Windows of technological opportunity: do technological booms influence the relationship between firm size and innovativeness?

Arbeitspapier

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 been neither confirmed nor rejected, often because of insufficient data or a too-short observation period. Many studies concentrate only on a specific region or a specific 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 electronic-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.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: FZID Discussion Paper ; No. 15-2010

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft
• Subject: Effect of firm size on innovativeness ; technological boom ; Schumpeterian hypothesis ; Betriebsgröße ; Innovation ; Technischer Fortschritt ; Technologiewahl ; Konjunktur ; Industriegeschichte ; Deutschland (bis 1945)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Degner, Harald
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Universität Hohenheim, Forschungszentrum Innovation und Dienstleistung (FZID)
• (where): Stuttgart
• (when): 2010

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/30183
• URN: urn:nbn:de:bsz:100-opus-4399
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:45 AM CET