Entrepreneur’s creativity and firm-level innovation performance: bricolage as a mediator

Prior literature focuses on the direct influence of entrepreneur’s creativity on firm-level innovation performance, but it ignores the intermediate mechanism of how. This study examines the role of bricolage in mediating the relationship between entrepreneur’s creativity and innovation performance. We propose that in SMEs, entrepreneur’s creativity can facilitate bricolage, which in turn influences innovation performance. Furthermore, the extent to which entrepreneur’s creativity can influence bricolage depends on firm age. Survey data from 249 SMEs indicate that bricolage functions as a mediator in the relationship between entrepreneur’s creativity and innovation performance. Entrepreneur’s creativity has a stronger effect on bricolage for young firms than for old firms.     

Innovating SMEs and Regions: The Need for Policy Intelligence and Interactive Policies

Based on the empirical findings achieved through comparative research involving 40 innovation policy instruments from 11 European regions, this paper proposes a shift in rationale and in the broad orientations of innovation policy to focus on addressing SMEs in their regional context. The main role for innovation policy, which aims to increase the capacity of a region and the capabilities of its SMEs to innovate, is to foster interactive learning within the firms and within the region. This calls for an interactive mode of policy intervention. The paper deals also with the question of how to build a coherent portfolio of policy instruments, taking into account both regional situations and specific SMEs needs in terms of innovation. The key message is that there is no 'one-size-fits-all' policy portfolio. Regional differences in innovation capabilities call for a tailored mix of policy instruments. One salient element of the conclusion is the need for more 'policy intelligence' in this complex field.     

Innovating SMEs and Regions: The Need for Policy Intelligence and Interactive Policies

Based on the empirical findings achieved through comparative research involving 40 innovation policy instruments from 11 European regions, this paper proposes a shift in rationale and in the broad orientations of innovation policy to focus on addressing SMEs in their regional context. The main role for innovation policy, which aims to increase the capacity of a region and the capabilities of its SMEs to innovate, is to foster interactive learning within the firms and within the region. This calls for an interactive mode of policy intervention. The paper deals also with the question of how to build a coherent portfolio of policy instruments, taking into account both regional situations and specific SMEs needs in terms of innovation. The key message is that there is no 'one-size-fits-all' policy portfolio. Regional differences in innovation capabilities call for a tailored mix of policy instruments. One salient element of the conclusion is the need for more 'policy intelligence' in this complex field.     

培育类产业政策对中小企业技术创新的影响

通过手工收集地方政府培育类政策并与2007—2019年中国中小板和创业板上市企业数据进行匹配，利用多期DID模型检验其对中小企业创新的影响。结果表明，培育类政策对中小企业创新起长期显著促进作用，但政府认定次数增加并不能推动中小企业创新由量转质的飞跃。进一步地，培育类政策可通过激发创新意愿、加速人才聚集、提升市场关注度促进中小企业创新。异质性分析表明，该类政策对国有中小企业创新促进作用更为显著，且仅对低集中度行业企业起到促进作用，知识产权保护水平较低地区政策激励与创新补偿效应更强。结论可丰富产业政策对中小企业创新影响的经验证据，为完善扶持中小企业创新政策提供决策参考。     

Impediments to innovation faced by Canadian manufacturing firms

Using the findings of the 1999 Survey of Innovation in the Canadian manufacturing sector, we analyse the impediments, i.e. the problems and obstacles, that firms in the sector face when they innovate. In particular, we assess the factors which inhibit innovation, especially with regard to by small and medium enterprises (SMEs). First we try to establish the relationship between the impediments to innovation and various firm characteristics. Then we assess whether these impediments actually prevent firms from innovating or whether firms are able to overcome them.

We find that the perception of impediments to innovation vary according to firm characteristics. For example, large firms are more likely to report the high cost of developing innovation and organizational rigidities as impediments than small firms. However, they seem to have less difficulty with regard to financing innovation projects compared to SMEs. Our results also show that firms seem to be able to overcome most of the obstacles to innovation. Therefore, the impediments featured in innovation survey(s) should not be interpreted as impenetrable barriers that prevent innovation. The sole exception is organizational rigidities. Firms facing organizational rigidities are less likely to become innovative, whether they are small, medium, or large. From our results, we conclude that small firms do not face particular impediments which prevent them from becoming innovative.     

