IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i22p9666-d447913.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Interactive Effect of Government Financial Support and Firms’ Innovative Efforts on Company Growth: A Focus on Climate-Tech SMEs in Korea

Author

Listed:
  • DaEun Kim

    (Institute of Governmental Studies, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea)

  • Sungchan Yeom

    (Green Technology Center, Seoul 04554, Korea)

  • Myeong Chul Ko

    (Department of Public Policy, Hanbat National University, DeaJeon 34158, Korea)

Abstract

Given the growing importance of climate technology and its early stage of industrial development, the Korean government has supported climate-tech small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through various policy measures, including credit guarantees. Although the extant literature argues that government financial support plays an important role in the growth of high-tech firms, research has been limited on the impacts of government financial support on company growth in the context of the climate-related industry. Using a sample of 582 climate-tech SMEs in Korea, this study explores the moderating effects of credit guarantees on the relationship between patents and firms’ sales growth as well as their direct effects on growth. This study found that credit guarantees and patent registration have positive effects on the increase in sales volume. Additionally, credit guarantees appear to weaken the relationship between patent registration and the sales growth rate. Based on these findings, we propose that, to develop the climate-technology industry, the voluntary innovation efforts of enterprises should be encouraged and credit guarantees should be provided for SMEs. In terms of managerial interventions, the government should especially avoid providing excessive benefits.

