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on Central and Western Asia |
| By: | Igor Gurkov (D.Sc., National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia)); Sergey Filippov (Ph.D., Delft University of Technology (Delft, The Netherlands), Assistant Professor) |
| Abstract: | Subsidiaries of foreign multinational companies are essential part of the modern Russian economy. In many sectors, they enjoy dominant positions. Innovation is an important driver and determinant of this dominance. Yet, little research has been done on innovation strategies and innovation processes in foreign subsidiaries in Russia. The paper aims to fill this gap. On the basis of qualitative evidence, it explores the goals, patterns and challenges of innovation activities in Russian subsidiaries. Our findings suggest that that manufacturing subsidiaries have implemented numerous effective innovation routines that are an integral part of daily ‘routine’ management. This is driven by the two-faceted objective – to achieve global quality standards and low production costs. |
| Keywords: | manufacturing, subsidiaries, multinational corporations, innovation, Russia, surveys. |
| JEL: | F23 L21 L22 L23 L60 M11 O31 O32 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:07man2013&r=cwa |
| By: | Ramani, Shyama V. (Brunel University, UNU-MERIT, and STI4Change); Thutupalli, Ajay (UNU-MERIT); Medovarski, Tamas (STI4Change); Chattopadhyay, Sutapa (UNU-MERIT); Ravichandran, Veena (IDRC) |
| Abstract: | The existing marketing, strategy and economics literature have little to offer by way of recommendations to promote entrepreneurship in the informal economy, except to advocate that multinationals, local firms, state and public agencies should work together to bring the informal economy into the fold of the formal economy. In contrast, this paper argues that the business sustainability of women entrepreneurs in the informal economy depends upon their engagements or business partnerships with other women (and men) and women-focussed intermediaries. More than formalization, women entrepreneurs need 'spaces' for dialogue with other women (and men) to learn and build business capabilities. Both the State and firms wanting to penetrate the informal economy can create such spaces through partnerships with NGOs and women-focussed organizations. While formalization of entrepreneurial activity is favourable under some circumstances, it can be detrimental under others - necessitating a case by case evaluation rather than a general rule. In order to ensure the business sustainability of women's ventures in the informal economy, any sort of formalization must occur through a gradual process accompanied by intermediaries. These results are formulated through the compilation and analysis of the existing literature and the study of six detailed case studies of women entrepreneurs from developing countries validated by extensive interviews. The results are then used to propose a closed model of linkages between formal and informal economies which has novel organizational implications for firms competing to establish consumer bases and business partnerships in the Base of Pyramid (BoP) markets of developing countries. |
| Keywords: | Informal economy, entrepreneurship, gender, business sustainability |
| JEL: | L26 B54 E26 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2013018&r=cwa |
| By: | Irina Starodubrovskaya (Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy) |
| Abstract: | This paper is devoted to the strategic perspectives on the North Caucasus region. The author analyses the causes of conflicts in the region, positive and negative features of the federal policy in the North Caucasus Federal District. On the basis of the analysis policy recommendations were formulated aiming at correction of the current policy. Implementation of this policy recommendations, in the author's view, will contribute to a decrease of conflict potential in the region. The field research results are widely used in the paper. |
| Keywords: | Russian economy, North Caucasus, federal policy, causes of conflict in North Caucasus |
| JEL: | R14 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gai:wpaper:0071&r=cwa |
| By: | Peerally, Jahan A. (Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC), Montreal); Figueiredo, Paulo N. (Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration (EBAPE), Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV), Rio de Janeiro) |
| Abstract: | Although there has been considerable research on firm-level technological capability building in the context of developing economies, there is a scarcity of studies which examine this issue in multinational enterprises' socially motivated businesses located in less developed economies. This paper examines the latterissue on the basis of first-hand empirical evidence derived from an extensive field research on Grameen-Danone Foods Limited (GDFL) in Bangladesh. The study found that GDFL generated relevant spillovers to the host economy by accumulating production capabilities in association with innovation capabilities at intermediate levels across four technological functions: project management, process and production organization, product centred and equipment-related. Apart from revealing the types of frugal and reverse innovations which emanates from such a business, our study also explores - unlike existing studies which only focus on the financial and social benefits - the technological benefits generated froma social business model.Understanding the nature and dynamics of technological activities in social businesses of less developed economies is relevant for the achievement of enhanced local, autonomous and sustainable economic and social development. |
