In search of Schumpeterians:
A resource based perspec6ve on
innova6ve solo self-employment
NardodeVriesa,SierdjanKosterb&Mar@nCarreea
a)SchoolofBusinessandEconomics,MaastrichtUniversity
b)FacultyofSpa@alSciences,UniversityofGroningen
10thDAREResearchSeminar｜02December2016｜VUAmsterdam
Mo6va6on
•  Qualityofentrepreneurialac@vity:innova@onandgrowth/value
crea@on(Carlandetal.1984)
•  Roleofmicrofirmsandfreelancers/soloself-employedininnova@on
unknown(Romeroetal.2011;Baumann&Kri@kos2016)
•  Newformsofinnova@onanddifferentenablingrolesofsoloselfemployed
•  Vastandgrowinggroupofsoloself-employedindividuals:
•  Whatdeterminesinnova@vebehaviorofthesesmallestformsof
entrepreneurialac@vity?
10thDAREResearchSeminar｜02December2016｜VUAmsterdam
Innova6ve networks
10thDAREResearchSeminar｜02December2016｜VUAmsterdam
Theore6cal considera6ons
•  Resourcebased&resourcedependencytheory;transac@oncoststheory
•  Forsmallerfirms:sizeissuesininnova@onprocesses:
•  Thresholdlevels(Cohen&Klepper1996)
•  Sunkstart-upcosts(Petersetal.2013)
•  Informa@onasymmetries(S@glitz&Weiss1981)
•  ->acquiringexternalresources:
•  Knowledgeexchange(alsoformicroandnanobusinesses?)
•  Coopera@on:networksandpartners(Das&Teng2000;DeFariaetal.2010)
•  Differentinnova@onprocesses(Cohen&Levin1989),importanceofcoopera@on
partnersandaccesstodifferenttypesofresources(Das&Teng2000)
10thDAREResearchSeminar｜02December2016｜VUAmsterdam
Contribu6ons
•  Exploringinnova@vebehaviorofsoloself-employedindividuals
•  Inves@ga@ngindividualleveldeterminantsoftheirinnova@veoutputs
•  Dis@nguishingwhattypeofcoopera@onpartnersproviderelevant
resourcesforinnova@on
10thDAREResearchSeminar｜02December2016｜VUAmsterdam
Method: data base
•  Panteia/EIM’szzp-panel:Longitudinalrepresenta@vesurveystudyon
soloself-employedintheNetherlands(2010-2013)
•  1.400respondents;individual-leveldata
•  Spa@alexternali@esareaccountedforbyincludingvariablesonNUTS
2-level(Dutchprovinces)
10thDAREResearchSeminar｜02December2016｜VUAmsterdam
Method: variables
•  DV’s:Innova@veoutput(2010,2013),measuredconformCIS/OsloManual
•  Productinnova@on
•  Processinnova@on
•  Explanatoryvariables:innova@veinputin2010
Coopera@onwithothersoloself-employed
Innova@vecoopera@on
Knowledgeexchange
BudgetforR&Dac@vi@es
Involvedinotherfirms’innova@on
•  Controlsfor:individuallevel(e.g.educa@on,previouslabormarketposi@on),firm
level(e.g.sector,businesstype),regionallevel(R&Dintensityintheregion).
• 
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• 
• 
• 
10thDAREResearchSeminar｜02December2016｜VUAmsterdam
Method: empirical approach
•  Modelspecifica@onwithindividual/firmandregionallevel
determinants(Romeroetal.2011)
•  Heckmanprobitselec@onmodel(correc@onforpossiblepanel
airi@on)
•  selec@oninstrument:panelallegiance
•  Grangerset-upwithlaggeddependentvariables(causalinferences)
•  Separatemodelsforproduct/processinnova@on
•  Effec@vesampleof400forcorrectedprobitmodel
10thDAREResearchSeminar｜02December2016｜VUAmsterdam
Innova6ve output 2010-2013 Dependent variables (weighted)
2010
2013
Percentage of firms
SMEs*
SSE
Product innovation
31%
23%
27% 28%
Product innovation, radical
15%
11%
13% 14%
Product innovation, self-initiated
17%
17%
17% 19%
Process innovation
45%
49%
43% 55%
Process innovation, self-initiated
20%
30%
18% 36%
that has spawned…
SMEs*
SSE
Source: Panteia/EIM zzp-panel and Panteia/EIM Monitor determinanten bedrijfsprestaties.
*) Definitions of SMEs based on number of employees (1-99 in 2010; 1-249 in 2013)
10thDAREResearchSeminar｜02December2016｜VUAmsterdam
VARIABLES (t=0)
Corrected
probit model
Lagged DV: innovation 2010
Results
•  Productinnova@on2013
•  Totalobserva@ons:1415
•  Censoredobserva@ons:1010
0.839***
Explanatory variables
Knowledge exchange
0.369
Cooperation with other SSE
0.009
Innovative cooperation
0.098
No SSE coop. & no innov. coop. (ref.)
