Productivity and performance analysis at the firm-level in the uk: the roles of management, cooperation, and research and development

Feng, Yuchen 2025. Productivity and performance analysis at the firm-level in the uk: the roles of management, cooperation, and research and development. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

This thesis examines the microeconomic foundations of productivity and performance in UK firms, with a particular focus on how organisational capabilities, external knowledge networks, and innovation investment jointly shape economic outcomes. It investigates three interrelated dimensions of firm behaviour: management practices, innovation cooperation, and R&D investment. Using high-quality administrative and survey data combined with rigorous econometric methods, the study provides new evidence on how internal structures and external collaborations influence both productivity performance and labour market outcomes. The first empirical chapter analyses the effects of structured management practices on firm productivity. It demonstrates that firms adopting more formalised management systems achieve significantly higher levels of labour productivity. However, these gains are substantially weaker in family-controlled firms, indicating that informal governance arrangements and organisational culture may constrain the long-run effectiveness of managerial investments. The second empirical chapter applies a multi-stage Crépon–Duguet–Mairesse framework to examine the role of innovation cooperation along the innovation process. The results reveal that cooperation exerts stage-specific effects: capability-oriented partnerships primarily stimulate innovation engagement and investment, while market oriented cooperation facilitates the transformation of innovation inputs into outputs. Once intermediate stages are taken into account, cooperation does not generate systematic direct productivity gains. Moreover, the effectiveness of cooperation varies by partner type, firm size, and geographical scope, with smaller firms benefiting more at the input stage and larger firms at the output stage. The third empirical chapter investigates the labour market implications of R&D investment by analysing labour markdowns as a measure of monopsony power. It finds that internally financed and executed R&D significantly reduces markdowns, particularly in high-tech and labour-intensive firms, suggesting that organisational upgrading and skill dependence promote fairer wage outcomes. By contrast, externally sourced R&D has no significant effect, while dominant firms may use innovation to reinforce their market position in both product and labour markets. Overall, the findings highlight that productivity-enhancing strategies operate through complex organisational and institutional mechanisms. Internal management systems, external cooperation networks, and innovation investment are mutually reinforcing, but their effectiveness depends on governance structures, coordination capacity, and internal capability development. By linking firm behaviour to both output performance and labour market outcomes, this thesis offers a comprehensive perspective on productivity, innovation, and inequality in the UK context. The results provide important policy implications for promoting structured management and internally embedded innovation as foundations for sustainable and inclusive productivity growth.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Schools > Business (Including Economics)
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	2 April 2026
Last Modified:	02 Apr 2026 11:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/186145

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