دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی نوآوری منطقه ای و عملکرد شرکت - نشریه الزویر

ABSTRACT

This paper uses novel measures of innovation and engagement, at the county level in the US, to frame the relationship between innovation levels in a region and the performance of publicly traded firms in those areas. In theory, an innovative community should foster improved firm performance, reinvestment, and continued growth for both the firm and the community, feeding back into firm performance, a virtuous cycle. Our results suggest that inventive activity within a county, measured using a patent index, is positively related to revenue and profit growth, while technical creativity, measured using an index of employment in technical fields, is associated with process improvement and net income growth. Finally, the opportunity to collaborate and interact socially within a community is positively associated with firm performance measures, but with only weak statistical significance for the publicly traded firms in the sample.

5. Conclusion

The analysis here suggests that the innovativeness of the region in which a firm is located contributes to firm performance. Inventive regions produce higher rates of profit margin growth, and regions with large innovative capacities - in terms of workforce and technical talent - realize higher rates of net income growth and profit margins. Furthermore, weak evidence exists of positive collaborative effects; areas with more opportunities to informally engage with peers show consistently positive coefficient estimates for the relationships between engagement opportunities and the different measures of firm performance.

The existing literature focusing on firm structure and inter-firm relationships is extended with this regional consideration. The results suggest innovative communities are an important contributor to the success of publicly traded firms. However, the results suggest that the regional culture may be most important for process improvement. These discoveries could encourage communities to develop their innovation communities through the attraction of technically skilled workers, and the creation of opportunities for cross firm cooperation and engagement.

The relationships here are drawn from publicly-traded firms, even the smallest of which are relatively large compared to most communities' average firm size. Future research should extend this analysis to examine the performance of small and mid-sized businesses, potentially examining growth rates, employment levels, proprietor income, etc. To the extent that innovative culture and engagement opportunities are important to publicly traded firms, one might assume these regional assets are more important to small businesses without access to global innovation assets. Finally, future research should examine interactions between innovation cultures and engagement opportunities. While there is much left to be done in order to fully identify the relationships between regional cultures and firm performance, there is no doubt that communities that nurture and attract talented workers and innovative firms will outperform their peers