectacular since 2008. Further, this has coincided with a huge increase in unemployment. Therefore, our main objective is to investigate the moderating role of exports in job destruction associated with recessive contexts of domestic demand using Spanish manufacturing SMEs as a case study. We obtain for SMEs that export participation helps compensate for the decrease in the number of workers generated by a (domestic) downturn, also increasing their survival. Otherwise, SMEs’ survival is negatively affected by financial constraints, production costs, and a recessive demand. This compensatory effect of exports on employment works in favor of permanent workers, meaning that the ratio of permanent to temporary workers may increase for SMEs during recessive periods. Finally, we provide evidence that supports that participation of SMEs in exports is also due to a reaction to the fall in the domestic demand (the so-called “venting out” hypothesis) and, mainly, that this occurs for firms with high utilization of its productive capacity

Do process innovations boost SMEs productivity growth?

In this paper we explore in depth the effect of process innovations on total factor productivity growth for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), taking into account the potential endogeneity problem that may be caused by self selection into these activities. First, we analyse whether the ex-ante most productive SMEs are those that start introducing process innovations; then, we test whether process innovations boost SMEs productivity growth using matching techniques to control for the possibility that selection into introducing process innovations may not be a random process. We use a sample of Spanish manufacturing SMEs for the period 1991-2002, drawn from the Encuesta sobre Estrategias Empresariales. Our results show that the introduction of process innovations by a first-time process innovator yields an extra productivity growth as compared to a non-process innovator, and that the life span of this extra productivity growth has an inverted U-shaped form. En este artículo se exploran los posibles efectos de la introducción de innovaciones de proceso en el crecimiento de la productividad de las pequeñas y medianas empresas (PYMES). Para ello se presta especial atención a la existencia de un problema de selección no aleatorio en la implementación de tales innovaciones. En primer lugar, se analiza si son aquellas empresas ex-ante más productivas las que introducen innovaciones de proceso. A continuación, se utilizan técnicas de matching para contrastar si la implementación de innovaciones de proceso acelera el crecimiento de la productividad de las PYMES. La utilización de técnicas de matching permite controlar la posible existencia de un proceso de selección no aleatorio en la implementación de innovaciones de proceso. El análisis empírico se lleva cabo usando una muestra de PYMES manufactureras españolas extraída de la Encuesta sobre Estrategias Empresariales. Nuestros resultados muestran que la implementación de innovaciones de proceso por parte de PYMES sin experiencia previa en la introducción de tales innovaciones, produce un crecimiento extra de la productividad de estas PYMES en comparación con el de aquellas PYMES que no implementan innovaciones de proceso. Adicionalmente, nuestros resultados sugieren la existencia de una relación en forma de U invertida entre el crecimiento extra de la productividad y el tiempo transcurrido desde la introducción de la innovación de proceso.innovaciones de proceso, PTF, dominancia estocástica, técnicas de matching. process innovations, TFP, stochastic dominance, matching techniques.

La duración de las huelgas: evidencia empírica para España

El objetivo de este artículo es analizar empíricamente los determinantes de la duración de las huelgas en España utilizando datos de registro de la Estadística de Huelgas y Cierres Patronales (Ministerio de Trabajo y Asuntos Sociales). Para ello, se estiman modelos de duración. Los resultados muestran que las huelgas duran menos cuanto mayor es el número de trabajadores participantes, si hay varios convenios aplicables a las unidades en huelga, si son huelgas de Comunidad Autónoma, si se trata de huelgas cuyo motivo es la solidaridad, en actividades financieras e inmobiliarias, electricidad, agua y gas, vehículos y material de transporte, industria química y refinerías, hostelería, industria del papel y artes gráficas, educación e investigación, e industria transformadora de metales, si implican a Ceuta, Castilla-León, Castilla-La Mancha, La Rioja, Asturias, Cataluña, Madrid y Andalucía, en general si son posteriores a 1986-1987, y si se producen en el segundo y cuarto trimestre del año. Duran más cuando existen servicios mínimos, se convocan por el sindicato ELA-STV, por otros sindicatos distintos a UGT, CCOO, ELA-STV, INTG, USO y CNT, y por asambleas vecinales y formaciones políticas, cuando obtienen mayor ratio de seguimiento, afectan a una empresa o al sector, el motivo es la negociación colectiva, cuestiones salariales, de organización y sistemas de trabajo y de incumplimiento de acuerdos o normas legales, se producen en el sector privado, en el sector pesquero, y afectan a Extremadura y Cantabria.The aim of this paper is to empirically analyse the determinants of strike duration in Spain using registry data from the Estadística de Huelgas y Cierres Patronales (Spanish Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs). The empirical methodology includes estimation of duration models. The results show that strikes are shorter the higher the number of strikers, in the presence of several applicable agreements to strike units, in Autonomous Community strikes, when the strike motive is solidarity, in financial services and property developer, electricity, water and gas, cars and transport material, chemical and refineries, hotel trade, paper and printing, education and research, and metals transformation, when Ceuta, Castilla-León, Castilla-La Mancha, La Rioja, Asturias, Cataluña, Madrid and Andalucía are involved, in general after 1986-1987, and in the second and fourth quarters of the year. They last longer in the presence of minimum services, when the strike call comes from the ELA-STV union, from unions different to UGT, CCOO, ELA-STV, INTG, USO and CNT, and from neighbourhood assemblies and politic formations, when the support to the strike call is high, if they affect to a firm or a sector, when the strike motive is collective bargaining, related to wages, organization and working conditions, and violations of agreements or legal rules, in the private sector, in the fishing sector, and involving Extremadura and [email protected]; [email protected]

