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Besides the substantial advantages of adopting information and communication technologies (ICTs), software small medium enterprises (SSMEs) face major challenges largely connected to knowledge sharing, security, and management of data and information. The objective of this paper is to propose a platform backed with the advantages of blockchain technologies, allowing intra‐ and inter‐organizational knowledge and information sharing in SSMEs without losing control and ownership. Blockchain technology has the potential to bring about significant improvements in enhancing business models and processes wherein the authenticity of data is provided by smart contracts at every access point in a distributed information cycle in a transparent manner. The findings will support businesses in enhancing information flow, innovation, and competitive advantage in the current dynamic market. Unlike existing studies, which merely discuss the broader use of blockchain technology in the SSME domain, this paper provides a fresh promising direction in transforming SSMEs digitally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A review of research on innovation and new product development points to certain foundational issues of concern such as the use of (1) different definitions of constructs germane to the field (e.g., definitions of innovation, innovativeness, and specific types of innovations), (2) different construct labels to refer to specific innovation types, and (3) the same construct label to refer to different innovation types. Over the years, scholars have cautioned that a body of research in a field of study that is based on different definitions of constructs germane to the field would slow the advancement of knowledge. Against this backdrop, the purpose of this Catalyst paper is to initiate a conversation on the prospects for mitigating the definitional quagmire in research on innovation and new product development by developing an inclusive definition of innovation that can be used as a template for defining various types of innovations uniformly. Toward this end, the paper proposes an inclusive definition of innovation based on idea, outcome, and value creation as the defining or essential characteristics of all innovations. Definitions of 10 specific types of innovations defined in a consistent manner, employing the proposed inclusive definition of innovation as a template are also presented. All else being equal, consistency across research studies in the definitions of constructs employed can be conducive to the advancement of knowledge in a field of study in several ways such as streamlining the curation of the research‐based knowledge, facilitating the grounding of new research in prior research (i.e., curated knowledge), and eliminating differences across studies in the definitions of key constructs employed as a potential confound on the research findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public sector purchasing processes are gaining increasing prominence as a demand‐side innovation tool for addressing national sustainability challenges. Accordingly, there has been growing research attention to this topic. Prior studies suggest three key rationales that underlie the use of public sector procurement to drive innovation: (i) the buyer–user rationale (for creating new needs); (ii) the market/system failure rationale (for improving suppliers' capacity to innovate); and (iii) the public services rationale (for improving public services). However, operational activities at the upstream supply chain affecting the sustainable innovation capacities of supplier firms appear to be under‐researched in the public procurement for innovation (PPI) scholarship, despite knowledge about innovation capacity being critical to successfully implementing PPI. This paper adopts a systematic literature review approach to synthesise existing fragmented literature on sustainability‐oriented PPI, focusing on supplier perspectives. Findings from a synthesis of 41 relevant articles suggest, among others conditions, that a procurement framework that maintains a good balance of competition and innovation, builds buyer–supplier relationship and urges strong supply networks, maintains a stable political commitment, offers security for niche markets with effective innovation risk management culture would enhance suppliers' sustainability capacity and propensity to innovate. This paper contributes to the PPI literature and the literature on determinants of sustainable innovation systems from supplier firms' sustainability lens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper first studies the impact of stakeholder interest on the agency problem by selecting different proxies for key measurements from companies listed on second‐board markets from 2013 to 2019 to investigate the effect of the equity incentive on companies' innovation levels. In addition, this paper adds two moderating variables, ownership concentration and financing constraints, to analyse their moderating effects on the relationships between equity incentives and enterprise innovation. The empirical results show a significant positive correlation between equity incentives and the level of corporate innovation output. In addition, a high degree of ownership concentration can strengthen the positive promoting effect of equity incentives on a company's innovation output. However, when a company faces financing constraints, the promotion effect of equity incentives on the company's innovation will be restrained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against the backdrop of the current political developments in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, such as Ukraine, Poland, and Romania, the question arises as to the role played by economic transformation and the resulting innovation linkages in these countries over the last 20 years. The main purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of economic and institutional dimensions on the development of CEE countries, explicitly distinguishing between European Union (EU) members and non‐members, and thus reflecting the differences in institutions and path dependency. Furthermore, the paper contrasts the performance of CEE countries with that of Western European countries. To achieve these objectives, the impact of factors such as innovation, institutions, and political practices on the economic development of 37 European countries from 2000 until 2020 is followed using fixed effects regression and Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. The results of the analysis show the importance of institutional factors such as low levels of corruption, political freedoms, and intellectual property. The effect of institutional variables was particularly pronounced in the case of non‐EU countries, which indicates the particular importance of the development of stable institutions for achieving higher levels of economic development for this category of countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plastics have transformed the automotive industry, contributing substantially to automobile design, weight reduction, fuel efficiency, safety, and sustainability. This review paper examines the applications of