This study is based on data of a cohort of Swiss firms that were founded in 1996/97. In the year 2000 data were collected by means of a postal survey among those firms, which still existed by that time. In 2003 and 2006 two further surveys were conducted among the participants of the respective...

In this study we investigated the determinants (a) of the propensity of Swiss firms to train apprentices and (b) of the intensity of apprentice training as measured by the employment share of apprentices. Innovation, firm age and competition conditions on the product market are possible...

This paper investigates (a) the determinants of innovation performance and (b) the impact of innovation performance on labour productivity of Swiss manufacturing firms in the period 1994-2002. The data used in this study come from the KOF panel database and were collected in 1996, 1999 and 2002...

In this study we investigated the determinants (a) of the propensity of Swiss firms to train apprentices and (b) of the intensity of apprentice training as measured by the employment share of apprentices. Innovation, firm age and competition conditions on the product market are possible...

This paper investigates the impact of the promotional activities of the Swiss Commission of Technology and Innovation (CTI) on the innovation performance of the supported firms based on a matched-pairs analysis of 199 firms supported by the CTI in the period 2000–2002. CTI's promotional...

Innovative start-ups, not start-ups in general, seem to be important drivers of economic growth. However, little is known about what such firms look like. As activities of start-ups are strongly related to firm founders, we investigate this question focusing on the innovation capability of firm...

Human resource management (HRM) practices are generally expected to stimulate a firm’s innovation performance. However, which of these practices do really pay off? Based on a unique dataset that includes detailed information for both a firm’s innovation activities and different types of HRM...

This paper describes the approach applied and the results of an evaluation of the effects of the Swiss government programme to promote the diffusion of Advanced Manufacturing Technologies (AMT) from 1990 to 1996. The method used is based on specifying and econometrically estimating with firm...

Research about users as a source of innovation has been largely restricted to case studies exploring specific innovation projects at the firm level. This study assesses empirically the relationship between external end users’ knowledge as an input factor to innovation and firms’ innovation...