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on Small Business Management |
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Issue of 2026–04–13
sixteen papers chosen by João Carlos Correia Leitão, Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Wagner, Joachim (Leuphana University Lüneburg) |
| Abstract: | The use of advanced technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics, or smart devices will go hand in hand with, among others, higher productivity, higher product quality, more exports and better chances to survive any crisis. Better firms tend to use advanced technologies. Information on firm level determinants of adoption of these technologies, therefore, is important to inform industrial policies. This paper uses firm level data for manufacturing enterprises from 38 countries collected in 2025 to shed further light on this issue by investigating the link between the use of advanced technologies and firm characteristics. Applying a new machine-learning estimator, Kernel-Regularized Least Squares (KRLS), which does not impose any restrictive assumptions for the functional form of the relation between use of advanced technologies, firm characteristics and any control variables, we find that firms which use advanced technologies tend to be larger and more innovation orientated, while firm age does not matter. |
| Keywords: | advanced technologies, firm characteristics, Flash Eurobarometer 559, kernel-regularized least squares (KRLS) |
| JEL: | D22 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18499 |
| By: | Yoko KONISHI; TakashiKUBO |
| Abstract: | This study examines how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Japan adopted generative artificial intelligence (AI) during the early phase of its diffusion. Generative AI spread rapidly after late 2022, yet little is known about how firms actually initiated adoption. Using monthly industry-level data constructed from cloud accounting service logs, we analyze actual payment records for generative AI services from 2022 to 2025, covering approximately 87, 000 SMEs. We find that initial adoption was highly synchronized across industries, with a sharp increase in early 2023 following major technological releases. However, subsequent differences in adoption levels are primarily associated with industry characteristics and pre-existing digital technology usage structures. Sectors with more advanced digital infrastructures exhibit higher sustained adoption rates. By documenting real adoption behavior at its formative stage, this study provides baseline evidence for future evaluations of economic impacts and the design of SME technology policies. |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:rdpsjp:26018 |
| By: | Pulito, Giuseppe; Pytlikova, Mariola; Schroeder, Sarah; Lodefalk, Magnus |
| Abstract: | Using two waves of nationally representative Danish firm surveys linked to employer- employee administrative registers, we study how adoption varies across artificial intelligence (AI) and related advanced technologies. We show that AI adoption is highly technologyspecific. While firm size and digital infrastructure predict adoption broadly, workforce composition operates through distinct channels: STEM-educated workforces predict core AI adoption, whereas non-STEM university-educated workforces are associated with generative AI adoption, indicating different human capital complementarities. The factors associated with adoption differ from those predicting deployment breadth: firm size and digital maturity matter for both, whereas workforce composition primarily predicts adoption alone. Machine learning and natural language processing are deployed across multiple business functions, whereas other advanced technologies remain concentrated in specific operational domains. Individual-level evidence provides a foundation for these patterns, with awareness of workplace AI usage concentrated among managers and high-skilled workers. Self-reported AI knowledge is higher among younger and more educated individuals. Finally, commonly used occupational AI exposure measures vary substantially in their ability to predict observed adoption, with benchmark-based measures outperforming patent-based and LLM-focused alternatives. These findings show that treating AI as a monolithic category obscures economically meaningful variation in who adopts, what they deploy, and how well existing measures capture it. |
| Keywords: | Artificial Intelligence, Technology Adoption, Digitalisation, Human capital, AI Exposure Measures |
| JEL: | D24 J23 J62 O33 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1732 |
| By: | Hanming Fang; Xian Gu; Hanyin Yan; Wu Zhu |
