Innovation, Economic Growth And The Firm

‘Gaffard and Salies have brought together an outstanding collection of papers that connects two fields of research usually only considered in isolation: the entrepreneurial restructuring of firms and markets and the growth process of the firm. Recognizing the interaction between the two is crucial for understanding how economic progress comes about today. What leading scholars from each of the fields have to say in this book on the connection makes for the most stimulating and illuminating reading with great relevance for policy making in Europe and America.’
– Ulrich Witt, Max Planck Institute of Economics and University of Jena, Germany

This book addresses the foundations of economic growth at the firm level, combining both theoretical and econometric contributions by established scholars. Challenging contributions revisit Marshall’s view on the management of innovation, investigate the decision of firms to venture into entrepreneurship and clarify some misunderstanding about Schumpeter’s ideas. The book goes on to shed light on the classical specialisation-flexibility trade-off and provides a vision on the role of the knowledge-based economy and firm networks in technology development. Firm survival and performance, price-cost margins and the determinants of research intensity are also investigated econometrically.

Innovation, Economic Growth and the Firm will be of great relevance to students and academics involved in research projects that address issues of firm growth, behaviour and performance. It will also appeal to practitioners seeking tangible results concerning the relationship between key economic variables at the firm level, and to policymakers who need to be aware of the impact that changes in the organization of industries and markets may have on the performance of firms.

Contents:

Preface

PART I: EVOLUTIONARY THEORIES OF THE FIRM
1. The Open, Evolving Economy: Alfred Marshall on Knowledge, Management and Innovation
Stanley J. Metcalfe

2. Hicks and Richardson on Industrial Change: Analysis and Policy
Mario Amendola, Sergio Bruno and Jean-Luc Gaffard

PART II: FIRMS’ FORMATION AND GROWTH
3. SMEs, Industry Dynamics and Economic Growth
David Audretsch, Taylor Aldridge and Adam Lederer

4. Some Significant Slips in Schumpeter’s Scenario
William Baumol

5. Market Selection Along the Firm Life Cycle
Flora Bellone, Patrick Musso, Lionel Nesta and Michel Quéré

6. A Test of the Schumpeterian Hypothesis in a Panel of European Electric Utilities
Evens Salies

PART III: FIRMS’ PERFORMANCE AND INDUSTRIAL DYNAMICS
7. Jack of All Trades or Master of One? The Specialization–Flexibility Trade-off
Rodolphe Dos Santos Ferreira and Ehud Zuscovitch

8. Division of Labour and Division of Knowledge in Firms’ Innovative Networks: An Essay on Ehud Zuscovitch’s Theoretical Perspectives
Patrick Cohendet, Jean-Alain Héraud and Patrick Llerena

9. The Implementation of National Competition Policy Law and the Dynamics of Price–Cost Margins: Evidence from Belgium and the Netherlands 1993–1999
Jozef Konings, Patrick Van Cayseele and Frédéric Warzynski

10. Export Prices and Increasing World Competition: Evidence from French, German, and Italian Pricing Behaviour
Sarah Guillou and Stefano Schiavo

Index

http://hp.gredeg.cnrs.fr/gaffard/
http://www.ofce.sciences-po.fr/pages-chercheurs/salies.htm