企业规模与企业创新产出关系的实证研究

首先回顾了企业规模和企业产出间关系的相关理论研究成果,指出中小企业的创新能力正得到越来越多的认同,继而从衡量企业创新产出的标准出发,分析了中小企业的创新能力不断受到人们重视的原因。此后,以抽样调查数据为基础,深入揭示了我国企业规模同其创新产出总量间的正向关系,并用科学的测度方法证实了中小企业在创新效率及部分行业创新产出方面具有优势。     

Development of internal resources and capabilities as sources of differentiation of SME under increased global competition: A field study in Mexico

This paper draws on the resource-based view of the firm and contributes to our understanding of how the development of internal resources and capabilities in SMEs can provide sources of competitive advantages in the international arena and improve their business performance.This research found statistical evidence to suggest that business performance measured by growth rate, efficiency, productivity and shareholder's financial returns, is positively related with the development of internal capabilities such as soft technology (methods and processes that support the firm) and hard technology (externally acquired equipment, in-house development of machinery and innovation in raw materials) and a strategy of continuous improvement, innovation and change.A number of relevant contributions are proposed in this piece of research that expands our understanding of how SMEs can compete in the international context: (1) firms whose explicit business strategy emphasizes innovation and knowledge creation have been able to successfully participate in global contexts; (2) even though financial resources are important for a firm to leverage performance it was found that development of internal capabilities has been more important than limited financial resources in order to develop competitive advantages to compete with larger and multinational competitors; (3) results of this research support the proposition that from an associational economy perspective the development of a geographical region or country should be an interaction among a number of constituents namely government policies, the firms themselves and universities and research centers among others.     

How beliefs influence behaviour: Confucianism and innovation in China

Previous studies have analysed how religious beliefs may affect economic activity. We extend this literature by examining how Confucianism is linked to innovation activity at the firm level in China. We analyse the relationship between Confucianism and several proxies for input and outputs of innovation activities. Our results show that Confucianism is significantly related to lower levels of innovation activity regardless of which measure for firm-level innovation we use. We also find that the nature of ultimate ownership influences this relationship, with innovation among state-controlled firms being significantly more affected by Confucianism. This study thus adds to the understanding of how traditional belief systems influence behaviour among economic actors.     

The impact of formal and informal appropriability regimes on SME profitability in medium high-tech industries

Innovation is assuming increasing relevance in current economies, but being able to complete the innovation process is not enough for firms if they could not appropriate the value of their investments. Within this context, the aim of this paper is to understand whether SMEs may reap higher economic benefits while relying on formal regimes, in terms of patents, or informal ones in order to protect their innovations, which represents an under-investigated issue. On the basis of a panel regression and a cluster analysis on Italian SMEs, results suggest that firms relying more on informal mechanisms, in particular time-to-market and unique skills of employees, over patents, register superior performance.     

不良贷款、路径依赖与中小企业的融资困难--对当前我国中小企业融资难的一种新解释

关于中小企业在经济发展中所占据的重要地位及作用在理论界早已形成较为一致的看法并为各国政府所重视.目前,虽然中小企业与金融机构之间已经普遍建立起了较为稳定的合作关系,但中小企业的融资难问题仍然是制约中小企业发展的最大瓶颈.本文根据转型时期我国银行和企业的基本特征,建立了一个包括家庭-企业-银行的三部门两期模型,从我国国有银行的体制利弊出发,运用路径依赖的理论,对不良贷款在造成我国中小企业融资困难时的作用机理进行了深入分析,并讨论了单纯的贸易部门开放和贸易金融部门的同时开放对解决中小企业融资难的不同效果,以期对将来的改革有所启示.     

