Technology Acquisition in Family and Nonfamily Firms: A Longitudinal Analysis of Spanish Manufacturing Firms

Technology acquisition from external sources has been identified as a critical competence for sustained success in innovation, and research has paid a good deal of attention to studying its advantages, drawbacks, determinants, and outcomes. Traditionally, research has modeled the choice to acquire technology from outside a firm's boundaries as the result of a trade‐off between the benefits of external acquisition (e.g., higher return on investment, lower costs, increased flexibility, access to specialized skill sets, and creativity) and its drawbacks (e.g., opening the market to new entrants, risk of imitation of core competencies, and reduced value appropriability). Yet, this view does not capture the behavioral considerations that may potentially encourage or discourage managers from sourcing technology outside the firm's boundaries. This behavioral aspect is especially important if one wants to understand the conduct in external technology acquisition of family firms, which are found to favor strategic actions that preserve the controlling families' control and authority over business, even at the cost of giving up potential economic benefits. Thus, external technology acquisition is likely to be interpreted differently in family and nonfamily firms. Despite its importance, how the involvement of a controlling family affects decisions in technology and innovation management and specifically external technology acquisition is an overlooked topic in extant research and requires further theoretical and empirical examination. This study attempts to fill these gaps by extending the tenets of the behavioral agency model and prior research pointing to particularistic decision‐making in family firms to uncover the behavioral drivers of external technology acquisition in family and nonfamily firms. Theory is developed that relates performance risk, family management, and the contingent effect of the degree of technology protection on external technology acquisition, and the hypotheses are tested with longitudinal data on 1540 private Spanish manufacturing firms. The analyses show that managers are more likely to acquire technology from external sources through research and development contracting when firm performance falls below managers' aspirations. Family firms are generally more reluctant to acquire external technology, and the effect of negative aspiration performance gaps becomes less relevant as family management is higher, which is attributed to family managers' attempts to avoid losing control over the trajectory that technology follows over time. However, family firms become more favorable to considering the adoption of an open approach to technology development when some protection mechanisms (specifically, the filing of patents on the firm proprietary technologies) increase the managers' perceptions of control over the technology trajectory. As such, this study makes a contribution to the understanding of the behavioral factors driving external technology acquisition, and it offers important insights regarding technology strategy in family firms.     

Personnel Decisions,Wage Profiles and Investment in Firms

An investment model where firms mitigate adverse hold‐up effects using hiring and personnel policies is theoretically investigated and empirically scrutinized. While no evidence for the prediction of differing worker characteristics, other than gender, across firms is found, demand (firm) side factors are evident in the hiring process. Evidence on other personnel policies is consistent with theory, which predicts firms with high‐investment expenditures resist unions, utilize more temporary and shift‐time workers and conduct more multitask training. Wages in high‐investment firms are higher, more sensitive to unemployment and experience variables that exhibit greater effects than in low‐investment firms.     

互补性资产研究综述

本文在归纳不同产业领域中互补性资产的影响和作用基础上,对互补性资产的衡量指标的研究进行了评价分析,认为互补性资产的研究应结合相关领域,研究方法和衡量标准应该符合各产业的实际情况。本文结合建立自主创新型国家、提科研能力的目标,提出从多学科、多角度综合集成的视角探究互补性资产的影响,以及影响的机制和途径。     

