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- Gustafsson, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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Subsidy entrepreneurs
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this paper, we study the selection, incentives, and characteristics of small and medium sized firms (SMEs) that apply for and eventually receive one or multiple governmental grants intended to stimulate innovation and growth. The analysis departs from a rent-seeking model in which firms are free to allocate their effort between production and rent-seeking. We show that highly productive firms choose not to seek grants, while moderately productive firms allocate a share of their effortto rent-seeking, and low-productivity firms are incentivized to allocate most, if not all, of their effort to seeking grants and can thus be called subsidy entrepreneurs. Due to their large efforts in seeking grants, these low-productivity firms also havea relatively high probability of receiving grants. Using detailed data over all grants administered by the three largest grant-distributing agencies in Sweden, the empirical analysis suggests that supported firms have relatively low productivity, high wages, and a larger share of workers with higher education than non-supported firms. These characteristics become further pronounced as we move from single to multiple supported firms, thus providing support for the notion of subsidy entrepreneurs.
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- Gustafsson, Anders
(författare)
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Take it to the (public) bank : The efficiency of public bank loans to private firms
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Incomplete capital markets and credit constraints are often considered obstacles to economic growth, thus motivating government interventions in capital markets. One such intervention is governmental bank loans targeting credit-constrained small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). However, it is less clear to what extent these interventions result in firm growth and whether governmental loans should target firms that are not receiving private bank loans (the extensive margin) or work in conjunction with private bank loans (the intensive margin). Using a unique dataset with information on state bank loans targeting credit-constrained SMEs with and without complementary private bank loans, this paper contributes to the literature by studying how these loans affect the targeted firms. The results suggest that positive effects are found on firm productivity and sales for firms with 10 or fewer employees, while no evidence is found of employment effects. This lack of employment effect suggests that a lack of external credit is not the main obstacle to SME employment growth.
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- Shams, Poja, 1980-, et al.
(författare)
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The verticality heuristic : Why top shelf is not always top notch in product placement
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Many factors influence the consumer’s attention at point-of-purchase (POP), and suppliers invest heavily in these factors to influence behaviour and to increase the likelihood their products’ will ultimately be chosen. This paper contributes to the research on decision-making at POP by exploring shelf verticality (vertical space position) and product packaging as factors influencing consumer attention, consideration, and choice. We explored the inferences consumers drew from shelf verticality and product packaging by measuring visual perception in the decision-making process. In two eye-tracking experiments with value specific tasks (premium or budget), we found that consumers made inferences based on shelf verticality, which in turn influenced the initial visual attention towards products on the shelf. Nevertheless, consumers ultimately made value inferences from product packaging in consideration and choice of products. The implication is that consumers anticipate premium products to be placed on the top shelf level and budget products on the bottom. Any deviation from this expectation leads to longer search time. The main contribution of this research is that consumers use shelf verticality to reduce the search effort, similar to a heuristic, when product search is initiated. Consequently, the optimal placement of a product should be based on consumers’ expectations.
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