IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hhs/ratioi/0206.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Relationship Between Innovation and New Firm Growth

Author

Listed:
  • McKelvie, Alexander

    (Syracuse University)

  • Brattström, Anna

    (Stockholm School of Economics)

  • Wennberg, Karl

    (Ratio)

Abstract

This paper seeks to untangle the relationship between new firm’s innovative activities and subsequent growth. We theorize about the inter-related roles of managerial growth willingness, inputs and outputs of innovative activities, and their subsequent link to sales growth. Investigating a longitudinal sample of 282 new Swedish firms reveals a complex set of mediating relationships that, when combined, help explain how innovation affects growth. First, we find growth willingness has an important relationship with innovative inputs such as R&D and market knowledge competence. Second, these inputs affect important innovative outputs such as new product development and the percentage of sales from new products. Third, these outputs directly affect growth – whereas the innovative inputs such as R&D do not have a direct impact. Taken together, our paper highlights the joint importance of managerial attitudes and strategic choices that help to shed new light on the effect of innovation on new firm growth. Implications for research and public policy are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • McKelvie, Alexander & Brattström, Anna & Wennberg, Karl, 2013. "The Relationship Between Innovation and New Firm Growth," Ratio Working Papers 206, The Ratio Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:ratioi:0206
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://ratio.se/app/uploads/2014/11/ak_ab_kw_206.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Santarelli, Enrico & Piergiovanni, Roberta, 1996. "Analyzing literature-based innovation output indicators: the Italian experience," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 689-711, August.
    2. Rufin Baghana & Pierre Mohnen, 2009. "Effectiveness of R&D tax incentives in small and large enterprises in Québec," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 91-107, June.
    3. José Albors-Garrigos & José L. Hervas-Oliver, 2011. "Making sense of innovation by R&D and non-R&D innovators in low technology contexts: a forgotten lesson for policymakers," Working Papers. Serie EC 2011-06, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    4. Frédéric Delmar & Johan Wiklund, 2008. "The Effect of Small Business Managers’ Growth Motivation on Firm Growth: A Longitudinal Study," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 32(3), pages 437-457, May.
    5. Delmar, Frédéric & Wennberg, Karl & Hellerstedt, Karin, 2011. "Endogenous growth through knowledge spillovers in entrepreneurship: An empirical test," Ratio Working Papers 165, The Ratio Institute.
    6. Mowery, David C., 1983. "Industrial Research and Firm Size, Survival, and Growth in American Manufacturing, 1921–1946: An Assessment," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 43(4), pages 953-980, December.
    7. Uwe Cantner & Sarah Kösters, 2012. "Picking the winner? Empirical evidence on the targeting of R&D subsidies to start-ups," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(4), pages 921-936, November.
    8. Karl Wennberg, 2009. "Knowledge combinations and the survival of financial services ventures," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 259-276, April.
    9. Coad, Alex, 2007. "Testing the principle of `growth of the fitter': The relationship between profits and firm growth," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 370-386, September.
    10. Bottazzi, Giulio & Dosi, Giovanni & Lippi, Marco & Pammolli, Fabio & Riccaboni, Massimo, 2001. "Innovation and corporate growth in the evolution of the drug industry," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 19(7), pages 1161-1187, July.
    11. Peters, Michael P. & Brush, Candida G., 1996. "Market information scanning activities and growth in new ventures: A comparison of service and manufacturing businesses," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 81-89, May.
    12. Raquel Ortega-Argilés & Marco Vivarelli & Peter Voigt, 2009. "R&D in SMEs: a paradox?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 3-11, June.
    13. Delmar, Frédéric & McKelvie, Alexander & Wennberg, Karl, 2013. "Untangling the relationships among growth, profitability and survival in new firms," Ratio Working Papers 205, The Ratio Institute.
