Reconciling the Firm Size and Innovation Puzzle

Reconciling the Firm Size and Innovation Puzzle by

Since Schumpeter, there has been a long-standing debate regarding the optimal firm size for innovation. Empirical results have settled into a puzzle: R&D spending increasing with scale while R&D productivity decreases with scale. Thus large firms appear irrational. We propose the puzzle stems from the fact that product and patent counts undercount large firm innovation. To test that proposition...

Firm size and innovation in European manufacturing

The paper investigates the differences between small, medium-sized and large firms regarding their performance in the introduction of new products and processes. After a review of the relevant literature, two models are proposed and tested in search for different business strategies and innovation inputs connected to product and process innovations. The empirical analysis uses innovation survey...

Firm Size Diversity and Regional Innovation ∗

Why are some regions more innovative than others? We examine within– and across–region variation in the coexistence of large and small labs. Large labs may spawn spin-outs caused by innovations deemed unrelated to the firm’s overall business. Small labs generate demand for specialized services that lower entry costs for others. We develop a theoretical framework to study the interplay of these ...

One Size Does Not Fit All: Regional Ecology, Firm Size, and Innovation Performance

Innovation in the Global Firm∗

How global are the gains from innovation? When firms operate production plants in multiple countries, technological improvements developed in one location may be shared with foreign sites for efficiency gain. We develop a model that accounts for such transfer, and apply it to measure private returns to R&D investment for a panel of U.S. multinationals during 1989–2008. Our estimates indicate th...