A Multidimensional Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Business Incubators: An application of the PROMETHEE outranking method
Michael Schwartz, Maximilian Göthner
Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy,
2009
Abstract
Considerable public resources are devoted to the establishment and operation of business incubators (BIs), which are seen as catalysts for the promotion of entrepreneurship, innovation activities and regional development. Despite the vast amount of research that focused on the effectiveness of incubator initiatives and how to measure incubator performance, there is still a lack of understanding of how to determine incubators that are more effective than others. Based on data from 410 graduate firms, the present article concentrates on this crucial question and compares the long-term effectiveness of five BIs in Germany by applying the multi-criteria outranking technique PROMETHEE. In particular, we investigate whether PROMETHEE is a well suited methodological approach for the evaluation and comparisons in the specific context of business incubation.
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A Novel Approach to Incubator Evaluations: The PROMETHEE Outranking Procedures
Michael Schwartz, Maximilian Göthner
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 1,
2009
Abstract
Considerable public resources are devoted to the establishment and operation of business incubators (BIs), which are seen as catalysts for the promotion of entrepreneurship, innovation activities and regional development. Despite the vast amount of research that has focused on the outcomes or effectiveness of incubator initiatives and how to measure incubator performance, there is still little understanding of how to determine incubators that are more effective than others. Based on data from 410 graduate firms, this paper applies the multi-criteria outranking technique PROMETHEE (Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation) and compares the long-term effectiveness of five technology-oriented BIs in Germany. This is the first time that outranking procedures are used in incubator evaluations. In particular, we investigate whether PROMETHEE is a well-suited methodological approach for the evaluation and comparisons in the specific context of business incubation.
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Determinants of Academic-Industry Linkages and Incubator-internal Cooperation Patterns of Incubator Firms: Empirical Evidence from Germany
Michael Schwartz, Christoph Hornych
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 2,
2009
Abstract
Der Beitrag untersucht, inwieweit es durch eine Förderung mittels Technologie- und Gründerzentren (TGZ) gelingt, Unternehmen beim Aufbau von Kooperationsbeziehungen zu unterstützen. Im Rahmen einer Querschnittsuntersuchung wird sowohl die Vernetzung der Unternehmen innerhalb der Zentren als auch die Initiierung von Kontakten zu Wissenschafts- und Forschungseinrichtungen untersucht. Erstmalig wird dabei den vermuteten Unterschieden zwischen spezialisierten und diversifizierten Zentrenkonzepten nachgegangen. Entgegen der vorherrschenden Meinung in der Literatur zeigen die empirischen Ergebnisse, dass sich bei Mietern in spezialisierten TGZ, trotz größerer Überschneidungen, keine intensiveren Netzwerkbeziehungen entwickeln als in diversifizierten Zentren. Signifikante Vorteile einer Spezialisierung von TGZ können hingegen bei der Wissenschaftsanbindung der Mieterunternehmen nachgewiesen werden, wobei nur jedes zweite Unternehmen in diversifizierten TGZ Kontakte mit Wissenschafts- und Forschungseinrichtungen unterhält.
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Incubator Age and Incubation Time: Determinants of Firm Survival after Graduation?
Michael Schwartz
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 14,
2008
Abstract
On the basis of a sample of 149 graduate firms from five German technology oriented business incubators, this article contributes to incubator/incubation literature by investigating the effects of the age of the business incubators and the firms’ incubation time in securing long-term survival of the firms after leaving the incubator facilities. The empirical findings from Cox-proportional hazards regression and parametric accelerated failure time models reveal a statistically negative impact for both variables incubator age and incubation time on post-graduation firm survival. One possible explanation for these results is that, when incubator managers become increasingly involved in various regional development activities (e.g. coaching of regional network initiatives), this may reduce the effectiveness of incubator support and therefore the survival chances of firms.
