Firstly, we investigated the determinants of a) the propensity of Swiss firms to provide apprenticeship training, and b) the intensity of training (measured by the employment share of apprentices). We primarily were interested in the relevance as explanatory factors of the three constituent...

In this paper, the parent firms’ choice of FDI locations is analyzed based on a unique firm-level dataset for Swiss MNEs. The data allows a detailed characterization of parent companies, their foreign subsidiaries and the two-way trade flows between parent companies and foreign affiliates. In...

In diesem Beitrag berichten wir über die Resultate einer Studie, die auf Daten für ca. 1900 Firmen basiert. Diese stammen aus einer im Jahr 2010 durchgeführten Erhebung bei einer repräsentativen Stichprobe von Unternehmen der Sektoren Industrie, Bau und Dienstleis - tungen (DL). Der...

In weiten Teilen der Wirtschaft hat sich ein «neues Unternehmensmodell» durchgesetzt, das im Kern auf der Kombination von drei Elementen beruht: a) intensive Nutzung von Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien (IKT), b) vermehrt partizipative Formen der Arbeitsorganisation, c) Einsatz...

The relevance of services FDI strongly increased over the last two decades. As goods and services differ with respect to important characteristics, one may expect that the determinants of internationalisation are not identical in manufacturing and the service sector. However, there is...

The paper analyzes the relevance of the three constituent elements of the ‘new firm paradigm', i.e. ICT, workplace organization and human capital, as determinants of a firm's provision of training. We concentrate on apprenticeship training, which in German-speaking countries is a widespread...

While previous studies on mergers and acquisitions (M&As) mostly relied on large firms, our study is based on a sample that includes all Swiss M&As that took place in the period 2006–2008, mostly of which have been SMEs. We investigate the firm characteristics that determine the innovation and...

In this study we investigate the impact of early stage venture capital on innovation activities of start-ups. This is done based on a cohort of start-ups that is representative of all firms founded in Switzerland in 1996/97, as recorded by a census of the Swiss Federal Statistical Office for...

Based on a comprehensive data set comprising 13 countries, 22 industries and a period of 30 years we investigate the impact of internal and external knowledge pools of both green and ‘other than green’ technologies on green patent activities. It turned out that the internal green knowledge...

Although there are some studies that empirically test the impact of financial constraints on the success of start-ups, the persistence of this impact is not well understood. Using survey data for a cohort of Swiss start-ups that were observed during a period of 10 years, we find that financial...