| Abstract: | We develop a high-precision classifier to measure artificial intelligence (AI) patents by fine-tuning PatentSBERTa on manually labeled data from the USPTO’s AI Patent Dataset. Our classifier substantially improves the existing USPTO approach, achieving 97.0% precision, 91.3% recall, and a 94.0% F1 score, and it generalizes well to Chinese patents based on citation and lexical validation. Applying it to granted U.S. patents (1976–2023) and Chinese patents (2010–2023), we document rapid growth in AI patenting in both countries and broad convergence in AI patenting intensity and subfield composition, even as China surpasses the United States in recent annual patent counts. The organization of AI innovation nevertheless differs sharply: U.S. AI patenting is concentrated among large private incumbents and established hubs, whereas Chinese AI patenting is more geographically diffuse and institutionally diverse, with larger roles for universities and state-owned enterprises. For listed firms, AI patents command a robust market-value premium in both countries. Cross-border citations show continued technological interdependence rather than decoupling, with Chinese AI inventors relying more heavily on U.S. frontier knowledge than vice versa. |
| JEL: | C55 G14 O31 O33 O34 O57 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35022 |
| By: | Julien Kervio (CEREFIGE - Centre Européen de Recherche en Economie Financière et Gestion des Entreprises - UL - Université de Lorraine) |
| Abstract: | This doctoral project explores the transition from sustainable entrepreneurship to post-growth entrepreneurship. The project builds on the premise that mainstream sustainable entrepreneurship is grounded in a weak conception of sustainability-one that proves inadequate in solving growing ecological and social crises. Degrowth, by contrast, offers a strong approach to sustainability, yet its principles remain only marginally incorporated into entrepreneurial practice. The dissertation seeks to clarify the distinctions between these two perspectives, to develop a theoretical framework for translating degrowth principles into the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and to analyze the risks associated with such a transition. Adopting a constructivist epistemological stance, the study draws on a comprehensive literature review, a systemic analytical framework, and an intervention-research project carried out with LIDEV, a sustainable-entrepreneurship support organization based in Geneva. The project thus provides value both to scholars and practitioners by generating new knowledge that can enable entrepreneurs to explore pathways toward more robust forms of sustainability. |
| Abstract: | Ce projet de thèse explore la transition de l'entrepreneuriat durable vers l'entrepreneuriat post-croissance. Il part du principe que l'entrepreneuriat durable tel qu'il est couramment compris repose sur une conception fragile de la durabilité, qui s'avère insuffisante pour résoudre les crises écologiques et sociales croissantes. La décroissance, en revanche, propose une approche solide de la durabilité, mais ses principes ne sont encore que très peu intégrés dans la pratique entrepreneuriale. La thèse vise à clarifier les distinctions entre ces deux perspectives, à développer un cadre théorique permettant de transposer les principes de la décroissance dans l'écosystème entrepreneurial, et à analyser les risques associés à une telle transition. Adoptant une position épistémologique constructiviste, cette étude s'appuie sur une revue exhaustive de la littérature, un cadre analytique systémique et un projet de recherche-intervention mené en collaboration avec LIDEV, une organisation de soutien à l'entrepreneuriat durable basée à Genève. Le projet apporte ainsi une valeur ajoutée tant aux chercheurs qu'aux praticiens en générant de nouvelles connaissances susceptibles de permettre aux entrepreneurs d'explorer des voies vers des formes plus solides de durabilité. |
| Keywords: | sufficiency, planetary boundaries, degrowth, strong sustainability, sustainable entrepreneurship, durabilité forte, décroissance, limites planétaires, sobriété, Entrepreneuriat durable |
| Date: | 2026–03–24 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05574205 |
| By: | Pulito, Giuseppe (ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin); Pytlikova, Mariola (CERGE-EI Prague); Schroeder, Sarah (Aarhus University and Ratio Institute); Lodefalk, Magnus (Orebro University, Ratio Institute, GLO) |
| Abstract: | Using surveys of Danish firms and individuals linked to employer–employee administrative data, we analyze AI adoption across technologies, business functions, and workers. We show that AI adoption is driven primarily by firm capacities rather than performance. Adoption is strongly associated with firm size, digital infrastructure, and workforce composition, particularly education and STEM intensity, while productivity and capital intensity explain little of the variation. Conditional on AI adoption, larger and more digitally mature firms deploy advanced technologies more broadly. Moreover, AI technologies diffuse across multiple business functions while other advanced technologies remain function-specific. Individual-level evidence mirrors these patterns and points towards workforce readiness as a key determinant of AI adoption. Finally, commonly used occupational AI exposure measures vary substantially in their ability to predict actual adoption, with benchmark-based measures outperforming patent-based and LLM-focused alternatives. These findings show that treating AI as a monolithic category obscures economically meaningful variation in who adopts, what they deploy, and how well existing measures capture it. |
