IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ecorec/v98y2022i323p335-353.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do Financial Constraints Reduce Process Innovation? Evidence from Australian Firms

Author

Listed:
  • Siddarth Roche
  • Sizhong Sun
  • Riccardo Welters

Abstract

Accessing external finance for innovation is difficult. We study the effect of financial constraints on the probability of conducting process innovation, while also considering the role of past experience. We show a firm's optimal process innovation decision is a function of its previous decision and financial constraints, which naturally leads to a set of population moments for empirical testing with Australian microdata from 2006 to 2018. We find that if a firm did not conduct process innovation previously, financial constraints reduce its probability of process innovation by around 10 per cent. Whereas with previous process innovation, financial constraints reduce the probability by around 12 per cent.

Suggested Citation

  • Siddarth Roche & Sizhong Sun & Riccardo Welters, 2022. "Do Financial Constraints Reduce Process Innovation? Evidence from Australian Firms," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 98(323), pages 335-353, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecorec:v:98:y:2022:i:323:p:335-353
    DOI: 10.1111/1475-4932.12703
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-4932.12703
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1475-4932.12703?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fariborz Damanpour & Shanthi Gopalakrishnan, 2001. "The Dynamics of the Adoption of Product and Process Innovations in Organizations," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 45-65, January.
    2. Hansen, Lars Peter, 1982. "Large Sample Properties of Generalized Method of Moments Estimators," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(4), pages 1029-1054, July.
    3. Ramana Nanda & William R. Kerr, 2015. "Financing Innovation," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 7(1), pages 445-462, December.
    4. Stewart C. Myers & Nicholas S. Majluf, 1984. "Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions When Firms Have InformationThat Investors Do Not Have," NBER Working Papers 1396, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June.
    6. Bronwyn Hall & Francesca Lotti & Jacques Mairesse, 2009. "Innovation and productivity in SMEs: empirical evidence for Italy," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 13-33, June.
    7. Bettina Peters, 2009. "Persistence of innovation: stylised facts and panel data evidence," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 226-243, April.
    8. Hajivassiliou, Vassilis & Savignac, Frédérique, 2007. "Financing constraints and a firm's decision and ability to innovate: establishing direct and reverse effects," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 4774, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    10. Huergo, Elena & Jaumandreu, Jordi, 2004. "Firms' age, process innovation and productivity growth," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 541-559, April.
    11. Jamel E. Chichti & Walid Mansour, 2010. "Is the investment-cash flow sensitivity still useful to gauge financing constraints?," International Journal of Economic Policy in Emerging Economies, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 3(1), pages 71-84.
    12. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2015_028 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Brouwer, Erik & Kleinknecht, Alfred, 1999. "Innovative output, and a firm's propensity to patent.: An exploration of CIS micro data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 615-624, August.
    14. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:5:p:2061-2092 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Bakhtiari, Sasan, 2021. "Government financial assistance as catalyst for private financing," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 59-78.
    16. Steven N. Kaplan & Luigi Zingales, 2000. "Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities Are Not Valid Measures of Financing Constraints," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(2), pages 707-712.
    17. Radeef Chundakkadan & Subash Sasidharan, 2020. "Financial constraints, government support, and firm innovation: empirical evidence from developing economies," Innovation and Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(3), pages 279-301, September.
    18. Yuriy Gorodnichenko & Monika Schnitzer, 2013. "Financial Constraints And Innovation: Why Poor Countries Don'T Catch Up," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 11(5), pages 1115-1152, October.
    19. repec:cup:jfinqa:v:46:y:2011:i:06:p:1545-1580_00 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Sasan Bakhtiari & Robert Breunig & Lisa Magnani & Jacquelyn Zhang, 2020. "Financial Constraints and Small and Medium Enterprises: A Review," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 96(315), pages 506-523, December.
    21. Utterback, James M & Abernathy, William J, 1975. "A dynamic model of process and product innovation," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 3(6), pages 639-656, December.
    22. Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), 2010. "Handbook of the Economics of Innovation," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    23. Samuel Hollander, 1965. "The Sources of Increased Efficiency: A Study of DuPont Rayon Plants," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 026258235x, April.
    24. Hall, Bronwyn H. & Lerner, Josh, 2010. "The Financing of R&D and Innovation," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 609-639, Elsevier.
    25. Cohen, Wesley M & Klepper, Steven, 1996. "Firm Size and the Nature of Innovation within Industries: The Case of Process and Product R&D," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 78(2), pages 232-243, May.
    26. James R. Brown & Steven M. Fazzari & Bruce C. Petersen, 2009. "Financing Innovation and Growth: Cash Flow, External Equity, and the 1990s R&D Boom," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(1), pages 151-185, February.
    27. repec:zbw:bofrdp:urn:nbn:fi:bof-201512141480 is not listed on IDEAS
    28. Toke Reichstein & Ammon Salter, 2006. "Investigating the sources of process innovation among UK manufacturing firms," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 15(4), pages 653-682, August.
    29. Andrea Mina & Henry Lahr & Alan Hughes, 2013. "The demand and supply of external finance for innovative firms," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 22(4), pages 869-901, August.