plastics in the automotive sector, evaluates the present trends, and describes the future plastic consumption possibilities, emphasizing emerging technology and sustainable practices. The paper delineates how plastics have become an essential component of automotive innovation and illustrates the possibilities for additional breakthroughs in this dynamic industry. Highlights: Advances in plastics, bioplastics, and smart materials in the auto industry.Plastic role in design, safety, and sustainability in the auto industry.Recycling and the circular economy of plastics in the auto industry.Collaboration of stakeholders to drive change in the auto industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of developing sustainable business models has recently received increased interest in society and among scholars. While firms attempt to innovate their business models towards sustainability or create new businesses to address sustainability issues, it becomes clear that there is no one‐size‐fits‐all model when it comes to sustainable business models. Consequently, firms often struggle to identify, develop, and implement sustainable business models that suit them. This paper aims to address this problem by drawing on the wealth of recently published empirical studies and reviewing 87 cases where firms have performed business model innovation to achieve sustainable business models. Four main sustainable business models are identified that have been achieved through different business model innovation strategies. The review contributes to managers by offering a portfolio of strategies to achieve sustainable business models and to research by clarifying the relation between the business model innovation and sustainable business model concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation literature shows that the characteristics of a company's innovation processes determine their performance in different areas. In this study, we adopt a general conceptual model from innovation theory and apply it to packaging innovation. This helps identify and describe subprocesses in packaging innovation and how to measure their performance. It also links the packaging innovation process to the cost and climate performance of packaging. Based on the modified model for packaging innovation, the purpose of this paper is to develop and apply a scorecard for assessing the packaging innovation process. The first step in the methodology was the conceptual development of a model describing the packaging innovation process and a scorecard for assessing this process. The second step was to demonstrate and validate the scorecard in a case study covering packaging innovation at a major retail company. Data were captured from six semi‐structured interviews and two workshops, as well as observations and site visits. The conceptual model defines packaging innovation using seven interrelated subprocesses and their impacts on cost and climate performance. The scorecard that was developed in the research study describes how to measure the subprocesses and their output. The quality of each of the seven processes is measured on two to four dimensions. Each dimension can reach a score of one to four, where each score is clearly defined. The case study showed that the scorecard seems to be an effective way of measuring the complex packaging innovation process and identifying concrete ways to improve packaging innovation. The case study validated the scorecard and demonstrated how it can be applied. The application also showed how the case company performs in packaging innovation compared to best practice in each subprocess. The validation showed that the scorecard is sufficiently functional and useful, although it requires input from multiple sources. The usability could only be partly assessed—it showed promising value as a basis for formulating action plans—but future studies should validate the scorecard's long‐term usefulness in creating action plans and assess their impact. The theoretically‐based scorecard is novel in terms of assessing packaging innovation and its impact on packaging performance in supply chains. It links the packaging innovation process to performance and helps companies identify improvement possibilities. The paper shows how the scorecard helps address packaging issues strategically by measuring the activities conducted in the packaging innovation process. One limitation of the study is that the long‐term usefulness of the scorecard could not be validated, as the validation would take longer than the time available for this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the four‐way linkages between innovation, trade openness, financial development and economic growth using panel‐VAR approach for 11 European countries over the period 2001‐2016. Most importantly, the findings revealed that there is a unidirectional relationship between economic growth and financial development, between trade and economic growth and between innovation and financial development. The findings also revealed a negative relationship between innovation and economic growth and between trade and economic growth. The paper concludes that further regulation of financial systems and the quality of funding are important ingredients to foster economic development. The paper also concludes that country‐specific characteristics can play an important role in fostering innovation and productivity. Furthermore, policymakers should improve institutional quality and improve the regulatory environment in order to benefit more from trade openness. Also, policy makers need to use innovation incentives for local companies in order to counteract the negative effects induced by market opening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small firms may go green because of intrinsic motivation (to realise their green values) or extrinsic pressure (to satisfy the requirements of stakeholders). While the impacts of these two motivations on firms' green behaviours have been discussed in the literature, their influences on economic behaviours such as innovation remain unclear. This paper aims to investigate the relationship between going green due to intrinsic versus extrinsic motivations and their impact on firms' innovation. We examine a dataset of almost 21,000 small businesses in 39 countries, primarily less developed, from 2018 to 2020. We find that firms going green tend to be more innovative than those that do not. Also, firms going green due to extrinsic pressure are equally innovative as those that do so for intrinsic motivation. In some cases, it is even found that extrinsic pressure exerts a stronger effect on innovation than intrinsic motivation. Moreover, we examine the moderating effects of market competition on the relationship between green motivation and innovation. We find that while competition exerts no effect on the relationship between intrinsic motivation to go green and firm innovation, it strengthens the relationship between extrinsic motivation to go green and firm innovation. Our findings are robust in different empirical settings that control for endogeneity, model specifications and estimators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores whether the 'strength of weak ties' theory, derived from social network theory, can