|
on Economics of Strategic Management |
|
Issue of 2026–09–28
six papers chosen by João José de Matos Ferreira, Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Hadžić, Faruk; Burić, Ema; Čavalić, Admir |
| Abstract: | In the growing and complex modern business environment, the importance of innovation is increasingly coming to the fore, as a key driver and factor that leads to competitiveness, but also to long-term growth of companies. As part of this paper, the mechanism that leads to incentives for innovation through internal organizational processes, as well as external cooperation of companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is examined. The paper relies on theoretical frameworks such as resource-based approaches and the ability of companies to be open to innovation, in order to investigate how internal factors and capacities such as research and development functions, knowledge management and external cooperation contribute to innovation results. As part of the research, 304 responses were collected from companies of different sizes and from different sectors. For the statistical analysis of the collected data, regressions, t-tests and correlation were used, which were necessary to test the hypotheses set. The results show that the existence of a research and development department has a significant positive impact on innovation results, especially in small companies, while external cooperation proved to be the most beneficial for medium-sized companies. Internal mechanisms alone have not shown a significant direct effect on innovation, but are suggested to act as complementary factors within broader innovation systems. The findings highlight the existence of different innovation pathways among firms of different sizes, underscoring the need for differentiated strategies and policies. For small firms, strengthening internal R&D capacities appears to be a priority, while medium-sized firms benefit more from external networks and knowledge flows. Large firms, in contrast, require an integrated approach of complex internal and external resources. |
| Keywords: | Innovation stimulation mechanisms, Internal processes, External collaboration, SMEs |
| JEL: | O31 O32 L26 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esconf:343372 |
| By: | Wurster, Maximilian; Hellenkamp, Detlef |
| Abstract: | In knowledge-based economies, technological innovation capability, intangible assets, and intellectual property are becoming increasingly important for long-term economic performance. Patent data are widely used as indicators of innovation; however, simple patent counts do not adequately capture the quality, technological relevance, or international market coverage of individual patents. This paper therefore examines the extent to which key patents can serve as a quality-oriented indicator of technological innovation capability for analysing economic performance. Key patents are understood as particularly high-quality patents in relevant key technologies, whose patent strength derives from technological relevance and international market coverage. The paper combines a conceptual analysis of the key patent approach with literature from growth and innovation economics, as well as with an exploratory empirical plausibility assessment based on a global patent dataset on world-class patents in future technologies (Breitinger et al., 2020). Economic performance is operationalised empirically through per capita income. The empirical evidence is assessed from two complementary perspectives: an international cross-section of high-income economies and a dynamic analysis of the United States, which held a particularly prominent position in high-quality patenting across key future technologies during the period under observation. In both perspectives, the findings point to a positive association between key patents and per capita income. They should not, however, be interpreted as evidence of causality, but as empirically grounded support for the plausibility of this relationship. The contribution of this paper lies in positioning key patents as a differentiated innovation indicator that takes patent quality, technological relevance, and international reach more fully into account than mere patent volumes. The key patent approach thus offers a scientifically grounded perspective on innovation capability and economic performance in knowledge-based economies. |
| Keywords: | Key patents, Patent quality, Innovation indicators, Technological innovation capability, Knowledge-based economies, Economic performance, Intangible assets |
| JEL: | O31 O33 O34 O47 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:343662 |
| By: | Azinovic-Yang, Li; Kepler, John D.; Speros, Ava E.; Stewart, Christopher R. |
| Abstract: | We study how the durability of customer relationships shapes competition, innovation, and the allocation of economic activity. Using novel data from M&A accounting disclosures, we construct a forward-looking measure of customer durability based on firms' expected useful lives of their customer relationship-related intangible assets, covering nearly 9, 500 acquisitions and $8 trillion in assets from 2002 through 2024. We document a substantial rise in durability across industries and examine its implications in an endogenous growth model in which longer-lasting customer relationships amplify incumbents' market power. Empirically, greater durability is associated with higher markups and profit shares, increased concentration, reduced entry and exit, lower job reallocation, slower wage growth, and a declining labor share. Consistent with our model, we also find an inverted-U relationship between durability and innovation, with high durability reducing both the quantity and quality of innovation, partly through lower R&D investment. Taken together, our findings highlight rising customer durability as a novel mechanism that helps reconcile the simultaneous increase in market power and decline in U.S. business dynamism, with important implications for competition policy. |
