Mogens Dilling-Hansen

Efficiency, R&D and ownership – some empirical evidence

Abstract Investments in R&D create an immaterial capital asset, which is expected to have a positive influence on firms’ efficiency and consequently on their profit. Nonetheless, the short-term effects of current investments in R&D are difficult to prove. Therefore, this paper focuses on analyses based on the technical efficiency methodology using a stochastic frontier approach in order to investigate the influence of R&D activities on the technical efficiency of the firms. Using a sample of 2370 Danish firms, the analysis suggests that R&D-active firms are significantly more efficient than other firms. The legal form of ownership also affects the efficiency significantly, whereas firms owned by large shareholders – who are expected to exert a disciplinary influence on the managers of the firm – do not seem to be more efficient than other firms.

R&D and productivity in Danish firms: some empirical evidence

The aim of the paper is to examine the relationship between R&D capital and productivity using microdata for Danish manufacturing firms. The influence of factors such as ownership, innovative characteristics and source of funding accounted for. The return to accumulated R&D capital is estimated to be in the neighbourhood of 9–12%, whereas the short-run effect of R&D is insignificant. Furthermore, the direct influence from foreign ownership, source of funding accounted for, innovative characteristics and ownership dispersion on productivity are analysed. However, none of the factors seem to have an impact on firm productivity. The same is the case for the indirect influence coming from interaction with accumulated R&D capital.

Determinants of CEO and Board Turnover

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, to document changes in top management and board of directors in Danish firms during 1996–98. Second, to examine whether these changes are related to the performance of firms during the preceding years. Our study differs from earlier investigations in that we not only consider removal of CEOs but also turnover of board chairmen and board members. We find that turnovers of CEOs, board chairs and members have a number of common determinants like firm size and age of the firm. Risks of removals increase with lower rates of solvency but are unaffected by profitability changes. The hypothesis that competition increases the turnover risk is not supported by the estimations.

Regional income effects and renewable fuels : Increased usage of renewable energy sources in Danish rural areas and its impact on regional incomes

CO2 emission is a worldwide problem and in the attempt to reduce these emissions, renewable energy sources may be considered serious alternatives to the present usage of fossil fuels. As part of a research programme financed by the Danish Energy Agency, data concerning the different heating technologies based on oil and wood fuels have been collected. Private and social costs are estimated and these economic data are used when analysing regional income effects of increased consumption of fuels (e.g. wood) locally produced. The impacts on income and tax revenues are calculated from multiplier expressions, constructed with rights to the measurement of local effects.

R&D, export and productivity: testing the Bustos model on Danish data

In this article, a unique data set for Danish manufacturing firms has been used to analyse the interplay between export, R&D investments and productivity. In addition to traditional tests, a nonparametric test for differences in stochastic distributions gives evidence that the productivity distribution of firms that export and engage in R&D dominates the productivity distribution of firms that are exporters without engaging in R&D. Furthermore, the productivity distribution of the latter group of firms dominates that of firms who are neither R&D-active nor exporters. This conclusion applies to the years before, under and after the economic downward spiral in the world economy, i.e. 2007 to 2010. Overall, this result confirms the hypothesis of Bustos (2011) for Argentina, and for the results for German firms, see Wagner (2012b) and Vogel and Wagner (2012). However, for 2009 the findings are less clear, mainly due to the relative productivity cutback, which some exporting firms faced at the beginning of the downturn in the world economy.

Growth and convergence in Danish regional incomes

Abstract In this paper Danish regional income differences over a period offifty years have been analysed. The basic tool of analysis is the ‘Catch-up’ hypothesis, which is usually applied in internationally comparative studies of income growth and convergence. The main finding of the empirical analysis is that a significant convergence in regional income at county level has taken place since the Second World War. Besides the pure catch-up explanation, it is argued that some part of the convergence in incomes is due to narrowing of differences in industrial-structure and education. Despite these tendences, the Copenhagen area still remains the leading region in Denmark.

Productivity, Competition, Financial Pressure and Corporate Governance — Some Empirical Evidence

In this paper we examine the relationship between the productivity of firms and the pressure from their shareholders, debtholders and the competitors in their product market. There are remarkably few empirical studies on firm productivity1 compared to the large number of empirical studies on other firm performances — profitability in particular — and market competition carried out in the sixties and up through the eighties. This lack of empirical studies on firm level productivity differentials is surprising for two reasons.

R&D, export and productivity in business services firms: testing the Bustos model

This article uses data for Danish business services firms to analyse the nexus between the decision to export, invest in R&D and firm productivity. Testing the hypothesis derived by Bustos (2011) by the use of a nonparametric test for differences in stochastic productivity distributions, see Delgado et al. (2002); it is found that the productivity distribution of exporting business services firms dominates the productivity distribution of nonexporting firms who do not invest in R&D. Except for 2007, this result holds for all the years included in the sample, i.e. 2007–2010. Exporting firms that are R&D active are more productive than nonexporting firms without R&D in all years between 2007 and 2010. This result is in accordance with Vogel and Wagner (2013) who test the Bustos model with German data for business services firms. The results are mixed when testing productivity differences for non-R&D active exporting firms with exporting firms that are R&D active. In this case the Bustos hypothesis holds only for 2009. Export of services has become increasingly important in foreign trade for developed countries. And the results add to the sparse empirical evidence on the interplay between R&D, export and productivity for firms in the business services industry.

Top Management, Education and Networking

This book explores the revolutionary development of the theory of the firm over the past 35 years. Despite rapid progress in the field, new developments in the microeconomic and industrial organization literature have been relatively scant. This book attempts to redress the balance by providing a comprehensive overview of the theory of the firm before moving on to examine firms and the organization of their economic activities. The contributors also investigate the impact of ownership structure and board composition on firm performance and study how the institutional framework of an economy affects investment decisions.