| Keywords: | Technological capability building, MNEs, MNE subsidiaries, social businesses, entrepreneurship, bottom of the pyramid, less developed countries, Bangladesh |
| JEL: | M16 O32 Q16 Q18 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2013036&r=cwa |
| By: | Figueiredo, Paulo N. (Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration, Getulio Vargas Foundation); Cohen, Marcela (Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration, Getulio Vargas Foundation); Gomes, Saulo (Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration, Getulio Vargas Foundation) |
| Abstract: | Although much has been written about organizational-level learning, there is a dearth of empirical studies that explore the role of changes in the nature of firm-centred learning mechanisms in affecting inter-firm differences and similarities in the accumulation of innovation capabilities, especially among firms from emerging economies, known as latecomers. By examining the relationships between these issues based on fieldwork evidence from 13 natural resource-processing firms in Brazil (1950-2000s), this study found that: (1) firms that combined the use of external and internal learning mechanisms with increased intensity and quality achieved higher innovation capability levels than firms that used these learning mechanisms with limited frequency and unchanged quality over time; (2) the relative importance of both external and internal learning mechanisms changed as firms' capabilities approached world-leading levels; (3) some combinations of external and internal learning mechanisms were associated with the attainment of particular innovation capability levels. Therefore, if latecomer firms expend limited efforts in using and deliberately changing the intensity and, mainly, the quality of both external and internal learning mechanisms over time, they will deepen their innovation capabilities slowly and will remain innovation 'followers' rather than becoming world-leading innovators. Using a novel approach that explores the relationship between latecomer firms' innovation capability-building and the extent of changes in the underlying learning mechanisms, this paper furthers our understanding of the nature and dynamics of learning and its role as a primary source of firms' international innovation performance. It also challenges recent approaches that seem to over emphasize open learning processes and post-Chandlerian forms of learning as the leading sources of firms' innovation capabilities. |
| Keywords: | Innovation capability building, learning mechanisms, latecomer firms, natural resources, multiple case-study, Brazil |
| JEL: | O12 O32 O33 M10 Q20 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2013007&r=cwa |
| By: | Àlexandra Moskovskaya (National Research University Higher School of Economics, Director of CSE, The head of research group, Ph.D. Economics); Îleg Oberemko (National Research University Higher School of Economics, Leading Research Fellow CSE, Ph.D. Sociology); Victoria Silaeva (National Research University Higher School of Economics, Research Fellow CSE, Ph.D. Philosophy); Irina Popova (National Research University Higher School of Economics, Ph.D. Sociology, Leading Research Fellow CSE; Institute of Sociology Russian Academy of Sciences, Senior Research Fellow); Inna Nazarova (National Research University Higher School of Economics, Doctor of Economics, Leading Research Fellow CSE); Olga Peshkova (National Research University Higher School of Economics, Ph.D. Economics, Leading Research Fellow CSE); Marina Chernysheva (National Research University Higher School of Economics, Research Fellow CSE) |
| Abstract: | Professional associations in Russia are to some extent novices in contemporary professional regulation. Only small part of them can play significant role in enforcement of professional control (representing professional community in front of other stakeholders, adopting professional standards, ensuring market closure, protecting of prevalence of professional ethics etc.). Partially that comes from the lack of experience of self-regulation that professions have in the Russian history and sharp invasion of the global market in the 1990-es, partially that follows tradition of state predominance in economy and society. During the last two decades a mass of organizations arose in Russia calling themselves professional associations, guilds, societies and unions. The task to understand who they are, whether they can and they ought to represent professional community and what are their ways of professional self-regulation became now a pressing practical problem and an interesting research task. The object of this research is mapping the field of variety of non-government organizations that claim institutional control as professional associations in order to clarify the following issues: - What are the main forms of professional associations by their qualitative characteristics - What are their actual means and feasible opportunities to achieve professional control in their field of expertise or at least influence it – What are the main limits of professional self-regulation they dispose and whether there are any alternative forms of professional regulation in certain professional areas |