    14. C. Praag & Peter Versloot, 2007. "What is the value of entrepreneurship? A review of recent research," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 29(4), pages 351-382, December.
    15. Chih-Hai Yang & Chia-Hui Huang, 2005. "R&D, Size and Firm Growth in Taiwan‘s Electronics Industry," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 25(5), pages 477-487, December.
    16. Zi-Lin He & Poh-Kam Wong, 2004. "Exploration vs. Exploitation: An Empirical Test of the Ambidexterity Hypothesis," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(4), pages 481-494, August.
    17. Chandler, Gaylen N. & Hanks, Steven H., 1994. "Market attractiveness, resource-based capabilities, venture strategies, and venture performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 331-349, July.
    18. Shaker A. Zahra & Donald O. Neubaum & Galal M. El–Hagrassey, 2002. "Competitive Analysis and New Venture Performance: Understanding the Impact of Strategic Uncertainty and Venture Origin," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 27(1), pages 1-28, January.
    19. Audretsch, David, 2008. "The Emergence of the Entrepreneurial Society," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number GLS37.
    20. Wennberg, Karl & Wiklund, Johan & Wright, Mike, 2011. "The effectiveness of university knowledge spillovers: Performance differences between university spinoffs and corporate spinoffs," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(8), pages 1128-1143, October.
    21. Gundry, Lisa K. & Welsch, Harold P., 2001. "The ambitious entrepreneur: High growth strategies of women-owned enterprises," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 453-470, September.
    22. Patricia Phillips McDougall & Jeffrey G. Covin & Richard B. Robinson & Lanny Herron, 1994. "The effects of industry growth and strategic breadth on new venture performance and strategy content," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(7), pages 537-554, September.
    23. Mikael Samuelsson & Per Davidsson, 2009. "Does venture opportunity variation matter? Investigating systematic process differences between innovative and imitative new ventures," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 229-255, August.
    24. Kleinknecht, Alfred, 1987. "Measuring R&D in Small Firms: How Much Are We Missing?," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(2), pages 253-256, December.
    25. Jianwen Liao & Harold Welsch & Michael Stoica, 2003. "Organizational Absorptive Capacity and Responsiveness: An Empirical Investigation of Growth–Oriented SMEs," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 28(1), pages 63-86, January.
    26. Jeffrey E. McGee & Michael J. Dowling & William L. Megginson, 1995. "Cooperative strategy and new venture performance: The role of business strategy and management experience," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(7), pages 565-580.
    27. Thomas H. Brush & Philip Bromiley & Margaretha Hendrickx, 2000. "The free cash flow hypothesis for sales growth and firm performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(4), pages 455-472, April.
    28. Garnsey, Elizabeth, 1998. "A Theory of the Early Growth of the Firm," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 7(3), pages 523-556, September.
    29. V. Krishnan & Karl T. Ulrich, 2001. "Product Development Decisions: A Review of the Literature," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(1), pages 1-21, January.
    30. Armstrong, J. Scott & Overton, Terry S., 1977. "Estimating Nonresponse Bias in Mail Surveys," MPRA Paper 81694, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    31. Coad, Alex & Rao, Rekha, 2008. "Innovation and firm growth in high-tech sectors: A quantile regression approach," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 633-648, May.
    32. Alex Coad, 2010. "Exploring the processes of firm growth: evidence from a vector auto-regression," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 19(6), pages 1677-1703, December.
    33. Macpherson, Allan & Holt, Robin, 2007. "Knowledge, learning and small firm growth: A systematic review of the evidence," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 172-192, March.
    34. Raquel Ortega-Argilés & Peter Voigt, 2009. "Business R&D in SMEs," JRC Working Papers on Corporate R&D and Innovation 2009-7, Joint Research Centre.
    35. Helena Yli‐Renko & Erkko Autio & Harry J. Sapienza, 2001. "Social capital, knowledge acquisition, and knowledge exploitation in young technology‐based firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(6‐7), pages 587-613, June.
    36. Pelin Demirel & Mariana Mazzucato, 2012. "Innovation and Firm Growth: Is R&D Worth It?," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(1), pages 45-62, January.
