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on Economics of Strategic Management |
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Issue of 2025–11–10
ten papers chosen by João José de Matos Ferreira, Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Mahabubur Rahman (ESC [Rennes] - ESC Rennes School of Business); M Ángeles Rodríguez-Serrano (Universidad de Sevilla = University of Seville); Md Tareq Bin Hossain (TU - Thammasat University) |
| Abstract: | While prior studies broadly explored the consequences of environmental innovation, the implications of environmental product innovation for firm performance have received relatively scant research attention. Past studies theorizing that environmental product innovation has a linear effect on firm performance have reported mixed results, indicating that the association between the two is far more complex than conceptualized by earlier research. Drawing on the natural resource-based view of the firm and the resource dependence theory, this study theorizes that the impact of environmental product innovation on firm growth follows a curvilinear (inverted Ushaped) pattern. It is also posited that this curvilinear relationship is moderated by marketing intensity, sustainability disclosure strategy and a firm's propensity to engage in deviant corporate practices. Using a sample of U.S.-based firms and employing an endogeneity-robust econometric modelling technique, this study demonstrates that the effect of environmental product innovation on firm growth is initially positive but subsequently becomes negative. Further, this research shows that this curvilinear relationship between environmental product innovation and firm growth is moderated by a firm's sustainability disclosure strategy (the curve flattens), marketing intensity (the curve flattens) and by a firm's level of engagement in deviant corporate practices (the curve steepens). The results are robust to additional sensitivity analyses. |
| Keywords: | Sustainability disclosure, Deviant corporate practices, Marketing intensity, Firm growth, Environmental product innovation |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05280178 |
| By: | Loles Añón Higón (Department of Applied Economics II and ERICES, Faculty of Economics (Universitat de València), Avda. Tarongers, s/n, 46022 Valencia (Spain)); Juan A. Máñez (Department of Applied Economics II and ERICES, Faculty of Economics (Universitat de València), Avda. Tarongers, s/n, 46022 Valencia (Spain)); Amparo Sanchis (Department of Applied Economics II and ERICES, Faculty of Economics (Universitat de València), Avda. Tarongers, s/n, 46022 Valencia (Spain)); Juan A. Sanchis (Department of Applied Economics II and ERICES, Faculty of Economics (Universitat de València), Avda. Tarongers, s/n, 46022 Valencia (Spain)) |
| Abstract: | We examine the role of digitalisation in shaping innovation strategies. To capture the multidimensional nature of digital transformation, we construct a firm-level digitalisation index that incorporates four dimensions: technological infrastructure, digital human capital, automation and digital stakeholders’ interactions. Using data from Spanish manufacturing firms for the period 2007-2022, we assess the effects of digitalisation on both technological innovation (product and process) and non-technological (organisational and marketing) innovation. Our empirical strategy is based on a knowledge production function framework that jointly analyses firms' innovation decisions while accounting for unobserved heterogeneity and potential endogeneity of digitalisation. The results show that digitalisation is a key driver of innovation, in particular for SMEs, but also for firms without formal R&D activities. However, its impact varies across innovation types, with the strongest effects observed for process innovation. The analysis further reveals that the components of digitalisation affect innovation strategies in different ways, underscoring the heterogeneous nature of digital transformation. |
| Keywords: | Digital transformation, manufacturing firms, product innovation, process innovation, organisational innovation, marketing innovation. |
| JEL: | O33 O32 L60 C35 D22 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eec:wpaper:2512 |
| By: | Siavash Mohades; Maria Savona |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates whether investments in data affect firms’ R&D and whether the two are productivity-enhancing complements. We conceptualise and test whether investments in data reduce market uncertainty, thereby mitigating the inherent uncertainty of R&D and enhancing research and innovation investment. Using Italian firm-level data from 2002 to 2024 and exploiting the GDPR as an instrument, we identify a positive causal effect of data on R&D investment. Moreover, we find that data and R&D are complementary in enhancing both short- and long-term productivity. Our analyses also identify a positive role of R&D for productivity only when firms are data-intensive. |
| Keywords: | uncertainty, data, R&D, digitalisation, innovation, productivity |
| JEL: | D22 D25 D82 O31 O33 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12230 |