Firms’ distance to the European productivity frontier

In this article we explore the factors contributing to reduce the distance of laggard frms to the European frontier, focusing on institutional factors. To characterize Total Factor Productivity frontier frms within industries for the European Union we use frm level data from AMADEUS for the period 2003–2014. Our fndings provide evidence on the importance of governance quality and easiness in getting credit in explaining the distance of laggard frms to the European productivity frontier. We also fnd that other factors at the country level -tertiary education, R&D stock, and trade openness- and at the frm level -size, age, and capital-intensity- infuence the distance of laggards to the frontier. In addition, we examine the role of the Great Recession in moderating the contribution of all these factors to reduce firms’ distance to the European productivity frontier

Panel data sample selection models.

In this thesis estimators for "fixed-effects" panel data sample selection models are discussed, mostly from a theoretical point of view but also from an applied one. Besides the general introduction and conclusions (chapters 1 and 6, respectively) the thesis consists of four main chapters. In chapter 2 we are concerned about the finite sample performance of Wooldridge (1995) and Kyriazidou's (1997) estimators. Chapter 3 introduces a new estimator. The estimation procedure is an extension of the familiar two-steps sample selection technique to the case where one correlated selection rule in two time periods generates the sample. Some non-parametric components are introduced. We investigate the finite sample performance for the estimators in chapters 2 and 3 through Monte Carlo simulation experiments. In chapter 4 we apply the estimators in the previous chapters to estimate the return to actual labour market experience for females, using a panel of twelve years. All these estimators rely on the assumption of strict exogeneity of regressors in the equation of interest, conditional on individual specific effects and the selection mechanism. This assumption is likely to be violated in many applications. For instance, life history variables are often measured with error in survey data sets, because they contain a retrospective component. We show how non-strict exogeneity and measurement error can be taken into account within the methods. In chapter 5 we propose two semiparametric estimators under the assumption that the selection function depends on the conditional means of some observable variables. The first is a "weighted double pairwise difference estimator" because it is based in the comparison of individuals in time differences. The second is a "single pairwise difference estimator" because only differences over time for a given individual are required. We investigate the finite sample properties of these estimators by Monte Carlo experiment

A New Estimator for Panel Data Sample Selection Models

In this paper we are concerned with the estimation of a panel data sample selection model where both the selection and the regression equation contain individual effects allowed to be correlated with the observable variables. In this direction, some estimation techniques have been recently developed. We propose a new method for correcting for sample selection bias. Our estimation procedure is an extension of the familiar two-step sample selection technique to the case where one correlated selection rule in two different time periods generates the sample. Some non-parametric components are allowed. The finite sample properties of the estimator are investigated by Monte Carlo simulation experiments.

Foreign sourcing and exporting

The aim in this paper is analysing the role of sourcing intermediate inputs internationally on export decisions, distinguishing whether intermediates are sourced from firms belonging to the same business group or from independent suppliers. To analyse firms' export decisions, we use a specification that also accounts for sunk costs and accumulated experience in export markets (i.e., export market learning). We consider that importing intermediates might have direct and indirect effects (operating through enhanced productivity) on the export participation decision. The direct effects on exporting are isolated once we control for productivity and the effects of belonging to an international group. We use a manufacturing panel dataset drawn from the Spanish Survey on Business Strategies (ESEE) for the period 2006-2014. Both productivity and inward or outward FDI increase the probability of exporting. Moreover, our results uncover the existence of sunk costs and export market learning, and also the relevant role played by intermediate imports in firms' export choices. Their effects act both through the (indirect) channel of enhancing firms' productivity and through a direct effect related to product upgrading, more competitive selling prices, or learning from the firm's import experience.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)Generalitat Valencian

R&D-experience and innovation success

En este trabajo se analiza el papel de la experiencia en actividades de I+D sobre el éxito innovador de las empresas utilizando una muestra representativa de empresas españolas para el periodo 1990-2002. Mediante modelos de recuento (count-data models) y partiendo de la especificación de una función de producción de innovaciones, investigamos la influencia de la experiencia en I+D en la obtención de resultados innovadores. Para estimar la experiencia en I+D, que es parcialmente inobservable, estimamos un modelo de duración y utilizamos los resultados obtenidos en este modelo y un procedimiento no paramétrico para imputar la experiencia en I+D a aquellas empresas para las que no se observa. Nuestros resultados muestran que la efectividad de la inversión en I+D aumenta con el historial innovador de la empresa