    37. Catherine Armington & Zoltan J. Acs, 2008. "Job Creation and Persistence in Services and Manufacturing," Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, chapter 23, pages 324-340, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    38. David B. Audretsch, 1995. "Innovation and Industry Evolution," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262011468, December.
    39. Hee‐Jae Cho & Vladimir Pucik, 2005. "Relationship between innovativeness, quality, growth, profitability, and market value," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(6), pages 555-575, June.
    40. Polona Tominc & Miroslav Rebernik, 2007. "Growth Aspirations and Cultural Support for Entrepreneurship: A Comparison of Post-Socialist Countries," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 239-255, March.
    41. Nathan ROSENBERG, 2009. "Why do firms do basic research (with their own money)?," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Studies On Science And The Innovation Process Selected Works of Nathan Rosenberg, chapter 11, pages 225-234, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    42. Coad, Alex & Frankish, Julian & Roberts, Richard G. & Storey, David J., 2013. "Growth paths and survival chances: An application of Gambler's Ruin theory," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 615-632.
    43. Colin Mason & Ross Brown, 2013. "Creating good public policy to support high-growth firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 211-225, February.
    44. Michael Peneder, 2008. "Firm entry and turnover: the nexus with profitability and growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 30(4), pages 327-344, April.
    45. Scott Shane, 2000. "Prior Knowledge and the Discovery of Entrepreneurial Opportunities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 11(4), pages 448-469, August.
    46. Davila, Tony, 2000. "An empirical study on the drivers of management control systems' design in new product development," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 25(4-5), pages 383-409, May.
    47. Jeffrey G. Covin, 1991. "Entrepreneurial Versus Conservative Firms: A Comparison of Strategies and Performance," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 439-462, September.
    48. Martin Falk, 2012. "Quantile estimates of the impact of R&D intensity on firm performance," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 19-37, July.
    49. Lockett, Andy & Wright, Mike, 2005. "Resources, capabilities, risk capital and the creation of university spin-out companies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(7), pages 1043-1057, September.
    50. Del Monte, Alfredo & Papagni, Erasmo, 2003. "R&D and the growth of firms: empirical analysis of a panel of Italian firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 1003-1014, June.
    51. Rosenbusch, Nina & Brinckmann, Jan & Bausch, Andreas, 2011. "Is innovation always beneficial? A meta-analysis of the relationship between innovation and performance in SMEs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 441-457, July.
    52. Davidsson, Per, 1991. "Continued entrepreneurship: Ability, need, and opportunity as determinants of small firm growth," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 6(6), pages 405-429, November.
    53. Davidsson, Per & Lindmark, Leif & Olofsson, Christer, 1998. "The Extent of Overestimation of Small Firm Job Creation--An Empirical Examination of the Regression Bias," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 87-100, August.
    54. Johan Wiklund & Holger Patzelt & Dean Shepherd, 2009. "Building an integrative model of small business growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 32(4), pages 351-374, April.
    55. Zoltan Acs & Laszlo Szerb, 2007. "Entrepreneurship, Economic Growth and Public Policy," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 109-122, March.
    56. Baker, Ted & Miner, Anne S. & Eesley, Dale T., 2003. "Improvising firms: bricolage, account giving and improvisational competencies in the founding process," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 255-276, 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. Alexander McKelvie & Anna Brattström & Karl Wennberg, 2017. "How young firms achieve growth: reconciling the roles of growth motivation and innovative activities," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(2), pages 273-293, August.
