Skip to main content
Disciplines
Automotive Business IT + Informatics Construction + Real Estate Electrical Engineering + Electronics Energy + Sustainability Insurance + Risk Finance + Banking Management + Leadership Marketing + Sales Mechanical Engineering + Materials
Events
DE
EN
Books
Journals
Topic Page
Marketing
Start single access now
Access for companies
EXTENDED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Journal of Business Economics
Published in: Journal of Business Economics 5/2013

01-07-2013 | Original Paper

The financial structure of innovative SMEs in Germany

Authors: Detlev Hummel, Boris Karcher, Christian Schultz

Published in: Journal of Business Economics | Issue 5/2013

Log in

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config
loading …

Abstract

In politics and business the special role of innovative businesses whose research and development activities expedite technological progress has received steady attention. Especially small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) have initiated promising innovation projects. However, when analysing these projects our research must take into account that SMEs cannot be viewed as a homogeneous business category. Moreover, financing their innovations, SMEs are subject to unique issues. To shed light on these problems, this study will develop an index measuring degrees of innovation. It allows the 171 sample companies to be categorised into three groups: non-innovative, moderately innovative or highly innovative. A multinomial logistic regression is used to examine the quality of this typology. In addition, group-specific differences in the financing mix are demonstrated. Finally, from a theoretical point of view, the implications of the pecking order theory are basically validated. On the other hand, the concept of the financial growth cycle does not deliver satisfactory results.
previous article Income determination for corporate tax purposes using IFRS as a starting point: evidence for listed companies within Austria, Germany, and The Netherlands
next article Dynamic pricing with strategic customers

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 102.000 Bücher
  • über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Automobil + Motoren
  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
  • Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
  • Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Journal of Business Economics

From January 2013, the Zeitschrift für Betriebswirtschaft (ZfB) is published in English under the title Journal of Business Economics (JBE). The Journal of Business Economics (JBE) aims at encouraging theoretical and applied research in the field of business economics and business administration, promoting the exchange of ideas between science and practice.

inform now

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 67.000 Bücher
  • über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Versicherung + Risiko




Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Literature
Arrow KJ (1962) Economic welfare and the allocation of resources for invention. In: Nelson RR (ed) The rate and direction of inventive activity. Princeton University Press, New Jersey, pp 609–625
Audretsch DB (1995) Innovation, growth and survival. Int J Ind Organ 13(4):441–457CrossRef
Audretsch DB, Lehmann EE (2004) Financing high-tech growth: the role of banks and venture capitalists. Schmalenbach Bus Rev 56(4):340–357
Autio E (1997) New, technology-based firms in innovation networks symplectic and generative impacts. Res Pol 26:263–281CrossRef
Backes-Gellner U, Werner A (2007) Entrepreneurial signaling via education: a success factor in innovative start-ups. Small Bus Econ 29:173–190CrossRef
Backhaus K et al (2008) Multivariate Analysemethoden—Eine anwendungsorientierte Einführung, 12th edn. Springer, Berlin
Baker BO et al (1966) Weak measurements vs. strong statistics: an empirical critique of S.S. Stevens’s proscriptions on statistics. Edu Psych Meas 26:291–309CrossRef
Bartelsman E et al (2004) Microeconomic evidence of creative distruction in industrial and developing counties. World Bank Policy Research Paper No. 3463, New York
Berger AN, Udell GF (1995) Relationship lending and lines of credit in small firm finance. J Bus 68:351–381CrossRef
Berger AN, Udell GF (1998) The economics of small business finance: the roles of private equity and debt markets in the financial growth cycle. J Bank Financ 22:613–673CrossRef
Berggren B, Olofsson C, Silver L (2000) Control aversion and the search for external financing in Swedish SMEs. Small Bus Econ 15(3):233–242CrossRef
BMWi (2007) Gründerzeiten, Informationen zur Existenzgründung und—sicherung, Berlin
Bortz J (1989) Statistik für Sozialwissenschaftler. Springer, Berlin
Bortz J, Döring N (1995) Forschungsmethoden und Evaluation, 2. Auflage, Berlin
Bortz J, Schuster C (2010) Statistik für Human- und Sozialwissenschaftler, 7. Aufl. Springer, BerlinCrossRef
Bozkaya A, De La Potterie B (2008) Who Funds Technology-Based Small Firms? Evidence From Belgium. Econ Innov New Technol, Taylor and Francis J 17(1–2):97–122CrossRef
Cainelli G et al (2006) Innovation and economic performance in services—a firm-level analysis. Camb J Econ 30:435–458CrossRef
Carpenter RE, Petersen BC (2002) Is the growth of small firms constrained by internal finance? Rev Econ Stat 84(2):298–309CrossRef
Chittenden F, Hall G, Hutchinson P (1996) Small firm growth, access to capital markets and financial structure: review of issues and an empirical investigation. Small Bus Econ 8:59–67CrossRef
Cuervo-Cazurra A, Un A (2010) Why some firms never invest in formal R&D. Strateg Manag J 31(7):759–779
Czarnitzki D, Hottenrott H (2010) Financing constraints for industrial innovation: What do we know? Leuven
Denis DJ (2004) Entrepreneurial finance: an overview of the issue and evidence. J Corp Financ 10:301–326CrossRef
Dosi G (1990) Finance, innovation, and industrial change. J Econ Behav Organ 13:299–319CrossRef
Ehrhard N, Müller K (2007) Business Angel-Finanzierung in Deutschland—Ein Marktüberblick. Finanz Betrieb 9:65–71
Elsas R, Florysiak D (2008) Empirical capital structure research: new ideas, recent evidence, and methodological issues. In: Breuer W, Gurtler M (eds) 50 years after MM: recent developments in corporate finance. Gabler, Wiesbaden
Fontes M, Coombs R (2001) Contribution of new-technology-based firms to the strengthening of technological capabilities in intermediate economies. Res Policy 30:79–97CrossRef
Freel M (2007) Are small innovators credit rationed? Small Bus Econ 28:23–35CrossRef
Fryges, H. et al (2007) Hightech-Gründungen und Business Angels, Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie. (BMWi) (Hrsg.), Berlin
Gompers PA, Lerner J (2003) Equity financing. In: Acs ZJ, Audretsch DB (eds) Handbook of entrepreneurship research. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht
Gottschalk S et al (2007) Start-Ups zwischen Forschung und Finanzierung: Hightech Gründungen in Deutschland, Mannheim
Grabherr O (2001) Risikokapitalinstrumente im unternehmerischen Wachstumszyklus. In: Wilfried S (eds) Venture capital und private equity: Erfolgreich wachsen mit Beteiligungskapital, Köln, pp 29–42
Grinstein A, Goldman A (2006) Characterizing the technology firm: an exploratory study. Res Policy 35:121–143CrossRef
Hagedoorn J, Cloodt M (2003) Measuring innovative performance—Is there an advantage in using multiple indicators? Res Policy 32:1365–1379CrossRef
Hall BH (2002) The financing of research and development. Oxf Rev Econ Policy 18(1):35–51CrossRef
Hall BH et al (2009) Innovation and productivity in SMEs: empirical evidence for Italy. Small Bus Econ 33:13–33CrossRef
Harhoff D (1998) Are there financing constraints for R&D and investment in German manufacturing firms? Annales D’Economie Et De Statistique Nr 49/50
