Abstract
The impact of firm size on innovation activity was investigated in detail on the basis of firm data for Swiss manufacturing. The study includes estimations of a model of innovation behaviour with firm size as an additional explanatory variable, an analysis of the relation between R&D expenditures and firm size in total manufacturing and in several 2-digit industries, as well as exploration of the size-dependence of model variables. No evidence was found for the existence of economies of scale in the innovation activity in Swiss manufacturing. On the other hand, we were able to gather several pieces of information pointing to a size-specific orientation of the innovative activity.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Acs, Z. J. and D. B. Audretsch, 1990, Innovation and Small Firms, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
Acs, Z. J. and D. B. Audretsch (eds.), 1991, Innovation and Technological Change, An International Comparison, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Acs, Z. J. and D. B. Audretsch, 1991, ‘R&D, Firm Size and Innovative Activity’, in Z. J. Acs and D. B. Audretsch (eds.), Innovation and Technological Change, An International Comparison, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Aiginger, K. and G. Tichy, 1989, The Size of Firms and Economic Performance, Working Paper No. 34, Austrian Institute of Economic Research, Vienna.
Arvanitis, S., 1991, ‘Bestimmungsfaktoren des Innovationsverhaltens der Unternehmung: Modelltheoretische Grundlagen zur Herleitung eines empirischen Ansatzes’, KOF/ETH-Arbeitspapier Nr. 38, Zürich, November.
Arvanitis, S., Etter, R., Frick, A. und H. Hollenstein, 1992, Innovationsfähigkeit und Innovations-verhalten der Schweizer Wirtschaft, Bundesamt für Konjunkturfragen, Bern.
Arvanitis, S. and H. Hollenstein, 1994, ‘Demand and Supply Factors in Explaining the Innovative Activity of Swiss Manufacturing Firms’, Economics of Innovation and New Technology 3, 15-30.
Arvanitis, S., H. Hollenstein and S. Lenz, 1995, Innovationsaktivitäten in der Schweizer Industrie 1991-1993. Eine Analyse der Ergebnisse der Innovationserhebung 1993, Bundesamt für Konjunkturfragen, Bern.
Bartel, R., 1990, ‘Organisationsgrössenvor-und nachteile. Firm Size and Innovation in SwitzerlandEine strukturierte Auswertung theoretischer und empirischer Literatur’, Jahrbuch für Sozialwissenschaft 41, 135-159.
Cohen, W. M., 1995, ‘Empirical Studies of Innovative Activity’, in P. Stoneman (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation and Technological Change, Oxford: Blackwell.
Cohen, W. M. and S Klepper, 1991, ‘Firm Size versus Diversity in the Achievement of Technological Advance’, in Z. J. Acs and D. B. Audretsch (eds.), Innovation and Technolo-gical Change, An international Comparison, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Cohen, W. M. and S. Klepper, 1992, ‘The Anatomy of Industry R&D Intensity Distributions’, American Economic Review 82, 773-799.
Cohen, W. M., R. C. Levin and D. C. Mowery, 1987, ‘Firm Size and R&D Intensity: A Reexamination’, Journal of Industrial Economics 35, 543-565.
Cohen, W. M. and R. C. Levin, 1989, ‘Empirical Studies of Innovation and Market Structure’, in R. Schmalensee and R.D. Willig (eds.), Handbook of Industrial Organization, London: North-Holland.
Dasgupta, P., 1986, ‘The Theory of Technological Competition’, in J. E. Stiglitz and G. F. Mathewson (eds.), New Developments in the Analysis of Market Structure, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
Dosi, G., 1988, ‘Sources, Procedures, and Microeconomic Effects of Innovation’, Journal of Economic Literature 26, 1120-1171.
European Patent Office, 1994, Nutzung des Patentschutzes in Europa, Repräsentative Erhebung erstellt im Auftrag des Europäischen Patentamtes, München: Eposcript (in German).
Feldman, M. P., 1994, ‘Knowledge, Complementarity and Innovation’, Small Business Economics 6, 363-372.
Fisher, F. M. and P. Temin, 1973, ‘Returns to Scale in Research and Development: What does the Schumpeterian Hypothesis Imply?’, Journal of Political Economy 81, 56-70.
Kohn, M. and J. T. Scott, 1982, ‘Scale Economies in Reseach and Development: The Schumpeterian Hypothesis’, Journal of Industrial Economics 30, 239-249.
Müller, M., 1994, ‘SME as Specific Decision-making Systems: Theory and Practice in Swiss Economic History’, in M. Müller (ed.), Structure and Strategy of Small and Medium-Size Enterprises since the Industrial Revolution, Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag.
Scherer, F. M., 1984, ‘Corporate Size, Diversification, and Innovative Activity’, in F. M. Scherer (ed.), Innovation and Growth, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
Scherer, 1991, ‘Changing Perspectives on the Firm Size Problem’, in Z. J. Acs and D. B. Audretsch (eds.), Innovation and Technological Change, An international Comparison, New York: Harvester.
Smyth, D. J., W. J. Boyes and D. E. Peseau, 1975, ‘The Measurement of Firm Size: Theory and Evidence for the United States and the United Kingdom’, Review of Economics and Statistics 57, 111-114.
Soete, L. L. G, 1979, ‘Firm Size and Inventive Activity’, European Economic Review 12, 319-340.
Winter, S. G., 1984, ‘Schumpeterian Competition in Alternantive Technological Regimes’, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 5, 287-320.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Arvanitis, S. The impact of firm size on innovative activity – an empirical analysis based on swiss firm data. Small Business Economics 9, 473–490 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007920723585
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007920723585