    2. Alexander McKelvie & Johan Wiklund & Anna Brattström, 2018. "Externally Acquired or Internally Generated? Knowledge Development and Perceived Environmental Dynamism in New Venture Innovation," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(1), pages 24-46, January.
    3. Canarella, Giorgio & Miller, Stephen M., 2018. "The determinants of growth in the U.S. information and communication technology (ICT) industry: A firm-level analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 259-271.
    4. Delmar, Frédéric & McKelvie, Alexander & Wennberg, Karl, 2013. "Untangling the relationships among growth, profitability and survival in new firms," Ratio Working Papers 205, The Ratio Institute.
    5. Francesco Quatraro & Marco Vivarelli, 2015. "Drivers of Entrepreneurship and Post-entry Performance of Newborn Firms in Developing Countries," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 30(2), pages 277-305.
    6. SooGeun Ahn & Jeewhan Yoon & YoungJun Kim, 2018. "The innovation activities of small and medium-sized enterprises and their growth: quantile regression analysis and structural equation modeling," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 316-342, April.
    7. Yannis Caloghirou & Ioannis Giotopoulos & Alexandra Kontolaimou & Aggelos Tsakanikas, 2022. "Inside the black box of high-growth firms in a crisis-hit economy: corporate strategy, employee human capital and R&D capabilities," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 1319-1345, September.
    8. Keupp, Marcus Matthias & Gassmann, Oliver, 2013. "Resource constraints as triggers of radical innovation: Longitudinal evidence from the manufacturing sector," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(8), pages 1457-1468.
    9. Juan Federico & Joan-Lluis Capelleras, 2015. "The heterogeneous dynamics between growth and profits: the case of young firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 231-253, February.
    10. Nason, Robert S. & Wiklund, Johan & McKelvie, Alexander & Hitt, Michael & Yu, Wei, 2019. "Orchestrating boundaries: The effect of R&D boundary permeability on new venture growth," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 63-79.
    11. Chengguang Li & Rodrigo Isidor & Luis Alfonso Dau & Rudy Kabst, 2018. "The More the Merrier? Immigrant Share and Entrepreneurial Activities," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(5), pages 698-733, September.
    12. Coad, Alex & Segarra, Agustí & Teruel, Mercedes, 2016. "Innovation and firm growth: Does firm age play a role?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 387-400.
    13. Demir, Robert & Wennberg, Karl & McKelvie, Alexander, 2016. "The Strategic Management of High-Growth Firms: A Review and Theoretical Conceptualization," Ratio Working Papers 273, The Ratio Institute.
    14. Alex Coad & Nanditha Mathew & Emanuele Pugliese, 2017. "What's good for the goose ain't good for the gander: cock-eyed counterfactuals and the performance effects of R&D," LEM Papers Series 2017/21, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    15. HERMANS, Julie & VANDERSTRAETEN, Johanna & DEJARDIN, Marcus & RAMDANI, Dendi & STAM, Erik & VAN WITTELOOSTUIJN, Arjen, 2012. "Ambitious entrepreneurship: Antecedents and consequences," Working Papers 2012023, University of Antwerp, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    16. Kovács, Olivér, 2020. "Gazellák az iparpolitika tükrében, I [Gazelles and industrial policy, Part 1]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(1), pages 54-87.
    17. Giovanni Dosi & Emanuele Pugliese & Pietro Santoleri, 2017. "Growth and survival of the `fitter'? Evidence from US new-born firms," LEM Papers Series 2017/06, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    18. Alex Coad & Werner Hölzl, 2012. "Firm Growth: Empirical Analysis," Chapters, in: Michael Dietrich & Jackie Krafft (ed.), Handbook on the Economics and Theory of the Firm, chapter 24, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. Nils Karlson & Christian Sandström & Karl Wennberg, 2021. "Bureaucrats or Markets in Innovation Policy? – a critique of the entrepreneurial state," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 34(1), pages 81-95, March.
    20. Bergner, Sören Martin & Bräutigam, Rainer & Evers, Maria Theresia & Spengel, Christoph, 2017. "The use of SME tax incentives in the European Union," ZEW Discussion Papers 17-006, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    New Firm Growth; Innovation; RD; Growth Willingness;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:hhs:ratioi:0206. 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: Martin Korpi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ratiose.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.