| JEL: | L11 L25 L41 O31 E25 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cbscwp:343992 |
| By: | Papadonikolaki, Eleni; Krystallis, Ilias; Morgan, Bethan |
| Abstract: | Absorptive capacity in construction is crucial for effectively managing change amidst the twin transition (digital and green transitions) that is significantly affecting existing practices in the sector. Concentrating on construction sector, this research examines how firms assimilate and use digital decarbonisation practices to improve their performance. Building on a multi-method qualitative dataset comprising interviews with 53 industry experts in the UK construction sector, archival data, and validation of our findings through focus group data, the study highlights the vital role of absorptive capacity in enabling firms to navigate and benefit from digitalisation and sustainability initiatives. The findings indicate that the potential absorptive capacity (acquisition and assimilation of knowledge) takes place mainly in firms whereas the realised absorptive capacity (transformation and exploitation) takes place mainly in the boundaries of projects they deliver. This offers a mutually reinforcing cycle of exploration and exploitation that can equip firms to meet contemporary challenges and institutional demands effectively to cope against the twin transition. Our study contributes with a four-phase process model for understanding the organisational change management processes required for the twin transition in project-based settings. Most existing research on absorptive capacity focuses on either organisational or industry-level dynamics, our study examines the loci of absorptive capacity (e.g., by examining firm and project boundaries) in a highly complex, project-driven industry such as construction. |
| Keywords: | dynamic capabilities;green transitition;knowledge absorption;net zero;digitalisation;digital innovation |
| JEL: | R14 J01 |
| Date: | 2026–03–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:140977 |
| By: | Çiğdem Ekiz; Eren Gürer; Erol Taymaz |
| Abstract: | We examine how innovation shapes firm-level workforce dynamics using rich administrative data from Türkiye, a developing economy characterized by medium-technology, incremental innovation. We find that patent-based innovation increases both firm size and average daily wages, with the largest employment gains among workers earning just above the median wage. To uncover the mechanisms behind these outcomes, we construct worker transition matrices. Relative to comparable non-innovative firms, innovative firms (i) retain incumbent workers at higher rates, particularly at the top of the wage distribution, (ii) promote retained workers into higher wage bins more frequently, and (iii) hire more new workers, disproportionately into higher wage bins. Finally, occupational composition analysis shows that employment growth is concentrated among technical and production occupations, consistent with the medium-technology, incremental nature of innovation in our sample. |
| Keywords: | innovation, patents, wages, employment, worker transitions |
| JEL: | J21 J31 O31 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12986 |
| By: | Sharma, Komal; Rathi, Deepika; Bhagat, Jainish (P P Savani University); MEHTA, RONAK AJAYKUMAR |
| Abstract: | Purpose – This study examines how the adoption of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies – the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data Analytics (BDA), Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML), Blockchain (BCT), and Digital Twin (DTW) – influences the supply chain resilience (SCR) of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), through the mediating roles of supply chain visibility (SCV), supply chain agility (SCA), and supply chain collaboration (SCC), and the moderating role of organizational readiness (ORGREAD). Design/methodology/approach – A structural model integrating the Resource-Based View and the Dynamic Capabilities View was tested using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) on survey data from 260 supply chain, operations, procurement, and digital-transformation executives in OEM firms across the automotive, electronics/electrical, industrial machinery, aerospace, and consumer-durables sectors. I4.0 technology adoption (I4ADOPT) is modelled as a second-order construct formed by five first-order technology dimensions; supply chain resilience is modelled as a second-order construct reflecting robustness, redundancy, flexibility, and recovery. The structural model was estimated with 2, 000-sample nonparametric bootstrapping. Findings – I4ADOPT significantly and positively predicted SCV (β = 0.487, p < .001), SCA (β = 0.254, p < .001), and SCC (β = 0.193, p < .01), and exerted a significant direct effect on SCR (β = 0.175, p < .01). SCV, SCA, and SCC each significantly predicted SCR (β = 0.237, 0.354, and 0.240 respectively, all p < .001) and significantly, partially mediated the I4ADOPT–SCR relationship. SCV additionally strengthened both SCA (β = 0.335) and SCC (β = 0.308). Organizational readiness had a significant positive direct association with both SCV (β = 0.169) and SCA (β = 0.205), but its hypothesized moderating (interaction) effect on the I4ADOPT–SCV and I4ADOPT–SCA relationships was not statistically supported. The model explained 58.2% of the variance in supply chain resilience, and all measurement-model reliability, validity, and model-fit criteria were satisfied (SRMR = 0.013). Practical implications – OEM managers should prioritise IoT- and analytics-led visibility investment as the entry point of a digital resilience strategy, since visibility significantly amplifies agility and collaboration in addition to its own direct effect on resilience, and should invest in organizational readiness (leadership commitment, digital skills, process maturity) as a parallel, direct driver of these capabilities rather than solely as a moderating lever. |
| Date: | 2026–09–17 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:fkprh_v1 |