equally apply to business activities. To address this question, we conduct an empirical analysis, utilising 3‐year panel data encompassing 3881 samples of Korean small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in the high‐tech manufacturing sector. The primary objective is to examine the effects of inter‐corporate tie strength on innovative performance. The results reveal an interesting pattern in high‐tech manufacturing corporations, where the strength of a tie demonstrates an inverted U‐shaped relationship with an SME's patent achievement. Moreover, we observe that the effect of tie strength on an SME's patent achievement is positively moderated by its research and development (R&D) intensity. Furthermore, when an SME maintains weak ties within its relationship with a large corporation, its innovative performance experiences a more positive impact than in cases where no relationship with a large corporation exists, or strong ties are maintained. These findings suggest that for SMEs, maintaining an appropriate level of embeddedness with large corporations is an effective strategy for generating sustained innovative performance within an environment characterised by active technological innovation and intense competition. The principal contribution of this paper lies in the empirical validation of the theory of weak ties concerning a firm's innovative performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the determinants of venture capital investments across 25 African countries over the period 2014–2019. In particular, it considers the significance of innovation and digitalization in Africa's venture capital activity. The results show that digital infrastructure, high‐technology exports, internet coverage, market size, minority investor protection and government effectiveness are the main drivers of venture capital deals in Africa over the period examined. More generally, these findings highlight that digital infrastructure and connectivity, innovation and institutional frameworks all play an important role in shaping a favorable environment to attract venture capital funding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing research provides contrasting perspectives on the implications of product recalls for firms. While some studies find that recalls represent failures that can motivate firms to innovate, others suggest that the resource‐intensive nature of recalls may inhibit firms from innovating. This study presents a theoretical framework that reconciles these two perspectives by proposing an inverted U‐shaped relationship between a firm's product recall frequency and innovation output. The paper also evaluates the effect of the firm's growth potential on the recall frequency–innovation relationship. Analysis of data on vehicle recalls and recall‐related patents in the automotive sector from 1980 to 2019 confirms the inverted U‐shaped relationship and shows that the relationship is steepened by the growth potential of the firm. Overall, the study presents a more nuanced understanding of learning from product recalls and bridges the supply chain disruption and innovation literature in the context of product recall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Review of Policy Research is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Regional Science Policy & Practice is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Summary: This paper creates a market ecosystem, via an agent‐based model, that combines the dynamic features of the Red Queen effect with well‐accepted business world performance indicators. Essentially, firms are tasked with remaining ‘alive’ by adapting to their environment through implementing a competitive response of innovating or imitating. An analysis of the firms’ behaviours delivers a deep understanding of the drivers of innovative behaviour within the economy. The key findings of the paper are (1) that concentrated markets are not entirely detrimental to innovative behaviour, with the blend of firm type being a more important consideration, and (2) that the rate at which an innovation impairs existing markets affects the activity levels of the firms within the population. The model's results are validated against a matching study based on real‐world data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the opening decades of the twenty‐first century certain cities around the world emerged as hubs of entrepreneurial innovation. This paper explores this urban economic change phenomenon through in‐depth and comparative qualitative analysis. It focuses on the recent contemporary history of New York, Los Angeles, London, Berlin, Tokyo and Shanghai prior to the global COVID pandemic. Based on an analysis of the drivers, mechanisms and processes of change, it is found that these cities acted as places of possibility for many individuals who previously may have been unlikely to engage in entrepreneurship. The cities were found to have established new development paths through entrepreneurial innovation stemming from co‐creation network dynamics, with key human agents playing pivotal roles. Common elements include the rise of venture capital, the growth of entrepreneurial cultures, and institutional policy changes. Notably, entrepreneurial innovation was found to be closely tied to changes in large corporates. This innovation evolved through the proliferation of new infrastructure such as co‐working spaces and innovation incubators, with each city being utilised as a test‐bed for new ideas. Finally, the emergence of a darker side to entrepreneurial innovation is found in terms of growing urban inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation represents one of the most important drivers in the business context. Drawing upon the research on corporate social responsibility (CSR), shared value, and innovation, this paper aims to analyze the relationship between Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG, a form of CSR) sustainability policies and corporate financial performance (CFP) by investigating the mediating role of Innovation (i.e., investment in research and development, R&D). Our sample comprises 148 European companies belonging to the Euro Stoxx index in the period 2009–2014. For high‐innovation companies (HICs), we find positive relationships between some Social (S) issues and CFP and weaker linkages between Environmental (E) indicators and CFP. In contrast, Governance (G) issues (i.e., issues related to board structure and board function) negatively influence CFP. In contrast, for medium‐innovation companies (MICs), these relationships are absent and low‐innovation companies (LICs) show negative relationships. Adopting reporting frameworks or guidelines affects CFP only in HIC. We introduce an original interpretative model, which identifies innovation (R&D) as the main driver in corporate sustainability, particularly in light of Social issues related to the production of a good or service. In terms of managerial implications, we identify three key factors for effectively embedding ESG in organizations' policies: investment in product innovation, compliance with environmental regulations, and corporate choices on brands and channels of external communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategic