IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/respol/v44y2015i8p1574-1583.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Companies learning to innovate in recessions

Author

Listed:
  • Amore, Mario Daniele

Abstract

Innovating in downturns can affect corporate success by improving a firm’s position relative to competitors during the recovery period. However, increased uncertainty and more binding financial constraints complicate such innovation activity. I find that past experience with innovation during recessions improves a firm’s ability to invest in R&D when a new downturn hits. This result holds controlling for traditional drivers of innovation as cumulated innovations and financial constraints, as well as mitigating endogeneity and selection concerns. Moreover, I find that past experience with innovation during recessions is beneficial to patent outcomes after a new recession. Overall, the paper provides novel evidence on how business cycles shape innovative capabilities.

Suggested Citation

  • Amore, Mario Daniele, 2015. "Companies learning to innovate in recessions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(8), pages 1574-1583.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:44:y:2015:i:8:p:1574-1583
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2015.05.006
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048733315000827
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.respol.2015.05.006?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gustavo Manso, 2011. "Motivating Innovation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(5), pages 1823-1860, October.
    2. Julian Atanassov, 2013. "Do Hostile Takeovers Stifle Innovation? Evidence from Antitakeover Legislation and Corporate Patenting," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(3), pages 1097-1131, June.
    3. L. Kamran Bilir, 2014. "Patent Laws, Product Life-Cycle Lengths, and Multinational Activity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(7), pages 1979-2013, July.
    4. Cockburn, Iain & Griliches, Zvi, 1988. "Industry Effects and Appropriability Measures in the Stock Market's Valuation of R&D and Patents," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(2), pages 419-423, May.
    5. Philippe Aghion & John Van Reenen & Luigi Zingales, 2013. "Innovation and Institutional Ownership," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(1), pages 277-304, February.
    6. Philippe Aghion & Philippe Askenazy & Nicolas Berman & Gilbert Cette & Laurent Eymard, 2012. "Credit Constraints And The Cyclicality Of R&D Investment: Evidence From France," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 10(5), pages 1001-1024, October.
    7. Cefis, Elena & Orsenigo, Luigi, 2001. "The persistence of innovative activities: A cross-countries and cross-sectors comparative analysis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(7), pages 1139-1158, August.
    8. Archibugi, Daniele & Filippetti, Andrea & Frenz, Marion, 2013. "Economic crisis and innovation: Is destruction prevailing over accumulation?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 303-314.
    9. Manuel Trajtenberg, 1990. "A Penny for Your Quotes: Patent Citations and the Value of Innovations," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 21(1), pages 172-187, Spring.
    10. Markku Kaustia & Samuli Knüpfer, 2008. "Do Investors Overweight Personal Experience? Evidence from IPO Subscriptions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(6), pages 2679-2702, December.
    11. 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.
    12. Bronwyn H. Hall & Adam Jaffe & Manuel Trajtenberg, 2005. "Market Value and Patent Citations," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 36(1), pages 16-38, Spring.
    13. Cornaggia, Jess & Mao, Yifei & Tian, Xuan & Wolfe, Brian, 2015. "Does banking competition affect innovation?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 189-209.
    14. Hall, B. & Jaffe, A. & Trajtenberg, M., 2001. "The NBER Patent Citations Data File: Lessons, Insights and Methodological Tools," Papers 2001-29, Tel Aviv.
    15. repec:fth:harver:1473 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Hirshleifer, David & Hsu, Po-Hsuan & Li, Dongmei, 2013. "Innovative efficiency and stock returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(3), pages 632-654.
    17. Zvi Griliches, 1998. "Patent Statistics as Economic Indicators: A Survey," NBER Chapters, in: R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence, pages 287-343, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:2:p:623-650 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Paul Geroski & Steve Machin & John Van Reenen, 1993. "The Profitability of Innovating Firms," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 24(2), pages 198-211, Summer.
    20. Geroski, P. A. & Van Reenen, J. & Walters, C. F., 1997. "How persistently do firms innovate?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 33-48, March.
    21. Charles J. Hadlock & Joshua R. Pierce, 2010. "New Evidence on Measuring Financial Constraints: Moving Beyond the KZ Index," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(5), pages 1909-1940.
    22. Rüdiger Fahlenbrach & Robert Prilmeier & René M. Stulz, 2012. "This Time Is the Same: Using Bank Performance in 1998 to Explain Bank Performance during the Recent Financial Crisis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(6), pages 2139-2185, December.
    23. Michael T. Owyang & Jeremy Piger & Howard J. Wall, 2005. "Business Cycle Phases in U.S. States," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(4), pages 604-616, November.
    24. Campello, Murillo & Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R., 2010. "The real effects of financial constraints: Evidence from a financial crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(3), pages 470-487, September.
    25. Ulrike Malmendier & Stefan Nagel, 2011. "Depression Babies: Do Macroeconomic Experiences Affect Risk Taking?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(1), pages 373-416.
    26. Lucia Foster & Cheryl Grim & John Haltiwanger, 2016. "Reallocation in the Great Recession: Cleansing or Not?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(S1), pages 293-331.
    27. Himmelberg, Charles P & Petersen, Bruce C, 1994. "R&D and Internal Finance: A Panel Study of Small Firms in High-Tech Industries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 76(1), pages 38-51, February.
    28. Yao-Min Chiang & David Hirshleifer & Yiming Qian & Ann E. Sherman, 2011. "Do Investors Learn from Experience? Evidence from Frequent IPO Investors," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(5), pages 1560-1589.
    29. Philippe Aghion & Philippe Askenazy & Nicolas Berman & Gilberte Cette & Laurent Eymard, 2012. "Credit Constraints and the Cyclicality of R&D Investment: Evidence from Micro Panel data," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-00754573, HAL.
    30. Amit Seru & Tyler Shumway & Noah Stoffman, 2010. "Learning by Trading," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(2), pages 705-739, February.
