International Journal of Innovation Studies最新文献

This study examined the application of an instrument that supports intersectoral collaboration in innovation. Using the strategic action field (SAF) approach, we analyze a pre-commercial public procurement instrument developed in Andalusia (Spain). Drawing on qualitative and quantitative data, we shed light on the dynamics of collaboration between public and private innovation agents.

We show how a change in dynamics can generate a reduction in barriers to intersectoral cooperation. This presents an opportunity to promote the transfer of knowledge and strengthen a strategic field of action, such as the agroindustry, which is the main source of income for several people in Andalusia, a European region that is developmentally lagging.

This study assesses, from the perspective of financial stability, how business/financial sustainability, moderates the influence of information technology on female economic participation in 49 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa for the period 2008–2018. The empirical evidence is based on Tobit regression, which accounted for the censored nature of the outcome variables. The following important findings were obtained: First, ICT (information and communications technology) dynamics (mobile phone penetration, internet penetration, and fixed broadband subscriptions) are consistently moderated by business sustainability to positively affect female employment. Second, business sustainability scores must exceed certain thresholds before moderating fixed broadband subscriptions to induce favorable overall effects on female employment, female labor force participation, and female unemployment rates. The positive effects on female employment and labor force participation is ascertained by the thresholds of 18.742 and 19.505 Z-scores, respectively and a Z-score of 17.300 for the negative impact on female unemployment. The thresholds that should be exceeded are within policy reach, make economic sense, and are policy-relevant. This study contributes to the extant literature by providing actionable thresholds for business sustainability that can be employed by policy makers such that information technology positively influences female economic inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The central question of this study concerns the emergence of the Russian development model over the past decade. It highlights that this development model could be a blueprint for other emerging markets. Russia is one of the leaders of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, having improved its standing in international ratings for quality of life, human development, sustainable development, innovation, and high technology. Russia's experience can be helpful to developing countries. We study and evaluate innovation in a digital business society amid technological turmoil competing with artificial intelligence. We focus on the digital competitiveness index, the density of robots in industry, and unemployment, thereby building a novel comprehensive dataset of the economy's systemic socioeconomic and technological development under the conditions of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. We draw attention to Russia's new business environment that exhibits valuable specifics (e.g., emerging institutions and imperfect competition as clouds in the business landscape) shaped by its current transitional character. We estimate that technological progress will ensure digitalization, the prevention of extended unemployment, and the achievement of full-scale automation. Russia's innovation policy has substantial advantages for emerging market settings. This study also shows that institutionalizing the new approach provides enduring digital economy advantages for emerging markets, including effectiveness, progressiveness, and sustainability.

To contribute to the empirical literature on innovation in non-profit organizations, this study examines innovation in Private Social Solidarity Institutions with social responses for the elderly in Northern Portugal. It enriches the literature by clarifying the concept of innovation applied to non-profit organizations, which represents a perspective different from the business context. Moreover, it is important to support the innovation decision-making process in similar non-profit organizations.

For this study, the population was surveyed through questionnaires based on the PUBLIN research project, which has already been applied in different countries, and the targets were employees of organizations with social responses for the elderly. Our sample is small, with 28 respondent institutions and 51 employees, but it is representative, as it includes institutions from all districts in Northern Portugal. The study employed a quantitative approach, particularly factor analysis, multiple linear regression, and correlation analyses, using scales already applied in other dimensions of the social sector, to understand the effect of each innovation dimension/determinant on creativity and innovation in non-profit organizations. The results show that in these organizations with social responses for the elderly, learning orientation, risk-taking, and job satisfaction have a positive impact on innovation.

