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on Economics of Strategic Management |
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Issue of 2026–04–20
seven papers chosen by João José de Matos Ferreira, Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | NISHIMURA, Junichi; OKAMURO, Hiroyuki |
| Abstract: | With the progress of decentralization of policymaking since the 2000s, local innovation ecosystems have attracted worldwide attention. This study examines whether R&D support provided by diverse policy agents within a local ecosystem enhances firm innovation performance. We pay special attention to 1) a multilevel policy mix of national/prefectural and city governments, 2) a policy instrument mix of hard (financing) and soft (non-financing) support, and 3) a public-private partnership of governments and local supporters. Our estimation results based on an original firm-level survey show that R&D support from city governments, particularly soft support such as networking, advice and consultation, significantly contributes to firm innovation performance. Local supporters’ R&D support also positively impacts performance. We find significant complementarity between R&D support from city governments and local supporters. In contrast, national/prefectural R&D support shows no significant effects, and we observe no significant complementarity regarding multilevel or policy instrument mixes. We confirm that the qualitative findings from our interviews with local government officials and firms are consistent with our quantitative findings. |
| Keywords: | R&D support, place-based policy, policy mix, multilevel governance, innovation ecosystem, city |
| Date: | 2026–03–24 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:hiasdp:hias-e-159 |
| By: | Ron Boschma; Simona Iammarino; Agnieszka Olechnicka |
| Abstract: | Despite recognition that interregional and international linkages promote the innovative capacity of regions, their role in regional innovation policy has received limited academic attention, resulting in challenges on how to incorporate them effectively into policy. We argue that interregional linkages are not generic in nature but shaped by capabilities that are place- and activity-specific. This is clearly shown in the strengths and weaknesses in three types of regional collaborations – foreign direct investment, co-invention, and co-publication – that we identified across five EU regions that prioritized automotives in their regional smart specialisation strategies. Using mixed-methods, we show that regions differ in the intensity and nature of interregional linkages, depending on their capabilities. Regions with a strong knowledge base in automotives manage to build effectively a range of strong connections that allow them to tap into complementary capabilities in other regions that support innovation and upgrading, in contrast to regions with a weak absorptive capacity. Consequently, interregional linkages can only be effectively integrated into innovation policies when they are place-based and activity-specific. We argue that, in the absence of targeted incentives to foster interregional connectivity, a substantial share of its potential for local innovation and regional upgrading remains untapped. |
| Keywords: | Regional strategy, International and interregional linkages, Foreign direct investment, Global value chains, Smart Specialisation Strategy, Place-based policy |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:2603 |
| By: | Wurster, Stefan; Hottenrott, Hanna; Bartscherer, Falk; Kurz, Felix |
| Abstract: | The "Mission Orientation and Innovation Clusters" project investigates how mission-oriented innovation policies (MOIPs) influence technological specialization, innovation clusters, and national innovation performance. While MOIPs are designed to address grand societal challenges, their impact on the formation and persistence of technological leadership remains unclear. This project sought to systematically analyze the conditions under which mission orientation supports the emergence of innovation clusters and how institutional and political factors shape the effectiveness of these policies. |
| Keywords: | mission-oriented innovation policies, innovation clusters, national innovation performance |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esrepo:339769 |
| By: | Ruben Gaetani; Gustavo de Souza; Martí Mestieri Ferrer |
| Abstract: | Long-run economic growth depends on the international diffusion of frontier technologies. Using Brazilian data, we identify a channel through which tariff cuts slow this diffusion: they weaken foreign firms' incentives to transfer technology to domestic producers. Exploiting variation in import tariffs across origin countries within narrowly defined industries, we find that tariff reductions lead to fewer technology transfers and fewer citations to foreign technology, with the largest declines occurring among firms located near previous technology recipients. To interpret these findings, we develop a growth model in which foreign firms choose between exporting goods and transferring technology, with learning from exports being less efficient than learning from transferred technologies, as informed by the empirical evidence. Trade liberalization shifts learning from transferred technologies to imported goods, raising welfare in the short run but slowing diffusion and productivity growth. An optimal subsidy to technology transfers substantially amplifies the welfare gains from trade liberalization. |
| Keywords: | growth, international trade, technology diffusion, technology transfer |
