Family Firm Density and Regional Innovation Output: An Exploratory Analysis

Block, Jorn H.; Spiegel, Frank

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1745362

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Family Firm Density and Regional Innovation Output: An Exploratory Analysis

Journal of Family Business Strategy, Vol. 4, No.4, pp. 270-280, 2013.

37 Pages Posted: 22 Jan 2011 Last revised: 8 Jun 2014

See all articles by Jorn H. Block

Jorn H. Block

University of Trier - Faculty of Management; Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Institute of Management (ERIM)

Frank Spiegel

Technische Universität München (TUM)

Date Written: January 22, 2011

Abstract

Family firm’s long-term orientation and local roots suggest positive effects on regional R&D cooperation and regional innovation output. This paper analyzes the effect of family firm density on regional innovation output. Combining a dataset of 326 German regions with the locations of 526 medium- to large-scale family firms in innovative industries, our regressions show that regions with a higher family firm density also show higher levels of innovation output, as measured by the number of successful patent applications. The implications of these findings for family firms and regional policy are discussed.

Keywords: family firms, regional innovation, patents, geography, family firm density

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Block, Jorn Hendrich and Spiegel, Frank, Family Firm Density and Regional Innovation Output: An Exploratory Analysis (January 22, 2011). Journal of Family Business Strategy, Vol. 4, No.4, pp. 270-280, 2013., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1745362 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1745362