nep-cse New Economics Papers
on Economics of Strategic Management
Issue of 2023‒09‒18
seven papers chosen by
João José de Matos Ferreira, Universidade da Beira Interior


  1. It's not a sprint, it's a marathon: Reviewing governmental R&D support for environmental innovation By Meißner, Leonie; Peterson, Sonja; Semrau, Finn Ole
  2. Gender and Innovation at the U.S. National Institutes of Health By Chowdhury, Farhat; Link, Albert; Royalty, Anne
  3. Innovative Activity and Ethnic Dynamics: An Exploratory Study of Homophilic Relationships among Minority Entrepreneurs By Link, Albert
  4. Identifying the Emergence of Academic Entrepreneurship within the Technology Transfer Literature By Hayter, Christopher; Link, Albert; Schaffer, Matthew
  5. Artificial Intelligence and Scientific Discovery: A Model of Prioritized Search By Ajay K. Agrawal; John McHale; Alexander Oettl
  6. NFTs and business model innovations By Damiano Cesa Bianchi; Marco Bellucci; Giacomo Manetti; Luca Bagnoli
  7. Which Firms Are More Digitized? A Comparative Study between Egypt and Jordan By Chahir Zaki

  1. By: Meißner, Leonie; Peterson, Sonja; Semrau, Finn Ole
    Abstract: In a race against excessive global warming, the world must accelerate the development and adoption of environmental innovations (EIs). EIs are crucial in decarbonizing the economy and meeting the netzero targets. In this literature review, we delve into the role of governments in promoting EIs across stages of maturity and the likeliness of such support to reduce emissions and mitigation costs. Various theoretical justifications, such as knowledge externalities, dynamic increasing returns, path dependency and incomplete information, highlight the necessity to promote EI through governmental Research and Development (R&D) support. While emission pricing remains the most cost-efficient climate policy, it fails as a stand-alone instrument to sufficiently encourage EI. Accordingly, the optimal approach is a policy mix complementing emission pricing with governmental R&D support. The theoretical finding is backed by empirical studies on the development and deployment of renewable energies, which also show that investment in R&D can effectively reduce emissions and mitigation costs. By combining theoretical and empirical research, the review concludes by examining two pivotal policy actions aimed at accelerating the take-off of EIs: The US Inflation Reduction Act and the European Green New Deal Industrial Plan. We evaluate their specific aspects and limitations to effectively and efficiently contribute to decarbonization.
    Date: 2023
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:2254&r=cse
  2. By: Chowdhury, Farhat (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics); Link, Albert (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics); Royalty, Anne (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics)
    Abstract: This paper presents a systematic empirical study of covariates associated with the success of NIH Phase I SBIR-funded research projects, where success is defined in terms of the small, entrepreneurial firm conducting the Phase I research subsequently receiving a follow-on Phase II research award. We find that women-owned firms are especially disadvantaged in this regard. Our findings suggest that SBIR program managers consider recommendations to overcome these disadvantages. Our recommendations could enhance the rate at which follow-on Phase II research projects are funded and possibly the rate at which the developed technologies are commercialized.
    Keywords: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program; entrepreneurship; gender; program management; public sector; Phase I and Phase II research; technology development
    JEL: L38 O32 O38
    Date: 2023–08–22
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:uncgec:2023_005&r=cse
  3. By: Link, Albert (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics)
    Abstract: Homophily studies have tended to focus on gender and race. Albeit that these comparisons are important, a focus on ethnic group relationships is conspicuously absent in the literature. In an effort to begin to fill this void, homophilic ethnic relationships among firm owners and publicly funded research project principal investigators is considered in this paper. Using data on Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program funded projects and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program-funded projects, we find that the performance enhancing benefit of a homophilic relationship is dependent on the area of technology research. To the extent that the area of technology research is reflected in terms of the federal agency funding the research project, Department of Defense-funded projects are less enhanced by homophilic relationships than are research projects funded by other federal agencies.
    Keywords: homophily; SBIR; STTR; project R&D; program performance;
    JEL: H41 O22 O31
    Date: 2023–08–22
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:uncgec:2023_006&r=cse
  4. By: Hayter, Christopher (Georgia Institute of Technology); Link, Albert (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics); Schaffer, Matthew (Eastern Michigan University)
