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on Economics of Strategic Management |
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Issue of 2026–07–20
thirteen papers chosen by João José de Matos Ferreira, Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | E. Marrocu; R. Paci; L. Serafini |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the determinants of interfirm agreement formation in the context of the twin digital and green transition. We focus on strategic alliances and joint ventures involving at least one Italian firm, using SDC Platinum data on agreements announced between 2000 and 2025. Digital and green agreements are identified through a keyword-based classification of deal synopses. The empirical analysis is conducted at the dyadic level by comparing realised agreements with potential firm pairs within the framework of rare event logit models, focusing on the role of geographical, technological and relational proximity. The results show that technological proximity is the strongest predictor of agreement formation. Firms operating in connected industrial domains are substantially more likely to collaborate, suggesting that compatible knowledge bases and absorptive capacity are central to partner selection. Geographical proximity also matters, mainly through coordination and interaction costs rather than administrative co-location. The comparison between digital and green agreements shows that both domains require technological compatibility, but they rely on different forms of proximity and complementarity. Digital agreements are especially sensitive to broad network-based technological proximity, consistent with the modular and cross-sectoral nature of digital technologies. Green agreements combine compatible but differentiated capabilities with a stronger spatial and implementation-related component, reflecting their connection to infrastructures, regulation, and local coordination conditions. Prior relational proximity increases the probability of agreement formation in the full sample, while network effects are more exploratory in the digital and green subsamples. The paper contributes to the literature on alliances, proximity, and transition-oriented innovation by showing that twin-transition collaboration is shaped by multiple and partially distinct proximity mechanisms. |
| Keywords: | twin transition, strategic alliances, joint ventures, proximities, networks, rare events |
| JEL: | C25 L14 O31 O33 R12 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cns:cnscwp:202610 |
| By: | Tamilina, Larysa; Akaliyski, Plamen |
| Abstract: | Innovation constitutes a key driver of long-term economic and societal prosperity, motivating extensive research on its underlying determinants. Although culture is acknowledged as being of utmost importance, it has predominantly been examined in isolation from institutional contexts. This study explores how individualist and collectivist cultures contribute to cross-national differences in innovation performance, and how these cultural effects interact with formal institutions. Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis is used on data from 80 countries to identify multiple configurations of cultural and institutional conditions associated with high and low innovation output. Our empirical findings show that individualism and robust formal institutions independently function as necessary and sufficient conditions for high innovation performance; nevertheless, their simultaneous presence is essential for maximizing innovation output. In contrast, the absence of individualism alone emerges as sufficient to severely constrain innovation. We use these asymmetric results to propose a novel typology of national innovation regimes. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, individualism-collectivism, formal institutions, national culture, fsQCA. |
| JEL: | C1 O3 Z1 |
| Date: | 2026–01–28 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:127893 |
| By: | Borsekova, Kamila; Korony, Samuel; Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés; Styk, Michal; Westlund, Hans |
| Abstract: | The importance of institutions and innovation for regional development is well established. How these two factors interact under different historical legacies and urban-regional contexts remains, however, insufficiently understood. This paper identifies which combinations of institutional and innovation indicators most effectively classify regions into distinct developmental archetypes, revealing critical thresholds that redirect regional trajectories. Employing decision-tree analysis on 233 EU NUTS-2 regions, we analyse 15 indicators spanning institutional quality, technological readiness, business sophistication, and innovation. This methodology uncovers non-linear relationships that traditional approaches cannot capture. The findings demonstrate that institutional quality acts as a necessary condition for innovation-led growth. High-performing regions, predominantly in Western and Northern Europe, benefit from robust institutions and strong innovation outputs. Many lower-performing regions, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, exhibit innovation potential but are constrained by governance deficits. By integrating institutional and innovation indicators within a single analytical framework, we underscore how addressing governance and innovation in tandem can result in balanced and sustainable growth across Europe. |
| JEL: | O18 O43 R11 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:20988 |
| By: | Dugoua, Eugenie; Moscona, Jacob |
| Abstract: | This chapter examines the economics of climate innovation and its role in the clean technology transition. It outlines the incentives, market failures, and policy levers that shape the development and diffusion of clean technologies; traces global patterns in technology development and deployment; and highlights frontier challenges and open questions related to climate adaptation, critical mineral supply chains, artificial intelligence, and geopolitics. The analysis explores the role of effective climate policy, stressing the relevance of coordinated approaches that match instruments to technology maturity and local context. |
