Content area
Full Text
Rev Ind Organ (2010) 36:227248
DOI 10.1007/s11151-010-9247-7
Published online: 9 May 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. 2010
Abstract This paper analyzes the survival over the subsequent 5-year period of the complete cohort of nearly 162,000 limited companies that incorporated in Britain in 2001. The paper focuses on the relationship between innovation and survival at the rm-level. The data available allow us to look at the intellectual property (IP) activity of all British rms, including that of the cohort of new rms in 2001. The results indicate that IP activity, measured as patenting and trade-marking, is associated with a considerably lower probability of exit. We also nd substantial differences in survival probabilities across sectors. In some sectors patenting is associated with a lower probability of exit; however, trade-marking is associated with lower probability in almost all sectors.
Keywords Firm survival Intellectual property Start-ups
JEL Classication D21 L25 L26 M13
We acknowledge substantive comments from the editor, Lawrence White, and an anonymous referee. We also benetted from comments from Marcel Fafchamps, Catherine Roux, participants in seminars at Aston Business School, Kiel Institute, London Business School, participants to the 10th Summer Workshop for Young Economists at ZEW Mannheim, and the 35th Conference of the EARIE.
C. Helmers
Wolfson College, University of Oxford, Linton Road, Oxford, OX2 6UD, UK e-mail: [email protected]
M. Rogers (B)
Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford, Manseld Road, Oxford, OX1 3TD, UK e-mail: [email protected]
M. Rogers
Aston Business School, Aston University, Birmingham, UK
Innovation and the Survival of New Firms in the UK
Christian Helmers Mark Rogers
123
228 C. Helmers, M. Rogers
1 Introduction
The objective of this paper is to analyze the survival over the subsequent 5-year period of the complete cohort of nearly 162,000 limited companies that newly incorporated in the United Kingdom in 2001. For this purpose, we estimate rms survival functions using a simple non-parametric estimator and probit models. The main contribution of this paper is to provide new results that relate to intellectual property (IP) at the rm-level. Our data allow us to look at the patenting and trade-marking activity of all UK rms, including the 162,000 new rms in 2001.
While empirical studies of patenting and performance are common for larger rms, there are relatively few for small...