A Schumpeterian approach to entry barrier and firm profitability: cycle time of technology

ABSTRACT Entry barrier has long been considered as a major determinant of firm profitability. Although a less competitive market structure has been commonly known as an indicator of an entry barrier, pieces of past empirical evidence are mixed. Moreover, technological factors, such as R&D intensity, have also been considered. However, no satisfactory empirical analysis has been made, mostly due to the lack of a suitable proxy variable that can reflect the technological environment of a sector. This study addresses this problem by trying a new proxy variable, cycle time of technologies (CTT), and shows, using the US firm data, that firms in a sector with a long CTT tend to enjoy higher profitability and values than others. A long CTT of a sector presents a high entry barrier against any entrant because in such sectors, an existing stock of knowledge tends to be important for a longer period of time, making new innovation continuously rely on old knowledge owned by incumbents and protected by patent rights.