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High-growth firms and innovation: an empirical analysis for Spanish firms

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  • Agustí Segarra
  • Mercedes Teruel

Abstract

This paper analyses the effect of R&D investment on firm growth. We use an extensive sample of Spanish manufacturing and service firms. The database comprises diverse waves of Spanish Community Innovation Survey and covers the period 2004–2008. First, a probit model corrected for sample selection analyses the role of innovation on the probability of being a high-growth firm (HGF). Second, a quantile regression technique is applied to explore the determinants of firm growth. Our database shows that a small number of firms experience fast growth rates in terms of sales or employees. Our results reveal that R&D investments positively affect the probability of becoming a HGF. However, differences appear between manufacturing and service firms. Finally, when we study the impact of R&D investment on firm growth, quantile estimations show that internal R&D presents a significant positive impact for the upper quantiles, while external R&D shows a significant positive impact up to the median. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Agustí Segarra & Mercedes Teruel, 2014. "High-growth firms and innovation: an empirical analysis for Spanish firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 805-821, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:43:y:2014:i:4:p:805-821
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-014-9563-7
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    High-growth firms; Firm growth; Innovation activity; L11; L25; L26; O30;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General

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