management scholars have long explored the broad topic of innovation, a cornerstone in creating competitive advantage. Any attempt at theory construction in this area must encompass reliable and valid measures for key innovation characteristics. Yet, with respect to an important construct, i.e., disruptiveness of innovations, there has been relatively little academic research. Without formalizing the disruptiveness concept with a reliable and valid measure, it is difficult to conduct rigorous research to uncover the causes of the innovator's dilemma and identify mechanisms to help incumbents develop such innovations. In this paper, we develop a scale for the disruptiveness of innovations. We collected data from senior executives (vice president or general manager level) at 199 strategic business units (SBUs) in 38 Fortune 500 corporations and performed a series of analyses to establish the reliability and validity of the disruptiveness scale. The reliability measures, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and subsequent statistical tests strongly support our measure. Further, we also present nomological validity of the disruptiveness construct, thus establishing its predictive validity. Thus, this paper distinguishes the disruptiveness concept from other established innovation constructs, such as radicalness and competency destroying. Finally, we discuss the significance of our results and how this study might be useful to other researchers. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaborative innovation spaces (CIS) can bring together multiple actors to enhance creativity, collaboration and knowledge exchange, sometimes leading to innovation. In this paper, we suggest that CIS can be categorized into three broad types (internal to the firm, external and virtual) and that each type is related to innovation processes, knowledge‐sourcing and geographic context in specific ways. Our results, based on an original firm‐level survey, reveal that there is heterogeneity with respect to firm attributes and innovation activities associated with different types of CIS. In particular, whilst innovation is associated with the use of CIS in general, radical and technological innovations are more strongly associated with internal CIS, whereas smaller firms tend to use virtual CIS. External CIS, whilst not associated with technological innovation, are associated with high‐tech firms. CIS use does not vary across geographic context. These results emphasize the importance of in‐person, internal, CIS for radical and technological innovation and the need to distinguish between different types of CIS in order to understand how each is associated with different types of innovation, knowledge‐sourcing and firm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hotel industry is characterized by operating in a global, dynamic and uncertain environment where stakeholders' concerns on sustainable development are growing. However, there is limited research on whether hotels have flexibility and capacity for change, to develop environmental practices that meet stakeholder demands and improve their competitiveness. Through the dynamic capabilities theory, the resource‐based view and the stakeholder theory, this paper develops a model that considers agility and innovation as antecedents of environmental management and competitive advantages as consequences. A Partial Least Squares analysis is carried out based on data from Spanish hotels. The results indicate that agility and innovation influence environmental management positively; agility influences innovation positively; and agility influences environmental management indirectly through innovation. Moreover, environmental management positively influences cost and differentiation competitive advantages. This study contributes to the literature by examining the role of two important dynamic capabilities and their impact on environmental management and showing how the interaction and mediation between these capabilities favors competitive advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to explore the adoption of innovation in the aquaculture sector through the Awareness Knowledge Adoption Implementation Effectiveness (AKAIE) sequence. The AKAIE is an extension of the Awareness Knowledge Adoption Product (AKAP) model in order to better investigate the post‐adoption phases. Using the 'Implementation' and 'Effectiveness' phases, this study aims to further the understanding of both the different levels of adoption and the impact of innovation in terms of environmental, economic and social benefits produced. The proposed sequence is contextualised in light of the multidimensional scenario of on‐farm and off‐farm factors acting alongside the adoption of new technologies in the aquaculture sector. In this paper, the perspective of aquaculturists is represented with the concept of perceived complexity as the central node of the adoption process. The proposed tool could support policy makers in understanding and disseminating innovation in aquaculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global aquaculture production has grown very rapidly in recent decades. This is largely due to a number of innovations that has increased the control with the production process and competitiveness. These innovations come in a number of forms from radical new concepts to knowledge adaption from the terrestrial food production system. While there exist a number of studies investigating the impact of specific innovations, there are few studies that take a larger perspective on how innovations over time impacts an aquaculture industry or the innovation system that support these innovations. In this paper we review the innovation process in Norwegian salmon aquaculture industry from its infancy in 1970 until present. Of particular interest is the increasing complexity of the industry, and how most innovations are conducted by suppliers and not the aquaculture producers themselves. The insights are also of general interest in global aquaculture as salmon is among the species with the most advanced production technologies, but also a species where innovations are adapted to other species also in very different production systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to study the influence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) over small and medium‐sized enterprise (SME) innovation and the effect of two mediating variables, debt terms and human capital. Based on a sample of 2825 Spanish SMEs and applying a structural equations modeling, the results demonstrate that the effect of CSR on innovation is mediated by debt terms and by good human resource practices. Part of the positive effect of CSR on innovation occurs through these two variables, which, alone, positively and significantly affect innovation in SMEs. Consequently, the positive effect of CSR practices on debt terms through a decrease in asymmetric information goes further, also having repercussions on innovation. Additionally, the suitable development of human resource practices based on strategies oriented toward CSR allow companies to carry out greater and more efficient innovative activities. This paper contributes to the CSR literature considering the human resource management and the debt