Family Ownership and R&D Intensity in Small‐ and Medium‐Sized Firms

Research was largely consistent in predicting a negative relationship between family ownership and research and development (R&D) intensity until Chrisman and Patel, using a behavioral agency model (BAM), called this general assumption into question. They argued that publicly owned family firms typically invest less in R&D than nonfamily‐owned firms. This behavior may however be reversed if economic performance levels are below family aspirations or if family long‐term goals, such as pursuing strong transgenerational family control, are highly valued. While most researchers, like Chrisman and Patel, primarily focused on large listed firms, more research on the relationship between family ownership and R&D intensity in privately held small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) is required. This is because firm size can play an important role in understanding the innovation management behavior of firms. Building on the BAM perspective, in the present paper it is argued that Chrisman and Patel's results can be extended to the context of SMEs, albeit with one important specification: the relationship between family ownership and R&D intensity is likely to be contingent on the way the family has invested its wealth. Specifically, it is contended that in the context of SMEs, where goals are more fluid and mixed, when there is a high overlap between family wealth and firm equity (i.e., most of the family's wealth is invested in the firm) the relationship between family ownership and R&D intensity is negative because of the family owners' greater desire to protect their socioemotional wealth (SEW). However, if the overlap between the family's total wealth and single firm equity is low (i.e., firm equity is just a small part of the total family wealth), the relationship between family ownership and R&D intensity is positive as the low overlap between family wealth and firm equity reduces the family's loss aversion propensity. In such a situation, family ownership is likely to foster R&D intensity because of the long‐term orientation of family owners that increases the family firm's propensity to bear the risk of investing in R&D activities. The hypothesis is tested and confirmed in a study of 240 small‐ and medium‐sized firms based in Italy. The paper contributes to the literature in several ways. First, adding to the literature on innovation management and R&D intensity, it increases the understanding of what drives or inhibits R&D investments in SMEs when a family is involved in the ownership of the firm. This is particularly important because research on innovation management, as well as research on R&D intensity in family firms, is primarily focused on large firms and much less on SMEs. Second, the study complements arguments from prior research on the correlates of R&D intensity in large listed firms, showing that the BAM and SEW perspective offer a theoretical framework that is also able to illustrate the complex nature of innovation management in the context of SMEs. Third, the study contributes to research on the effects of family ownership on the general functioning of a firm. In particular, it provides new insights into how family ownership may affect R&D intensity.     

Effects of R & D Spillovers on the Profitability of Firms

This cross-section study of a sample of 278 firms from the COMPUSTAT II database explores the relationship between a firm's profitability and other variables, notably its own R & D capital, knowledge and market spillovers and appropriability. The proxy for knowledge spillovers is based on technological distance. Market spillovers are based on a patent input-output matrix. Both spillover proxies combine information on R & D expenditures and patent counts.The results do not reject the hypothesis that R & D has a direct, positive effect on profitability, especially in industries with effective patent protection. Information spillovers affect profits negatively, market spillovers positively.     

基于研发补贴类别的研发投入与专利产出关系研究——基于深圳中小板上市企业的经验证据

R&D补贴是政府干预企业技术创新活动的一个重要措施,其具有增加企业R&D资金,降低企业R&D成本的作用,本文以深圳中小板上市企业为样本,研究了我国的R&D补贴是否促进了企业创新绩效的提高,直接补贴和税收优惠的作用效果是否存在差异.实证结果表明,R&D直接补贴和税收优惠在R&D投资和专利产出之间起到了正向调节作用,且R&D直接补贴的正向调节作用更为显著.     

A Note on Family Influence and the Adoption of Discontinuous Technologies in Family Firms

The 4Cs model of command, continuity, community, and connections is useful for examining the effect of family influence on the adoption of discontinuous technologies. However, assuming that family influence differs only in degree rather than kind is naive because such an assumption ignores the likelihood of heterogeneous behaviors among family firms. In this conceptual note, we extend prior work and explain how heterogeneity in the family's relative emphasis on command, continuity, community, and connections requires that the multifaceted and potentially nonlinear nature of family influence be considered when analyzing strategic decisions concerning family firm innovation.     

The Cash Recovery Method of Calculating Profitability: An Application to Pharmaceutical Firms

The problems with commonly used accounting profit rates are well documented. In this paper an alternative to accounting profit rates, the cash recovery method is investigated and improved. This improved method is used as a means to estimate profitability in the pharmaceutical industry on a firm level. The profitability estimates give a similar rank order to the accounting profitability rates, but have different magnitudes.     

实物期权在房地产投资决策中应用研究

房地产项目投资具有不可逆性、高度不确定性和管理的灵活性,运用传统的净现值法不能挖掘出项目投资的这些性质所带来的价值,而应用实物期权方法进行房地产投资决策研究,不仅考虑到了房地产投资的不确定性,还体现了投资决策者的柔性管理和战略投资的价值.文章分析了传统净现值法的一些不足,介绍了实物期权的基本理论,并采用了B-S期权定价模型对房地产投资决策过程中蕴含的增长期权进行了案例分析,使得房地产投资决策更加科学合理.     

