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Governance, Firm Size and Innovative Capacity: Regional Empirical Evidence for Germany

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  • Jahn, Vera
  • Berlemann, Michael

Abstract

Successful innovation is a precondition for economic prosperity. While various potential determinants of innovative activity have been considered, little empirical evidence is yet available for the influence of firm governance issues. This paper aims at filling this gap in the literature by studying whether the relative importance of owner-managed small and medium sized enterprises has an effect on regional innovative capacity. We therefore combine patent data with data from the firm database of Creditreform, containing information on the governance structure of regional operating enterprises. Using a cross section of German NUTS-3-regions, we identify a significantly positive relation between the relative importance of owner-managed SMEs and innovative capacity. This finding is highly robust when controlling for various sorts of spatial correlation.

Suggested Citation

  • Jahn, Vera & Berlemann, Michael, 2014. "Governance, Firm Size and Innovative Capacity: Regional Empirical Evidence for Germany," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100412, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:vfsc14:100412
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    Cited by:

    1. Michael Berlemann & Vera Jahn, 2014. "Ist der deutsche Mittelstand tatsächlich ein Innovationsmotor?," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 67(17), pages 22-28, September.
    2. Jahn, Vera, 2015. "The Importance of Mittelstand Firms for Regional Apprenticeship Activity - Lessons for Policy -," Working Paper 158/2015, Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights

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