| Keywords: | Artificial Intelligence, technology adoption, digitalisation, human capital, AI exposure measures |
| JEL: | D24 J23 J62 O33 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18515 |
| By: | Marta Ballatore (PSB - Paris School of Business - HESAM - HESAM Université - Communauté d'universités et d'établissements Hautes écoles Sorbonne Arts et métiers université); Hélène Bussy-Socrate (CNAM Paris - Centre d'enseignement Cnam Paris - Cnam - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers [Cnam], LIRSA - Laboratoire interdisciplinaire de recherche en sciences de l'action - Cnam - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers [Cnam]) |
| Abstract: | Digital transformation is no longer confined to industrial and technology-intensive ecosystems; it is now impacting traditional and non-technology-intensive industries as well. Current literature often overlooks these contexts and fails to adequately explain the disruptive processes involved, particularly the role of complementors in driving digital transformation alongside traditional orchestrators who are typically resistant to technology. Based on an emerging conceptual framework that combines innovation and digital transformation to explain the latter's effects and changes, this paper explores the role of tech companies in the wine industry, with a focus on the interconnection between green-oriented innovation and digital transformation. Our preliminary findings identify three main strategies adopted by tech companies in wine ecosystems to foster digital transformation: adopt new dynamics to favour relationship between the actors, opt for shared values, and orchestrate a technologydriven community to joint efforts in transforming the ecosystem. |
| Keywords: | Wine, Servitization, Innovation, Digital Transformation, Ecosystem, Ecosystem Digital Transformation Innovation Servitization Wine |
| Date: | 2024–10–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05466936 |
| By: | Wagner, Joachim (Leuphana University Lüneburg) |
| Abstract: | The use of advanced technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics, or smart devices will go hand in hand with higher productivity, higher product quality, and lower trade costs. Therefore, it can be expected to be positively related to export activities. This paper uses firm level data for manufacturing enterprises from the 27 member countries of the European Union collected in 2025 to shed further light on this issue by investigating the link between the use of advanced technologies and extensive margins of exports. Applying a new machine-learning estimator, Kernel-Regularized Least Squares (KRLS), which does not impose any restrictive assumptions for the functional form of the relation between margins of exports, use of advanced technologies, and any control variables, we find that firms which use more advanced technologies do more often export and do export to more different destinations. |
| Keywords: | advanced technologies, exports, firm level data, Flash Eurobarometer 559, kernel-regularized least squares (KRLS) |
| JEL: | D22 F14 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18496 |
| By: | Jacopo Ballerini; Magali Pino; Michal Kud\v{e}j; Alberto Ferraris |
| Abstract: | This study investigates how entrepreneurial orientation (EO) affects governance of SaaS platforms in SMEs, including strategy alignment and long-term governance performance. This study uses SaaS as a hybrid governance model to examine how transaction cost variables affect strategic alignment and how EO moderates these associations. The research uses multi-study design. Study 1 examined 180 UK and US entrepreneurs' survey data using PLS-SEM with reflecting constructs. Study 2 used a quasi-experimental approach using a secondary dataset from 238 European start-ups to operationalize variables using industry-based indicators. The study found an inverted U-shaped association between human asset specificity, SaaS usage frequency, and SMEs' strategic objectives. Risk-taking deepens the link between human asset distinctiveness and SaaS strategic alignment, while proactiveness strengthens the link to long-term success. Both studies show that SaaS strategic alignment has an inverted U-shaped connection with long-term performance, suggesting that excessive SaaS dependence may harm governance-enabled strategic outcomes. This paper introduces SaaS as a hybrid governance paradigm and examines its strategic influence on SMEs, utilizing transaction cost theory and EO perspectives. It shows the non-linear effects of SaaS adoption on strategic alignment and performance, emphasizing entrepreneurial decision-making in digital technology adoption. |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2604.02363 |