    31. Vivian W. Fang & Xuan Tian & Sheri Tice, 2014. "Does Stock Liquidity Enhance or Impede Firm Innovation?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(5), pages 2085-2125, October.
    32. K. Pavitt & M. Robson & J. Townsend, 1989. "Technological Accumulation, Diversification and Organisation in UK Companies, 1945--1983," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(1), pages 81-99, January.
    33. Filippetti, Andrea & Archibugi, Daniele, 2011. "Innovation in times of crisis: National Systems of Innovation, structure, and demand," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 179-192, March.
    34. Malerba, Franco & Orsenigo, Luigi, 1997. "Technological Regimes and Sectoral Patterns of Innovative Activities," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 6(1), pages 83-117.
    35. Manuel Trajtenberg & Adam B. Jaffe & Michael S. Fogarty, 2000. "Knowledge Spillovers and Patent Citations: Evidence from a Survey of Inventors," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(2), pages 215-218, May.
    36. Laurent Fresard, 2010. "Financial Strength and Product Market Behavior: The Real Effects of Corporate Cash Holdings," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(3), pages 1097-1122, June.
    37. Chava, Sudheer & Oettl, Alexander & Subramanian, Ajay & Subramanian, Krishnamurthy V., 2013. "Banking deregulation and innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(3), pages 759-774.
    38. Laurent Fresard, 2010. "Financial Strength and Product Market Behavior: The Real Effects of Corporate Cash Holdings," Post-Print hal-00537081, HAL.
    39. Amore, Mario Daniele & Schneider, Cédric & Žaldokas, Alminas, 2013. "Credit supply and corporate innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(3), pages 835-855.
    40. Andrade, Gregor & Stafford, Erik, 2004. "Investigating the economic role of mergers," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 1-36, January.
    41. Cefis, Elena, 2003. "Is there persistence in innovative activities?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 489-515, April.
    42. Paola Giuliano & Antonio Spilimbergo, 2014. "Growing up in a Recession," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 81(2), pages 787-817.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Giebel, Marek & Kraft, Kornelius, 2021. "Subsidies and innovation in the recent financial crisis," ZEW Discussion Papers 21-097, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    2. Bob Walrave & A Georges L Romme & Kim E van Oorschot & Fred Langerak, 2017. "Managerial attention to exploitation versus exploration: toward a dynamic perspective on ambidexterity," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 26(6), pages 1145-1160.
    3. Ravindra Singh & Ajay Dwivedi & Shikha Gupta & Sumanjeet Singh & Seema Singh, 2022. "Elucidating the moderating role of personality traits in probing the linkage between digital entrepreneurship characteristics and perceived opportunities," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 12(1), pages 175-188, December.
    4. A. A. Rumyantsev, 2021. "Investments in Innovation and Fixed Capital in the Regions of Northwest Russia in Terms of Time," Studies on Russian Economic Development, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 98-102, January.
    5. Giebel, Marek & Kraft, Kornelius, 2018. "Bank credit supply and firm innovation," ZEW Discussion Papers 18-011, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    6. Elena Cefis & Orietta Marsili, 2019. "Good times, bad times: innovation and survival over the business cycle," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 28(3), pages 565-587.
    7. Nobuaki Yamashita & Isamu Yamauchi, 2020. "Innovation responses of Japanese firms to Chinese import competition," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 60-80, January.
    8. Cefis, Elena & Bartoloni, Eleonora & Bonati, Marco, 2020. "Show me how to live: Firms' financial conditions and innovation during the crisis," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 63-81.
    9. Mario Daniele Amore, 2020. "Innovation disclosure in times of uncertainty," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(4), pages 792-815, October.
    10. Giebel, Marek & Kraft, Kornelius, 2017. "External financing constraints and firm's innovative activities during the financial crisis," ZEW Discussion Papers 17-064, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    11. Katharina Friz & Jutta Günther, 2021. "Innovation and economic crisis in transition economies," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 11(4), pages 537-563, December.
    12. Silvestri, Daniela & Riccaboni, Massimo & Della Malva, Antonio, 2018. "Sailing in all winds: Technological search over the business cycle," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(10), pages 1933-1944.
    13. Eric Hansen & Erlend Nybakk, 2018. "Response to the global financial crisis: a follow-up study," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 1-12, December.
    14. Torsten Heinrich & Jangho Yang, 2022. "Innovation in times of Covid-19," Papers 2212.14159, arXiv.org.
    15. Lartey, Theophilus & Danso, Albert & Owusu-Agyei, Samuel, 2020. "CEOs' market sentiment and corporate innovation: The role of financial uncertainty, competition and capital intensity," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    16. Torsten Heinrich & Jangho Yang, 2022. "Innovation in times of Covid-19," Chemnitz Economic Papers 058, Department of Economics, Chemnitz University of Technology.
    17. Ganotakis, Panagiotis & Angelidou, Sofia & Saridakis, Charalampos & Piperopoulos, Panagiotis & Dindial, Miguel, 2023. "Innovation, digital technologies, and sales growth during exogenous shocks," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    18. Yamashita, Nobuaki, 2021. "Economic crisis and innovation capacity of Japan: Evidence from cross-country patent citations," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    19. Armand, Alex & Mendi, Pedro, 2018. "Demand drops and innovation investments: Evidence from the Great Recession in Spain," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(7), pages 1321-1333.
    20. Heinrich, Torsten & Yang, Jangho, 2022. "Innovation in times of Covid-19," MPRA Paper 115809, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    21. Katharina Friz & Jutta Günther, 2020. "Innovation and Economic Crisis in Transition Economies," Bremen Papers on Economics & Innovation 2014, University of Bremen, Faculty of Business Studies and Economics.
    22. Hayoung Park & Taewon Kang & Jeong-Dong Lee, 2019. "R&D Dynamics And Firm Growth: The Importance Of R&D Persistency In The Economic Crisis," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 23(05), pages 1-24, June.
    23. Juliana Yu Sun & Huanhuan Zheng, 2024. "Cross‐border technology investments in recession," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 57(1), pages 297-330, February.
    24. Archibugi, Daniele, 2017. "Blade Runner economics: Will innovation lead the economic recovery?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 535-543.