| Keywords: | Innovation |
| JEL: | O3 Q5 O13 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:20853 |
| By: | Fornaro, Luca; Wolf, Martin |
| Abstract: | We provide a theory connecting trade policies to innovation and technological hegemony, based on the notion that high-tech clusters generate technological rents for the countries hosting them. We show that tariffs on high-tech imports may be used to steal technological rents from the rest of the world, by redirecting innovation activities from foreign to domestic firms. This strategy may lead to welfare gains, which however come at the expense of even larger welfare losses in the rest of the world. Tariffs may backfire even for the country imposing them if they are not well designed, or if the rest of the world retaliates. |
| JEL: | E22 F12 F13 F42 F43 O24 O33 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:20826 |
| By: | Tudorache, Maria-Daniela; Jianu, Ionut |
| Abstract: | Over the last two decades, technological progress has significantly transformed economic and social structures, making innovation and digitalization essential drivers of competitiveness and sustainable growth. However, EU still lags behind the US in terms of innovation, research and development expenditure. This paper examines the relationship between technological factors and economic development in European Union Member States. The analysis is based on panel data covering 2010-2024, with an effective estimation sample of 2012-2024 due to lag structure and first difference transformations to improve the model accuracy. The analysis applies the Panel Estimated Generalized Least Squares (EGLS) method, using Period SUR as GLS weights option and as a coefficient covariance method. The results identify positive and significant associations between the research and development expenditure / employment in technology and knowledge intensive sectors and GDP per capita. In contrast, unemployment shows a negative relationship with economic performance. These findings highlight the important role of innovation and knowledge-based sectors in supporting economic growth and competitiveness within the European Union. The results suggest that research and development activities are associated with higher levels of economic development across the European Union. This finding is particularly relevant in the current context, given that the European Union has consistently failed to meet its R&D expenditure targets throughout the 2010-2024 period, with the share of R&D expenditure in GDP increasing by only 0.25 percentage points over the last 15 years. We also calculated the impact of greenhouse gas emissions per capita on GDP per capita, which was found to be positive, indicating the short-run cost of the green transition, as well as the negative effect of the major COVID-19 restriction on GDP per capita. |
| Keywords: | technology, economic development, Panel, research and development |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esconf:341696 |
| By: | Udo Kreickemeier; Zhan Qu; Florian Unger |
| Abstract: | We develop a two-country general equilibrium model in which heterogeneous firms have access to offshoring and innovation as two alternative ways of reducing production costs. We use our model to answer the question whether better offshoring opportunities lead to more or less innovation at the firm level. We show that switching into offshoring increases firm-level innovation activities when the level of openness of the economy is high, and reduces them if the economy is less open. Via general equilibrium effects, a reduction in offshoring costs unambiguously reduces the innovation activities of non-offshoring firms, whereas innovation in infra-marginal offshoring firms may go up or down. Our paper provides a rationale for contrasting evidence on the relation between offshoring and innovation found in the empirical literature. |
| Keywords: | offshoring, innovation, productivity effect |
| JEL: | F12 O31 O33 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12789 |
| By: | Acemoglu, Daron; Akcigit, Ufuk; Johnson, Simon |
| Abstract: | This chapter presents a tractable framework for the study of technology adoption and diffusion in the context of economic development. Firms in countries behind the world technology frontier can rapidly adopt new techniques from the world frontier. Lower absorptive capacity (because of weak education systems, poor management practices, or barriers to technology adoption), institutional distortions, mismatch between frontier technologies and the needs of firms in the country (i.e., “inappropriate technology†), and credit market frictions slow down technology adoption and cause the economy in question to have a greater distance to the frontier and thus lower income per capita—although the long-run growth rate of the country still remains equal to that of the frontier. This framework is extended to study the choice between innovation and imitation, as well as the role of selection for higher-productivity and higher-absorptive capacity firms during the process of economic development. We illustrate the main comparative statics of our framework with a number of correlations based on cross-country and firm-level data. The tractability of the framework makes it amenable to a range of additional extensions. |
| Keywords: | Technology adoption; Innovation; Institutions; Economic growth; Development; Productivity |
| JEL: | O1 O3 O4 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:21032 |
| By: | Guccione, Andrea; Roldan-Blanco, Pau |