    30. Gianni La Cava, 2005. "Financial Constraints, the User Cost of Capital and Corporate Investment in Australia," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp2005-12, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    31. Stiglitz, Joseph E & Weiss, Andrew, 1981. "Credit Rationing in Markets with Imperfect Information," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(3), pages 393-410, June.
    32. Omer Majeed & Antonio Balaguer & David Hansell & Luke Hendrickson & Abasi Latcham & Tessa Satherley, 2021. "What Drives High Growth? Characteristics of Australian Firms," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 97(318), pages 350-364, September.
    33. David Hansell & Bilal Rafi, 2018. "Firm†Level Analysis Using the ABS’ Business Longitudinal Analysis Data Environment (BLADE)," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 51(1), pages 132-138, March.
    34. Ayyagari, Meghana & Demirgüç-Kunt, Asli & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 2011. "Firm Innovation in Emerging Markets: The Role of Finance, Governance, and Competition," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(6), pages 1545-1580, December.
    35. Dong Xiang & Andrew C. Worthington, 2017. "The impact of government financial assistance on the performance and financing of Australian SMEs," Accounting Research Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 30(4), pages 447-464, November.
    36. Arundel, Anthony & Kabla, Isabelle, 1998. "What percentage of innovations are patented? empirical estimates for European firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 127-141, June.
    37. Franklin A. Soriano & Renato A. Villano & Euan M. Fleming & George E. Battese, 2019. "What's driving innovation in small businesses in Australia? The case of the food industry," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 63(1), pages 39-71, January.
    38. Steven N. Kaplan & Luigi Zingales, 1997. "Do Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities Provide Useful Measures of Financing Constraints?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(1), pages 169-215.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Georgios Efthyvoulou & Priit Vahter, 2016. "Financial Constraints, Innovation Performance and Sectoral Disaggregation," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 84(2), pages 125-158, March.
    2. Maria Luisa Mancusi & Andrea Vezzulli, 2014. "R&D AND CREDIT RATIONING IN SMEs," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 52(3), pages 1153-1172, July.
    3. Hanna Hottenrott & Bettina Peters, 2012. "Innovative Capability and Financing Constraints for Innovation: More Money, More Innovation?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 94(4), pages 1126-1142, November.
    4. Muhammad Kaleem Khan & Ahmad Kaleem & Salman Zulfiqar & Umair Akram, 2019. "Innovation Investment: Behaviour Of Chinese Firms Towards Financing Sources," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 23(07), pages 1-29, October.
    5. Sasan Bakhtiari & Robert Breunig & Lisa Magnani & Jacquelyn Zhang, 2020. "Financial Constraints and Small and Medium Enterprises: A Review," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 96(315), pages 506-523, December.
    6. Wellalage, Nirosha Hewa & Locke, Stuart, 2020. "Formal credit and innovation: Is there a uniform relationship across types of innovation?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 1-15.
    7. García-Quevedo, José & Segarra-Blasco, Agustí & Teruel, Mercedes, 2018. "Financial constraints and the failure of innovation projects," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 127-140.
    8. Söhnke M. Bartram, 2017. "Corporate Postretirement Benefit Plans and Real Investment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(2), pages 355-383, February.
    9. Czarnitzki, Dirk & Hottenrott, Hanna, 2012. "Collaborative R&D as a strategy to attenuate financing constraints," ZEW Discussion Papers 12-049, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    10. Mario Tirelli & Luca Spinesi, 2021. "R&D financing and growth," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 24-47, January.
    11. Lily Nguyen & Le Vu & Xiangkang Yin, 2021. "Share repurchases and firm innovation," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(S1), pages 1665-1695, April.
    12. Joshua Krieger & Danielle Li & Dimitris Papanikolaou, 2022. "Missing Novelty in Drug Development," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 35(2), pages 636-679.
    13. Francesco Aiello & Graziella Bonanno & Stefania Patrizia Sonia Rossi, 2019. "Risk Aversion And Entrepreneurship: Financing Innovation For Smes Across Europe. Evidence From Multilevel Models," Working Papers 201902, Università della Calabria, Dipartimento di Economia, Statistica e Finanza "Giovanni Anania" - DESF.
    14. Hans Lööf & Pardis Nabavi, 2016. "Innovation and credit constraints: evidence from Swedish exporting firms," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(3), pages 269-282, April.
    15. Martinsson, Gustav, 2009. "Finance and R&D Investments - is there a debt overhang effect on R&D investments?," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 174, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    16. Mykhayliv, Dariya & Zauner, Klaus G., 2013. "Investment behavior and ownership structures in Ukraine: Soft budget constraints, government ownership and private benefits of control," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 265-278.
    17. Sasidharan, Subash & Jijo Lukose, P.J. & Komera, Surenderrao, 2015. "Financing constraints and investments in R&D: Evidence from Indian manufacturing firms," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 28-39.
    18. García-Pérez-de-Lema, Domingo & Ruiz-Palomo, Daniel & Diéguez-Soto, Julio, 2021. "Analysing the roles of CEO's financial literacy and financial constraints on Spanish SMEs technological innovation," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    19. Xin Qu & Majella Percy & Fang Hu & Jenny Stewart, 2022. "Can CEO equity‐based compensation limit investment‐related agency problems?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(2), pages 2579-2614, June.
    20. Çağatay Bircan & Ralph De Haas, 2020. "The Limits of Lending? Banks and Technology Adoption across Russia," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(2), pages 536-609.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:ecorec:v:98:y:2022:i:323:p:335-353. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/esausea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.