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on Economics of Strategic Management |
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Issue of 2024‒04‒29
eight papers chosen by João José de Matos Ferreira, Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Leogrande, Angelo |
| Abstract: | In this article I analyzed the propensity for patenting in Italian regions through the use of ISTAT-BES data. The static analysis shows the presence of a significant gap between the northern regions and the southern regions in the period between 2004 and 2019. The econometric analysis applied with panel models highlights the relationships that the propensity to patent has with respect to the determinants of innovation systems at regional level. The results are critically discussed with economic policy recommendations. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, Innovation and Invention, Management of Technological Innovation and R&D, Technological Change, Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital |
| JEL: | O30 O31 O32 O33 O34 |
| Date: | 2024–03–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:120553&r=cse |
| By: | Panteleimon Kruglov; Charles Shaw |
| Abstract: | This study explores the relationship between R&D intensity, as a measure of innovation, and financial performance among S&P 500 companies over 100 quarters from 1998 to 2023, including multiple crisis periods. It challenges the conventional wisdom that larger companies are more prone to innovate, using a comprehensive dataset across various industries. The analysis reveals diverse associations between innovation and key financial indicators such as firm size, assets, EBITDA, and tangibility. Our findings underscore the importance of innovation in enhancing firm competitiveness and market positioning, highlighting the effectiveness of countercyclical innovation policies. This research contributes to the debate on the role of R&D investments in driving firm value, offering new insights for both academic and policy discussions. |
| Date: | 2024–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2403.10982&r=cse |
| By: | Harrigan, James; Reshef, Ariell; Toubal, Farid |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of techies — engineers and other technically trained workers — on firm-level productivity. We first report new facts on the role of techies in the firm by leveraging French administrative data and unique surveys. Techies are STEM-skill intensive and are associated with innovation, as well as with technology adoption, management, and diffusion within firms. Using structural econometric methods, we estimate the causal effect of techies on firm-level Hicks-neutral productivity in both manufacturing and non-manufacturing industries. We find that techies raise firm-level productivity, and this effect goes beyond the employment of R\&D workers, extending to ICT and other techies. In non-manufacturing firms, the impact of techies on productivity operates mostly through ICT and other techies, not R\&D workers. Engineers have a greater effect on productivity than technicians. |
| Keywords: | productivity, R&D, ICT, techies, STEM skills |
| Date: | 2024–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpm:docweb:2401&r=cse |
| By: | Andrés Rodríguez-Pose; Zhuoying You; |
| Abstract: | Artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are revolutionising production, yet their potential to stimulate innovation and change innovation patterns remains underexplored. This paper examines whether AI and robotics can spearhead technological innovation, with a particular focus on their capacity to deliver where other policies have mostly failed: less developed cities and regions. We resort to OLS and IV-2SLS methods to probe the direct and moderating influences of AI and robotics on technological innovation across 270 Chinese cities. We further employ quantile regression analysis to assess their impacts on innovation in more and less innovative cities. The findings reveal that AI and robotics significantly promote technological innovation, with a pronounced impact in cities at or below the technological frontier. Additionally, the use of AI and robotics improves the returns of investment in science and technology (S&T) on technological innovation. AI and robotics moderating effects are often more pronounced in less innovative cities, meaning that AI and robotics are not just powerful instruments for the promotion of innovation but also effective mechanisms to reduce the yawning gap in regional innovation between Chinese innovation hubs and the rest of the country. |
| Keywords: | AI, robotics, China, technological innovation, territorial inequality |
| Date: | 2024–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:2406&r=cse |
| By: | Boa, I.; Elliott, M.; Foster, D.; |
| Abstract: | Merger analysis typically focuses on possible strategic price effects in markets where there is existing competition between the merging firms. We refer to this as the product based approach. This paper proposes a complementary approach based on an assessment of the merging firms’ capabilities that can provide insights on potential merger effects, including in circumstances where the product based approach offers little practical guidance to antitrust authorities. Our approach is rooted in the resource-based view of business strategy that starts from the premise that it is a firm’s capabilities (sometimes called core competencies), which drive its competitive advantage across markets. We argue that mergers in which firms’ capabilities are less overlapping are more pro-competitive on several dimensions: immediate competition in overlapping markets, immediate competition in other markets, long-run competition and innovation. |
