New Small Firms and Dimensions of Economic Performance

Knowledge and social networks: New dimensions of economic interaction between firms

The paper explores the form and content of economic interaction of firms based on various concepts of agglomeration and social networks. It uses a case study of the machinery sector in the region of Styria as empirical background. Starting with types of clustering – the model of pure agglomeration, the industrial-complex model and the social-network model the paper argues that certain geographi...

The economic performance of ownerless firms

This paper explores whether ownership matters in a fundamental sense by comparing the performance of stockholder-owned firms to the much less analyzed ownerless firms, where no stakeholder has residual cash flow rights and control rights are shared by customers, employees, and the community. Controlling for differences in size and risk and only comparing firms within the same industry, we find ...

Bank Relationships and Small Firms’ Financial Performance

We examine the relationship between the number of bank relationships and firms’ performance, evaluating possible differential effects related to firms’ size. Our sample of firms from Italy includes many small firms, 99 percent of which are not listed and for which bank debt is a major source of financing. In the sample, 4 percent of the firms have a single bank relationship, and 66 percent of t...

A Supply - Scarcity and Strategic Decision-Making Angle: High Performance Work Practices in Small Firms

High performance work practices (HPWPs) are human resource management practices aimed at stimulating employee and organisational performance. The application of HPWPs is not widespread in small organisations. We examine whether the implementation of coherent bundles of HPWPs (aimed at employee ability, employee motivation or at the opportunity to perform) depends on the scarcity of resources, a...

Product Quality and the Economic Performance of Firms