Suggested Citation

  • DaEun Kim & Sungchan Yeom & Myeong Chul Ko, 2020. "The Interactive Effect of Government Financial Support and Firms’ Innovative Efforts on Company Growth: A Focus on Climate-Tech SMEs in Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-12, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:22:p:9666-:d:447913
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/22/9666/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/22/9666/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. D.B. Audretsch & L. Klomp & E. Santarelli & A.R. Thurik, 2004. "Gibrat's Law: Are the Services Different?," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 24(3), pages 301-324, May.
    2. Elisabeth Müller & Volker Zimmermann, 2009. "The importance of equity finance for R&D activity," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 303-318, October.
    3. Hyytinen, Ari & Toivanen, Otto, 2005. "Do financial constraints hold back innovation and growth?: Evidence on the role of public policy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(9), pages 1385-1403, November.
    4. Bronwyn H. Hall, 2010. "The Financing of Innovative Firms," Review of Economics and Institutions, Università di Perugia, vol. 1(1).
    5. Beck, Thorsten & Klapper, Leora F. & Mendoza, Juan Carlos, 2010. "The typology of partial credit guarantee funds around the world," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 10-25, April.
    6. Beom Cheol Cin & Young Jun Kim & Nicholas S. Vonortas, 2017. "The impact of public R&D subsidy on small firm productivity: evidence from Korean SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 345-360, February.
    7. 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.
    8. Giorgio Fagiolo & Alessandra Luzzi, 2006. "Do liquidity constraints matter in explaining firm size and growth? Some evidence from the Italian manufacturing industry," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 15(1), pages 1-39, February.
    9. Brault, Julien & Signore, Simone, 2019. "The real effects of EU loan guarantee schemes for SMEs: A pan-European assessment," EIF Working Paper Series 2019/56, European Investment Fund (EIF).
    10. Ernst, Holger, 2001. "Patent applications and subsequent changes of performance: evidence from time-series cross-section analyses on the firm level," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 143-157, January.
    11. Seunghwan Oh & Dongnyok Shim & Daeho Lee, 2020. "Evaluation Of Complementarity Effect Of Innovation Policies: Venture Certification And Inno-Biz Certification In Korea," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 65(02), pages 385-402, March.
    12. Guarascio, Dario & Tamagni, Federico, 2019. "Persistence of innovation and patterns of firm growth," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(6), pages 1493-1512.
    13. Marc Cowling, 2016. "You can lead a firm to R&D but can you make it innovate? UK evidence from SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(4), pages 565-577, April.
    14. repec:fth:harver:1473 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Daisuke Tsuruta, 2020. "SME policies as a barrier to growth of SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 54(4), pages 1067-1106, April.
    16. Nunes, Paulo Maçãs & Serrasqueiro, Zélia & Leitão, João, 2012. "Is there a linear relationship between R&D intensity and growth? Empirical evidence of non-high-tech vs. high-tech SMEs," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 36-53.
    17. Massimo Colombo & Luca Grilli, 2007. "Funding Gaps? Access To Bank Loans By High-Tech Start-Ups," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 25-46, June.
    18. Jae Kang & Almas Heshmati, 2008. "Effect of credit guarantee policy on survival and performance of SMEs in Republic of Korea," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 31(4), pages 445-462, December.
    19. Takehiko Yasuda, 2005. "Firm Growth, Size, Age and Behavior in Japanese Manufacturing," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 1-15, December.
    20. Randall S. Jones & Myungkyoo Kim, 2014. "Promoting the Financing of SMEs and Start-ups in Korea," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1162, OECD Publishing.
    21. Heike Belitz & Anna Lejpras, 2014. "Financing Patterns of Innovative SMEs and the Perception of Innovation Barriers in Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1353, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    22. Dvouletý Ondřej & Čadil Jan & Mirošník Karel, 2019. "Do Firms Supported by Credit Guarantee Schemes Report Better Financial Results 2 Years After the End of Intervention?," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 19(1), pages 1-20, January.
    23. Giusy Cannone & Elisa Ughetto, 2014. "Funding Innovation at Regional Level: An Analysis of a Public Policy Intervention in the Piedmont Region," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(2), pages 270-283, February.
    24. Julie Elston & David Audretsch, 2011. "Financing the entrepreneurial decision: an empirical approach using experimental data on risk attitudes," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 209-222, February.
    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. Nunes, Paulo Maçãs & Serrasqueiro, Zélia & Leitão, João, 2012. "Is there a linear relationship between R&D intensity and growth? Empirical evidence of non-high-tech vs. high-tech SMEs," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 36-53.
    2. Paulo Nunes & Marco Gonçalves & Zélia Serrasqueiro, 2013. "The influence of age on SMEs’ growth determinants: empirical evidence," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 249-272, February.
    3. Bertoni, Fabio & Colombo, Massimo G. & Quas, Anita, 2023. "The long-term effects of loan guarantees on SME performance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    4. Cowling, Marc & Ughetto, Elisa & Lee, Neil, 2018. "The innovation debt penalty: Cost of debt, loan default, and the effects of a public loan guarantee on high-tech firms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 166-176.
    5. Sven-Olov Daunfeldt & Niklas Elert, 2013. "When is Gibrat’s law a law?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 133-147, June.
    6. D'Ignazio, Alessio & Menon, Carlo, 2012. "The causal effect of credit guarantees for SMEs: evidence from Italy," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 58555, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Alessio D’Ignazio & Carlo Menon, 2020. "Causal Effect of Credit Guarantees for Small‐ and Medium‐Sized Enterprises: Evidence from Italy," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 122(1), pages 191-218, January.
    8. Silva Filipe & Carreira Carlos, 2017. "Financial Constraints: Do They Matter to Allocate R&D Subsidies?," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 17(4), pages 1-26, October.
    9. Marko Peric & Vanja Vitezic, 2016. "Impact of global economic crisis on firm growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 1-12, January.
    10. Daisuke Tsuruta, 2020. "SME policies as a barrier to growth of SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 54(4), pages 1067-1106, April.
    11. Carlos Carreira & Filipe Silva, 2010. "No Deep Pockets: Some Stylized Empirical Results On Firms’ Financial Constraints," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(4), pages 731-753, September.
    12. Giovanni Cerulli & Bianca Poti', 2016. "Explaining firm sensitivity to R&D subsidies within a dose-response model: The role of financial constraints, real cost of investment, and strategic value of R&D," DEM Working Papers 2016/09, Department of Economics and Management.
    13. Bertoni, Fabio & Martí, Jose & Reverte, Carmelo, 2019. "The impact of government-supported participative loans on the growth of entrepreneurial ventures," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 371-384.
    14. Paulo Nunes & Zélia Serrasqueiro & João Leitão, 2013. "Assessing the nonlinear nature of the effects of R&D intensity on growth of SMEs: a dynamic panel data approach," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 97-128, January.
    15. Andrea Bellucci & Luca Pennacchio & Alberto Zazzaro, 2019. "Public R&D subsidies: collaborative versus individual place-based programs for SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 213-240, January.
    16. Andrea Bellucci & Luca Pennacchio & Alberto Zazzaro, 2019. "R&D Subsidies and Firms’ Debt Financing," CSEF Working Papers 527, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy.
    17. Andrea Bellucci & Luca Pennacchio & Alberto Zazzaro, 2016. "Public subsidies for SME research and development: Empirical evaluation of collaborative versus individual place-based programs," Mo.Fi.R. Working Papers 133, Money and Finance Research group (Mo.Fi.R.) - Univ. Politecnica Marche - Dept. Economic and Social Sciences.
    18. Marko Peric & Vanja Vitezic, 2016. "Impact of global economic crisis on firm growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 1-12, January.
    19. Pengyuan Xu & Meiqing Zhang & Min Gui, 2020. "How R&D Financial Subsidies, Regional R&D Input, and Intellectual Property Protection Affect the Sustainable Patent Output of SMEs: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-18, February.
    20. Sonja Đuričin & Isidora Beraha & Olivera Jovanović & Marija Mosurović Ružičić & Marija Lazarević-Moravčević & Mihailo Paunović, 2022. "The Efficiency of National Innovation Policy Programs: The Case of Serbia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-14, July.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:22:p:9666-:d:447913. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.