    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. Mukherjee, Abhiroop & Singh, Manpreet & Žaldokas, Alminas, 2017. "Do corporate taxes hinder innovation?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(1), pages 195-221.
    2. Giau Bui, Dien & Chen, Yehning & Lin, Chih-Yung & Lin, Tse-Chun, 2021. "Risk-taking of bank CEOs and corporate innovation," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    3. Acharya, Viral & Xu, Zhaoxia, 2017. "Financial dependence and innovation: The case of public versus private firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(2), pages 223-243.
    4. Caroline Flammer & Aleksandra Kacperczyk, 2016. "The Impact of Stakeholder Orientation on Innovation: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(7), pages 1982-2001, July.
    5. Griffin, Paul A. & Hong, Hyun A. & Ryou, Ji Woo, 2018. "Corporate innovative efficiency: Evidence of effects on credit ratings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 352-373.
    6. Amore, Mario Daniele & Bennedsen, Morten, 2016. "Corporate governance and green innovation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 54-72.
    7. Francis, Bill & Mani, Suresh Babu & Sharma, Zenu & Wu, Qiang, 2021. "The impact of organization capital on firm innovation," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    8. Hasan, Iftekhar & (Stan) Hoi, Chun-Keung & Wu, Qiang & Zhang, Hao, 2020. "Is social capital associated with corporate innovation? Evidence from publicly listed firms in the U.S," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    9. Lei Kong, 2020. "Government Spending and Corporate Innovation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(4), pages 1584-1604, April.
    10. Amore, Mario Daniele & Schneider, Cédric & Žaldokas, Alminas, 2013. "Credit supply and corporate innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(3), pages 835-855.
    11. Yang, Huan, 2021. "Institutional dual holdings and risk-shifting: Evidence from corporate innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    12. Moshirian, Fariborz & Tian, Xuan & Zhang, Bohui & Zhang, Wenrui, 2021. "Stock market liberalization and innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(3), pages 985-1014.
    13. Marek Giebel & Kornelius Kraft, 2024. "R&D investments under financing constraints," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(9), pages 1141-1168, October.
    14. Huang, Yi-Hou & Liang, Woan-lih & Truong, Quang-Thai & Wang, Yanzhi, 2022. "No new tricks for old dogs? Old directors and innovation performance," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    15. Roger C. Mayer & Richard S. Warr & Jing Zhao, 2018. "Do Pro‐Diversity Policies Improve Corporate Innovation?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 47(3), pages 617-650, September.
    16. Dongmin Kong & Jialong Wang & Yanan Wang & Jian Zhang, 2022. "Language and innovation," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1-2), pages 297-326, January.
    17. Lai, Shaojie & Li, Xiaorong & Chan, Kam C., 2020. "Does bank shareholding impact corporate innovation? Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 57-69.
    18. Julian Atanassov, 2016. "Arm’s Length Financing and Innovation: Evidence from Publicly Traded Firms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(1), pages 128-155, January.
    19. Heller, David, 2024. "Financial market integration and the effects of financing constraints on innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(4).
    20. Contreras, Salvador & Ghosh, Amit & Kong, Joon Ho, 2021. "Financial crisis, Bank failures and corporate innovation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Recessions; R&D; Patents;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles

    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:eee:respol:v:44:y:2015:i:8:p:1574-1583. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/respol .

    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.