| JEL: | O33 O40 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bge:wpaper:1572 |
| By: | Elvis Korku Avenyo (South African Research Chair in Industrial Development, University of Johannesburg); Danilo Spinola (College of Accounting, Finance and Economics, Researcher at UNU-Merit.); Fiona Tregenna (South African Research Chair in Industrial Development, University of Johannesburg) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the firm-level effects of Chinese manufacturing import penetration on the performance of manufacturing firms in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries. We construct a dataset of 59 BRI member countries by combining firm-level data from the World Bank's Enterprise Survey with industry-level data from the United Nations Commodity Trade (Comtrade) database from 2011 to 2020. Employing a multi-level modelling approach, our findings reveal that Chinese manufacturing imports exert a considerable adverse effect on productivity growth and employment, and a robust and significant positive effect on the export capabilities of manufacturing firms. The adverse effects on performance are significantly moderated by firms that pursue innovation and engage in foreign licensing. These findings are significant in middle-income countries and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within BRI countries. Based on these findings, we argue that the importation of manufactured goods from China results in a crowding-out effect on the productive capacities of firms within the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries on the one hand and a catalytic effect on the internationalisation of firms on the other hand. These dual outcomes may underscore China's global value chains (GVCs) position-seeking strategy. |
| Keywords: | Chinese manufacturing import penetration; Multi-level modelling; Firm-level effects; Belt and Road Initiative. |
| JEL: | F14 F15 F61 O14 P33 |
| Date: | 2024–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:adz:wpaper:2024-06 |
| By: | Guillaume Do Vale (IDRAC Business school Lyon - Institut pour le Développement et la Recherche d'Action Commerciale - Université de Lyon); Isabelle Collin-Lachaud (TSM - Toulouse School of Management Research - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - Comue de Toulouse - Communauté d'universités et établissements de Toulouse - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - TSM - Toulouse School of Management - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - Comue de Toulouse - Communauté d'universités et établissements de Toulouse); Xavier Lecocq (LUMEN - Lille University Management Lab - ULR 4999 - Université de Lille) |
| Abstract: | The vast and pressing environmental and societal challenges, as well as the difficulty of the path to sustainability, are substantially challenging retailers' business models (BM hereafter). Researchers have yet to answer how retailers cope with different kinds of tensions in their process of BM innovation for sustainability. Drawing on a longitudinal, seven-year, inductive, multiple case study of three European retailers that decided explicitly to move toward sustainability, this research highlights different tensions that confront retailers in this process and the decisions they take to resolve them. Three stages are identified as necessary to implement a BM for sustainability in retailing. In a first stage, patching sustainability initiatives onto traditional BM creates tensions, only some of which can be resolved by middle managers in their day-to-day activities. Others persist and represent paradoxical tensions. In a second stage, formal engagement by owners and senior to change the core of traditional BM can resolve paradoxes, by allowing for strategic actions at the ecosystem level. In the third stage, ecosystem-level actions involve renewing relationships with traditional stakeholders and initiating new relationships with new ones to implement the BM for sustainability. Moreover, a specific feature of BM innovation for sustainability in retailing is that stores can take major roles in the ecosystem, functioning as local hubs for circularity. |
| Keywords: | Multiple case study, Longitudinal, Paradoxical tensions, Ecosystem, Business model, Sustainability, Retailing |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05586045 |
| By: | BELDERBOS, René; SUZUKI, Shinya; OKAMURO, Hiroyuki; ASAKAWA, Kazuhiro |
| Abstract: | Multinational enterprises (MNEs) find it challenging to transfer technological knowledge to their overseas affiliates, as this transfer requires the exchange of tacit knowledge and because technological knowledge may spill over to local rivals. The use of expatriate employees may help MNEs to address these challenges, aiding in the transfer process and ensuring tighter control of this transfer. In this paper we examine under which conditions the assignment of expatriates to foreign affiliates is associated with higher levels of technology transfer by the MNE to those affiliates. Drawing on rich micro data on Japanese MNEs and their foreign affiliates, 2013-2022, affiliate fixed effect analysis confirms that expatriates facilitate knowledge transfer to foreign affiliates in particular for small and medium sized MNEs, MNEs that are technology leaders, and when an affiliate is minority-owned by the MNE or is facing rising geopolitical risks in the host country. |
| Keywords: | Multinational Enterprise (MNE), Small and Medium sized Enterprise (SME), expatriates, foreign affiliates, technology transfer |
| Date: | 2026–03–24 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:hiasdp:hias-e-160 |