| Keywords: | professional association, professionalization, self-regulation, state, market-oriented professions |
| JEL: | Z13 D71 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:26/soc/2013&r=cwa |
| By: | Igor Gurkov (D.Sc., National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia)); Sergey Filippov (Ph.D., Delft University of Technology (Delft, The Netherlands), Assistant Professor) |
| Abstract: | The extant literature acknowledges the role of overseas subsidiaries in the growth and development of multinational companies (MNCs). Such subsidiaries are viewed as critical players in the innovation process at MNCs. Although this topic has gained importance, it remains largely under-researched in the Russian context. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the dynamics of the innovation process in Russian-based subsidiaries of global MNCs. It seeks to explore and understand motivation and drivers of innovation, key participants, and impact and outcomes of innovation, with a specific reference to the peculiarities of the Russian institutional environment. We present qualitative findings from several case studies of Russian manufacturing subsidiaries of foreign MNCs, which indicate that Russian subsidiaries are not only recipients of knowledge and technology developed elsewhere in the MNCs, but are active developers of innovative products and solutions that are later applied in other units of the respective MNCs |
| Keywords: | Innovation, Subsidiaries, Russia, Manufacturing, MNCs, Technologies. |
| JEL: | F23 L21 L22 L23 L60 M11 O31 O32 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:11man2013&r=cwa |
| By: | Gassmann, Franziska (UNU-MERIT / MGSoG); Tsukada, Raquel (UNU-MERIT / MGSoG) |
| Abstract: | Access to energy is fundamental to improving quality of life and is a key imperative for economic development" (Energy Poverty Action). This is particularly true in Central Asia where winters are harsh and long. Changes in energy prices affect the purchasing power of households, hitting the poor in particular. The impact very much depends on a household's energy basket and the available strategies for switching to alternative energy sources. Using data from the Kyrgyz Integrated Household Survey (KIHS) 2011, this paper analyzes the profile of household energy consumption and the impact of electricity tariff increases on the probability that households would switch to alternative energy sources. Results suggest that households would respond to an electricity price increase by increasing consumption of fuels: households would tend to move away from electricity-only heating source towards the use of stove-only. |
| Keywords: | energy, household consumption, Central Asia, Kyrgyz Republic |
| JEL: | H23 I38 P22 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2013047&r=cwa |
| By: | Habiyaremye, Alexis (Antalya International University); Raymond, Wladimir (Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (STATEC), Luxembourg) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we examine how transnational corruption affects host country firms' innovation behaviour and performance in transition economies of Eastern Europe and Central and Western Asia. Using firm-level data from the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey, we show that the involvement of foreign firms in corruption practices reduces the propensity of firms in host countries to invest in research and development and harms their ability to improve their existing products and services. Using a simultaneousequations recursive model and controlling for various innovation determinants, we also show that the reduction in innovation effort ultimately also hurts the host country's long-term ability to successfully bring new products on the market through indirect effects. |
| Keywords: | Transnational corruption, Innovation, Transition Economies |
| JEL: | H42 H57 L26 O31 O32 P37 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2013050&r=cwa |
| By: | Kawai, Masahiro (Asian Development Bank Institute); Schmiegelow, Henrik (Asian Development Bank Institute) |
| Abstract: | This paper discusses how financial crises in emerging Asia and Japan worked as catalysts for legal reforms. Findings show that six Asian countries pursued significant legal and judicial reforms following financial crises in 1997–1998, but indicators that measure the quality of legal institutions exhibit mixed results. Reforms of economic laws alone cannot improve the quality of entire legal and judicial systems of countries. What matters is the enforcement of substantive law by procedural law, the efficiency of the justice system, and other political and social factors. Long time lags may be needed to observe how de jure changes to substantive laws lead to de facto improvements of legal institutions. |
