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on Economics of Strategic Management |
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Issue of 2026–09–14
eight papers chosen by João José de Matos Ferreira, Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Mutsamwira, Sam |
| Abstract: | This review synthesises the literature on university entrepreneurial ecosystems to understand their role in fostering university spin-off companies as drivers of economic development. This study adopts a systematised conceptual literature review design, employing a structured search and thematic synthesis to develop an integrative conceptual framework that positions university entrepreneurial ecosystems as a dynamic interplay between internal (e.g. university leadership, faculty) and external (e.g. government, venture capitalists) stakeholders. The framework identifies knowledge spillover and transfer as key mediating processes, and highlights intellectual property frameworks and mechanisms (e.g. university IP policy, legal system) as a critical moderator that can either enable or constrain academic entrepreneurship, and subsequently spin-off formation. Applying this lens to New Zealand, a paradoxical situation was uncovered: while home to a recognised “emerging world leading” university entrepreneurial ecosystem, there is a significant paucity of recent, system-wide academic research. Key gaps are identified, including the need for longitudinal data on spin-offs performances, and a deeper understanding of internal ecosystem dynamics like the critical imperative to integrate Mātauranga Māori (Māori traditional knowledge) into commercialisation pathways. This review provides a foundation for future empirical research and offers insights for policymakers and university leaders in New Zealand and other small, innovative economies. |
| Keywords: | University entrepreneurial ecosystems; Academic entrepreneurship; University spin-offs; Technology transfer; Knowledge spillovers; Intellectual property frameworks; Innovation systems; Research commercialisation; Stakeholder dynamics; Regional innovation; Higher education and innovation;Māori traditional knowledge; Mātauranga Māori; New Zealand innovation policy |
| JEL: | I23 I25 K11 L26 M13 O25 O3 R58 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:128327 |
| By: | Yonggyun Kim; Francisco Poggi |
| Abstract: | Firms racing to innovate often make interim breakthroughs that speed up, but are not necessary for, the final innovation. When such a breakthrough is privately acquired, a firm can disclose it by filing a patent, or conceal it. This paper studies how this trade off is shaped by the race structure and the intellectual property system. We develop a dynamic model where firms allocate resources between developing with an existing technology and researching a faster one. We show that firms strategically conceal their breakthroughs when the prize for winning is large and the prior-use defense is strong, impeding knowledge spillovers and slowing the pace of innovation. |
| Keywords: | Interim Technology, Patents, License, Prior-use Defense, Direction of In novation |
| JEL: | C73 D21 O30 |
| Date: | 2025–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bon:boncrc:crctr224_2025_648v2 |
| By: | Brancati, Emanuele (Sapienza University of Rome); Nucci, Francesco (Sapienza University of Rome); Pietrovito, Filomena (University of Molise); Pozzolo, Alberto (Roma Tre University) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the interplay between firms' credit constraints, innovation, and export decisions. Using survey data for Italian manufacturing firms, we document strong complementarity between the two activities: innovation raises export participation, while exporting stimulates R&D. Credit rationing significantly reduces both the probability and intensity of exporting and innovation, but its effects are heterogeneous. The negative impact of credit rationing on export participation is substantially attenuated by innovation, whereas exporting provides only limited protection against the effects of financing constraints on innovation. We interpret these findings through a stylized theoretical framework in which exporting and innovation are mutually reinforcing but operate through distinct channels: innovation directly enhances export profitability through cost reductions, whereas exporting stimulates innovation only indirectly by expanding market opportunities. Overall, our findings suggest that policies fostering innovation may generate a double dividend by promoting technological upgrading while simultaneously strengthening firms' ability to sustain export activity under financial constraints. |
| Keywords: | innovation, exporting, financial constraints |
| JEL: | F14 G21 O31 |
| Date: | 2026–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18902 |
| By: | Benjamín Cornejo-Costas |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how cultural diversity of migrant inventors' teams influences a region’s capacity to produce green breakthrough innovations. It posits that highly skilled migrants enhance diversity, driving the recombination of new and impactful green technologies. The research also emphasises the significance of local capabilities in enabling regions to absorb and utilise the diverse knowledge these teams bring. Using patent data and inventor nationalities, the study analyses green breakthrough innovations across 281 NUTS2 regions in Europe over a span of 20 years. The findings reveal that cultural diversity plays a critical role in fostering such innovations. Moreover, this effect is amplified when new technologies are related to existing ones in the region, underscoring the importance of local capabilities. This research contributes to Evolutionary Economic Geography by highlighting how a region’s technological portfolio supports the development of related technologies while emphasising the vital role of diverse knowledge in driving green innovation. |
| Keywords: | cultural diversity, migrant inventors, breakthrough innovations, related capabilities |
| JEL: | F22 J61 O31 O33 Q55 R11 |
| Date: | 2026–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:2621 |
| By: | Ohki, Kazuyoshi |
