Exploring European Firms' Heterogeneity: Perspectives on Finance, Export, and R&D

Identifier:  TDX:3373

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TDX3373

Authors:  Cattaruzzo, Sebastiano

Abstract:
The thesis explores three relevant firms’ dimensions, finance, export and R&D, under the lens of heterogeneity. Both the choices of datasets and methodologies are explicitly in this direction and they constitute modern approaches to study firm growth and its dimensions. Applying quantile regression to a firm-level growth model, the impact of leverage on growth is analyzed. Across the growth distribution, only poor performing firms benefit from it, while for typical high-growth firms, probably other financial tools work better. Then, exporting is analyzed in relation to financial variables and high-growth firms. What appears is that firms, also high-growth one, tend to self-select into exporting markets according to their financial health, and they do not undergo significant capital structure changes thanks to exporting. Also, their persistence as high-growth firm depends on past persistence, as well as other more standard determinants like innovation. Finally, a decomposition of Spanish internal R&D is carried out using firm-level data. Dividing the data according to four factors (gazzelles, financial constraints, R&D subsidies and firms’ characteristics) and according to two business periods (a contractionary and an expansionary one), interesting findings emerge. For instance, the R&D subsidy schemes and the presence of gazzelles appear as fundamental contributor to innovative input. Also, the strength of the business cycle dominates most of the distributional changes, implying that governmental support scheme are of fundamental importance during economic downturns.