| Date: | 2023–02–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camjip:2303&r=cse |
| By: | Maria Elisavet Balta (Kent Business School, University of Kent); Thanos Papadopoulos (Kent Business School, University of Kent); Konstantina Spanaki (Audencia Business School) |
| Abstract: | Purpose This paper aims to draw on the Dynamic Capabilities View to discuss how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) use digital technologies to develop digital capabilities that will enable them to change their current business model and trajectory, that is, to pivot-within turbulent environments, and subsequently to survive and grow. Design/methodology/approach The authors collected and analysed qualitative data from 26 SMEs in South-East England that have used digital technologies to pivot during the pandemic. The data was collected via in-depth semi-structured interviews. The authors analysed the data by creating first-order concepts, second-order themes, and aggregating dimensions. Findings The findings suggest that (1) digital technologies enable pivoting by facilitating the creation of the following digital capability types: "digital sensing", "digital seizing" and "digital transforming"; (2) Each of these digital capability types is underpinned by micro-foundations (sub-capabilities) and shaped by the digital culture of the organisation. (3) these capabilities are triggered by the turbulent environment and the existing digital technologies, and are shaped by the digital culture. Originality/value The authors contribute to the literature of digital entrepreneurship as the authors illustrate (1) how the micro-foundations of digital capabilities, as facilitated by digital technologies, assist pivoting; and (2) the process from key activities during pivoting to second-order themes that represent micro-foundations to digital (dynamic) capabilities for pivoting in turbulent environments. The study highlights the importance of digital pivoting for businesses in the UK Southeast that have many aspirations for growth and innovation, whilst striving to address multiple challenges including digital divide and literacy, inflation and cost of living crisis, as well as supply chain issues. |
| Keywords: | pivoting digital technologies digital capabilities opportunities barriers SMEs UK Southeast, pivoting, digital technologies, digital capabilities opportunities, barriers, SMEs, UK Southeast |
| Date: | 2024–03–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04513406&r=cse |
| By: | Blind, Knut; Münch, Florian |
| Abstract: | To examine the different roles of regulation and standards in the age of globalisation, we hypothesize and investigate the relation of regulation and national and international standards on the one hand with innovation input (R&D expenditure) and innovation output (patents) on the other hand. The analysis is based on data of 26 high-income countries between 1998 and 2018. There are two main results. Firstly, international standards outperform both de-regulation and national standardisation as they are positively associated with R&D expenditure and patenting. On the other hand, national standards – once believed a source of competitiveness – are negatively related to patents and hence seem to localize economies and slow-down innovation. Secondly, de-regulation does not correlate positively with R&D expenditure, but with increased patenting. We argue the former suggest businesses did not – as assumed – spend freed up resources on R&D, but instead strategically used patenting to replace lost regulation-based protection with patent fences. This casts doubts on the added social value of de-regulation induced innovation. |
| Keywords: | globalization; innovation; patents; R&D; regulation; standardization |
| JEL: | R14 J01 N0 |
| Date: | 2024–03–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:122260&r=cse |
| By: | Carolin Nast; Tom Broekel; Doris Entner |
| Abstract: | This study investigated two major trends shaping contemporary technological progress: the growing complexity of innovation and the increasing reliance on government support for private research and development (R&D). We analyzed United States patent data from 1981 to 2016 using structural vector autoregressions and uncovered an indirect interplay between these trends. Our findings showed that government incentives and support played a crucial role in spurring private-sector innovation. This government-fueled innovation, in turn, paved the way for advancements in more intricate and sophisticated technological areas. Our study sheds light on the dual role of the United States' innovation policy over the past four decades; the policy has not only accelerated technological advancement but also steered it toward increasingly complex domains. While this trend presents opportunities for economic growth and technological breakthroughs, it also poses challenges, including the potential for further escalating R&D costs. This research has significant implications for policymakers and industry leaders, suggesting a need for a balanced approach to fostering innovation while considering the long-term economic and technological landscape. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, patents, technological complexity, government R&D |
| JEL: | O31 O33 O38 |
| Date: | 2024–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:2407&r=cse |