access in the relationship between CSR and innovation. The findings reveal important implications for policy makers and managers. For the former, the results show that it would be interesting to carry out actions aimed at assisting SMEs, especially those with fewer resources available, to implement a suitable CSR strategy, supporting sustainable development in SMEs. And, for the latter, CSR‐oriented innovation has proven to be a valuable strategy for more efficient SMEs management because of the multiple competitive advantages it generates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Motivation: Latin America has witnessed massive increases in production and consumption of chicken meat over the last 60 years and well beyond its share of the developing world's population. Chicken is now a major source of livestock protein in regional diets; leads livestock production in 25 out of the region's 33 countries; production, slaughtering, and sales provide millions of jobs. Purpose: To analyse growth rates for chicken meat in Latin America, why they have differed, how the role of innovation and development policies contributed to bringing about this growth, in turn leading to the patterns of governance of these activities today. Methods and approach: This study used a modified value chain framework along with FAO statistics, national data, published and unpublished studies to analyse macro‐level developments and their linkages to shifts in the organization of activities in the value chain for chicken from pre‐production through to consumption and trade from past to present. Findings Different natural resource endowments, demographics, and dietary preferences combined with frequent innovations and an array of policy measures led to a spectacular surge in output and productivity, lower costs, and facilitated a steady rise in consumption. As part of that growth, these activities became increasingly concentrated in Brazil, Mexico, and Peru and within those countries in a few very large firms. Their operations expanded in the value chain beyond the farm gate, across the region, and in some cases around the world. Policy implications: This paper has implications for greater transparency in grower contracts, better working conditions for slaughterhouse workers and bird catchers, more environmentally and bird‐friendly chicken production, accelerated adoption of practices as per Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems in the value chain for broilers in Latin America and the Caribbean, and improved enforcement of laws and regulations governing the technical and financial operations of value chains for chicken, along with renewed collaboration among government authorities to that effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blockchain is increasingly lauded as an enabler of the transition to a circular economy. While there is considerable conceptual research and some empirical studies on this phenomenon, scholars have yet to develop a theoretical model of blockchain's role in this transition. Grounded in the sustainability transition literature, this paper addresses this gap through the following research question: What role does blockchain play in the transition to a circular economy? Following an abductive approach, we conducted interviews with ground‐level experts implementing blockchain innovations for the circular economy across Europe and the United States. Through a thematic analysis, we derived a theoretical model of the relationships among (1) drivers and barriers of the transition to a circular economy, (2) blockchain innovation for the circular economy, (3) technical challenges of blockchain, and (4) the circular economy. While blockchain plays a moderating role, interviewees considered it only an infrastructural resource rather than a panacea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Papers in Regional Science is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: This paper provides technical documentation to a database built up from firm‐level sources titled Micro Moments Database (MMD) that is made available for researchers through Eurostat. The MMD is an internationally harmonized research database of statistical moments collected from linked longitudinal firm‐level data in a large selection of EU national statistical offices. The underlying sources for the database are business registers, firm‐level surveys on production, usage of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) and innovative activities, as well as recorded information on trade and worker education, all linked at the firm level. The unit of observation in the MMD represents groups of firms within industries and allows research that bridges micro and macroanalysis. The paper delineates the type of research questions that uniquely can be addressed with the MMD, and the advantages and disadvantages of using MMD for questions where alternative data sets are available. The paper next presents the methodology underlying construction of the MMD and provides documentation of the rich set of features. Finally, the paper provides descriptive statistics that highlight the unique character of the data and reviews some of the cross‐country analytical work already conducted using the MMD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strong demographic headwinds have motivated Japan to strengthen its economy by fostering innovation. This paper draws on a panel of business enterprises operating in 33 industries in Japan to examine how research and development (R&D) activities affect employment. Our findings suggest that employment gains are associated with innovation, both at the aggregate level and within groups of major industries. The positive impact of technological advancement is more pronounced in the manufacturing sector. The results reveal heterogeneous patterns of the key determinants of employment growth based on the level of industries' routine intensity, but they accord well with the compensation theory concerning the connection between innovation and job creation. These results will be of interest for policymakers to design targeted economic strategies by supporting technological development in Japan and could also serve as a compass for other countries with similar workforce structures and macroeconomic characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the late 1980s, there has been no explicit regional policy in Canada. Indirectly, though, equalization payments, industrial policies, as well as regional agencies encouraging the adoption of federal industrial and innovation policies, impact regional economies. In 2017, the federal government appeared to alter its approach: the Supercluster initiative was announced, drawing upon the idea that localized networks of interrelated firms can generate innovation and local development. In this paper, we discuss the mechanisms through which spatially focused industrial innovation policy can lead to regional development. We then focus on Canada's Ocean Supercluster initiative. The question we address is as follows: to what extent can this initiative (and, more widely, Canada's Supercluster policy) be understood as a regional development strategy driven by a coherent rationale for regional intervention? Apart from the fact that each Supercluster