“…According to Bell (2009) Although the idea of R&D cost spreading supports the advantage of large firms in R&D (Cohen and Klepper, 1996), new technology-based firms (NTBFs) 2 using highly skilled workers may show a propensity to perform R&D not less significant than that of large firms (Audretsch, 1995 (Licht and Nerlinger, 1998). NTBFs gained research attention because of their high growth potential, innovative nature, low failure rate, and ability to increase the science base of a country by successfully commercializing radically innovative products and services and by favoring technological diffusion (Licht and Nerlinger, 1998;Rickne and Jacobsson, 1999;Vaona and Pianta, 2008). For their ability to achieve higher levels of innovation performance in relation to other firms, especially new-to-market innovations, NTBFs have been the recipients of specialized government support in a number of countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and several European Union countries (Licht and Nerlinger, 1998;Ferguson and Olofsson, 2004;Schneider and Veugelers, 2010).…”