    Abstract: Though academic entrepreneurship has long been associated with technology transfer and more broadly with the passage of the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act in 1980, we have little understanding of its emergence as a research field. This paper therefore investigates development of the concept of academic entrepreneurship by studying the use of related keywords in the titles of papers published in the Journal of Technology Transfer (JTT) beginning with volume 1 in 1977. We conclude from our empirical findings that the role of universities in technology transfer has been consistently emphasized in the titles of papers published in the JTT over time, with entrepreneurship emerging more recently as a crucial area of scholarly focus.
    Keywords: academic entrepreneurship; entrepreneurial university; technology transfer; project evaluation; research portfolio choices;
    JEL: G11 H40 L26 O33
    Date: 2023–08–22
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:uncgec:2023_004&r=cse
  5. By: Ajay K. Agrawal; John McHale; Alexander Oettl
    Abstract: We model a key step in the innovation process, hypothesis generation, as the making of predictions over a vast combinatorial space. Traditionally, scientists and innovators use theory or intuition to guide their search. Increasingly, however, they use artificial intelligence (AI) instead. We model innovation as resulting from sequential search over a combinatorial design space, where the prioritization of costly tests is achieved using a predictive model. We represent the ranked output of the predictive model in the form of a hazard function. We then use discrete survival analysis to obtain the main innovation outcomes of interest – the probability of innovation, expected search duration, and expected profit. We describe conditions under which shifting from the traditional method of hypothesis generation, using theory or intuition, to instead using AI that generates higher fidelity predictions, results in a higher likelihood of successful innovation, shorter search durations, and higher expected profits. We then explore the complementarity between hypothesis generation and hypothesis testing; potential gains from AI may not be realized without significant investment in testing capacity. We discuss the policy implications.
    JEL: O31 O33
    Date: 2023–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31558&r=cse
  6. By: Damiano Cesa Bianchi (University of Florence); Marco Bellucci (University of Florence); Giacomo Manetti (University of Florence); Luca Bagnoli (University of Florence)
    Abstract: Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) use blockchain technology to certify the ownership of digital assets. This study aims to understand the opportunities and limits of NFTs in the innovation of business models (BMs) across various sectors, including auction houses, museums, ticketing companies, and online art exchanges. Specifically, we are interested in understanding the role of NFTs in enabling the decentralization and digitalization of BMs owing to new products, services or processes. By adopting a conceptual approach based on the BM framework proposed by Osterwalder and Pigneur, this study uses a qualitative methodology based on multiple case studies to discuss the unique cases of Christie's, OpenSea, Uffizi Gallery, and Ticketmaster. Our findings suggest that despite the opportunities presented by NFTs in terms of revenue streams, customer interface, digital authentication, and decentralization, many limitations remain, including regulatory uncertainty and ethical and environmental concerns.
    Keywords: Nonfungible tokens, NFTs, case study, business model, digitalization, decentralization
    JEL: G30 M10 M41
    Date: 2023
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:frz:wpmmos:wp2023_01.rdf&r=cse
  7. By: Chahir Zaki (Cairo University)
    Abstract: Digitalization refers to the transition from an industrial age characterized by traditional technologies to a new era in which commerce, innovation, and other dimensions are driven by digital technologies. The objective of this paper is twofold: first to examine the characteristics of the firms who adopt digital technologies by focusing on two emerging markets, which are Egyp and Jordan. Second, this paper analyzes the potential explanations behind the under-performance of these two countries compared to other emerging economies. The main findings show that firms having an owner whose education level is university and above and who is a woman are more likely to be digitized, especially in Egypt. Moreover, firms that spend on R& D and operating in the services sector adopt and use different digital platforms. Small and medium firms are generally facing several impediments and are not as digitized as large ones. Numerous bottlenecks hinder digitalization in these countries namely the legal and human infrastructure as well as the general quality of institutions including service restrictions.
    Date: 2023–04–20
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erg:wpaper:1635&r=cse

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