IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/respol/v41y2012i6p1084-1092.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Research, development, and firm growth. Empirical evidence from European top R&D spending firms

Author

Listed:
  • García-Manjón, Juan V.
  • Romero-Merino, M. Elena

Abstract

Following recent literature, we present a model of endogenous firm growth with R&D investment as one of the main mechanisms of growth. Our study evidences a positive effect of R&D intensity on the sales growth by using OLS, quantile regressions, and GMM system estimators for a sample of 754 European firms for the 2003–2007 period. We also find this association is more intense in high-growth firms and is especially significant when referring to high-technology sectors. This paper gives empirical support to those recommendations from policy makers and business leaders for maintaining the R&D expenditures especially in high-technology sectors even when facing a recession.

Suggested Citation

  • García-Manjón, Juan V. & Romero-Merino, M. Elena, 2012. "Research, development, and firm growth. Empirical evidence from European top R&D spending firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 1084-1092.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:41:y:2012:i:6:p:1084-1092
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2012.03.017
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048733312000789
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.respol.2012.03.017?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. Sundaram, Anant K. & John, Teresa A. & John, Kose, 1996. "An empirical analysis of strategic competition and firm values The case of R&D competition," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 459-486, March.
    2. Blandina Oliveira & Adelino Fortunato, 2006. "Testing Gibrat's Law: Empirical Evidence from a Panel of Portuguese Manufacturing Firms," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(1), pages 65-81.
    3. John Sutton, 1997. "Gibrat's Legacy," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 40-59, March.
    4. Per Davidsson & Frédéric Delmar & Johan Wiklund, 2006. "Entrepreneurship and the Growth of Firms," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 3971.
    5. Giulio Bottazzi & Alex Coad & Nadia Jacoby & Angelo Secchi, 2011. "Corporate growth and industrial dynamics: evidence from French manufacturing," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(1), pages 103-116.
    6. Chan, Su Han & Martin, John D. & Kensinger, John W., 1990. "Corporate research and development expenditures and share value," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 255-276, August.
    7. Liu, Jin-Tan & Tsou, Meng-Wen & Hammitt, James K., 1999. "Do small plants grow faster? Evidence from the Taiwan electronics industry," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 121-129, October.
    8. Giulio Bottazzi & Angelo Secchi, 2003. "Common Properties and Sectoral Specificities in the Dynamics of U.S. Manufacturing Companies," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 23(3_4), pages 217-232, December.
    9. 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.
    10. Colombelli, Alessandra & Haned, Naciba & Le Bas, Christian, 2013. "On firm growth and innovation: Some new empirical perspectives using French CIS (1992–2004)," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 14-26.
    11. David Roodman, 2009. "How to do xtabond2: An introduction to difference and system GMM in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 9(1), pages 86-136, March.
    12. Patrizio Pagano & Fabiano Schivardi, 2003. "Firm Size Distribution and Growth," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 105(2), pages 255-274, June.
    13. Enrico Santarelli (ed.), 2006. "Entrepreneurship, Growth, and Innovation," International Studies in Entrepreneurship, Springer, number 978-0-387-32314-5, December.
    14. 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.
    15. P. A. Geroski, 2005. "Understanding the implications of empirical work on corporate growth rates," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(2), pages 129-138.
    16. Werner Hölzl, 2009. "Is the R&D behaviour of fast-growing SMEs different? Evidence from CIS III data for 16 countries," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 59-75, June.
    17. Toke Reichstein & Michael Dahl & Bernd Ebersberger & Morten Jensen, 2010. "The devil dwells in the tails," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 219-231, April.
    18. Francesca Lotti & Enrico Santarelli & Marco Vivarelli, 2003. "Does Gibrat's Law hold among young, small firms?," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 213-235, August.
    19. 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.
    20. 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.
    21. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    22. Micheline Goedhuys & Leo Sleuwaegen, 2010. "High-growth entrepreneurial firms in Africa: a quantile regression approach," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 31-51, January.