High-Quality Development Trend and Path Choice of Specialized,Sophisticated, Distinctive and Novel SMEs

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are key contributors to technological innovation. As China’s vanguard for self-reliance and strength in science and technology, specialized, sophisticated, distinctive and novel (SSDN) SMEs have grown into an important motivation for high-quality development, a key stabilizer for the new development paradigm, and a vital force for an innovation-driven China. In recent years, China has been ramping up support for SSDN SMEs, and raised the focus on their development to a new level. At present, some problems and obstacles are befalling the high-quality development of SSDN SMEs, such as imperfect innovation system and mechanism, weak basic research service capabilities, a digital divide in digital transformation, and insufficient vitality of collaboration among players in the innovation ecosystem. In the future, China should promote the high-quality development of SSDN SMEs from system and mechanism, basic input, business environment, and digital empowerment. Specifically, China should increase policy support to consolidate the institutional guarantee for innovative development, build more platforms to form a dynamic innovation ecology, enhance intellectual property protection to spur entrepreneurship, and ramp up upgrading and transformation for the quality and efficiency improvement of traditional enterprises.     

The innovation and performance impacts of venture capital investment on China’s small- and medium-sized enterprises

This study examines the impacts of venture capital (VC) on performance and innovation of China’s small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME). Using unbalanced panel data of 2699 VC-backed and non-VC backed firms in China’s pilot over-the-counter equities market, namely the National Equity Exchange and Quotation (NEEQ) market, during 2005–2014, we find that venture capital financing not only spurs innovation in the Chinese market, but also exhibits significantly positive impact on financial performance. Empirical evidence reveals that syndication of venture capital investment as well as the reputation of venture capitalists helps to create value for VC-backed firms. However, no evidence is found that foreign VC-backed firms perform better than domestic VC-backed ones. The results are robust to a variety of specifications. Our findings imply that the VC financing is an effective channel to promote the development of SMEs at China’s multi-layer capital market and syndicated VC investments and venture capitalists with high reputation shall be encouraged to play a bigger role in nurturing innovation and entrepreneurship in the future.     

Financial structure and diversification of European firms

Small and medium enterprises have been shown to rely mainly on banks for funding and, unlike larger firms, rarely have direct access to capital markets. This article looks at the extent to which SMEs avail of a wider range of funding options and how their use differs across firms and countries. Across all countries, we find that firms are currently using two or three sources of finance to fund their operations and have had previous experience of other types of funding. There are some noticeable differences across countries with peripheral economies generally being less diversified. Differences across firm size and age groups are more marked than cross-country variation, with smaller and younger firms significantly more reliant on a limited set of finance types and older, larger firms having more diversified financial structures. Looking at individual sources of financing, we find that trade credit and informal sources of finance are extremely prevalent across all countries, with Irish firms being particularly likely to use them as sources of funding.     

Innovation and firm performance in Korea and China: a cross-context test of mainstream theories

We investigate the relationship between innovation and firm performance in two divergent emerging economy contexts: Korea and China. Mainstream innovation theories make disparate claims for how (1) intensity of innovation, (2) scope of innovation and (3) spillovers impact firm performance. Using a comparative institutionalist approach we hypothesise how these relationships apply to firms in Korea and China. Analysis of 897 firm–year data points over a 4-year period provides broad support for our hypotheses. Intensity of innovation (patent intensity) is a strong cross-contextual argument. Scope and spillover arguments appear to be more context-sensitive. Firms with innovation depth in specific technological fields enjoy better performance in Korea, while diversified innovation is more beneficial for firms in China. Spillovers have a stronger impact in Korea than China. The findings underline the importance of incorporating change in institutional context when developing policy and theory relating to firm innovation and performance in emerging economies.     

产学研融合程度对科技型中小企业创新绩效的影响

构建产学研深度融合的技术创新体系，是我国为应对当前复杂多变的国际环境、满足新时代高质量发展要求的重要战略。基于产学研融合内涵，构建微观层面企业产学研融合程度综合评价模型，实证检验产学研融合程度对科技型中小企业创新绩效的影响以及环境不确定性的调节作用。结果表明，我国科技型中小企业产学研融合广度、深度和频度总体均呈波动上升趋势，正逐步迈向深度融合阶段；产学研融合广度和深度对科技型中小企业创新绩效具有正向影响，产学研融合频度对科技型中小企业创新绩效具有负向影响；环境不确定性会增强产学研融合广度对科技型中小企业创新绩效的正向影响，削弱产学研融合深度对科技型中小企业创新绩效的正向影响，增强产学研融合频度对科技型中小企业创新绩效的负向影响。结论可拓展产学研合作相关研究，发展产学研融合理论，为解决我国科技型中小企业产学研融合效率偏低、机制不佳等问题提供实践指导。     

