Temporal structure of firm growth and the impact of R&D

This paper examines the time structure of the effects of R&D activities on firm growth. The main questions are whether R&D activities come together with firms' growth in the subsequent periods and how this relationship depends on other characteristics of the firms, such as size and industry. In addition, we study the relationship between R&D effects and the autocorrelation dynamics of firm growth. We use firm level data of 1000 European companies with details on R&D investments in 2003 to 2006. A regression approach is applied with a linear model taking into account R&D activities at points in time and autocorrelation dynamics of firm growth. We find that R&D has, on average, a positive effect on firm growth, but the effect and its temporal structure strongly depends on firm size and industry. --Firm growth,R&D activities,firm size,industry,autocorrelation,time gap,temporal structure

Long-run factors of firm growth - a study of German firms

This paper investigates whether the economic factors that are related to firm growth in the literature also determine the development path of firms. This means that we test which economic factors possess the ability to remain effective for a longer period of time. We examine three variables: firm size, innovation effort and export share. To this end, we use panel-data on 178 German manufacturing firms over the period from 1992 to 2007. We find that the determinants of permanent growth path are not the same as the determinants of firm growth at one point in time. --firm growth,firm growth paths,firm size,export,innovation effort

Entrepreneurial aging and employment growth in the context of extreme growth events

This paper investigates empirical evidence on the linkage between entrepreneurial aging of the workforce and firm growth. More precisely, it aims to analyse the impact of aging on employment growth in the context of extreme growth events. Basically, the study is conducted to capture the overall impact of the average age structure and aging effect on employment growth. For the empirical estimation we apply a linked employer-employee dataset providing 2.100 German firms covering the time period from 2001 to 2006. Using quantile regression techniques, the specific quantiles θ of extremely growing (θ 0.90), medium growing (θ 0.50) or shrinking firms (θ 0.10) can be explicitly analysed. The results show, on average, that employment growth seems to decline as the workforce is getting older. Put differently, extreme growth events seem to be less likely when the average aging of the workforce rapidly accelerates. Firm-specific characteristics such as size, industry affiliation and location matter hereby

The effects of cooperative R&D subsidies and subsidized cooperation on employment growth

The paper investigates the contribution of cooperative and non-cooperative R&D subsidies to firm growth. Of particular interest is hereby firms' embeddedness into subsidized cooperation networks. For the empirical analysis we utilize an unbalanced panel of 2.199 German manufacturing firms covering the time period from 1999 to 2009. A dynamic panel estimation technique is employed to control for growth autocorrelation as well as endogeneity. Our findings show that non-cooperative R&D subsidies have a stimulating impact on large firms' employment growth. In contrast being engaged in many subsidized cooperation is related to significant growth-reducing effects. In the case of large firms, exceptions are subsidized cooperation with geographically distant firms, which can positively influence employment growth. For small firms, rather interactions with research organizations are found to facilitate their development. --R&D subsidies,cooperation network,firm growth,serial correlation

Impact of local knowledge endowment on employment growth in nanotechnology

This paper investigates the contribution of local knowledge endowment to employment growth in nanotechnology firms. We exploit a unique data set focusing on firms operating in fields that apply nanotechnology. Our findings suggest that regions that offer knowledge can stimulate employment growth in smaller and younger firms. By contrast, being embedded into specialised regions might be counterproductive, especially for firms belonging to a particularly knowledge intensive sector and older firms. --employment growth,local knowledge endowment,general purpose technology,specialisation,nanotechnology,spillover

Aging workforce and firm growth in the context of "extreme" employment growth events

n recent years demographic aging and its consequences have been recognized and discussed on macroeconomic levels, such as health care system, infrastructure, housing and labour market. However, the consequences are not only present on the macroeconomic level but also affect microeconomic issues such as a firm\u27s growth and workforce. This exploratory study realises a microeconomic issue and investigates the linkage between aging workers and employment growth. More precisely, it aims to analyse the potential effect that age composition of a firm\u27s workforce may have on a firm\u27s employment growth. The study applies a linked employer-employee dataset of 2100 German firms, covering the time period from 2001 to 2006. We used quantile regression techniques to address the aging effect in the context of extreme employment growth events. The empirical investigation shows that, on average, employment growth slows down as the average age of the workforce increases

The effects of cooperative R and D subsidies and subsidized cooperation on employment growth

The paper investigates the contribution of cooperative and non-cooperative R and D subsidies to firm growth. Of particular interest is hereby firms' embeddedness into subsidized cooperation networks. For the empirical analysis we utilize an unbalanced panel of 2.199 German manufacturing firms covering the time period from 1999 to 2009. A dynamic panel estimation technique is employed to control for growth autocorrelation as well as endogeneity. Our findings show that non-cooperative R and D subsidies have a stimulating impact on large firms' employment growth. In contrast being engaged in many subsidized cooperation is related to significant growth-reducing effects. In the case of large firms, exceptions are subsidized cooperation with geographically distant firms, which can positively influence employment growth. For small firms, rather interactions with research organizations are found to facilitate their development

Temporal structure of firm growth and the impact of R&D

This paper examines the time structure of the effects of R&D activities on firm growth. The main questions are whether R&D activities come together with firms' growth in the subsequent periods and how this relationship depends on other characteristics of the firms, such as size and industry. In addition, we study the relationship between R&D effects and the autocorrelation dynamics of firm growth. We use firm level data of 1000 European companies with details on R&D investments in 2003 to 2006. A regression approach is applied with a linear model taking into account R&D activities at points in time and autocorrelation dynamics of firm growth. We find that R&D has, on average, a positive effect on firm growth, but the effect and its temporal structure strongly depends on firm size and industry

Firm growth and the spatial impact of geolocated external factors - empirical evidence for German manufacturing firms

In this paper the relationship between firm growth and external knowledge sources, such as related firms and universities, is studied. The spatial characteristics of these relationships are examined by geolocating firms into a more realistic relational space using travel time distances and using flexible distance decay function specifications. This approach properly accounts for growth relevant knowledge spillovers and allows for estimating their spatial range and functional form. Applying quantile regression techniques on a large sample of German manufacturing firms, we show that the impact of external factors substantially differ along firms' size, type of knowledge source and growth level