Performance analysis of NTBFs in knowledge-intensive industries: Evidence from the human health sector

This study aims to shed some light on the differences in performance between New Technology-Based Firms (NTBFs) and others in a knowledge intensive industry, in this case the Human Health (HH) sector. With that purpose in mind, this work involves applying a new model for performance assessment to a representative sample of firms pertaining to the Human Health sector in the Valencia region of Spain. Application of several statistical techniques confirms the presence of an NTBF effect which ascribes a more favorable performance profile to the NTBF group. The analysis also reveals significant disparities at the territorial level between the core of the region and the rest. The Biomedicine branch appears to be a good business opportunity for investors and entrepreneurs but the differences in performance with the other two sectors are not statistically significant.