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on Economics of Strategic Management |
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Issue of 2025–10–13
nine papers chosen by João José de Matos Ferreira, Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Arenas Díaz, Guillermo; Piva, Mariacristina; Vivarelli, Marco |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the relationship between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and innovation inputs in Spanish manufacturing firms. While AI is increasingly recognized as a driver of productivity and economic growth, its role in shaping firms’ innovation strategies remains underexplored. Using firm-level data, our analysis focuses on whether AI complements innovation inputs - specifically R&D and Embodied Technological Change (ETC) - and whether AI can be considered as a Method of Invention, able to trigger subsequent innovation investments. Results show a positive association between AI adoption and both internal R&D and ETC, in a static and a dynamic framework. Furthermore, empirical evidence also highlights heterogeneity, with important peculiarities affecting large vs small firms and high-tech vs low-tech companies. These findings suggest that AI may act as both a complement and a catalyst, depending on firm characteristics. |
| JEL: | O31 O32 |
| Date: | 2025–10–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2025022 |
| By: | Boeing, Philipp; Brandt, Loren; Dai, Ruochen; Lim, Kevin; Peters, Bettina |
| Abstract: | China's patenting activity has surged over the past two decades, yet questions remain about the quality and sources of innovation. We develop a new method to measure the importance of a patent for innovation, based on the use of a Large Language Model to process patent text data and a new theory of the innovation process. We apply this method to study the evolution of patenting in China from 1985 until recently, and also classify patent ownership using a comprehensive business registry. Our method and data yield several novel facts about Chinese patenting. Among these are that the patents which are important for innovation have become less important on average; that knowledge within China has become more important than knowledge outside of China for directing innovation in China; and that knowledge produced by Chinese entities has been more important than knowledge produced by foreign entities in China. These findings have implications for China's growth trajectory and reflect both global trends in the decline of innovativeness and potential effects of domestic policy. |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewpbs:328016 |
| By: | Ayusha Fayyaz; Zoltan Bartha |
| Abstract: | The goal of this research is to uncover the channels through which research and development (R&D) impacts economic growth in developing countries. The study employed nine variables from three broader categories in the World Economic Forum database, each covering 32 countries from the lower-middle-income group for the year 2019. The theoretical framework is based on the R&D ecosystem, which includes components such as Institutions, Human capital, Capital market, R&D, and Innovation. Each of these components can contribute to the economic development of the country. Using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), we build a path diagram to visualize and confirm a potential relationship between the components. R&D features had a positive impact on innovation (regression weight estimate: +0.34, p = 0.001), as did capital market institutions (regression weight estimate: +0.12, p = 0.007), but neither had a significant impact on growth. According to the Schumpeterian institutional interpretation, R&D and innovation efforts may not lead to sustained growth in middle-income countries. We find no significant connection between innovation performance and economic growth. This suggests that while R&D and capital markets may contribute to innovation through entrepreneurship, this contribution is not impactful enough to drive economic growth in developing countries. Our findings provide further evidence of the middle-income trap. |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2509.19413 |
| By: | Sérgio R. R. de Queiroz; Nicholas S. Vonortas; Otaviano Canuto |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to demonstrate how certain transformations in the international economy since the 1980s¾notably the globalization of firms and industries¾combined with a set of domestic challenges, disrupted the path of industrial and technological development that Brazil had pursued since the 1930s. In essence, growth strategies based on the scale of the domestic market ceased to be effective. The innovation and economic challenges the country now faces cannot be addressed without a clear understanding of these processes. The analysis carries important policy implications, centered on the need for less protectionism and greater internationalization of firms. Reversing the inward-looking orientation of THE Brazilian industry is a key objective for any policy aiming to stimulate increased business R&D and innovation. |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ocp:rpaeco:rp03_25 |
| By: | Sara Amoroso (DIW Berlin); Simone Vannuccini (Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, GREDEG, France) |
| Abstract: | The participation of top R&D investors in publicly funded research collaborations is a common, yet largely unexplored phenomenon. It creates opportunities for knowledge spillovers and may increase the chance for a project to be funded. At the same time, the unbalanced nature of such partnerships could exacerbate power asymmetries and hinder the overall performance of such collaborations. In this paper, we examine whether cooperating with top R&D companies affects the innovative performance of publicly funded research consortia. We build a fit-for-purpose dataset that matches information from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) on R&D collaborative projects and proposals with data on the world's top 2, 500 companies with the highest R&D investment (R&D Scoreboard). Accounting for both sample selection and endogeneity in the participation of top R&D investors in a two-part count model framework, we find that teaming up with leading R&D companies increases the probability of obtaining funds. However, this comes at the cost of hindering the innovative performance of the funded projects, both in terms of patents and publications. In light of this evidence, the tradeoffs of mobilizing top R&D players should be carefully leveraged in the evaluation and design of innovation policies aimed at R&D collaboration and technology diffusion. |
| Keywords: | Research collaboration, Public funding, Innovation performance, Appropriability, Top R&D investors |
| JEL: | L24 L25 O33 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gre:wpaper:2025-41 |
| By: | Mustafa Erdem; Selcuk Gul |