focuses on a pre‐existing core of firms located within a region, there is little evidence that the Supercluster initiative has regional development objectives or impacts. Key messages: In 2018, Canada's federal government implemented the Supercluster policy. Five regionally focussed clusters were selected for support for business‐led innovation initiatives.Superclusters were presented as a means both to develop regional economies and to enhance Canada's global innovation impact, in a manner similar to Europe's smart specialization.Despite the initial regional dimension, Superclusters are geared towards national, not regional, objectives and do not focus upon regional development processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Companies are recently facing increasing supply chain disruptions that may influence their supply base design choices. However, studies investigating how these choices affect the effectiveness of other supplier management practices, such as supplier integration, are scarce. The aim of this paper is to explore the impact of various types of supplier integration on the buyer's efficiency and innovation, as well as the contingency effects of supply base concentration, an important supply base design choice. Drawing upon Social Exchange Theory, we argue that the expected benefits of supplier integration activities to efficiency and innovation are strengthened by supply base concentration. We test our hypotheses using data collected from 324 manufacturing plants. Hierarchical regression results reveal that some supplier integration types improve performance only under higher levels of supply base concentration, while the effects of other supplier integration types vary according to the type of performance considered or are not significant at all. In addition, the results suggest that developing technologies to share information with suppliers may be counterproductive in driving efficiency. Besides enriching the supplier integration literature, this research offers guidance for managers who wish to improve efficiency and innovation, while also considering the pros and cons of supply base concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) entry on the domestic value‐added ratio (DVAR) in exports using data on Chinese firms between 2000 and 2007. We adopt the difference‐in‐difference method to estimate instrumental variables regressions, treating the adoption of the Revisions to the Catalogue for the Guidance of Foreign Investment Industries in 2002 as a policy shock. Our analysis yields a few findings. First, FDI entry suppresses firm DVAR, a result that continues to hold after taking into consideration the randomness of the policy treatment group, other policy shocks, firm entry and exit, and the use of alternative measures. Second, FDI entry exerts a greater impact on the DVAR of foreign rather than domestic firms, non‐state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) rather than SOEs, and firms located in the eastern rather than central and western regions. Third, FDI entry negatively affects DVAR mainly through its horizontal spillovers after taking into account FDI entry in upstream and downstream industries. Fourth, compared to FDI from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan (HMT), foreign investments from non‐HMT regions are less likely to inhibit firm DVAR. Lastly, we find that value capture capacity, as measured by firm innovation, plays an important role in mediating the impact of FDI entry on DVAR. Taken together, these findings suggest that sustainable domestic economic development cannot rely solely on the introduction of foreign investment and should instead emphasize the importance for firms to improve value capture capacity so as to better capitalize on the positive spillovers generated by foreign investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines whether higher quality imported intermediates can increase firms' markups. Based on the conceptual model, we first find that improving the quality of imported intermediates affects firms' decision‐making in terms of innovation and firm‐level markups through the price channel and the cost channel. We combine the annual survey data of Chinese industrial firms (ASIF), Chinese customs transactions and patent data to verify the theoretical propositions. The results report that: (1) there is a significantly positive correlation between the quality of imported intermediates and firms' markups; (2) innovation acts as a potential channel through which the quality of imported intermediates increases firms' markups; (3) by decomposing markups into the price channel and the cost channel, we find that the quality of imported intermediates affects firms' markups through the cost channel. Our results suggest that higher quality imported intermediates may improve firms' market power through innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How might historical perspectives assist the goal of improving humanitarian responses? This introduction to a special issue of Disasters on the history of humanitarian action explores this question and outlines how the other submissions to the edition, each with its own approach and focus area from the nineteenth-century to the present today, make different contributions to understanding of humanitarian action. The paper argues that the value of history lies not so much in the information it might offer, but in the challenges it can pose to habitual ways of thinking and in the skills of investigation and interpretation it fosters. These attributes make historical perspectives a potentially valuable addition to the critical questioning of humanitarian practitioners and policymakers. The paper advocates integrating history into a more reflective attitude to change and a more adventurous and holistic approach to innovation, as opposed to simply using it to 'learn lessons'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The extent to which innovation can contribute to improving the livelihoods of marginalised communities in informal settings is greatly influenced by the social ‘spaces’ created for interactive learning and problem‐solving, i.e. interactive learning spaces. This paper addresses an important issue: How do different models of inclusion influence the outcomes of innovation capacity‐building interventions? With the use of a network‐institutional approach, the paper analyses and compares two projects—in South Africa and Malawi—aimed at improving the livelihoods of small‐scale farmers through introducing new farming practices and organisational arrangements. The research raises important questions for assessing the impact of innovation for inclusive development. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper looks at the link between the quality of economic institutions and innovation, and innovation and growth. We construct a measure of the innovation content of individual manufacturing industries and show that countries with stronger economic institutions specialize in more innovation‐intensive industries. Our results also provide evidence that industries involving higher levels of innovation grow relatively faster in countries with better economic institutions. The results suggest that innovation is an important channel through which higher quality economic institutions contribute to better growth performance in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biocluster initiatives have become an important tool for governments to establish, promote, and strengthen economic collaboration, learning, innovation, and employment within particular regions. However, in addition to issues like competitiveness and employment, bioclusters operate with the additional goal of fostering the transition to a sustainable bioeconomy. The profound changes that are required for a successful shift from a fossil-based economy to a bioeconomy are called transitions and the relatively new scientific field of transition theory has emerged to study them. The aim of this paper is to show the contribution that transition theory can make to the study of bioclusters. In this paper I will review frameworks from the study of sustainability transitions (multi-level perspective and technical innovation systems) and frameworks from theories of evolutionary economic geography and cluster studies (regional and sectoral innovation systems). The review shows how the choice of a particular framework will shape the analysis of the biocluster through the particular focus and delineation associated with each framework. The review shows the advantages and disadvantages these frameworks have for incorporating the various issues related to the shift towards a bioeconomy that are currently neglected in the literature on bioclusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the collaboration–innovation nexus emphasises that collaborations and innovation are multidimensional. Despite this emphasis, there is limited evidence on how firms' collaborative diversity affects their innovation diversity. This paper addresses this gap by examining the relationships between (i) a firm's functional diversity of collaboration (FDC) and innovation diversity, and (ii) innovation diversity and firm growth. We used longitudinal data from 738 Australian food firms, and our findings suggest that the positive relationship between FDC and innovation diversity reaches a point of saturation, beyond which additional collaboration negatively influences firms' innovation diversity. Moreover, innovation diversity depends on the motives behind alliance formation and the firm's focus on innovation. Finally, the association between innovation diversity and growth performance is heterogeneous across firms' conditional growth rate distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Absorptive capacity (AC), which comprises exploratory, transformative, and exploitative learning processes, enables organizations to exploit external knowledge for adopting innovation. Despite extensive research into AC, leadership styles have received little attention. This paper discusses the results of a study undertaken in three pharmaceutical organizations that augments AC theory relating to top‐ and middle‐level management behaviour. The findings suggest that the influence of transformational and transactional leadership styles varies between the AC learning processes within and across organizations. We also explored CEOs' knowledge, trust in middle management, and intention towards sharing knowledge, which facilitate the learning processes. The research has implications for the enhancement of opportunities to enable successful innovations based on the recognition of leadership styles and managers' roles. We report several novel contributions that are of value to academics and practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile phones are spreading rapidly in developing countries, but research conceptualisations have been lagging behind practice, particularly those that link mobile phones to livelihoods. This article seeks to fill this gap in two ways. First, by means of a literature review which analyses how they impact upon assets - through facilitating asset substitution, enhancement, combination, exchange and forms of disembodiment. On this basis key roles for mobile phones are defined within livelihood strategies. Secondly, the analysis demonstrates the shortcomings of the livelihoods framework for understanding technological innovation; its agriculture-oriented understanding of assets; its silence on the developmental role of information and on user appropriation of technology; and its narrow categorisation of impact. Ways of addressing these shortcomings are suggested, pointing towards areas of future research and application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how the costs of innovation in the formal sector temper or magnify the impacts of traditional policy levers such as taxation on sectoral choice. I embed a decision whether to operate formally or informally into a richer, general equilibrium model. Formal firms are subject to taxation, but they can improve their productivity through process innovation. Informal firms can potentially avoid taxation, and their productivity is determined by productivity growth in the formal sector. I find that changing tax rates from 50% to 60% decreases formal‐sector participation by 20.9%; however, this percentage falls by 10% when the cost of innovation is lower in the formal sector. The model also illustrates how changes in tax policy affect total factor productivity growth by limiting both the number of formal‐sector firms and the intensity of innovation. These results indicate a potential mechanism to induce firms to operate formally or mitigate harmful impacts of necessary tax changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Innovative industries are often characterized by rapid product turnover. Product longevity may be driven by both a product's position within a market as well as its position within a firm's larger product portfolio. However, we have little understanding of the relative importance of these factors in determining product turnover and how they interact as an industry evolves. Although researchers have invested substantial effort in analyzing firm survival and turnover, there are far fewer studies of the determinants of product survival and turnover. We use hazard rate models and count regression models to describe the behavior of firms and their products with a new and detailed database on the laser printer industry. We show, first, that competition and market structure variables have a large impact on both speeding product exit and delaying product entry. Second, there is some evidence that firms that have maintained a high market share for a number of years keep their products on the market longer than those with lower market share. Finally, firms with high innovative capacity tend to enter markets frequently, but withdraw their products at average rates. Firms with strong brands tend to introduce few products and withdraw their products slowly. With these findings, the paper links product entry and exit decisions to the broader literature on firm strategic and product management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A central part of the innovation process concerns the way firms go about organizing search for new ideas that have commercial potential. New models of innovation have suggested that many innovative firms have changed the way they search for new ideas, adopting open search strategies that involve the use of a wide range of external actors and sources to help them achieve and sustain innovation. Using a large-scale sample of industrial firms, this paper links search strategy to innovative performance, finding that searching widely and deeply is curvilinearly (taking an inverted U-shape) related to performance. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Design thinking has proven to be an effective approach to driving innovation in diverse contexts and has attracted increasing interest from scholars and practitioners. However, the plurality of points of view about design thinking can bring diffuse understandings and hinder a cohesive perspective on the construct. This work continues the research stream to provide greater specificity about design thinking practice. The paper focuses on new solution development projects, investigating how design thinking contributes to advance from value creation to value capture—which are two fundamental achievements of successful innovations. Based on three in‐depth case studies of new product development conducted in healthcare innovation projects, this work indicates that design thinking is more prone to promoting value creation rather than value capture. Design thinking principles work as a compass that guides the development team, getting clues from users to direct the value creation. In addition, the study shows the importance of complementing design thinking with specialist knowledge to build solutions that can create value. Finally, the study shows that value capture is not an immediate outcome of design thinking. Therefore, this work indicates the need to complement design thinking with business‐oriented approaches to provide market‐related results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participatory design and co-creation have recently been considered as an effective approach in fostering innovation. Traditionally, tools such as brainstorming, focus groups and discussion boards were dominant in guiding discussions around innovation and solutions. While each of these tools consider great advantages in fostering innovations, there are sometimes drawbacks in conducting them in an unbiased way. This paper aims to provide the results and learnings from a participatory session called Group Elicitation Method (GEM) to co-create future of business jets in Embraer company. In general, this experiment finds GEM as a very effective tool for consensus seeking, in the contexts where participants have diverse backgrounds and power balance is not symmetrical. The project was conducted as part of the author's PhD research on passenger experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participatory design and co‐creation have recently been considered as an effective approach in fostering innovation. Traditionally, tools such as brainstorming, focus groups and discussion boards were dominant in guiding discussions around innovation and solutions. While each of these tools consider great advantages in fostering innovations, there are sometimes drawbacks in conducting them in an unbiased way. This paper aims to provide the results and learnings from a participatory session called Group Elicitation Method (GEM) to co‐create future of business jets in Embraer company. In general, this experiment finds GEM as a very effective tool for consensus seeking, in the contexts where participants have diverse backgrounds and power balance is not symmetrical. The project was conducted as part of the author's PhD research on passenger experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is based on the premise that setting up technology transfer offices (TTOs) should be envisaged as part of a more comprehensive strategy for fostering technological development. Its central argument is that developing countries will not be in a position to fully benefit from technology transfer if they suffer a lack of organisations capable of managing these transactions. Invigorating article 66.2 mainly by shifting its focus from incentives to enterprises to technical cooperation as set out by article 67 is recommended. Setting up an innovation strategy with an adequate intellectual property policy is the foundation for the creation of a sound and viable technological base. Structuring TTOs to play a key intermediary role between the producers and the receivers of the technology is fundamental. Establishing a funding mechanism and staffing TTOs are crucial aspects of the technical cooperation as much of the expertise needed in relation to technology transfer is lacking in the developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Design thinking (DT) is gaining ground among academics and practitioners as a means to improve the innovativeness of organizations. However, with few exceptions, DT studies are most entrenched in practice rather than theory‐driven research. This weak tie between theory and managerial practice calls for delving into the dynamics of DT for innovation to build stronger foundations for future studies. Therefore, this study provides a theory‐based framing of DT for innovation and a critical review of the DT literature to reconcile theory and practice. To this end, we propose framing and advancing DT as a dynamic capability for innovation rooted in lower‐level aspects, namely microfoundations. Based on our theoretical framework, we conduct a systematic literature review that unveils the dynamics of DT and the context‐specific capabilities to innovate. The contributions of the paper are twofold. First, we provide a theory‐based framing of DT and combining it with existing theories in innovation and management (i.e., dynamic capabilities and microfoundations). Second, we review the extant literature on DT for innovation to reconcile previous studies with these theoretical lenses to, hence, guide future research. Based on this interpretation, we then define a number of avenues for future research, thus reconciling practical evidence with theories that can further explain how DT relates to firm innovativeness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly, strategy scholars are exploring the relationships between innovation, competition, and the persistence of superior profits. Sustained high profitability may result when a firm repeatedly introduces valuable innovations that service previously unmet consumer demands. While the returns to the firm from each innovation may erode over time, innovation ensures that, overall, the firm maintains a high performance position. At the same time, sustained high profitability may also accrue to firms that innovate less often, but effectively avoid the competition that otherwise erodes high returns. This paper elaborates these relationships before presenting an empirical analysis of the effects of differential innovative propensities and differential rates of competition on pharmaceutical firms' abilities to sustain profit outcomes that are above those earned by competing firms. The analysis, which is situated within the U.S. pharmaceutical industry, finds support for the expected relationship between high innovative propensity and sustained superior profitability, but no support for a link between persistence and the ability to avoid competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]