|
on Economics of Strategic Management |
|
Issue of 2026–02–23
sixteen papers chosen by João José de Matos Ferreira, Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Vathsala Wickramasinghe (University of Moratuwa); N. Madhusanka (University of Moratuwa) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of the study was to investigate factors that contribute to the success of technology transfers. The specific objectives were to investigate 1) technological capabilities acquired by recipient firms through the technology transfer at the project level, 2) contributory factors that influence technology transfer, and 3) whether technological capabilities acquired by recipient firms are affected by these contributory factors. The study was conducted in Sri Lanka. The study developed a set of success factors and performance indicators to assess technological capabilities acquired by technology recipient firms. The study found two main types of technological capabilities gained by recipient firms through the technology transfer -"converting and acquiring capability" and "vending, modifying and generating capability". Further, the study found five contributing factors for technology transfer -process management, intended use of technology, transfer components, technology needs analysis, and IP protection and licensing. It is also found that all five contributing factors significantly positively predict both types of technological capabilities gained by recipient firms through technology transfer. The findings of the study presented in this paper make valuable contributions to the existing literature on technology management and technology transfer. |
| Keywords: | Innovation performance, Science and technology policy, Research and development, Knowledge management, Technology adoption, Innovation ecosystems, Commercialization of technology, Innovation diffusion, technology transfer, international technology transfer, Technology transfer success, Knowledge transfer |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05482866 |
| By: | A.Y. de Costa (University of Moratuwa); Vathsala Wickramasinghe (University of Moratuwa) |
| Abstract: | The confluence of innovative activities and leadership styles significantly influences the trajectory of organizational performance in Sri Lanka's information technology (IT) sector. Understanding the complex interactions between leadership behaviors and innovation is crucial for sustaining development and competitiveness in the face of the sector's rapid technical improvements, globalization, and changing consumer needs. This quantitative research delves into the intricate interplay between entrepreneurial leadership style, which has shown its potential to stimulate innovative thinking and risk-taking behaviors among employees, and exploratory innovation with a moderating effect of intrinsic motivation and environmental dynamism. Utilizing a sample size of 157 participants from the IT sector of Sri Lanka, the findings reveal that entrepreneurial leadership style has a significant positive relationship with explorative innovation. Furthermore, intrinsic motivation is found to be a significant negative moderator between entrepreneurial leadership and exploratory innovation. Environmental dynamism is found to positively moderate the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership and exploratory innovation. These results shed light on the nuanced influences of entrepreneurial leadership style, intrinsic motivation, and environmental dynamism on innovation activities in the IT sector, offering valuable insights for organizational leaders and policymakers seeking to foster a culture of innovation in dynamic environments. |
| Keywords: | Industrial and organizational psychology, Management science, Work motivation, Innovation, Leadership, Workplace innovation, Leadership and innovation, Moderating effects, Innovation performance, Employee motivation, Innovation management, Leadership styles, Environmental dynamism, Intrinsic motivation, Exploratory innovation, Entrepreneurial leadership |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05480065 |
| By: | A. de Costa (University of Moratuwa); Vathsala Wickramasinghe (University of Moratuwa) |
| Abstract: | The study investigated whether transformational leadership influences exploratory innovation and intrinsic motivation and environmental dynamism moderate this relationship. While leadership's impact on innovation has been broadly studied, specific effects of transformational leadership on exploratory innovation are underexplored in the literature. Further, the roles of intrinsic motivation and environmental dynamism as moderators are not fully explained in the literature. The study conducted in Sri Lanka intends to fill these gaps in the extant literature. A survey was conducted to collect data and statistical analyses were performed to test the hypothesized relationships. Findings revealed transformational leadership's significant positive effect on exploratory innovation. Moreover, intrinsic motivation and environmental dynamism were found to significantly moderate this relationship. Environmental dynamism amplifies the direct effect of transformational leadership on exploratory innovation, particularly in highly dynamic contexts. The study contributes to the theoretical understanding of transformational leadership's role in exploratory innovation and provides practical strategies for organizations to navigate the complexities of a rapidly changing technological landscape. |
| Keywords: | Management science, Industrial and organizational psychology, Transformational leadership, Leadership and innovation, Innovation performance, Employee motivation, Innovation management, Leadership, Leadership styles, intrinsic motivation, exploratory innovation, Environment dynamism |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05482851 |