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Globalisation and the Competitiveness of the Euro Area
Filippo di Mauro, Katrin Forster
ECB Occasional Paper Series,
No. 97,
2008
Abstract
Against the background of increasing competition and other significant structural changes implied by globalisation, maintaining and enhancing competitiveness has evolved into one of the prime concerns in most countries. Following up on previous work (see in particular ECB Occasional Papers No. 30 and No. 55), this Occasional Paper examines the latest developments and prospects for the competitiveness and trade performance of the euro area and the euro area countries. Starting from an analysis of most commonly used, traditional competitiveness indicators, the paper largely confirms the findings of previous studies that there have been substantial adjustments in euro area trade. Euro area firms have taken advantage of the new opportunities offered by globalisation, and have at the same time been increasingly challenged by emerging economies. This is primarily reflected in the loss of export market shares which have been recorded over the last decade. While these can partly be related to the losses in the euro area's price competitiveness, further adjustment also seems warranted with regard to the export specialisation. Compared with other advanced competitors, the euro area remains relatively more specialised in labour intensive categories of goods and has shown only a few signs of a stronger specialisation in research-intensive goods. Nevertheless, the paper generally calls for a more cautious approach when assessing the prospects for euro area competitiveness, as globalisation has made it increasingly difficult to define and measure competitiveness. Stressing the need to take a broader view on competitiveness, specifically with a stronger emphasis on productivity performance, the paper also introduces a more elaborate framework that takes into account the interactions between country-specific factors and firm-level productivity. It thus makes it possible to construct more broadly defined competitiveness measures. Pointing to four key factors determining the global competitiveness of euro area countries - market accessibility, market size, technological leadership of firms and institutional set-up - the analysis provides further arguments for continuing efforts to increase market integration and strengthen the competitive environment within Europe as a mean of enhancing resource allocation and coping with the challenges globalisation creates.
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Long-term Effects of Business Incubators: What Happens to Incubated Firms after they Have Graduated from the BIs?
Michael Schwartz
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 8,
2008
Abstract
Zur Förderung technologieorientierter Existenzgründer und Jungunternehmer werden in vielen Städten und Kommunen Deutschlands Technologie- und Gründerzentren (TGZ) errichtet. Im Rahmen der Bewertung der Effektivität dieser Zentren gilt die unternehmerische Überlebensrate als das zentrale Aushängeschild eines TGZ. Von offizieller Seite wird daher vielfach die Überlebensrate geförderter Unternehmen als Ausdruck der Leistungsfähigkeit dieser Zentren betont. Grundlage dieser Diskussionen sind allerdings fast ausschließlich Daten, die sich auf den eigentlichen Miet- und damit Förderzeitraum beziehen.
Doch wie leistungsfähig sind TGZ tatsächlich, wenn die langfristige Lebensfähigkeit der von ihnen geförderten Unternehmen betrachtet wird? Welche Überlebensquoten sind vor allem nach dem Ende der Förderung, also nach dem Auszug, zu erwarten? Hierüber liegen kaum Informationen vor.
Im Rahmen einer umfassenden Studie des IWH zu ehemaligen Förderempfängern aus TGZ in den Städten Dresden, Halle (Saale), Jena, Neubrandenburg und Rostock wurde neben weiteren Aspekten nunmehr Fragestellungen der Überlebens- und Sterbeprozesse der aus diesen Zentren ausgezogenen Unternehmen nachgegangen. Wesentliche Ergebnisse dieser Teiluntersuchung werden für jedes der fünf TGZ in diesem Beitrag vorgestellt.
Knapp ein Drittel der insgesamt geförderten Unternehmen stellt nach dem Auszug die Geschäftstätigkeiten ein, wobei Dresden am besten und Neubrandenburg am schlechtesten abschneidet. Ferner lässt sich insbesondere für Halle und Neubrandenburg feststellen, dass ein hoher Anteil der Unternehmen bereits in den ersten Jahren nach dem Auszug aus dem Markt austritt, also nicht langfristig überlebensfähig ist.