The key objectives of this study were to investigate the factors that empower women entrepreneurs in the Kingdom of Bahrain and to measure the impacts of such factors on their business development and growth. The four main factors covered in this study were gender equality, quality education, sociocultural, and policies. The quantitative method was adopted to obtain the results of a structured survey distributed among 449 women entrepreneurs in the Kingdom of Bahrain registered in the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. A simple random sampling approach was used. This study examined the empowerment perspectives of Bahraini women as entrepreneurs. Hypotheses were developed and tested using statistical tests to significantly identify the impacts of the factors on women entrepreneurs' participation in the country's business activities. The quantitative results of the study showed the importance of empowering women entrepreneurs in business activities in the Kingdom of Bahrain, which leads to their development and the country's economic growth. The findings confirmed the existence and significant impact of three factors, which are quality education, sociocultural, and policies, that empower and support women to start businesses in the Kingdom of Bahrain. No significant effect of the gender equality factor was distinguished. Empowerment and institutional theories were found to be relevant to the context of empowering women as entrepreneurs. The research provided recommendations, such as reinforcing policies that empower entrepreneurs, to enhance the empowerment of women entrepreneurship in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

In recent decades, with the rapid development of the knowledge economy and science, countries have embraced technical innovation and have gradually increased investment in research and development (R&D). A vast literature indicates that the relationship between R&D and firm performance is highly complex. The evidence suggests that R&D positively influences firm performance, yet findings on the process by which this happens are mixed. Rigorous analyses are required on how R&D investments affect energy consumption. This study explores the impact of R&D investment on the performance and energy consumption of 476 firms in Ethiopia by employing a combination of fixed-effect, propensity score matching, and endogenous treatment effect estimation methods. The empirical results reveal that investment in R&D positively influences both innovation and long-term financial performance but negatively impacts short-term financial performance and energy consumption. The results also show that the impacts of R&D activities vary significantly across different categories of firms, confirming that heterogeneity may be an issue among the firms considered. The results also indicate that the availability of credit is a more important moderating factor in the relationship between R&D investment and firm performance than the legal system is. These results have important implications for firms with growing R&D operations, especially those in developing countries such as Ethiopia. Ethiopian firms should invest more in R&D activities, such as in fundamental and applied research, to improve performance and enhance competitiveness.

This study aims to investigate the main factors driving technological innovation within firms in the manufacturing and service sectors of the Czech Republic. We apply a binary logistic regression model to cross-sectional data from 502 firms, obtained from the World Bank Enterprise Survey. The results of our empirical investigation show that certain elements of the business environment, such as the tax rate, serve as significant obstacles to firms’ product innovations. The results also confirm that international technological linkages—measured by international quality certificates and foreign technology licenses—affect technological innovations. Moreover, we found that internal R&D activities positively impact technological innovation across all sectors; contrarily, we found that process innovation in the manufacturing sector is positively influenced by foreign technology licenses and business association membership. Process innovations in the service sector are positively correlated with external R&D and financing from banking institutions. Finally, business association membership does not positively influence technological innovation in the service sector. Our findings have salient implications for firm managers, policymakers, and scholars aiming to explore and improve innovation outcomes in transitional economies.

Recognizing the role of society in the sustainability of payment system innovation through the quadruple helix framework, this study analyzes the causal influence of demand-side financial inclusion indicators on society's uptake of digital payment solutions (DPS) within the regional economy of the Gulf Cooperation Council. To this end, the present study relies on data extracted from Global Findex surveys (in 2014 and 2017), as well as the economic theory of random utility maximization, to model individuals' DPS uptake decisions “ceteris paribus.” The maximum likelihood estimation revealed no gender-based gradient in DPS uptake behaviors; additionally, financial inclusion indicators such as transaction account ownership and debit card ownership did not significantly influence endogenous or exogenous DPS uptake decisions between 2013 and 2017. However, all remaining financial inclusion indicators did significantly influence DPS uptake. Assessing these findings through the lens of open innovation and the ongoing efforts from the Arab Regional Payment System project, which seeks to expand financial inclusion by facilitating access to transaction accounts, there is reasonable evidence to suggest that complementary financial inclusion policies addressing the use dimension of DPS (i.e., extending access to saving and borrowing, along with digital payroll practices for both private and public enterprises) would contribute to more effective policy on financial inclusion in the region.