| By: | Thibault Mirabel (Capital Collectif); Aurélien Quignon (ICN Business School) |
| Abstract: | This article examines the relationship between employee ownership and technological innovation. The impact of worker cooperatives' democratic governance on innovation is debated-some highlight financial constraints and slow decision-making as disadvantages, while others emphasize participatory structures and knowledge-sharing as advantages for innovation. Using a balanced panel of French worker cooperatives from 2014 to 2018, we find nuanced relationship: the share of worker-owners among workers positively influences innovation, whereas the share of worker-owners among owners negatively impacts innovation, providing empirical evidence for both the advantage and disadvantage hypotheses. Regional spillover effects also play a significant role. These findings challenge the notion that worker cooperatives are inherently less innovative than conventional firms and highlight the importance of ownership distribution and external conditions in shaping innovation outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Employee ownership, Worker participation, Worker cooperative, Innovation, Entrepreneurship |
| Date: | 2025–12–22 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05430064 |
| By: | Ambrogio Cesa-Bianchi; Andrea Ferrero; Luca Fornaro; Martin Wolf |
| Abstract: | We provide a framework that connects industrial policies to global imbalances and technological hegemony, and describe some empirical facts consistent with our model. We study the international spillovers triggered by industrial policies promoting high-tech sectors. Since high-tech goods and services are typically traded internationally, these policies boost the supply of tradable goods. Moreover, industrial policies lead to trade surpluses if the government pursues an unbalanced policy mix, such that domestic demand does not rise as much as supply. These surpluses are absorbed by the rest of the world, which in response runs trade deficits. Absent policy interventions, trade deficits reduce the competitiveness of the domestic tradable sector, stifling innovation and productivity growth. Innovation policies can help the rest of the world to mitigate these negative spillovers. |
| Keywords: | trade imbalances, productivity, international spillovers, tariffs, innovation, high-tech, China shock, endogenous growth, capital flows |
| JEL: | E21 E22 E23 E44 F32 F43 O31 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:1939 |
| By: | Andrea Ferrero; Ambrogio Cesa-Bianchi; Martin Wolf; Luca Fornaro |
| Abstract: | We provide a framework that connects industrial policies to global imbalances and technological hegemony, and describe some empirical facts consistent with our model. We study the international spillovers triggered by industrial policies promoting high-tech sectors. Since high- tech goods and services are typically traded internationally, these policies boost the supply of tradable goods. Moreover, industrial policies lead to trade surpluses if the government pursues an unbalanced policy mix, such that domestic demand does not rise as much as supply. These surpluses are absorbed by the rest of the world, which in response runs trade deficits. Absent policy interventions, trade deficits reduce the competitiveness of the domestic tradable sector, stifling innovation and productivity growth. Innovation policies can help the rest of the world to mitigate these negative spillovers. |
| Keywords: | Capital flows, China shock, endogenous growth, high-tech, innovation, international spillovers, productivity, tariffs, trade imbalances |
| JEL: | E21 E22 E23 E44 F32 F43 O31 |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bge:wpaper:1558 |
| By: | Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés; You, Zhuoying |
| Abstract: | Few studies have examined the economic consequences of deploying artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics in less-developed cities, where policies have often failed. To address this gap, we analyse a panel of 270 Chinese cities (2009–2019) using OLS, IV-2SLS, and quantile regression techniques. We find that AI and robotics significantly promote technological innovation in China, with especially pronounced implications for cities at or below the technological frontier. These technologies also enhance the returns to science and technology (S&T) investment. Its novelty lies in framing AI and robotics as policy substitutes and tools for narrowing innovation divides among Chinese cities. |
| Keywords: | AI; robotics; technological innovation; Chinese cities |
| JEL: | O31 O33 R11 R58 |
| Date: | 2026–02–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:137040 |
| By: | Haufe, Mathilde; Hottenrott, Hanna; Rodepeter, Elisa; Schoonjans, Eline |
| Abstract: | Entrepreneurship is essential for innovation and economic growth. Newly founded companies contribute to innovation and technology diffusion and increase pressure on incumbent firms to innovate. In Germany, migrant entrepreneurs play an increasingly important role in the entrepreneurial landscape. Their integration into this ecosystem is not only essential for fostering inclusive economic growth, but migrant founders also display a comparatively higher propensity for innovation. Based on data and insights from the IAB/ZEW Start-up Panel, this policy brief highlights the characteristics of and challenges for migrant entrepreneurs to understand how future policy frameworks could be designed to make better use of their potential. We find that while young migrant-founded firms are often opportunity-driven, have high growth ambitions, and are innovative, they are constrained in their access to external capital and have to rely more frequently on their founders' and their families' resources. These findings suggest that frictions in financing young firms hamper migrant entrepreneurship in Germany and that there is room to address these constraints through targeted policies facilitating access to support programmes and bank financing. |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewpbs:336902 |