创新型企业研究开发院的组建与发展研究

现如今,如何推进创新型企业建设已经成为我国实施技术创新工程需要深入思考的重要课题,进而引起了学术界和企业界的广泛关注.研究开发院作为创新型企业组织技术创新活动的高级部门,是创新型企业建设的重要支撑和核心内容,它的战略定位和建设水平直接影响着企业自主创新和持续发展的能力.基于对广东20多家创新型(试点)企业的实地调研和考察,本文从能力、机制、平台、队伍、文化五大层面系统归纳了企业研究开发院的组建和企业发展内容,以期为更多创新型企业的建设提供推进参考和有益启示.     

多重网络嵌入对集群企业创新能力的作用

以集群企业作为研究对象,将企业规模和网络客体对象的差异作为情景变量,考察了多重网络嵌入：集群内外商业网络和技术网络关系嵌入强度对其创新能力的作用。通过实证分析后发现,集群内外商业网络和技术网络的关系强度,对集群内大企业和中小企业的探索性和利用性创新的作用具有显著差异,在作用方向和程度上都具有明显区别,同时,这种作用还受到强关系对象中是否具有较多大企业的调节。     

DISAGGREGATING FIRMS IN ANALYSING THE COSTS AND BENEFITS OF THE UNIVERSITY–INDUSTRY RELATIONSHIP: BASED ON AN ANALYTICAL AND EMPIRICAL STUDY FROM SCOTLAND

It has been acknowledged that universities are key institutions in national and regional systems of innovation. This recognition has led to a rich stream of literature analysing the university–industry relationship. However, relatively little attention has been devoted to disaggregating the ‘industry’ side of this relationship and examining the costs and benefits to the disaggregated parties involved. In the present article, which draws on an analytical and empirical study from Scotland, it is suggested that it makes sense to distinguish between three kinds of firms in analysing the university–industry relationship: large national and international R&D-intensive firms, university spin-out firms, and established small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that have had little interaction with universities. The different costs and benefits facing these firms in their interactions with universities are analysed. It is concluded that the established SMEs confront relatively high costs in relating to universities. Finally, the policy implications are explored.     

海外研发、贸易摩擦与创新绩效：来自中国高科技上市公司的经验证据

海外研发被视为后发国家实现技术赶超的有效路径,现有文献基于经贸自由化的前置条件证实了海外研发提升创新绩效的反哺作用。然而在全球贸易保护主义抬头的背景下,资源要素的自由流动愈发困难,海外研发能否发挥应有的作用尚不得而知。为此,基于中国高科技上市公司的数据,本文探索了中美贸易摩擦如何影响中国企业的海外研发绩效。研究发现,中美贸易摩擦非但没有侵蚀中国企业的海外研发绩效,反而产生倒逼效应,推动中国企业提升投资效率并积累国际投资经验,继而增强了海外研发的反哺作用。通过区分海外研发目的地,本文进一步发现倒逼效应在赴非美国家的样本中更显著。赴美研发受到贸易摩擦的冲击更为直接,稀释了提升投资效率和积累国际化经验所带来的收益。研究结论深化了国际商务理论关于贸易保护和壁垒如何影响跨国企业投资绩效的相关研究,为中国企业在高度不确定的投资环境下如何充分释放海外研发的潜能提供启示。     

分析师跟踪、内控有效性与科技型中小企业创新

基于2009-2017年创业板317家科技型中小企业数据，从发明专利产出视角，探究分析师跟踪、内部控制有效性与企业技术创新的关系。结果显示，分析师跟踪人数显著提升了企业发明专利产出，内部控制有效性在分析师跟踪人数与企业发明专利产出关系中起部分中介作用，且在融资约束程度较高的企业中更为显著。即企业内外部治理机制有效配合对科技型中小企业技术创新发挥促进效应，且该效应在企业融资约束程度较高时更为显著。