Fox professor receives NSF grant for research on product innovations

Jose Plehn-Dujowich, an assistant professor of accounting and finance, has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for a project titled, "The Sources and Consequences of Product Innovations in the U.S. Economy"

Plehn-Dujowich proposes to explore the connection between firm characteristics and product introductions to uncover whether new products predominantly originate from new versus established firms. Then the link between new products and entrepreneurial activity is studied to understand whether and to what extent product innovations spur new entrepreneurial activity. Finally, the contribution of product innovations to economic growth is assessed.

The contribution of the project is on two major fronts. First, the project creates a novel longitudinal database that associates narrowly defined products with firms over time. Second, the project has important policy implications pertaining to the establishment of research and development-intensive ventures in general, and small firms and start-ups in particular.

If small, young firms are responsible for more product innovations than old, large firms, then government policy should aim toward subsidizing innovation efforts in small, young firms so as to maximize the government’s return on investment and the favorable impact of entrepreneurship on society.

In addition to funding from the NSF, Plehn-Dujowich has received grants from the Kauffman Foundation, U.S. Small Business Administration and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

— Staff report