| By: | Bothner, Jonathan; Lopez-Garcia, Paloma; Momferatou, Daphne; Setzer, Ralph |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the relationship between institutional and regulatory quality, and high-tech sector investment. Using data from 25 European Union (EU) countries from 2004 to 2019 (extended to 2023 for artificial intelligence-specific analyses), the study examines how institutional governance, labour market regulations, and business regulations influence investments in innovative, high-tech, and artificial intelligence-intensive sectors. The findings reveal that better institutional quality and less burdensome regulations are associated with higher investment shares in innovative, high-tech, and artificial intelligence industries. Raising EU countries’ institutional and regulatory quality to the level of the current EU frontier could raise the share of investment in high-technology sectors by as much as 50%, hence notably narrowing the existent EU-US investment gap. These results highlight the importance of effective governance and efficient regulations in fostering investment, innovation, and therefore long-term productivity growth. JEL Classification: C23, E02, L51, O38 |
| Keywords: | artificial intelligence, innovation, institutional quality, investment, regulatory frameworks, risky technology |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20263185 |
| By: | M.D.M. Ariyawansha (University of Moratuwa); V Wickramasinghe (University of Moratuwa) |
| Abstract: | Organizational politics is a pervasive element in modern project environments, influencing both managerial decision quality and project success. Guided by Behavioral Decision Theory (BDT), this study investigates the direct relationship between decision-making and project performance, and the moderating role of organizational politics in this relationship. A quantitative research design was employed, drawing on survey data collected from 322 project professionals across diverse industries in Sri Lanka. The moderation analysis was performed with SPSS and PROCESS Macro. The results reveal a strong positive relationship between effective decision-making and project performance. Conversely, organizational politics negatively affects both decision-making and performance and weakens the relationship. These findings empirically validate the moderating role of organizational politics within the BDT framework. Practically, it underlines the need for open governance arrangements, political risk management, and stakeholder arrangement strategies to safeguard project success. |
| Keywords: | Workplace dynamics, Workplace politics, Behavioral Decision Theory, Decision-making, Organizational politics, Governance in projects, Project management, Project success, Managerial decision-making, Political behavior, Power and influence, Project-based environments, Project performance |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05482872 |
| By: | H. Wimalasuriya (University of Moratuwa); V. Wickramasinghe (University of Moratuwa) |
| Abstract: | Training is an important determinant in improving project performance and employee career success in the rapidly changing Technology-Driven Services (TDS) sector. This research investigated the impact of various training approaches on project performance and employees' career success, and the moderating role of organization support. The Study followed a quantitative methodology and used a survey questionnaire to collect data from professionals attached to TDS sector. The data were analyzed using SPSS software. The moderation analysis indicated that organizational support notably improves the relationship between training and both project performance and employees' career success. This research contributes to the existing literature by offering empirical evidence and practical insights that can guide organizations in developing more effective training strategies to improve project efficiency and workforce capability. It concludes by recommending targeted training interventions supported by strong mentorship frameworks to ensure sustainable organizational success in a technology-driven landscape. |
| Keywords: | Training Approaches, Technology-Driven Services, Professional training, Workforce competence, talent management, Human capital development, Project Performance, Organization Support, Career Success |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05482874 |
| By: | Cagin Keskin |
| Abstract: | Horizontal expansion through an expanding product portfolio lies at the core of modern endogenous growth literature. However, evidence remains limited on how diversification across industries influences a firm's trade-off between generating social surplus and maximizing private returns. To investigate this, I categorize intangible assets by their spillovers: transferable intangibles (patents, software) generate social surplus, whereas embedded intangibles (organizational capital, brand value) primarily yield private returns. I document that diversified firms reallocate investment toward embedded intangibles, while at the same time having lower markups and productivity, as well as less competitive threats. Motivated by this evidence, I extend a canonical endogenous-growth framework to endogenize firms'allocations between transferable and embedded intangibles, allowing for both horizontal and vertical expansion. A key prediction of the model is that embedded intangibles are freely mobile across a firm's production lines; therefore, this mobility generates increasing returns to scale as the firm diversifies, which also raises entry barriers for competitors and decreases the social surplus, rather than promoting long-run growth. Thus, a shift in innovative effort ultimately sacrifices economy-wide growth for firm-level market advantages, and quantitative analysis indicates that size-dependent taxes can substantially improve welfare. |
