Do technological booms matter? New evidence on the relationship between firm size and innovativeness

Harald Degner ()
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Harald Degner: University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany

Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, 2011, vol. 5, issue 2, 121-144

Abstract: Many papers have been written about the effect of firm size on innovativeness, revealing a positive, a negative or a mixed impact. To this day, the so-called Schumpeterian hypothesis of the above-average innovativeness of large firms has neither been confirmed nor rejected, often because of insufficient data or a too-short observation period. Many studies concentrate only on a specific region or sector, or they analyze a very short time period. Windows of technological opportunities, providing technological booms for both firms and sectors, have not yet been investigated. An analysis of Germany’s chemical, metal and electrical-engineering sectors between 1877 and 1932 reveals that the sector-specific long-term relationship between firm size and innovativeness is negative, except during times of specific technological booms. In combination with firm-specific characteristics, this new aspect can contribute to a better understanding of the long-term relationship between firm size and innovativeness.

Keywords: Innovation; Firm Size; Technology; Patents (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N73 N74 O31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:afc:cliome:v:5:y:2011:i:2:p:121-144

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