| Abstract: | [TR] Bu calismada, Turkiye ekonomisinde sanayi uretiminin teknoloji yogunlugunun yakin donemdeki gelisimi hem makro duzeyde hem de firma duzeyinde gostergelerle ele alinmaktadir. Son on yillik donemde yuksek ve orta-yuksek teknoloji uretimi dikkat cekici bir artis kaydetmistir. Soz konusu donemde, Turkiye'nin teknoloji yogunluguna gore sanayi uretimindeki artis, Avrupa ulkelerinden olumlu yonde ayrismistir. Yuksek ve orta-yuksek teknoloji urunlerinin imalat sanayi icindeki payi halen OECD ortalamasinin altinda olmakla birlikte pandemi sonrasi donemde bu gruplarin performansi guclenmistir. Firma verilerinden mikro duzeyde hesaplanarak teknoloji gruplarina gore toplulastirilan gostergelere gore yuksek ve orta-yuksek teknoloji gruplarindaki firmalarin genel olarak likidite ve kârlilik oranlari yuksek, borcluluk oranlari ise dusuktur. Buna ek olarak, Ar-Ge harcamalari pandemi sonrasinda artis kaydetmistir. Ayrica, orta-yuksek ve yuksek teknoloji gruplarinin ihracat odakliligi diger gruplara gore daha yuksektir. Turkiye imalat sanayinin teknoloji yogunlugunda son on yillik donemde yakalanan guclu performansin surdurulmesi amaciyla Ar-Ge yatirimlarini destekleyen, isgucunun becerilerinin gelistirilmesine imkân veren, yapay zekâ ve dijitallesmeyi tesvik eden, yeni islerin ve kucuk ve orta olcekli girisimlerin daha kolay ortaya cikmasini destekleyen politikalar onemli gorulmektedir. [EN] This study examines the recent developments in the technological intensity of industrial production in the Turkish economy using indicators at both macro and firm levels. Over the past decade, there has been a notable increase in high- and medium-high-technology production. Indeed, during this period, the growth of industrial production by technological intensity in Türkiye has shown a positive divergence when compared to European countries. Although the share of high- and medium-hightechnology products in the manufacturing industry remains below the OECD average, the performance of these groups has strengthened in the post-pandemic period. According to aggregated indicators calculated at the micro level using firm data, on average, firms in high- and medium-high-technology groups generally exhibit higher liquidity and profitability ratios and lower debt ratios. In line with this, research and development (R&D) expenditures have increased in the post-pandemic period. Additionally, firms in the medium-high and high-technology groups are more export-oriented compared to other groups. To sustain the strong performance achieved in the technological intensity of Türkiye’s manufacturing industry over the past decade, policies that support R&D investments, enable workforce skill development, promote artificial intelligence and digitalization, and facilitate the emergence of new businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are deemed important. |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tcb:econot:2518 |
| By: | Holger Görg, Toshihiro Okubo, Eric Strobl, Maximilian von Ehrlich |
| Abstract: | In this paper we use comprehensive historic firm level data for 1925 to 1938 to estimate productivity spillovers from Japanese textile companies’ affiliates in China (Zaikabo) to local cotton producers in China. We geo-localized firms in order to capture the important role of distance in facilitating productivity spillovers. Our results provide clear evidence for positive productivity spillovers from Zaikabo to local Chinese firms. This goes hand-in-hand with a change in production technology towards greater use of capital (spindles). We also find that spillovers are very localised, being strongest within a radius of up to 10km around the Zaikabo. Furthermore, evidence for spillovers is particularly strong for firms in Shanghai. Our paper is the first to provide evidence for such spillovers from foreign firms in a historical context. |
| JEL: | F23 N65 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ube:dpvwib:dp2506 |
| By: | Fausto Cavalli; Alessandra Mainini; Enrico Moretto; Ahmad Naimzada |
| Abstract: | We propose an evolutionary model to study the transition toward green technology under the influence of innovation. Clean and dirty technologies are selected according to their profitability under an environmental tax, which depends on the overall pollution level. Pollution itself evolves dynamically: it results from the emissions of the two types of producers, naturally decays, and is reduced through the implementation of the current abatement technology. The regulator collects tax revenues and allocates them between the implementation of the existing abatement technology and its innovation, which increases the stock of knowledge and thereby enhances abatement effectiveness. From a static perspective, we show the existence of steady states, both with homogeneous populations of clean or dirty producers and with heterogeneous populations where both technologies coexist. We discuss the mechanisms through which these steady states emerge and how they may evolve into one another. From a dynamical perspective, we characterize the resulting scenarios, showing how innovation can foster a green transition if coupled with a suitable level of taxation. At the same time, we investigate how improper environmental policies may also produce unintended outcomes, such as environmental deterioration, reversion to dirty technology, or economic unsustainability. |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2509.25272 |
| By: | Debora Princepe; Cristobal Qui\~ninao; Cristina D\'iaz Faloh; Pablo A. Marquet; Matteo Marsili |
| Abstract: | Can sustained open-ended technological progress preserve natural resources in a finite planet? We address this question on the basis of a stylized model with genuine open-ended technological innovation, where an innovation event corresponds to a random draw of a technology in the space of the parameters that define how it impacts the environment and how it interacts with the population. Technological innovation is endogenous because an innovation may invade if it satisfies constraints which depend on the state of the environment and of the population. We find that open-ended innovation leads either to a sustainable future where global population saturates and the environment is preserved, or to exploding population and a vanishing environment. What drives the transition between these two phases is not the level of environmental impact of technologies, but rather the demographic effects of technologies and labor productivity. Low demographic impact and high labor productivity (as in several western countries today) result in a Schumpeterian dynamics where new "greener" technologies displace older ones, thereby reducing the overall environmental impact. In this scenario, global population saturates to a finite value, imposing strong selective pressure on technological innovation. When technologies contribute significantly to demographic growth and/or labor productivity is low, technological innovation runs unrestrained, population grows unbounded, while the environment collapses. As such, our model captures subtle feedback effects between technological progress, demography and sustainability that rationalize and align with empirical observations of a demographic transition and the environmental Kuznets curve, without deriving it from profit maximization based on individual incentives. |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2510.01085 |