Abstract
Strong and dynamic SME is crucial to economic growth, with firms making new investments, creating jobs, and triggering economic growth. Entrepreneurial activity and economic opportunities for small businesses in former USSR countries changed significantly following the transition to market economies. However, it requires SME in the former USSR economies to engage in innovation activity to maintain profitability and grow while coping with country-associated challenges such as informal competition and corruption. This research aims to investigate the impact of engaging in innovation activity on company growth among SMEs in former USSR countries and its magnitude in relevance to the country-specific environment and factors associated with it. The analysis includes the examination of firm-level indicators of innovation activity alongside the country-level statistics (such as taxation, ease of doing business, corruption, and other barriers) across selected countries. The latest available World Bank Entrepreneurship Database and World Bank Enterprise Survey (2012–2013) data were used to feature the determinants of high-growth SMEs. Strategic implications of the findings for policy makers are suggested.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Agyapong, D. (2010). Micro, small and medium enterprises’ activities, income level and poverty reduction in Ghana – A synthesis of related literature. International Journal of Business and Management, 5(12), 196–205.
Amabile, T. M., Conti, R., Coon, H., Lazenby, J., & Herron, M. (1996). Assessing the work environment for creativity. Academy of Management Journal, 39(5), 1154–1184.
Becchetti, L., & Tovato, G. (2002). The determinants of growth for small and medium sized firms: The role of the availability of external finance. Small Business Economics, 19(4), 291–306.
Camisón-Zornoza, C., Lapiedra-Alcamí, R., Segarra-Ciprés, M., & Boronat-Navarro, M. (2004). A meta-analysis of innovation and organizational size. Organization Studies, 25(3), 331–361.
Cohen, W. M., & Levinthal, D. A. (1990). Absorptive capacity: A new perspective on learning and innovation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35(1), 128–152.
Daily, M. N., & Chakraharti, A. K. (1985). Innovation and productivity in U.S. industry (Brookins Papers on Economic Activity, 2).
Damanpour, F., & Gopalakrishnan, S. (2001). The dynamics of the adoption of product and process innovations in organizations. Journal of Management Studies, 38(1), 45–65.
Deschryvere, M. (2014). R&D, firm growth and the role of innovation persistence: An analysis of Finnish SMEs and large firms. Small Business Economics, 43(14), 767–785.
Dezhina, I. G., & Saltykov, B. G. (2005). Formation of the Russian national innovation system and development of small business. Problems of Forecasting, 2(1), 118–128.
Drew, S. A. W. (1997). From knowledge to action: The impact of benchmarking on organizational performance. Long Range Planning, 30(3), 427–441.
Ettlie, J. E., & Reza, E. M. (1992). Organizational integration and process innovation. Academy of Management Journal, 35(4), 795–827.
Fagerberg, J., Mowery, D. C., & Nelson, R. R. (2006). The Oxford handbook of innovation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Geroski, P., Machin, S., & Van Reenen, J. (1993). The profitability of innovating firms. Rand Journal of Economics, 24(2), 198–211.
Griffith, R., Huergo, E., Mairesse, J., & Peters, B. (2006). Innovation and productivity across four European countries. Oxford Review Economic Policy, 22(4), 483–498.
Han, J. K., Kim, N., & Srivastava, R. K. (1998). Market orientation and organizational performance: Is innovation a missing link? Journal of Marketing, 62(4), 30–45.
Hitt, M. A., Hoskisson, R. E., Ireland, R. D., & Harrison, J. S. (1991). Effects of acquisitions on R&D inputs and outputs. Academy of Management Journal, 34(3), 93–706.
Kuriakose, S. (2013). Fostering entrepreneurship in Georgia (No. 80673) (pp. 1–100). The World Bank. Retrieved from http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/01/18147170/fostering-entrepreneurship-georgia
Lee, K., & Kang, S. M. (2007). Innovation types and productivity growth: Evidence from Korean manufacturing SMEs. Global Economic Review, 36, 343–359.
Lieberman, M. B., & Montgomery, D. B. (1998). First-mover (dis)advantages: Retrospective and link with the resource-based view. Strategic Management Journal, 19(12), 1111–1125.
Mukhamad, N., & Kiminami, A. (2011). Innovation, cooperation and business performance. Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies, 1(1), 75–96.
Parisi, M. L., Schiantarelli, F., & Sembenelli, A. (2006). Productivity, innovation and R&D: Micro evidence for Italy. European Economic Review, 50, 2037–2061.
Prajogo, D. I. (2006). The relationship between innovation and business performance – A comparative study between manufacturing and service firms. Knowledge and Process Management, 13(3), 218–225.
Roberts, P. W., & Amit, R. (2003). The dynamics of innovative activity and competitive advantage: The case of Australian retail banking, 1981 to 1995. Organization Science, 14(2), 107–122.
Roberts, M., & Tybout, J. (1999). An empirical model of sunk cost and the decision to export (World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 1436). Washington, DC: World Bank.
Solovyev, V. P. (2006). Competition in conditions of the innovation model of development of the economy. Kiev: Feniks.
Subrahmanya, M. H. B. (2010). Auto SMEs in Bangalore: Does innovation promote employment and labour productivity? Economic and Political Weekly, 45(11), 59–66.
Thompson, V. A. (1965). Bureaucracy and innovation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 10(1), 1–20.
World Intellectual Property Organization. (2014). Recommendations for strengthening the role of SMEs in countries of CIS. Geneva: WIPO.
Yasuda, T. (2005). Firm growth, size, age and behaviour in Japanese manufacturing. Small Business Economics, 24(1), 1–15.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Delener, N., Farooq, O., Bakhadirov, M. (2017). Is Innovation a Determinant for SME Performance? Cross-Country Analysis of the Economies of Former USSR Countries. In: Sauka, A., Chepurenko, A. (eds) Entrepreneurship in Transition Economies. Societies and Political Orders in Transition. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57342-7_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57342-7_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-57341-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-57342-7
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)