| By: | Wagner, Joachim (Leuphana University Lüneburg) |
| Abstract: | This short note looks at the link between churning of exporters and dynamics of exports using data from the World Bank Exporter Dynamics Database from 69 countries primarily for the period between 2003 and 2010. In line with Schumpetarian theory of creative destruction we report that a higher rate of turnover in export activity by entry and exit of firms in the year before is positively linked to export growth in the current year after controlling for unobserved time-invariant country effects and country-invariant time effects. Creative destruction is at work in exports. |
| Keywords: | Exporter Dynamics Database, creative destruction, export entry, export exit |
| JEL: | F14 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18497 |
| By: | NAGAMUNE, TAKESHI (Niimi University) |
| Abstract: | The traditional economic base model in regional science argues that tradable industries promote regional development by earning income from outside the region and generating multiplier effects within the local economy. Within this theoretical framework, manufacturing has long been considered the primary export base. However, following the influential work of Moretti and others, recent empirical analyses demonstrate that industries fostering innovation and creative activities also exhibit substantial employment multipliers. This suggests that industries and occupations engaged in creative and intellectual activities can serve as new drivers of regional growth. This study focuses on municipalities in Japan, where the tertiarization of industry has advanced. Using industry and occupation classifications from Census data, we define “creative industries and occupations” and estimate their local employment multiplier effects through regression analysis. The empirical results confirm that these creative sectors exert a positive and statistically significant multiplier effect on regional economies, indicating their potential contribution to regional economic development. These findings demonstrate that promoting creative industries can complement traditional manufacturing-oriented strategies. They also provide empirical evidence—based on Japanese municipal-level data—to support the international discourse that knowledge- and creativity-based industries drive regional transformation. |
| Date: | 2026–03–28 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:x2vcy_v1 |
| By: | El-Haddad, Amirah (German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)); Krafft, Caroline (University of Minnesota); Selwaness, Irene (Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University); Assaad, Ragui (University of Minnesota) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the determinants and dynamics of labour demand and specifically informal labour in Egypt’s manufacturing sector, using nationally representative firm-level data. We analyse the determinants of total employment, the share of informal labour, and its average annual change over the firm life cycle. Three key findings emerge. First, employment is positively associated with capital, exporting, innovation, industrial zones, worker training, and managerial education, and negatively associated with sole proprietorships, wages, and total factor productivity. Second, informal employment is more common among private sector firms, sole proprietorships, and firms using more part-time workers, and less prevalent among firms adopting technology or led by more educated managers. Third, although most formal firms exhibit no change in the share of informal workers, formal firms that did not initially employ informal labour tend to increase their informal share, while firms that formalised continue to rely heavily on informal employment. Together, these findings underscore the persistence of informality and limited transitions toward full formalisation within Egypt’s formal manufacturing sector. |
| Keywords: | Manufacturing, labour demand, informality, Egypt |
| JEL: | J23 L6 L11 O17 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18500 |
| By: | Wagner, Joachim (Leuphana University Lüneburg) |
| Abstract: | In a paper published in the Journal of Information Economics in 2024 I reported evidence that firms which use cloud computing do more often export, do more often export to various destinations all over the world, and do export to more different destinations. Results are based on data for manufacturing firms from the 27 member countries of the European Union taken from the Flash Eurobarometer 486 survey conducted in 2020. This note uses strictly comparable data from the Flash Eurobarometer 559 conducted in 2025 and the identical empirical strategy to document that the big picture found for 2020 did not change over the last five years. Extensive margins of exports and the use of cloud computing are still positively related. |
