Innovation, Internationalisation and the Performance of Microbusinesses

Abstract

This article integrates internationalisation, and specifically exporting, into a conceptualisation of how innovation production leads to productivity performance in microbusinesses employing less than ten people. Innovation production is reframed for the microbusiness context by focusing on knowledge acquisition and formalisation rather than on R&D activity. Propensity score matching analysis is used to investigate British microbusiness survey data. It finds a causal process in which innovation promotes exporting activity. This in turn leads to improved productivity. In contrast to research on larger businesses, the study finds no direct link between innovation production and productivity. These findings are robust to various checks for potential endogeneity arising from feedback into innovation from internationalisation and from self-selection of high productivity firms into exporting.

Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0266242619893938
Divisions: College of Business and Social Sciences > Aston Business School > Economics, Finance & Entrepreneurship
College of Business and Social Sciences > Aston Business School > Centre for Personal Financial Wellbeing
College of Business and Social Sciences > Aston Business School
Additional Information: © Sage 2019. The final publication is available via Sage at http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0266242619893938
Uncontrolled Keywords: Microbusiness, innovation, productivity, exporting, knowledge acquisition
Publication ISSN: 1741-2870
Last Modified: 25 Mar 2024 08:37
Date Deposited: 09 Dec 2019 09:40
Full Text Link: http://orca.cf.ac.uk/127012/
Related URLs: https://journal ... 266242619893938 (Publisher URL)
PURE Output Type: Article
Published Date: 2020-06-01
Published Online Date: 2019-12-23
Accepted Date: 2019-11-20
Authors: Henley, Andrew
Song, Meng (ORCID Profile 0000-0003-2375-6807)

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