While the influence of fast-growing firms in fostering the social development and economic performance of countries has been broadly assessed, which firm-specific factors contribute to such exponential growth phenomenon remains controversial. Many studies agree on the important role of innovativeness in accelerating firms’ growth, however, this variable seems to be underestimated and still unexplored for companies operating in the manufacturing sector since research lacks empirical evidence in favour. Using a panel dataset of 66432 manufacturing companies operating in Eastern and Western Europe for the period 2008-2016, this paper aims to explore the relationship between high growth rates and firms’ characteristics. The results indicate that traditional demographic measures, such as size (measured by the number of employees and managers) and age, have a negative significant effect on businesses’ ability to reach high growth (measured by turnover). Whilst the innovativeness ratio (calculated by intangible fixed assets over total assets) significantly determines the exponential growth of manufacturing firms, findings also show that the innovation effect is moderated by companies’ size. The contribution of this study to the existing literature is to provide empirical evidence for innovation as a determinant of fast growth in order to support entrepreneurs and policymakers in selecting effective policies. Therefore, smaller companies should invest more in intangible assets while bigger ones should allocate more resources to physical assets.
Mentre l’influenza delle aziende a crescita rapida sullo sviluppo sociale e sull’andamento economico di un paese è stata ampliamente verificata, quali siano i fattori aziendali specifici che contribuiscono a tale fenomeno di crescita esponenziale rimane controverso. Molti studi concordano sul ruolo importante della capacità innovativa nell’accelerazione della crescita dell’impresa, tuttavia, questa variabile sembra essere sottostimata ed ancora inesplorata per quanto riguarda le aziende operanti nel settore manifatturiero a causa della carenza di risultati empirici a suo favore. Questo studio ha l’obiettivo di esplorare la relazione tra alti tassi di crescita e caratteristiche delle imprese, utilizzando i dati panel di 66432 aziende manifatturiere nei paesi dell’Europa orientale ed occidentale durante il periodo 2008-2016. I risultati indicano che le misure demografiche tradizionali come grandezza (misurata attraverso il numero di dipendenti e managers) ed età hanno un effetto negativo e significativo sull’abilità delle aziende di raggiungere una crescita rapida (misurata in reddito operativo). Sebbene la capacità innovativa (calcolata attraverso il rapporto tra beni immateriali e materiali) determini significativamente la crescita esponenziale delle aziende manifatturiere, i risultati mostrano anche che l’effetto dell’innovazione è moderato dalla grandezza delle imprese stesse. Questa ricerca contribuisce alla letteratura esistente fornendo evidenza empirica sull’innovazione come determinante della crescita rapida per supportare imprenditori e governi nella scelta di politiche efficaci. Pertanto, le imprese più piccole dovrebbero investire in beni ed attività immateriali e quelle più grandi in beni fisici.
DETERMINANTS OF FAST GROWTH: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS ON MANUFACTURING FIRMS
MORGA, MARIKA
2016/2017
Abstract
While the influence of fast-growing firms in fostering the social development and economic performance of countries has been broadly assessed, which firm-specific factors contribute to such exponential growth phenomenon remains controversial. Many studies agree on the important role of innovativeness in accelerating firms’ growth, however, this variable seems to be underestimated and still unexplored for companies operating in the manufacturing sector since research lacks empirical evidence in favour. Using a panel dataset of 66432 manufacturing companies operating in Eastern and Western Europe for the period 2008-2016, this paper aims to explore the relationship between high growth rates and firms’ characteristics. The results indicate that traditional demographic measures, such as size (measured by the number of employees and managers) and age, have a negative significant effect on businesses’ ability to reach high growth (measured by turnover). Whilst the innovativeness ratio (calculated by intangible fixed assets over total assets) significantly determines the exponential growth of manufacturing firms, findings also show that the innovation effect is moderated by companies’ size. The contribution of this study to the existing literature is to provide empirical evidence for innovation as a determinant of fast growth in order to support entrepreneurs and policymakers in selecting effective policies. Therefore, smaller companies should invest more in intangible assets while bigger ones should allocate more resources to physical assets.È consentito all'utente scaricare e condividere i documenti disponibili a testo pieno in UNITESI UNIPV nel rispetto della licenza Creative Commons del tipo CC BY NC ND.
Per contatti: unitesi@unipv.it
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14239/10561