| Abstract: | Firms’ innovation outcomes depend on their ability to attract and retain talented inventors. What market frictions prevent the sorting between firms with high innovation potential and high-productivity inventors? How does this sorting impact aggregate innovation, growth and welfare? We address these questions both empirically and theoretically. Empirically, we show that firms facing strong competition in the product market employ more productive inventors, while less productive inventors tend to be allocated in concentrated industries. Theoretically, we embed a frictional labor market for inventors into an endogenous-growth model of strategic innovation. In line with the data, the model predicts that high-productivity inventors are disproportionately employed in firms that operate in competitive industries. We then use the model to quantify the growth and welfare implications of this inventor sorting. Our results show that matching frictions in the market for inventors impede the allocation of highproductivity inventors to firms with high implementation intensity, and are responsible for a 32% loss in economic growth. Industrial policies that subsidize R&D spending relax these frictions by boosting inventor productivity, helping high-quality inventors reallocate to firms with high implementation incentives. Under optimal subsidies, growth increases as much as 74 basis points, closing most of the gap in missing growth caused by frictions in the market for inventors. |
| Keywords: | Inventors; Innovation; Growth; Misallocation; Search |
| JEL: | L16 J6 O3 O4 |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:21186 |
| By: | Erik CANTON (European Commission) |
| Abstract: | This policy brief examines how firms’ ability to reorganise their workforce plays a role in the uptake of artificial intelligence and related technologies. Using firm-level data across OECD countries, it finds that adoption patterns differ across technologies and firms and are associated with differences in workforce adjustment costs. The results highlight that technology diffusion depends not only on innovation, but also on how easily firms can adapt their organisation to new technologies. |
| Keywords: | Artificial intelligence, technology adoption, labour market institutions, employment protection legislation, workforce adjustment, organisational change |
| JEL: | O33 J24 L25 O32 |
| Date: | 2026–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eug:wpaper:ki-01-26-095-en-n |
| By: | Baslandze, Salomé; Vardishvili, Ia |
| Abstract: | Large productivity differences across firms reflect substantial ex-ante heterogeneity at entry, yet the origins of this heterogeneity remain poorly understood. This paper shows that innovating spinouts—firms formed by inventors leaving incumbent innovators—are a key endogenous source of high-growth entrepreneurship and aggregate productivity growth. Using inventor mobility in patent data, we document that spinouts systematically outperform other entrants throughout their life cycle, their performance is strongly linked to parent-firm technological strength, and their formation temporarily depresses parent-firm innovation. We develop a Schumpeterian growth model that endogenizes spinout formation and the fundamental tradeoff between knowledge diffusion, creative destruction, and appropriability. Closely disciplined by rich microlevel data, the model implies that spinouts account for a disproportionate share of high-growth firms and nearly forty percent of aggregate productivity growth, but that inventor departures also impose sizable costs on incumbents, generating a fundamental policy tradeoff. Policy counterfactuals show that relaxing non-compete restrictions raises aggregate growth and welfare and amplifies the effectiveness of entry subsidies. |
| Keywords: | Innovation; entrepreneurship |
| JEL: | O30 O43 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:21016 |
| By: | José Luis Moraga-González (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam); Evgenia Motchenkova (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the impact of mergers on R&D incentives within a framework of R&D competition where effort can influence both the probability of innovation and the payoff conditional on success. Our framework nests the results of two classes of existing models and reveals assumptions that are restrictive. In models where R&D effort increases the probability of innovation but does not directly affect the payoff upon success, we show that the assumption of zero payoff upon innovation failure is restrictive. In models where R&D effort influences the payoff conditional on success, but not the probability of success itself, the assumption of deterministic innovation success (i.e., a success probability of one) is similarly restrictive. Across both modeling approaches, we offer a novel insight: the shape of investment costs, and by implication the pre-merger level of innovation, can be pivotal in determining whether a merger strengthens or weakens firms’ incentives to invest in R&D. In an extensions section, we further examine the role of R&D input and output synergies, firm asymmetries, as well as the implications for consumer surplus. |
| Keywords: | Merger Policy, R&D Investments, Innovation |
| JEL: | K21 L13 L40 |
| Date: | 2026–01–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20260001 |
| By: | Moraga-González, José-Luis; Motchenkova, Evgenia |
| Abstract: | We investigate the impact of mergers on R&D incentives within a framework of R&D competition where effort can influence both the probability of innovation and the payoff conditional on success. Our framework nests the results of two classes of existing models and reveals assumptions that are restrictive. In models where R&D effort increases the probability of innovation but does not directly affect the payoff upon success, we show that the assumption of zero payoff upon innovation failure is restrictive. In models where R&D effort influences the payoff conditional on success, but not the probability of success itself, the assumption of deterministic innovation success (i.e., a success probability of one) is similarly restrictive. Across both modeling approaches, we offer a novel insight: the shape of investment costs, and by implication the pre-merger level of innovation, can be pivotal in determining whether a merger strengthens or weakens firms’ incentives to invest in R&D. In an extensions section, we further examine the role of R&D input and output synergies, firm asymmetries, as well as the implications for consumer surplus. |
| Keywords: | Product innovation; Cost-reducing investment |
| JEL: | K21 L13 L40 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:20986 |