No SSE coop. & innov. coop.
SSE coop. & no innov. coop.
SSE coop. & innov. coop
Budget for R&D activities
-0.295
Involved in other firms' innovation 0.156
Corrected
probit model
(4.14)
0.916***
(5.55)
(1.27)
(0.05)
(0.57)
0.409
(1.40)
ref.
0.409
0.211
0.111
(-0.77) -0.315
(0.92) 0.145
(1.38)
(1.04)
(0.51)
(-0.84)
(0.89)
Controls for Individual,/ firm and regional level included; (robust t-statistics in
parentheses)
ρ
Wald test of indep. eqns. (rho = 0)
-0.520
0.423
10thDAREResearchSeminar｜02December2016｜VUAmsterdam
-0.435
0.471
VARIABLES (t=0)
Corrected probit
model
Results (2)
Lagged DV: innovation 2010
•  Productinnova@on2013
(radical)
•  Innova@vecoopera@onwith
otherpar@esinfluencesthe
likelihoodoffutureradical
productinnova@on
•  Coopera@onamongsoloselfemployed–evenifitisfor
innova@on–isNOTsignificant
1.246***
Explanatory variables
Knowledge exchange
0.188
Cooperation with other SSE
-0.380
Innovative cooperation
0.774**
No SSE coop. & no innov. coop. (ref.)
No SSE coop. & innov. coop.
SSE coop. & no innov. coop.
SSE coop. & innov. coop
Budget for R&D activities
Involved in other firms' innovation
-0.422
0.360
Corrected probit
model
(4.48)
1.248***
(4.76)
(0.66)
(-1.12)
(2.17)
0.190
(0.65)
ref.
0.908**
-0.236
(2.55)
(-0.48)
0.427
-0.429
0.359
(0.93)
(-0.86)
(1.47)
(-0.83)
(1.49)
Controls for Individual,/ firm and regional level included; (robust t-statistics in
parentheses)
ρ
Wald test of indep. eqns. (rho = 0)
-0.155
0.831
10thDAREResearchSeminar｜02December2016｜VUAmsterdam
-0.104
0.886
VARIABLES (t=0)
Corrected probit
model
Lagged DV: innovation 2010
Results (3)
•  Processinnova@on2013
0.751***
Explanatory variables
Knowledge exchange
0.270*
Cooperation with other SSE
0.190
Innovative cooperation
0.204
No SSE coop. & no innov. coop. (ref.)
No SSE coop. & innov. coop.
SSE coop. & no innov. coop.
SSE coop. & innov. coop
Budget for R&D activities
Involved in other firms' innovation
-0.354
0.261
Corrected probit
model
(4.99)
0.750***
(4.98)
(1.88)
(1.24)
(1.02)
0.266*
(1.86)
ref.
0.076
0.129
(0.38)
(0.83)
0.408**
-0.361
0.270*
(1.96)
(-1.27)
(1.66)
(-1.26)
(1.55)
Controls for Individual,/ firm and regional level included; (robust t-statistics in parentheses)
ρ
Wald test of indep. eqns. (rho = 0)
-0.179
0.667
10thDAREResearchSeminar｜02December2016｜VUAmsterdam
-0.183
0.649
Conclusion and discussion
•  Soloself-employedindividualsshowsubstan@alinnova@veoutput
(c.f.Baumann&Kri@kos2016)
•  Typeofcoopera@onisofinfluence.
•  Coopera@onbetweensoloself-employedindividualsdoesnotleadto
innova@ons
•  Formorecomplexinnova@veprocesses,crucialtocapturethenecessary
resources(innova@vecoopera@on)
•  Involvementinotherfirms’innova@onprocessescanbeatriggerfor
owninnova@veac@vity(enablingrole!)
10thDAREResearchSeminar｜02December2016｜VUAmsterdam
Conclusion and discussion (2)
•  Theore@calimplica@ons:
•  Alterna@ve(open,coopera@ve)innova@onroutesarepoten@alsources
•  Innova@vecoopera@onneedstobefocusedonsecuringcrucialexternal
resources(transac@oncosts).
•  Prac@calimplica@ons:
•  Coopera@on,networks@mula@onandnetworkingeventsaimedat
s@mula@nginnova@onneedtofocusonthediversityofessen@alinnova@on
resources.
•  S@mulate‘enabling’role,R&Dsupportmeasuresalsofor‘nanobusinesses’
10thDAREResearchSeminar｜02December2016｜VUAmsterdam
Thank you!
[email protected]
10thDAREResearchSeminar｜02December2016｜VUAmsterdam