Innovativeness of industrial processing enterprises and conjunctural movement

Abstract

Singulation of components determining the innovative activity of enterprises is a complex issue as it depends on both microeconomic and macroeconomic factors. The purpose of this article is to present the results of research on the impact of the mutual interactions between ownership and the size of companies on the achievement of the objectives of innovative activity by Polish industrial processing enterprises in changing cyclical conditions. The importance of innovation barriers was also assessed. Empirical data came from three periods that covered different phases of the business cycle: prosperity 2004–2006, global financial crisis 2008–2010, and recovery 2012–2014. The research used a cybernetic approach based on feedback loops presenting interactions between variables. In addition, two statistical methods were used: the Pearson’s χ2 independence test and correspondence analysis. The following discoveries were made during the research: (1) consideration of the combined impact of ownership and the size of companies on their innovation activities makes it possible to study phenomena that may be overlooked if the impact of these factors is considered separately; (2) public enterprises achieve significantly worse results in terms of innovation than companies from other ownership sectors; (3) the Red Queen effect, which assumes that the best innovative enterprises exert selection pressure on all other companies, applies to industrial processing companies, and in particular public enterprises; (4) the industrial processing section is more sensitive to secular trends than to cyclical fluctuations; (5) confirmation of occurrence of the Polish Green Island effect, which assumes that companies achieve good results in terms of innovation, irrespective of the phases of the business cycle; and (6) statistical evidence is provided that the global financial crisis may be associated with the turn of the Fifth and Sixth Kondratieff waves. Most likely, the role of the communication channel between the world economy and the Polish manufacturing section is fulfilled by foreign ownership, whose percentage of share capital of this section is estimated at 50%.