| Keywords: | financial crises; legal reforms; judicial systems; legal institutions |
| JEL: | G01 G28 G33 K40 O16 O43 |
| Date: | 2013–11–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0446&r=cwa |
| By: | Anna Zudina (Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia). Centre for Labour Market Studies. Junior Research Fellow) |
| Abstract: | This article addresses the elaboration of a new approach to informal employment research based on analyzing subjective social status. In spite of numerous studies conducted over the past 40 years many questions still exist in the field of informal employment research. The heterogeneous nature of activities incorporated into the concept of “informality” defines the ambiguity of its impact on the economy and society. Thus, little is actually known about the socioeconomic position of informal workers and the nature of informal employment. Is informality a kind of stratifying mechanism embedded in the social structure that changes the position of the informally employed, or not? The so-called “direct” approach based on analyzing levels of income was considered to be an inappropriate framework and thus indicated that the consequences of informal employment need to be further analyzed together with indirect – subjective – measures. The present paper discusses methodological issues and presents results concerning the subjective social position of informally employed workers in contrast to formal workers, the unemployed, and the economically inactive population. The study was carried out on the basis of a large nationally representative panel: the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey of the Higher School of Economics (RLMS-HSE) for 2000-2010. The existence of three-tier informal employment in Russia is revealed with self-employment being better off than formal employment and informal wage and salary work. No significant difference between informal wage and salary work and formal employment in terms of subjective social status is found. Thereby, one can suppose that the difference between types of employment is not embedded in the social structure at all. Taken as an indirect indicator of the quality formal employment in Russia, this could point to the great weakness of labor market institutions and the idle channels of social mobility of formal employment in Russia. |
| Keywords: | subjective social status, informal employment, self employment, segmented labor markets, panel data analysis, RLMS-HSE. |
| JEL: | J23 J32 J42 J62 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:24/soc/2013&r=cwa |
| By: | Gassmann, Franziska (UNU-MERIT/MGSoG); Siegel, Melissa (UNU-MERIT/MGSoG); Vanore, Michaella (UNU-MERIT/MGSoG); Waidler, Jennifer (UNU-MERIT/MGSoG) |
| Abstract: | This paper empirically evaluates the well-being of children "left behind" by migrant household members in Moldova. Using data derived from a nationally-representative, large-scale household survey conducted between September 2011 and February 2012 among 3,255 households (1,801 of which contained children aged 0-17) across Moldova, different dimensions of child well-being are empirically evaluated. Well-being of children in Moldova is divided into eight different dimensions, each of which is comprised of several indicators. Each indicator is examined individually and then aggregated into an index. Well-being outcomes are then compared by age group, primary caregiver, migration status of the household (current migrant, return migrant, or no migration experience), and by who has migrated within the household. It was found that migration in and of itself is not associated with negative outcomes on children's well-being in any of the dimensions analysed, nor does it matter who in the household has migrated. Children living in return migrant households, however, attain higher rates of well-being in specific dimensions like emotional health and material well-being. The age of the child and the material living standards experienced by the household are much stronger predictors of well-being than household migration status in a number of different dimensions. The results suggest that migration does not play a significant role in shaping child well-being outcomes, contrary to the scenarios described in much past research. This paper is the first (to the authors' knowledge) to link migration and multidimensional child poverty. |
| Keywords: | Moldova, migration, poverty, child poverty, multi-dimensional poverty |
| JEL: | I32 F22 J61 O15 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2013043&r=cwa |
| By: | Peter Havlik (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw) |