| By: | Arnone, Massimo; Costantiello, Alberto; Drago, Carlo; Leogrande, Angelo |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the connection between innovation dynamics and the Bank Capital to Asset Ratio (CAR) in the context of 39 European nations from 2018 to 2025. With a multidimensional panel data approach that incorporates a combination of static and dynamic panel models and machine learning algorithms—specifically Decision Tree Regression—the study conducts a data-oriented analysis of the impact of various types of innovation on the resilience of the banking sector. The study differentiates innovation inputs (e.g., trademark applications, innovator share), outputs (e.g., new-to-marketing and new-to-firm product sales), and productivity factors and factors permitting a finely grained comprehension of innovation inputs and financial consequences. Cluster analysis is applied to classify countries into innovation performance groups and is followed by regression and variable importance calculations. The study identifies that process innovations executed by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are positively linked with CAR and that information is associated with greater financial stability, whereas innovation outputs and productivity indicators at times relate inversely and register corresponding financial stress in the face of innovation-driven transitions. Further, pre-stage innovation inputs may raise banks' uncertainty and register systematic risk escalation. The model of a Decision Tree also reveals the sales of innovative products and labor productivity to be the most robust determinants of CAR with varied directional impacts between them. These results document the innovation-finance nexus complexity and refute the supposition that innovation equally strengthens economic prudence. The study contributes new knowledge to the literature through the combination of the assessment of financial prudency with the type of innovation and provides clear policy directions for the synchronization of innovation strategies with macroprudency aims across the European region. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, Bank Capital, Financial Stability, Decision Tree Regression, Europe. |
| JEL: | C38 E44 G21 O31 O52 |
| Date: | 2025–08–31 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:125982 |
| By: | Schilirò, Daniele |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an examination of the knowledge economy, its nature, evolution, and defining features. Such an economy relies on increasing specialization, research, innovation, and continuous learning. Innovation constitutes a fundamental dimension of the knowledge economy; hence, it emerges as the second central theme of this analysis. The findings indicate that the capacity of companies to innovate depends on several factors, including the availability of sufficient human capital with appropriate levels of education and advanced skills, the presence of robust infrastructure, and the role of institutions. In particular, the innovation ecosystem—where stakeholders interact and collaborate—together with the regulatory and legislative framework, serves to foster and sustain innovation. |
| Keywords: | knowledge economy; knowledge; learning; networks; innovation, technological progress; competitiveness |
| JEL: | D83 L1 O30 O32 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:126380 |
| By: | Luisa Alama (Universitat Jaume I and IIDL); Joan Crespo (Universitat de València); Miguel A. Márquez (Universidad de Extremadura); Emili Tortosa-Ausina (Universitat Jaume I, IIDL and Ivie) |
| Abstract: | We empirically evaluate how the efficiency of Spanish public universities impacts regional economic performance in Spain during the period 2010–2019. Efficiency is measured using activity analysis methods that attempt to capture reflect how universities perform in their respective missions— namely, teaching, research, and knowledge transfer. We analyse the geography of higher education by examining efficiency at the provincial (NUTS3) and regional (NUTS2) levels, as well as for groups of regions (NUTS1). Our results offer several key insights. First, we find that geography plays a differential role primarily when knowledge transfer activities are considered, while geographical patterns are similar for teaching and research activities. Second, the impact of universities’ efficiency on regional economic activity varies across different outcome measures. While provinces with more efficient public university systems show higher labor productivity and capital intensity levels, there is no significant relationship with per capita income. The spatial analysis indicates that efficiency gains generate indirect and positive spillovers, particularly for capital intensity, suggesting that improvements in university performance can benefit broader regional areas. Additionally, institutional quality, measured through regional government performance indicators, reinforces these effects. Our findings suggest that policies aimed at enhancing university efficiency should prioritise the research mission. Among the three university missions, research has the greatest impact on improving productive processes and is the most effective in fostering regional economic development. |
| Keywords: | bias-corrected efficiency; capital intensity; higher education institutions; regional growth; productivity |
| JEL: | C61 J24 R11 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eec:wpaper:2510 |
| By: | Ventsislavova Georgieva, Daniela; Georgieva, Teodora |
| Abstract: | The report analyses the innovation potential of Bulgaria's furniture industry and agribusiness through a cluster approach, emphasizing regional disparities and challenges. The results indicate that the furniture industry suffers from low investment in innovation and limited digitization, while agribusiness faces low productivity and regional imbalances despite its steady growth. Leading regions (Ruse, Gabrovo, Dobrich, Yambol) demonstrate high economic activity and innovation development. National policies in the sector should focus on increasing investments in new technologies, promoting balanced regional development, and enhancing cluster coordination to improve competitiveness and sustainability in both sectors. |
