Entrepreneurship, Spillovers and Productivity Growth in the Small Firm Sector of UK Manufacturing

Hany El Shamy and Paul Temple
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Hany El Shamy: University of Surrey

No 708, School of Economics Discussion Papers from School of Economics, University of Surrey

Abstract: This paper considers the sources of technological change and productivity growth in the small firm sector of UK manufacturing over the period 1973- 2002, focusing on the mechanisms by which spillovers occur between the large firms which perform the bulk of R&D and smaller firms which are the recipients. It is argued that the current volume of domestic R&D generates profitable and high productivity opportunities for smaller firms. However this mechanism ignores the ways in which R&D also contributes to the more general knowledge base available to small firms as codified information which frequently takes the measurable form of industrial standards. A simple model of labour demand among small manufacturing is developed which employs two measures of technological activity intended to capture both these channels. A co-integrating relationship based upon an augmented labour demand equation is established for UK manufacturing, showing the relevance of both channels for the explanation of productivity growth in the small firm sector.

Keywords: Key Words: Small firms; productivity; technological change; R&D; standards. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J23 L25 L26 O32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 23 pages
Date: 2008-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-cse, nep-eec, nep-eff, nep-ent, nep-ino, nep-knm and nep-tid
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sur:surrec:0708

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