| Keywords: | Schumpeterian growth, step-by-step innovation, intangibles, firm dynamics, span of control |
| JEL: | E22 O31 O32 O33 O34 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cer:papers:wp811 |
| By: | Masami Imai; Koji Sakai; Michiru Sawada |
| Abstract: | Distortions in credit allocation can slow technological progress by sustaining unproductive firms and generating congestion that crowds out innovation from otherwise healthy firms. We study this mechanism using Japan’s banking crisis of the 1990s, linking firm-level borrowing data to the universe of patent applications with more than fifteen years of historical citation outcomes. Innovation declines more in technology fields facing greater credit distortion, with effects substantially larger for forward citations than for patent counts. Firm-level evidence reveals persistently low innovation by zombie firms and reduced innovation by healthy firms operating in zombie-intensive industries, consistent with congestion effects. |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tcr:wpaper:e220 |
| By: | Masami Imai (Department of Economics, Wesleyan University); Koji Sakai (Kyoto Sangyo University); Michiru Sawada (Nihon University) |
| Abstract: | Distortions in credit allocation can slow technological progress by sustaining unproductive firms and generating congestion that crowds out innovation from otherwise healthy firms. We study this mechanism using Japan’s banking crisis of the 1990s, linking firm-level borrowing data to the universe of patent applications with more than fifteen years of historical citation outcomes. Innovation declines more in technology fields facing greater credit distortion, with effects substantially larger for forward citations than for patent counts. Firm-level evidence reveals persistently low innovation by zombie firms and reduced innovation by healthy firms operating in zombie-intensive industries, consistent with congestion effects. |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wes:weswpa:2026-001 |
| By: | Amir, Muhammad Sikander; Ali, Amjad; Audi, Marc |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the impact of artificial intelligence investment on firm profitability in Pakistan’s accounting, finance, and external audit sectors by introducing a composite metric called adjusted artificial intelligence investment. The data of 28 Pakistani firms from 2020 to 2024 has been used for empirical analysis. The research integrates technological infrastructure, cybersecurity risk, and regulatory support into a unified econometric framework. The study is anchored in the technology acceptance model and the resource-based view theory to explain the strategic value and adoption dynamics of artificial intelligence. Using panel least squares, fixed effects, and random effects regressions, the results consistently reveal that adjusted artificial intelligence investment and technological infrastructure significantly enhance firm profitability, while cybersecurity risk negatively influences it. Regulatory support exhibits mixed effects, being negatively associated in pooled models but positively in fixed effects analysis, highlighting the contextual role of governance frameworks. These findings carry significant implications for multiple stakeholder groups. For firm managers, the results underscore the importance of adopting a strategic, infrastructure-backed approach to AI implementation, prioritizing integration with secure digital environments. Policymakers must move beyond generic regulatory frameworks and instead focus on designing sector-specific policies that promote innovation without compromising compliance. Investors, too, can benefit from evaluating AI maturity as a key indicator of future profitability. Therefore, the study not only confirms the financial value of AI but also highlights the ecosystem-level support needed to realize its full potential. This research fills a key gap by holistically evaluating artificial intelligence's role in shaping firm performance in a developing economy context and offers actionable insights for businesses and regulators aiming to enhance profitability through technological integration. |
| Keywords: | Artificial Intelligence, Firm Profitability, Accounting, Technological Infrastructure, Cybersecurity, Regulatory Support |
| JEL: | O3 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:127314 |
| By: | Toshihiro OKUBO; Naoto MIKAWA |
| Abstract: | In recent years, heightened geopolitical tensions and rapid progress in the digital economy have substantially increased uncertainty within firms’ business environments. Understanding how firms perceive such uncertainty, how it affects their activities, and how they respond is crucial for designing effective economic and industrial policies. This paper presents an overview and basic analysis of the Firm Survey on Uncertainty and the Digital Economy , conducted by the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI) between July and September 2025, focusing on Japanese manufacturing firms. The survey provides detailed information on firms’ perceptions of uncertainty and its impacts on business operations, the extent of digitalization in firms, including the use of artificial intelligence and robots, and their responses to changes in the global economic environment, such as adjustments to tariff policies. By documenting the current situation faced by Japanese manufacturing firms, this study offers policy-relevant insights into how firms cope with uncertainty in an era of rapid digital transformation. |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:rdpsjp:26007 |