| Keywords: | furniture industry, agribusiness, cluster analysis, innovation potential |
| JEL: | O1 O10 Q00 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:126240 |
| By: | Xiaoning Wang; Chun Feng; Tianshu Sun |
| Abstract: | Labor mobility is a critical source of technology acquisition for firms. This paper examines how artificial intelligence (AI) knowledge is disseminated across firms through labor mobility and identifies the organizational conditions that facilitate productive spillovers. Using a comprehensive dataset of over 460 million job records from Revelio Labs (2010 to 2023), we construct an inter-firm mobility network of AI workers among over 16, 000 U.S. companies. Estimating a Cobb Douglas production function, we find that firms benefit substantially from the AI investments of other firms from which they hire AI talents, with productivity spillovers two to three times larger than those associated with traditional IT after accounting for labor scale. Importantly, these spillovers are contingent on organizational context: hiring from flatter and more lean startup method intensive firms generates significant productivity gains, whereas hiring from firms lacking these traits yields little benefit. Mechanism tests indicate that "flat and lean" organizations cultivate more versatile AI generalists who transfer richer knowledge across firms. These findings reveal that AI spillovers differ fundamentally from traditional IT spillovers: while IT spillovers primarily arise from scale and process standardization, AI spillovers critically depend on the experimental and integrative environments in which AI knowledge is produced. Together, these results underscore the importance of considering both labor mobility and organizational context in understanding the full impact of AI-driven productivity spillovers. |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2511.02099 |
| By: | Abdo Khoury (CERGAM - Centre d'Études et de Recherche en Gestion d'Aix-Marseille - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - UTLN - Université de Toulon) |
| Abstract: | Entrepreneurial legitimacy is a multidimensional construct that remains conceptually fragmented despite its recognized importance in entrepreneurship research. While various disciplines have explored legitimacy through sociological, psychological, and organizational lenses, a unified theory has yet to emerge. Prior research highlights the role of legitimacy in organizational success, particularly in gaining stakeholder support and facilitating internationalization. Though, little is known about how entrepreneurs construct their identities to gain legitimacy in global markets. This study addresses this gap by investigating how Lebanese entrepreneurs enact entrepreneurial identities to build international legitimacy. Drawing on social identity theory and institutional theory, we examine the interplay between legitimacy and internationalization in entrepreneurial ventures. Using a grounded theory approach, this research develops a framework for understanding how legitimacy is acquired and managed throughout a venture's lifecycle. Our findings contribute to entrepreneurship and legitimacy literature by offering insights into the strategic identity work entrepreneurs engage in to enhance their competitiveness in international markets. |
| Keywords: | Network, Internationalization, Strategies, Entrepreneurship, Legitimacy |
| Date: | 2025–06–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05337783 |
| By: | Mariam Camarero (University Jaume I and INTECO, Department of Economics, Campus de Riu Sec, E-12080 Castellón (Spain).); Joan Crespo (University of Val`encia and INTECO, Department of Applied Economics II, Av. dels Tarongers, s/n Eastern Department Building E-46022 Valencia, (Spain).); Cecilio Tamarit (University of Val`encia and INTECO, Department of Applied Economics II, Av. dels Tarongers, s/n Eastern Department Building E-46022 Valencia, (Spain).) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the role of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in shaping the evolution of comparative advantages within global production networks. Extending existing frameworks on knowledge diffusion, we conceptualize FDI as a vector for cross-border capability transfer. The empirical strategy combines static and dynamic approaches: the static analysis employs gravity-style models to assess patterns of export similarity across countries, while the dynamic analysis examines how FDI influences specialization, with a particular focus on high-complexity sectors. Drawing on a bilateral dataset covering FDI and trade flows for 138 countries over two decades, from 2001 until 2021, the results show that FDI significantly enhances the host economy’s ability to develop new comparative advantages in capability-intensive goods. Moreover, the dual approach reveals that FDI supports both diversification and consolidation, acting through different mechanisms. These findings offer new insights into the processes of industrial upgrading and structural transformation in an increasingly interconnected global economy. |
| Keywords: | Foreign Direct Investment; Competitive Advantage; Relatedness; External Linkages |
| JEL: | F23 F43 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eec:wpaper:2511 |