Heidenreich M (2009) Innovation patterns and location of European low- and medium-technology industries. Res Policy 38:483–494CrossRef
Huang C et al (2010) How firms innovate: R&D, non-R&D, and technology adoption, UNU-Merit Working Paper No. 2010-027, Maastricht
Hughes A (2002) Innovation and business performance: small entrepreneurial firms in the UK and the EU. New Econ 8(3):157–163CrossRef
Hyytinen A, Pajarinen M (2002) Financing of technology intensive small business: some evidence from the ICT industry, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy, Discussions paper No. 813
Jensen MC, Meckling WH (1976) Theory of the firm: managerial behaviour, agency costs and ownership structure. J Financ Econ 3:305–360CrossRef
KfW (2007) Mittelstands- und Strukturpolitik, KfW Diskussionspapier Nr. 39. Frankfurt am Main
KfW (2008) Der informelle Beteiligungskapitalmarkt in Deutschland. WirtschaftsObserver online, KfW Diskussionspapier Nr. 41, Frankfurt am Main
Kirner E et al (2007) Innovationspfade von low-, medium- und High-Tech-Unternehmen in der deutschen Industrie. In: Abel J, Hirsch-Kreinsen H (eds) Lowtech Unternehmen am Hightech-Standort. Sigma, Berlin, pp 165–192
Kirner E et al (2009) Innovation paths and the innovation performance of low-technology firms—An empirical analysis of German industry. Res Policy 38:447–458CrossRef
Kleinknecht A (2000) Indicators of manufacturing and service innovation—their strengths and weaknesses. In: Metcalf JS, Miles I (eds) Innovation system and the service economy. Boston, pp 169–186
Kleinknecht A et al (2002) The non-trivial choice between innovation indicators. Econ Innov New Technol 11(2):109–121CrossRef
Krohmer O (2010) Zur Verdrängungswirkung staatlicher FuE-Förderung. In: ifo Dresden berichtet 1/2010, S. 49–51
Mohnen P, Mairesse J (2002) Accounting for innovation and measuring innovativeness: an illustrative framework and an application. Am Econ Rev Papers Proc 92(2):226–230CrossRef
Metzger G et al (2008) High-Tech-Gründungen in Deutschland-Trends, Strukturen, Potentiale, Diskussionspapier des ZEW, Mannheim
Manual Oslo (2005) Guidelines for collecting and interpreting innovation data, 3rd edn. OECD, Oslo
Meyer JR, Kuh E (1957) The investment decision: an empirical study, Cambridge
Myers SC (1977) Determinants of corporate borrowing. J Financ Econ 5:146–175CrossRef
Myers SC, Majluf NS (1984) Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have. J Financ Econ 13:187–221CrossRef
Nassimbeni G (2001) Technology, innovation capacity and the export attitude of small manufacturing firms: a logit/tobit model. Res Policy 30:245–262CrossRef
Nelson RR (1959) The simple economics of basic scientific research. J Policy Econ 49:297–306CrossRef
Norton E (1990) Similarities and differences in small and large corporation beliefs about capital structure policy. Small Bus Econ 2(3):229–245
Oakey, R (1984), Innovation and regional growth in small high-technology firms: evidence from Britain and the USA, Reg Stud, 18
Oakey R (1995) High technology new firms: variable barriers to growth. Paul Chapman Publishing, London
OECD (2002) Frascati Manual—proposed standard practice for surveys on research and experimental development. OECD, Paris
Rammer C et al (2011) Innovationen ohne Forschung und Entwicklung, Eine Untersuchung zu Unternehmen, die ohne eigene FuE-Tätigkeit neue Produkte und Prozesse einführen. Studien zum deutschen Innovationssystem Nr. 15, Mannheim
Rammer C (2011) Bedeutung von Spitzentechnologien, FuE-Intensität und nicht forschungsintensiven Industrien für Innovationen und Innovationsförderung in Deutschland. ZEW, Mannheim
Rammer C et al (2009) Innovation success of non-R&D-performers: substituting technology by management in Smes. Small Bus Rev 33:35–58CrossRef
Salomo S et al (2008) Innovation field orientation and its effect on innovativeness and firm performance. J Prod Innov Manag 25(6):560–576CrossRef
Schumpeter JA (1934) Theorie der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung. Leipzig
Sohl JE (2008) Angel investors steady but more cautious in first half of 2008. Analysis Report Q1/2 2008, Washington
Spithoven A et al (2009) Building absorptive capacity to organise inbound open innovation in traditional industries. Technovation 30:130–141CrossRef
Totterdell P et al (2002) An investigation of the contents and consequences of major organizational innovations. Int J Innov Manag 6:343–368CrossRef
Walker EW, Petty JW (1978) Financial differences between large and small firms. Financ Manag 7(4):61–68
Metadata
Title
The financial structure of innovative SMEs in Germany
Authors
Detlev Hummel
Boris Karcher
Christian Schultz
Publication date
01-07-2013
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
Journal of Business Economics / Issue 5/2013
Print ISSN: 0044-2372
Electronic ISSN: 1861-8928
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11573-013-0662-8

Premium Partner

    Image Credits