石油工程项目投资决策特征

主要研究了石油工程项目在投资决策起因、决策活动、决策目标、决策过程、决策风险、决策冲突、决策组织等方面所具有的特征,并论述了这些决策特征对石油工程项目投资活动所产生的影响。     

油气勘探投资决策管理若干问题探讨

油气勘探投资决策管理工作需要进一步规范和完善，有五个问题需认真解决：(1)管理人员的素质培养；(2)勘探风险分析；(3)勘探项目的经济评价及项目优化；(4)勘探投资决策程序的规范化；(5)项目管理工作的反馈。只有做好勘探投资决策管理，减少不确定因素对决策的影响，才能增强赢利能力和抗风险能力，提高石油企业的勘探投资回报率。     

R&D,Firm Size and Innovation Outputs: Are Japanese Firms Efficient in Product Development?

Although Japanese firms in various industries enjoyed outstanding success during the 1980s, the recent economic news has been less favorable. Like their American counterparts, Japanese managers have faced difficult decisions regarding plant closures, layoffs, and moving production facilities overseas. Many Japanese business leaders attribute the innovation successes of the 1980s, at least in part, to economies of scale resulting from increases infirm size. If this assertion holds true, the current economic climate in Japan seems certain to result in diminished economies of scale for innovative activities. Ryuhei Wakasugi and Fumihiko Koyata test this assertion in a statistical study of the innovation efficiency of Japanese electrical machinery firms. In other words, their study explores whether the hypothesized economies of scale apply to the innovation inputs and outputs of these firms. They examine the manner in which R&D expenditures, patent applications, and product developments relate to the size of Japanese electrical machinery firms during the late 1980s and early 1990s—a period marked by high levels of innovative activity among these firms. For the Japanese electrical firms in this study, innovation inputs that is, R&D expenditures—increase in greater proportion than firm size. In other words, the larger firms in this study pursued their innovation efforts more aggressively than did the smaller firms in the study. In terms of R&D expenditures, however, the study does not reveal any resulting economies of scale for either patent applications or product developments. Similarly, analysis of the data in this study does not identify any economics of scale for product developments as a result of increases in firm size. In fact, the only economies of scale identified in the study involve firm size and the number of patent applications. In general terms, the statistical evidence in this study does not support the hypothesis that an increase in firm size improves the efficiency of innovation activity. To put this another way, the study does not provide evidence to support the hypothesis of economies of scale in product development.     

A Comparison of Decision Criteria for Capital Investment Decisions

Capital investment decisions, at least the quantitative portion, are usually based on one of several possible decision criteria. The analysis and calculations required to base the capital investment decision on one criterion only require a relatively small extension to allow the decision to be based, or at least compared, on several decision criteria. This paper analyzes seven capital investment decision criteria, including six objective and one subjective one, and illustrates how a typical capital investment problem can be analyzed on the basis of the seven decision criteria. Computer simulation is used to determine the outcomes of the hypothetical capital investment projects.     

The Investment Behaviour of Firms in an Oligopolistic Setting

Industrial organization theory has identified strategic investment in capacity as an important element in competition in oligopolistic markets. In the paper we specify a model of oligopolistic investment behaviour, and test it with panel data for 114 firms in 15 narrowly defined UK manufacturing industries in the 1970s and 1980s. The industries are distinguished according to their market characteristics as fragmented, dominant firm and dominant group sectors. The results indicate behaviour which is noncooperative in fragmented sectors, cooperative in dominant group sectors and competitive in dominant firm sectors.     

Investment opportunities and R&D investments in family and nonfamily firms

The firm’s investment opportunity set (IOS) reflects the prospective growth opportunities related to physical and human capital investments. IOSs are largely firm specific, embedded in assets-in-place, or generated by experience curves, learning-by-doing, and other similar phenomena. However, the value of an IOS can be destroyed if a firm does not exercise the option to invest. In this study, we theorize that a firm’s ability to invest in R&D is conditional on the availability of a favorable IOS. We test our theoretical propositions in the European business environment using a sample of large publicly traded firms with concentrated ownership. Our findings support the notion that the IOS is a significant determinant of corporate R&D investments, but the magnitude of this effect depends on the identity of the ultimate owner. Specifically, the sensitivity of R&D investments of family- and state-owned corporations is higher to favorable IOS than that of widely held corporations, suggesting these firms are more responsive to favorable IOS than others. By introducing the IOS dimension, our results have interesting implications for both theory and practice.     

