转型经济中的研发和企业绩效文献翻译.docx
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转型经济中的研发和企业绩效文献翻译.docx
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转型经济中的研发和企业绩效文献翻译
原文:
R&DandFirmPerformanceinaTransitionEconomy
INTRODUCTION
AccordingtointernationalcomparativestatisticstheEasternEuropeancountriesshowmuchlessinnovativeactivitythane.g.theEUaverageThismightbegoodorbad.IfthefirmsarenotcapableenoughtohandleR&Dprocessesitisgoodthattheyrecognizethis.Duringacountry’stransformationprocesstoamarketeconomy,adoptionofestablishedprocessesandproductsinconnectionwithproductvariationandcompetitiveproductionpossibilitiesareanattractivealternativetoinnovation.HowevermostobserversaskformoreR&Dinthesecountriesandforpolicieseasinginnovationinordertoincreasegrowth.
Thosepolicyinterventionsarenotonlysubjectoftheoreticaldiscussions.SubsidiesgrantedbytheEuropeanCommissioninmembercountries,likethesixthframeworkprogram,arealsorelevantfortheaccessioncountriesoftheEuropeanUnion.PerhapsR&Dsubsidiesarepartlywastedifgrantedinanearlystageofthetransformationprocessandcouldbeusedinamoreproductiveway.ItmightbethecasethatinsteadofconductingresearchanddevelopmentfirmsintheseareasarebetteroffbytheproductionofestablishedproductsatlowercoststhanintheWesterncountries.Answerstothesequestionswouldsurelybehelpfulforthepolicydesignfortransformationprocesses.
ThepurposeofourarticleistocomparethesuccessofinnovativeactivityinEasternandWesternGermanyinordertoinvestigatewhethertherearedifferenceswithrespecttoR&DperformancebetweenthetwopartsofreunifiedGermany.EasternGermanyisaveryspecialexampleofatransitioneconomy.ThemovementfromtheformerGermanDemocraticRepublictostatesoftheGermanFederalRepublicwasaccompaniedbytheintroductionofawellestablishedcurrency,astableandreliablelegalframeworkandahighlydevelopedsystemofindustrialrelations.AlthoughdifferencesbetweenbothpartsofthereunifiedGermanyaroseinthemeantime,thesearecertainlysmallerthanthosewithrespecttoothertransitioneconomics.Hencethisistheunparalleledopportunitytocompareanestablishedmarketeconomywithatransitioneconomyonthebasisofverysimilarenvironmentalconditions.Hence,theceterisparibusconditionapplies.
R&DconductedbyEast-Germanfirmsisheavilysubsidizedasthepolicydecisionmakersregarditasbeingveryimportantthatthecompetitivenessofthesecompaniesisimprovedbytechnologicalleadership.Itremainstobeshownthatthesesubsidiesarenotwasted.WeintendtoanswerthisquestionbycomparingtheperformanceofEasternandWesternGermanenterprises.InnovationinatransitioneconomylikeEasternGermanymightsufferfromlackingexperiencewithboththecurrenttechnologicalfrontierandmechanismsatplaceinamarketeconomy.Forexample,outdatedhumancapitalmayoftenleadtoduplicateresearch(byaccident),orfirmscouldrelyonlyonimitation(onpurpose).Incombinationwithhighdemanduncertaintyandlackingexperienceinmarketingstrategy,investmentsinR&Dmaynotleadto(expected)returns.Reasonablereturnscouldbenecessarytosurviveforstartupfirms,though.
Thepurposeofthispaperhastwodimensions:
Ononehand,wecompareWesternandEasternGermanmanufacturingfirmsbyrelatingacreditratingindexasmeasureofperformancetoR&Dspendingandotherfirmcharacteristics.Ontheotherhand,weextendtheratingmodelbyasecondequationdealingwithfinancialdistressandbankruptcy.ThisisparticularlyinterestingbecauseEasternGermanmanufacturingispredominantlycomposedofsmallandmedium-sizedenterprisesthatwerenewlyfoundedaftertheGermanreunificationin1990.WeaskthequestionwhetherinvestmentinR&DisvaluedasinWesternGermany,orifagenciesratesuchfirmsmoreconservative,becauseyoungfirmslackacorrespondingtrackrecordonwhichtheratingcouldbebased.Thisstudycouldbehighlyrelevantforinnovationpolicy.EasternGermanfirmsreceiverelativelymoresubsidiesthantheirWesternGermancounterparts.TheGermangovernmentintendstofosterthetransformationprocessfromaplannedeconomytoaviablemarketeconomybyamongotherpolicies,anintensivesupportforinnovativeactivitiesinordertostrengthenthecompetitivenessoftheEasternGermanregions.If,however,innovationactivitiesintheEastdonotleadtosuccessfulproductsandmarketsuccess,butfailor,intheworstcase,putfirmsattheriskofbankruptcy,thispolicystrategymaybeaninefficientallocationofresources.
