Innovative Activity and Organizational Choice of Entrepreneurial Firms

University Of Maryland, College Park, College Park MD

Investigators

Abstract

When and why do entrepreneurial firms choose particular entry or exit strategies? Why do some go to market independently while others form joint ventures or merge with larger firms? What is the impact of these choices on their profitability, growth and competitiveness? In this study, researchers will compile information from a number of dispersed sources to examine these sorts of questions. The design of the study emphasizes (i) entrepreneurial firms' current core technological competencies and the relation of these competencies to industry competitors', (ii) the relative importance of patents, secrecy, and complementary assets, and (iii) industry life cycle stages and capital availability. In addition to examining choices about entry structures, the research team will examine how entrepreneurial growth and profitability are related to these types of underlying conditions. In particular, they will examine the importance of research, and the development of that research, in determining the boundaries of the firm. The study involves complilation of three different measures of innovative activity: patent activity, patent citations, and research and development expenditures. It also involves use of new measures of organizational relatedness. The resulting new and comprehensive data set will be available as a research resource for subsequent researchers. This data set will enable researchers to explore a number of questions related to innovative and commercial activities of small entrepreneurial firms and large incumbents, both public and private.