The Logic and Mathematics of Non-Annual Compounding Applied to Investment Decisions

Every engineering project demands a thorough study of both technical and economic feasibility to ensure its success. This paper embodies the total principle but concentrates on the economic aspect, because of the author's conviction that the history of Canadian projects shows a real weakness in this area.

The problem of inadequate economic evaluation of engineering projects is slowly gaining wider recognition. Progress is hampered, however, because of the lack of a good general framework for probing economic feasibility. Moreover, the problem is aggravated by the confusion of approaches and methods in use, many of which are of questionable value.

This paper has a threefold purpose: (1) to stimulate interest, (2) to describe a method of economic evaluation that includes a general framework and stage-wise approach; and (3)to propose this method as a basis for standardization.     

资源型企业R&D投入与企业价值研究

在技术经济一体化的推动下,经济发展模式已从消耗自然资源的粗放式增长逐渐转变为依靠自主创新促进经济腾飞的模式。资源型企业应加大R&D投入,开展自主创新,试图增强持续发展的动力。如何检验资源型企业R&D投入的价值成为需要解决的问题,本文选取沪深两市资源型企业2007~2009年的R&D投入数据以及相关财务指标作为研究样本。基于R&D投入因素,通过对Fama-French三因子模型的改进,建立多元线性回归模型,检验企业R&D投入与公司价值的相关性。发现,资源型企业R&D投入会对资源型企业未来价值产生重大影响,对于上市公司,R&D投入可能带来公司价值的提升并反映到企业价值即股票市价当中。但是,R&D投入在带来公司价值提升的同时也能增加风险。从而提出进一步加大R&D投入,创新资源型企业已有的发展模式,坚持走创新研究,集约化发展道路;加快关于企业技术创新的财税政策体系改革,以优惠的税收政策带动企业持续R&D投入活动以及对R&D投入引入风险管理机制,完善信息披露制度等政策建议。     

关于中国能R＆D投入的研究

能源研究与开发(R&D)投入研究是能源R&D计划政策分析研究的一个组成部分.研究结果表明,2000年中国能源R&D的经费投入约占全国R&D投入的6.43%,占全国GDP的0.064%.能源R&D政府资金占能源R&D经费的比重为10.65%,占GDP的比重为0.0068%.这一比重远远低于多数发达国家2000年能源R&D预算占GDP的比重.在绝对数量上,我国与发达国家的差距更大,例如仅为日本的1.8%.通过分析其他国家政府的能源R&D经费在技术领域投向上的趋势,指出目前国际上多数国家的能源R&D投入分配倾向是清洁能源.     

Average Internal Rate of Return and Investment Decisions: A New Perspective

The internal rate of return (IRR) is often used by managers and practitioners for investment decisions. Unfortunately, it has serious flaws: (1) multiple real-valued IRRs may arise; (2) complex-valued IRRs may arise; (3) the IRR is, in general, incompatible with the net present value (NPV) in accept/reject decisions; (4) the IRR ranking is, in general, different from the NPV ranking; (5) the IRR criterion is not applicable with variable costs of capital. The efforts of economists and management scientists in providing a reliable project rate of return have generated over the decades an immense bulk of contributions aiming to solve these shortcomings. This article offers a complete solution to this long-standing unresolved issue by changing the usual perspective: the IRR equation is dismissed and the evaluator is allowed to describe the project as an investment or a borrowing at his discretion. This permits showing that any arithmetic mean of the one-period return rates implicit in a project reliably informs about a project's profitability and correctly ranks competing projects. With such a measure, which we call average internal rate of return, complex-valued numbers disappear and all the above-mentioned problems are wiped out. The economic meaning is compelling: it is the project return rate implicitly determined by the market. The traditional IRR notion may be found as a particular case.     

企业中的核心控制权与一般控制权

企业中资产所有者与人力资本所有者之间的控制权安排是企业制度安排的重要内容，但现有文献对此问题的研究存在大量的争论。本文在现有控制权理论研究的基础上将企业的控制权划分为核心控制权与一般控制权，并以此为基础，分别探讨了这两类控制权的配置关系。本文认为，企业契约中核心控制权的配置是基于对权力外部性风险的控制，而一般控制权的配置则是基于核心控制权行使的边际收益与边际成本的均衡。