Ourstudyisanextensionofthe(few)existingstudiesontheeffectsofinnovationsintransitioneconomies.Aghionetal.(2002)aswellasCarlinetal.(2004)investigatetheeffectofinnovationsongrowthofasampleof2,245respectively3,288firmsfrom24EasternEuropeancountriesandtheyfindthatsomecompetitivepressureisgoodforinnovativeness,buttoomuchcanbecounterproductive(Carlinetal.2004).Innovativenesshasapositiveimpactongrowth.However,itisnottestedwhetherinnovationshavealsoapositiveeffectonprofitability.KoningsandXavier(2002)utilizeinformationconcerninginnovationandusetheratioofintangibleassetstototalfixedassetsasanexogenousvariableexplainingsurvivalandgrowthforasampleof2,813Slovenianfirmsoverthetimeperiodfrom1994to1998.Itturnsoutthattheinnovationvariablehasnegative,yetinsignificant,coefficientsbothinthegrowthandthesurvivalequations.However,thisisafirstindicationthatinnovationmightnotsupportgrowthandsurvivaloffirmsinatransitioneconomy.Thisstandsincontrasttotheempiricalresultsestimatedforfirmsinnon-transitioncountries(seee.g.Hall1987,CefisandMarsili2006).Wearenotawareofastudythatdirectlycomparesnon-transitionandtransitioncountries.
CONCEPTUALFRAMEWORK
FirmperformancewithrespecttoR&Dhasbeenmeasuredbyavarietyofindicatorssuchasproductivity,profitability,andfirm’sstockmarketvaluations.Inthispaperweemployabroadmeasureencompassingproductivity,profitabilityandstockmarketvalue.Weapproximatetheoverallfirmvaluebyfirmscreditratings.Thefirmvalueisexpectedtoreflectthevalueofbothtangibleassetsandintangibleassets,inparticularknowledgecapital,theintangibleassetscreatedbyR&Dactivity.Itaccountsforbusinessandfinancialrisks,suchasindustrycharacteristics,competitiveposition,management,productivity,profitability,liquidityaswellasfinancialpolicyandflexibility.Thusitreflectsbothcurrentlyobservablefirmcharacteristicsandexpectationsregardingfuturedevelopments.
Thestatementthatinnovativeactivityisariskyundertakingisclosetotriviality.Riskisexpectedtoaffectfirmvaluenegatively,astheprobabilityofabankruptcyoratleastpaymentdelayswillincrease.However,duetothefactthatinnovationisadrivingforceforeconomicsuccess,atrade-offbetweenriskandfuturesuccessexists.Theremightwellbeaninternaloptimumwhichmeansthat‘some’R&Disuseful,whilsttoomuchR&Ddoesnotmaximizethepresentfirmvalue.Thusa‘moderately’successfullyR&Dperformingfirmisexpectedtohavehighrevenuesandagoodfinancialperformance.Inthelongrunaninnovativefirmmayhavebetterchancestosurvive,ifinvestmentsintotheseactivitiesarenottoolarge.
AsideofthegeneralrelevanceofevaluatingtheeffectofR&Dactivityonfirmvalue,itisofspecificinterestinthecaseofEasternGermany.WeareabletocomparethemarketeconomyofWesternGermanywithaneconomyintransitionwherebothhavethesamecurrencyunit,thesamelegalsystem,thesameeconomicsystemandallotherimportantcontributionstothebusinessenvironment.Itshouldbenoted,though,thatinEasternGermanyamuchsmallershareofallworkersiscoveredbycollectivebargainingagreementsandthatmorethan15yearsaftertheunification,wagesarestilllowerinEasternGermany,onaverage.However,thisshouldimprovethecompetitivenessoftheaffectedcompanies.
AftertheGermanreunificationin1990,theEastGermanindustrialsectormoreorlesscollapsed.Theexistinglargerfirmsweresoldtonewownersandarestructuringprocesstookplace.Amongintroductionsofotherpolicymeasures,R&Dhasbeenheavilysubsidizedinordertospeeduptheconvergenceprocess.Fosteringinnovationisclearlyintendedtoimprovethecompetitivenessofthecompaniesinquestionandthiswashighlyneededfortheformerproducersinacentrallygovernedplanningsociety.Inordertobeasuccessfulstimulustothecatching-upprocess,thesubsidiesmustbeusedefficientlywithinthefirm.
Assaidaboveweusecreditratingsasthevariablereflectingeconomicperformanceofafirm.Inasecondstepofouranalysisweinvestigatewhethertheresultswefindwithrespecttotheratingarealsoreflectedinotherperformanceindicators.SinceEasternGermanfirmsare,onaverage,muchyoungerandsmallerthanWesternGermanfirms,theyfacehighermarketuncertainty.Thiscouldresultinmoreconservativeratingssimplyduetolackingtrackrecordsandexperiencewithsuchbusinesses.Inordertoassessapotentialdownwardbiasfornon-economicallymotivatedreasonsbytheratingagency,weverifyourfindingonthecreditratingbyanestimationofasecondequation.Asanalternativetotherating,weconsiderfinancialdistress.Althoughweobserveactualbankcruptcy,too,weprefertouseabroadermeasureoffinancialdistress,becausefirmbankruptciesarerareevents,andtheeconometricanalysisofsuchisdifficult.Financialdistressisdescribedbythepaymentbehavioroffirms.
Adefaultiscertainlyanincidencethatalenderdefinitelywantstoavoid,but
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