| Keywords: | cloud computing, exports, firm level data, Flash Eurobarometer 559, kernel-regularized least squares (KRLS) |
| JEL: | F14 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18498 |
| By: | Estrin, Saul; Meyer, Klaus; Kretschmer, Tobias |
| Abstract: | Competition policy establishes the institutional framework for competitive dynamics in market economies. Recently, the relevance and impact of traditional competition policy has been challenged by the rise of the digital economy, where we see a small number of large platform firms, frequent takeovers and mergers, and the potential for using customer data to join and dominate previously separate markets. We provide a framework to explain the basis for contemporary competition policy, and explore implications for company strategy within and beyond the digital sector. Some of the most radical thinking about how competition policy might address the challenge of the digital economy originates from Europe, itself a major market for technology firms. We illustrate this thinking with exemplars from the practice of the EU Commission. Although existing competition policy can provide a basis for addressing monopolistic abuses in digital markets, practices are shifting to address novel sources of market power, including the governance architecture of digital platform firms and their ecosystems, the transferability of personal data, and the interoperability of systems and standards. We consider implications for policymakers. Corporate strategists must also understand how the evolving competition policy framework is impacting competitive dynamics of both platform operator and platform complementing entrepreneurs. |
| Keywords: | European competition policy; mergers and aquisitions; abuse of monopoly power; platforms; digital sector; personal data |
| JEL: | J50 J1 |
| Date: | 2025–11–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:127060 |
| By: | Wei Cai; Andrea Prat; Jiehang Yu |
| Abstract: | Prior research has pointed to differences in organizational capital as a reason for the persistent performance discrepancies among otherwise similar firms. In this paper, we develop and validate a new measure of organizational capital. Based on over a million crowd-sourced employee reviews scraped from Glassdoor, we construct the measure of organizational capital at the firm-year level using the word embedding model and ChatGPT-generated synthetic reviews. Our measure varies over time in accordance with macro trends, and differs both across and within firms, reflecting firm heterogeneity and major internal changes. We validate our measure by testing empirical predictions of the properties of organizational capital discussed in prior literature. Our findings suggest that this measure captures a slowly evolving intangible asset that is significantly associated with firm performance and top management’s influence, aligning with the conceptualization of organizational capital by Dessein and Prat (2022). We further showcase applications of our measure in accounting, economics, finance, and management literature. Taken together, the paper provides implications for various stakeholders who are interested in assessing and managing firms’ organizational capital. |
| JEL: | D22 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35039 |
| By: | Sébastien Bourdin (Métis Lab EM Normandie - EM Normandie - École de Management de Normandie = EM Normandie Business School); Jérôme Picault (Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres); Arnaud Simon (Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres) |
| Abstract: | The development of home ownership in the second half of the 20th century has been perceived as an asset and a significant contributor to wealth accumulation. However, rising property prices and increasingly stringent mortgage lending criteria have placed this model under pressure, particularly for younger generations. Recent territorial reforms and expansionary monetary policies, such as the European Central Bank's quantitative easing (QE) programme, have produced asymmetric effects on regional housing markets. This study applies a spatial econometric model to French departments to investigate how these developments have disproportionately benefited departments located near new regional capitals, thereby exacerbating disparities between these centres and their peripheral territories. By incorporating a spatial perspective, this analysis enriches our understanding of the dynamics between housing finance and regional development while shedding light on the implications of these transformations for financial stability and regional planning policy. |
| Keywords: | Regional disparities, Housing lending market, Monetary policy, Territorial reform, Economic geography |
| Date: | 2025–09–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05568167 |