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Deeper, Wider and More Competitive? Monetary Integration, Eastern Enlargement and Competitiveness in the European Union
Gianmarco Ottaviano, Daria Taglioni, Filippo di Mauro
ECB Working Paper,
No. 847,
2008
Abstract
What determines a country’s ability to compete in international markets? What fosters the global competitiveness of its firms? And in the European context, have key elements of the EU strategy such as EMU and enlargement helped or hindered domestic firms’ competitiveness in local and global markets? We address these questions by calibrating and simulating a conceptual framework that, based on Melitz and Ottaviano (2005), predicts that tougher and more transparent international competition forces less productive firms out the market, thereby increasing average productivity as well as reducing average prices and mark-ups. The model also predicts a parallel reduction of price dispersion within sectors. Our conceptual framework allows us to disentangle the effects of technology and freeness of entry from those of accessibility. On the one hand, by controlling for the impact of trade frictions, we are able to construct an index of ‘revealed competitiveness’, which would drive the relative performance of countries in an ideal world in which all faced the same barriers to international transactions. On the other hand, by focusing on the role of accessibility while keeping ‘revealed competitiveness’ as given, we are able to evaluate the impacts of EMU and enlargement on the competitiveness of European firms. We find that EMU positively affects the competitiveness of firms located in participating economies. Enlargement has, instead, two contrasting effects. It improves the accessibility of EU members but it also increases substantially the relative importance of unproductive competitors from Eastern Europe. JEL Classification: F12, R13.
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Does Qualification Drive Innovation? A Microeconometric Analysis Using Linked-employer-employee Data
Bianca Brandenburg, Jutta Günther, Lutz Schneider
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 10,
2007
Abstract
Degree-level science and engineering skills as well as management and leadership skills are often referred to as a source of innovative activities within companies. Broken down by sectoral innovation patterns, this article examines the role of formal education and actual occupation for product innovation performance in manufacturing firms within a probit model. It uses unique micro data for Germany (LIAB) that contain detailed information about innovative activities and the qualification of employees. We find significant differences of the human capital endowment between sectors differentiated according to the Pavitt classification. Sectors with a high share of highly skilled employees engage in product innovation above average (specialized suppliers and science based industries). According to our hitherto estimation results, within these sectors the share of highly skilled employees does not, however, substantially increase the probability to be an innovative firm.
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Excess Volatility in European Equity Style Indices - New Evidence
Marian Berneburg
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 16,
2006
Abstract
Are financial markets efficient? One proposition that seems to contradict this is Shiller’s finding of excess volatility in asset prices and its resulting rejection of the discounted cash flow model. This paper replicates Shiller’s approach for a different data set and extends his analysis by testing for a long-run relationship by means of a cointegration analysis. Contrary to previous studies, monthly data for an integrated European stock market is being used, with special attention to equity style investment strategies. On the basis of this analysis’ results, Shiller’s findings seem questionable. While a long-run relationship between prices and dividends can be observed for all equity styles, a certain degree, but to a much smaller extent than in Shiller’s approach, of excess volatility cannot be rejected. But it seems that a further relaxation of Shiller’s assumptions would completely eliminate the finding of an overly strong reaction of prices to changes in dividends. Two interesting side results are, that all three investment styles seem to have equal performance when adjusting for risk, which by itself is an indication for efficiency and that market participants seem to use current dividend payments from one company as an indication for future dividend payments by other firms. Overall the results of this paper lead to the conclusion that efficiency cannot be rejected for an integrated European equity market.
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Eastern Germany in the process of catching-up: the role of foreign and Western German investors in technological renewal
Jutta Günther, Oliver Gebhardt
Eastern European Economics,
No. 3,
2005
Abstract
Foreign direct investment as a means to support system transformation and the ongoing process of catching-up development has caught researcher’s attention for a number of Central and Eastern European countries. Not much research, however, has been carried out for East Germany in this respect although FDI plays an important role in East Germany too. Descriptive analysis by the use of unique survey data shows that foreign and West German affiliates perform much better with respect to technological capability and labor productivity than domestic companies in East Germany. The results of the regression analysis, however, show that it is not the status of ownership as such that forms a significant determinant of innovativeness in East Germany but rather general firms specific characteristics attached to it such as firm size, export-intensity, technical state of the equipment, and R&D activities. Due to the fact that foreign and West German affiliates perform better with respect to exactly all of these characteristics, they can be considered as a means to support the process of technological renewal and economic development.
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