| Abstract: | Summary The Vilnius Eastern Partnership Summit on 28-29th November represents a milestone in EU relations not just with respect to the six Eastern Partnership countries (EaP Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and particularly Ukraine), but also with the EU’s ‘strategic partner’ Russia. The turbulence and numerous speculations regarding expectations about the signature of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement (comprising a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement – AA/DCFTA), as well as progress in initialling similar future agreements with Georgia and Moldova, have been escalating before the summit. The association agreements would bring EaP signatory countries closer to the EU not really closer to EU membership, but closer to the application of various EU norms and standards (takeover of the ‘acquis communautaire’) and – significantly – out of the Russian orbit, for the beginning at least symbolically. The last minute postponement of the EU-Ukraine AA/DCFTA signature announced by Ukraine’s government just one week before the summit represents a serious setback for the EU. Though the EU has no ‘Plan B’ and was stunned after Ukraine’s announcement, life will continue after the summit and new initiatives will have to be started. What are the relevant issues and challenges and what is at stake? This note attempts to evaluate the consequences (economic and otherwise) of alternate decisions following the Vilnius Eastern Partnership Summit, reviews some of the disputed arguments and discusses selected relevant economic issues. |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wii:pnotes:pn:11&r=cwa |
| By: | Yegor Lazarev (Junior Research Fellow at the Laboratory for Comparative Social Studies, Higher School of Economics and Carnegie Visiting Scholar at the Center for Political Studies, University of Michigan;) |
| Abstract: | How do insecure property rights over land affect electoral competition and the level of violence? To answer this question, I explore original empirical evidence from Dagestan, Russia’s most turbulent North Caucasian republic. The exploration is based on a statistical analysis of district-level data with special emphasis on chronological validity. Studying the relationship between land titles of the Soviet period and post-Soviet amounts of tenured land, the research demonstrates that the amount of unregistered land in each district has a profound effect on local electoral competition and indices of violence. A higher percentage of untenured land at the district level leads to less electoral competition and more intense violence. Consequently, the study finds that the insecurity of property rights creates an opportunity structure for electoral patronage and violent expression of conflicts and grievances. In theoretical perspective this study sheds light upon a relatively unexplored institutional factor that drives electoral process and violence in predominantly agrarian societies |
| Keywords: | Dagestan, insecure property rights, electoral competition, level of violence. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:01/soc/2013&r=cwa |
| By: | Vladimir Magun (Head of the Unit for Personality Studies at the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Head of the Laboratory for Comparative Studies of Mass Consciousness at the National Research University Higher School of Economics); Maksim Rudnev (Senior research fellow at the National Research University Higher School of Economics and at the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences) |
| Abstract: | The basic values of the Russian population and the population of 31 European countries were compared with data obtained by the Schwartz Questionnaire, embedded into the fourth round of the European Social Survey. Conclusions about similarities and differences of basic human values between Russia and other European countries confirm the thesis that Russia is a country which shares a general logic of cultural and social development with the rest of the world and which has a lot in common with countries of a similar economic level and recent political history. In most value comparisons, Russia appeared to be closer to Post-Communist and Mediterranean countries than to Western European or Nordic countries.The fact that Russians are less committed than most Europeans to the values of caring, tolerance, equality, and ecology, and, conversely, more committed than most Europeans to the competitive “zero-sum” values of personal success, wealth, and power, confirms the validity of current moral criticisms of mass values and morals in Russia. The other disturbing fact is the relatively low commitment of Russians to the values of Openness to Change and, conversely, a strong focus on Conservation. So basic values of Russians create a cultural barrier to the development of an innovation-based economy and to the societal development as a whole. Thanks to a shift from country-level analysis to individual- and group-level analysis, we challenge the notion of the “average Russian” and demonstrate that the Russian value majority consists of two subtypes. Russia also has a sizable value minority and its members share values non-typical for most Russians. Two value minorities, which embrace 19% of the Russian population, are more committed to values of Openness and Self-Transcendence than the rest of the Russian population. These value groups are typical for European countries with more prosperous and happy populations and we can hypothesize that in Russia they are also resource groups for the country’s advancement. |