    23. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    24. 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.
    25. Alex Coad, 2007. "A Closer Look at Serial Growth Rate Correlation," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 31(1), pages 69-82, August.
    26. Delmar, Frederic & Davidsson, Per & Gartner, William B., 2003. "Arriving at the high-growth firm," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 189-216, March.
    27. Frédéric Delmar & Johan Wiklund & Per Davidsson, 2006. "Entrepreneurship and the Growth of Firms," Post-Print hal-01892801, HAL.
    28. Frédéric Delmar & Johan Wiklund & Per Davidsson, 2006. "Entrepreneurship and the Growth of Firms," Post-Print hal-01892798, HAL.
    29. Doukas, John & Switzer, Lorne, 1992. "The stock market's valuation of R&D spending and market concentration," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 95-114, May.
    30. F. M. Scherer, 1965. "Corporate Inventive Output, Profits, and Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 73, pages 290-290.
    31. Schimke, Antje & Brenner, Thomas, 2011. "Temporal structure of firm growth and the impact of R&D," Working Paper Series in Economics 32, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Department of Economics and Management.
    32. Hall, Bronwyn H, 1987. "The Relationship between Firm Size and Firm Growth in the U.S. Manufacturing Sector," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 583-606, June.
    33. Geroski, P. A., 1995. "What do we know about entry?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 421-440, December.
    34. Chastain, Clark E., 1982. "Strategic planning and the recession," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 39-44.
    35. Takehiko Yasuda, 2005. "Firm Growth, Size, Age and Behavior in Japanese Manufacturing," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 1-15, December.
    36. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    37. Jean O. Lanjouw & Mark Schankerman, 2004. "Patent Quality and Research Productivity: Measuring Innovation with Multiple Indicators," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(495), pages 441-465, April.
    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. Joel Rabinovich, 2022. "The evolving contribution of R&D, advertising and capital expenditures for US-listed firms’ growth in sales, 1979-2018. A quantile regression analysis," Working Papers hal-03539656, HAL.
    4. Daria Ciriaci & Pietro Moncada-Paternò-Castello & Peter Voigt, 2016. "Innovation and job creation: a sustainable relation?," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 6(2), pages 189-213, August.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. Alex Coad, 2007. "Firm Growth: a Survey," Post-Print halshs-00155762, HAL.
    9. Erik Stam, 2010. "Growth beyond Gibrat: firm growth processes and strategies," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 129-135, September.
    10. Sven-Olov Daunfeldt & Daniel Halvarsson, 2015. "Are high-growth firms one-hit wonders? Evidence from Sweden," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 361-383, February.
    11. Hyunseog Chung & Soomin Eum & Chulung Lee, 2019. "Firm Growth and R&D in the Korean Pharmaceutical Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-19, May.
    12. Stefano Bianchini & Giulio Bottazzi & Federico Tamagni, 2017. "What does (not) characterize persistent corporate high-growth?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 633-656, March.
    13. Cucculelli, Marco & Ermini, Barbara, 2012. "New product introduction and product tenure: What effects on firm growth?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(5), pages 808-821.
    14. Christina E. Bannier & Sabrina Zahn, 2014. "SMEs' Growth Heterogeneity - Evidence from Regional Developments," International Journal of Business Administration, International Journal of Business Administration, Sciedu Press, vol. 5(2), pages 23-49, March.
    15. Rabinovich, Joel, 2023. "Tangible and intangible investments and sales growth of US firms," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 200-212.
    16. Radheshyam Gopinath, 2012. "Understanding the determinants of firm growth in young REITs," ERES eres2012_205, European Real Estate Society (ERES).
    17. Colombelli, Alessandra & Haned, Naciba & Le Bas, Christian, 2013. "On firm growth and innovation: Some new empirical perspectives using French CIS (1992–2004)," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 14-26.
    18. Sven-Olov Daunfeldt & Niklas Elert, 2013. "When is Gibrat’s law a law?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 133-147, June.
    19. Giorgio Barba Navaretti & Davide Castellani & Fabio Pieri, 2014. "Age and firm growth: evidence from three European countries," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 823-837, December.
    20. F. Zhou & W.J.W. Botzen, 2017. "The Impact of Natural Disasters on Firm Growth in Vietnam:: Interaction with Financial Constraints," Working Papers 17-20, Utrecht School of Economics.

    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:41:y:2012:i:6:p:1084-1092. 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.