This paper analyses the sources of persistence in conducting R&D activities by SMEs. The data used is a panel of Spanish manufacturing firms drawn from the Survey of Business Strategies (ESEE), for the period 1990-2011. We estimate discrete time proportional hazard models accounting for firm...

We present a dynamic empirical model of a firm's R&D decisions that is consistent with the existence of sunk R&D costs, taking into account that these costs may differ between small and large firms, and among different technological regimes. We estimate a multivariate dynamic discrete choice...

This paper analyses whether undertaking R&D activities allows SMEs to attenuate the negative impact of recessions on productivity. In contrast to other studies we use a firm level indicator of the cycle based on firms’ own perceptions, while total factor productivity is obtained using a...

We analyse the growth of corporate R&D in the Spanish manufacturing sector through its decomposition into the extensive and intensive margins. These margins are decomposed into three distinct components: starting new R&D activities; R&D activities that survive or persist; and deepening existing...

This article analyses whether the productivity gains associated with Learning-by-Exporting (LBE) (controlling for self-selection) depend on the intensity of the firm's exporting activity. The results from a representative sample of Spanish manufacturing firms indicate that the yearly average...

This paper explores the link between exports and total factor productivity (TFP) in Brazilian manufacturing firms over the period 2000-2008. The Brazilian experience is instructive as it is a case of an economy that expanded aggregate exports significantly, but with stagnant aggregate TFP...

This paper explores the link between exports and total factor productivity (TFP) for Brazilian manufacturing firms over the period 2000-2008, both under the assumption of an exogenous or an endogenous law of motion for productivity. The authors first obtain TFP estimates under each alternative...

This paper explores the link between exports and total factor productivity (TFP) for Brazilian manufacturing firms over the period 2000-2008, both under the assumption of an exogenous or an endogenous law of motion for productivity. The authors first obtain TFP estimates under each alternative...

In this paper we explore in depth the effect of process innovations on total factor productivity growth for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), taking into account the potential endogeneity problem that may be caused by self selection into these activities. First, we analyse whether the ex-ante...