| Keywords: | basic values, European Social Survey, cross-country comparisons, within-country heterogeneity, culture barrier. |
| JEL: | Z10 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:23/soc/2013&r=cwa |
| By: | Facundo Alvaredo (EMod/OMI-Oxford University, Paris School of Economics and CONICET.); Leonardo Gasparini (CEDLAS, UNLP.) |
| Abstract: | This chapter reviews the empirical evidence on the levels and trends in income/consumption inequality and poverty in developing countries. It includes a discussion of data sources and measurement issues, evidence on the levels of inequality and poverty across countries and regions, an assessment of trends in these variables since the early 1980s, and a general discussion of their determinants. There has been tremendous progress in the measurement of inequality and poverty in the developing world, although serious problems of consistency and comparability still remain. The available evidence suggests that on average the levels of national income inequality in the developing world increased in the 1980s and 1990s, and declined in the 2000s. There was a remarkable fall in income poverty since the early 1980s, driven by the exceptional performance of China over the whole period, and the generalized improvement in living standards in all the regions of the developing world in the 2000s. |
| JEL: | D31 I32 |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dls:wpaper:0151&r=cwa |
| By: | Mohiburrahman Iqbal |
| Abstract: | This paper measures vulnerability to expected poverty (VEP) an ex-anti measure of well-being for Afghanistan using a single cross-section data. We measure VEP using household consumption expenditure during 2007/08 to predict probability of future consumption being lower than a specific probability threshold. Our results show that 66 per cent of Afghan population is vulnerable to poverty in near future compared to 42 per cent of the population who currently live under the poverty line. Our results show that poverty and vulnerability vary across geography and seasons and interestingly, areas most exposed to war have the lowest levels of poverty. The results further indicate that household head education, household head being male, housing condition, and ownership of irrigated agriculture land have a positive effect on consumption. In contrast, the fact that the household is rural or nomadic and proportion of family members under 15 and over 50 years of age have a negative effect on household consumption. |
| Keywords: | Vulnerability, Poverty, Afghanistan |
| JEL: | C23 C25 C31 I32 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pas:asarcc:2013-14&r=cwa |
| By: | Wahl, Fabian |
| Abstract: | This study empirically establishes a link between medieval trade, agglomeration and contemporary regional development in ten European countries. It documents a statistically and economically significant positive relationship between prominent involvement in medieval trade and commercial activities and regional economic development today. Further empirical analyses show that medieval trade positively influenced city development both during the medieval period and in the long run; they also reveal a robust connection between medieval city growth and contemporary regional agglomeration and industry concentration. A mediation analysis indicates that a long-lasting effect of medieval trade on contemporary regional development is indeed transmitted via its effect on agglomeration and industry concentration. This research thus highlights the long-run importance of medieval trade in shaping the development of cities as well as the contemporary spatial distribution of economic activity throughout Europe. The path-dependent regional development processes caused by medieval commercial activities help explain the observed persistent regional development differences across the European countries considered. -- |
| Keywords: | Medieval Trade,Agglomeration,Regional Economic Development,Path-Dependency,New Economic Geography |
| JEL: | F14 N73 N93 O18 R12 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fziddp:822013&r=cwa |
| By: | Akçomakn Semih (TEKPOL, Middle East Technical University, and UNU-MERIT); Akdeve, Erdal (School of Management, Yıldırım Beyazıt University); Findik, Derya (TEKPOL, Middle East Technical University) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a novel taxonomy of firms based on specialization versus diversification in production and markets. Firms may choose to specialize on few production activities or alternatively may build expertise in many activities. There is an accompanying decision when firms sell their products: whether to serve few or many markets. We argue that the location on the specialization-diversification spectrum significantly affects how firms manage innovation. For a sample of 90 innovator ICT firms in Ankara we find that cooperation structure, sources of innovation and funding of R&D display statistically significant different patterns according to the specialization-diversification taxonomy. |
| Keywords: | management of innovation, core competency, expertise building, R&D, ICT |
| JEL: | O32 L22 L86 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2013024&r=cwa |