Innovation and performance: A collection of microdata studies

This dissertation collects six papers dealing with the use of firm-level data for investigating various dimensions of firm performance. The first three papers relate firm performance in manufacturing to innovation. Next, two papers deal with the relation between Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and productivity in manufacturing and business services. The final paper discusses the issue of scale effects in business services. The common theme of these papers is the search for drivers of firm performance in renewing economies. Firm performance is measured as productivity (growth).

The main conclusion of this research is that there are significant economies of scale in business services. The results indicate that firms with 20 or fewer employees have significantly lower productivity than larger firms and that technical efficiency determined via econometric methods is lowest for the smallest firms. The low technical efficiency of the smallest firms is found to be related, among other things, to entry barriers. The study shows that higher entry costs are a barrier to the entry of new firms, reducing the incentive for small firms to be more efficient.

Leeuwen, G. van (2009). Innovation and performance: A collection of microdata studies. Dissertation, Delft University of Technology.