| Abstract: | This paper provides benchmark R&D-based growth models in which both vertical and horizontal growth rates are fully endogenous. In traditional models with both vertical and horizontal innovation, horizontal growth or a weighted average of vertical and horizontal growth is often constrained by population growth along the balanced growth path. This paper shows that this restriction arises from balanced-growth requirements imposed by market-clearing conditions and that it can be removed by appropriately specifying R&D externalities. The result is robust across models that differ in the input used in R&D and in the structure of vertical innovation. The reconstructed models also show that innovation policies affect not only the level of growth but also the composition of growth between vertical and horizontal innovation. The proposed formulation therefore provides a tractable building block for richer R&D-based growth models. |
| Keywords: | Economic Growth, R&D, Vertical innovation, Horizontal innovation |
| JEL: | O31 O32 O41 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:130110 |
| By: | Houda Zitan (ENCGT - Ecole Nationale de Commerce et de Gestion de Tanger - UAE - Abdelmalek Essaadi University [Tétouan] = Université Abdelmalek Essaadi [Tétouan]); Khalid Chafik (ENCGT - Ecole Nationale de Commerce et de Gestion de Tanger - UAE - Abdelmalek Essaadi University [Tétouan] = Université Abdelmalek Essaadi [Tétouan]) |
| Abstract: | This study provides a bibliometric and conceptual analysis of Green Information Technology (Green IT) management in the agricultural sector. Despite the growing interest in sustainable digital technologies, existing research remains fragmented and lacks a clear management-oriented perspective. Literature is largely dominated by technological approaches, with limited attention to managerial and user-centered dimensions. This research adopts a positivist epistemological stance, consistent with the objective of mapping and structuring a scientific field based on bibliometric data. It aims to identify the main research themes, clarify the terminology used in the field, and highlight key gaps related to the adoption, acceptance, and actual use of Green IT in agriculture. Using a dataset of 5, 984 publications extracted from the Scopus database, a co-word analysis was conducted with VOSviewer to map the intellectual structure of the field. The findings reveal four dominant thematic clusters: precision agriculture, remote sensing, Internet of Things (IoT), and irrigation systems, reflecting a strong technological orientation. The results also show significant conceptual fragmentation, with terms such as smart agriculture, digital agriculture, and climate-smart agriculture being widely used, while "Green IT" itself remains marginal in the literature. This study relies exclusively on secondary data from Scopus and a bibliometric co-word analysis, which limits causal interpretation of the findings and does not capture the qualitative and contextual dimensions of the studied phenomena. Nevertheless, it contributes to clarifying the conceptual landscape of Green IT in agriculture and proposes a research agenda integrating technological, organizational, and sustainability perspectives. |
| Keywords: | Bibliometric analysis Paper type Literature review, Green IT management, adoption, Sustainable agriculture, Information systems |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05683656 |
| By: | Hataka, Sara (Malmö University); Liu, Ju (Malmö University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how informal entrepreneurs in Maun, Botswana, practise circular economy under conditions of material scarcity, institutional hybridity and livelihood constraint. Addressing the dominance of technocentric and design-led models in circular economy research, it develops a grounded alternative based on the concept of livelihood-oriented circularity. The study draws on eleven semi-structured interviews, field observations and photographic documentation, analysed through a triangulated framework combining circular practice typology, material flow analysis and institutional perspectives. The findings identify three main forms of circular practice-reuse, functional upcycling and symbolic upcycling and show how these are sustained through hybrid institutional arrangements and translocal material networks. Circularity in this context emerges as a socially embedded system organised through frugality, improvisation and community knowledge rather than formal policy design. The paper contributes theoretically by advancing livelihood-oriented circularity as a Global South model of socially embedded and learning driven innovation. It repositions informality as a site of systemic creativity and adaptive capacity, extending circular economy theory beyond Global North assumptions. Policy implications include the need for transitional licensing mechanisms, shared workshop spaces and the recognition of peer-based coordination to foster inclusive and transformative innovation systems. |
| Keywords: | Livelihood oriented circularity; Informal economy Circular Economy; Institutional hybridity; Translocal material flows; Botswana |
| JEL: | O17 O35 |
| Date: | 2026–09–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2026_009 |
| By: | Ali Zeytoon-Nejad |
| Abstract: | Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming economic systems by altering production processes, labor markets, and the structure of firms and industries. AI is not merely a technological innovation. It is fundamentally a major economic phenomenon and a new wave of innovation with important implications for productivity, employment, market structure, public policy, long-run economic growth, and collective welfare. This essay examines the economics of AI by analyzing the multiple channels through which AI influences economic activity and societal well-being. It argues that AI should be understood simultaneously as a form of capital, a form of synthetic labor, a general-purpose technology, as well as an economic infrastructure. The analysis shows that AI functions as a multi-channel engine of productivity growth through automation, augmentation, optimization, prediction, and innovation. It is argued that AI has the potential to increase output, reduce costs, stimulate entrepreneurship, and accelerate economic growth, while also reshaping labor markets through labor substitution, labor complementarity, and creative destruction. The essay further examines AI's effects on competition, market concentration, and entrepreneurship. Finally, it explores the welfare implications of AI for consumers, producers, workers, governments, and society as a whole, and concludes by outlining policy considerations aimed at maximizing the benefits of AI while mitigating its potential adverse consequences. |
| Date: | 2026–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2609.01263 |