Pub Date : 2026-01-03DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2026.103215
Nicole Cecchele Lago , Daniel de Abreu Pereira Uhr , Jose Luis Duarte Ribeiro , Yasmin Olteanu , Klaus Fichter
The adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping how startups create, deliver, and capture value. Despite widespread practical use, empirical evidence on AI's impact on startup business model innovation (BMI) remains limited. This study examines the causal effect of AI on BMI and investigates how this effect is conditioned by strategic goals—rapid growth, profitability, market share, and social/environmental impact. Using data from 1104 German startups and nonparametric tree-based Double Machine Learning models, we find that startups with intense use of AI exhibit significantly higher BMI than startups with little or no AI use. This effect is especially pronounced in startups prioritizing rapid growth and profitability, and it is strongest when startups pursue multiple strategic goals simultaneously, highlighting the amplifying role of strategic alignment. By providing quantitative effect estimates, this research advances understanding of AI as a technological enabler of BMI and offers actionable guidance for entrepreneurs and policymakers on how BMI can be enhanced through the alignment of AI with distinct strategic goals.
{"title":"The impact of artificial intelligence on startup business model innovation: exploring conditional effects of different strategic goals","authors":"Nicole Cecchele Lago , Daniel de Abreu Pereira Uhr , Jose Luis Duarte Ribeiro , Yasmin Olteanu , Klaus Fichter","doi":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2026.103215","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2026.103215","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping how startups create, deliver, and capture value. Despite widespread practical use, empirical evidence on AI's impact on startup business model innovation (BMI) remains limited. This study examines the causal effect of AI on BMI and investigates how this effect is conditioned by strategic goals—rapid growth, profitability, market share, and social/environmental impact. Using data from 1104 German startups and nonparametric tree-based Double Machine Learning models, we find that startups with intense use of AI exhibit significantly higher BMI than startups with little or no AI use. This effect is especially pronounced in startups prioritizing rapid growth and profitability, and it is strongest when startups pursue multiple strategic goals simultaneously, highlighting the amplifying role of strategic alignment. By providing quantitative effect estimates, this research advances understanding of AI as a technological enabler of BMI and offers actionable guidance for entrepreneurs and policymakers on how BMI can be enhanced through the alignment of AI with distinct strategic goals.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47979,"journal":{"name":"Technology in Society","volume":"85 ","pages":"Article 103215"},"PeriodicalIF":12.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145924183","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-03DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2026.103219
Francesco Laviola, Nicola Cucari
This study investigates how public sentiment toward Artificial Intelligence (AI) has evolved at the intersection of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) frameworks and the rising field of Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR) over the past 25 years. Drawing on a dataset of 33,628 news articles published between 2000 and 2025, we conduct a large-scale longitudinal sentiment analysis to identify discursive patterns in the perception of AI's role across the ESG dimensions. Our findings reveal substantial variation across the three pillars. While sentiment toward AI in governance contexts shows a consistently positive trend, associated with increased expectations for transparency, monitoring, and compliance, environmental sentiment exhibits a sharp downturn after 2022, reflecting concerns over the carbon footprint of generative AI technologies. The social dimension displays fluctuating sentiment, influenced by debates on automation, fairness, and ethical accountability. These differentiated trajectories suggest that AI legitimacy is a domain-specific and socially negotiated construct, rather than a uniform outcome of technological advancement. Public discourse, as captured in news media, functions as an anticipatory indicator of emerging regulatory tensions and reputational risks, offering valuable foresight for corporate and institutional decision-makers. This study contributes to the literature on technology and society by highlighting the role of sentiment dynamics in shaping AI governance and sustainability strategies. It provides both theoretical insights into the social construction of technological legitimacy and practical implications for the design of responsive, context-sensitive ESG policies in the age of digital transformation.
{"title":"From promise to concern: Public perceptions of AI in ESG frameworks over time","authors":"Francesco Laviola, Nicola Cucari","doi":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2026.103219","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2026.103219","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates how public sentiment toward Artificial Intelligence (AI) has evolved at the intersection of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) frameworks and the rising field of Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR) over the past 25 years. Drawing on a dataset of 33,628 news articles published between 2000 and 2025, we conduct a large-scale longitudinal sentiment analysis to identify discursive patterns in the perception of AI's role across the ESG dimensions. Our findings reveal substantial variation across the three pillars. While sentiment toward AI in governance contexts shows a consistently positive trend, associated with increased expectations for transparency, monitoring, and compliance, environmental sentiment exhibits a sharp downturn after 2022, reflecting concerns over the carbon footprint of generative AI technologies. The social dimension displays fluctuating sentiment, influenced by debates on automation, fairness, and ethical accountability. These differentiated trajectories suggest that AI legitimacy is a domain-specific and socially negotiated construct, rather than a uniform outcome of technological advancement. Public discourse, as captured in news media, functions as an anticipatory indicator of emerging regulatory tensions and reputational risks, offering valuable foresight for corporate and institutional decision-makers. This study contributes to the literature on technology and society by highlighting the role of sentiment dynamics in shaping AI governance and sustainability strategies. It provides both theoretical insights into the social construction of technological legitimacy and practical implications for the design of responsive, context-sensitive ESG policies in the age of digital transformation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47979,"journal":{"name":"Technology in Society","volume":"85 ","pages":"Article 103219"},"PeriodicalIF":12.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145924184","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-02DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2025.103205
Chih-Hung Hsieh , Dana Bakry , Tugrul Daim
This study combines the CRITIC and DEMATEL methods and introduces a new hybrid scenario analysis approach that identifies cross-scenario strategies. We use Taiwan's wind energy industry as a case study to validate the process. Although scenario analysis has been applied across various fields and organization types—including strategic planning, education, training, and recent environmental issues—scholars have highlighted problems such as the subjectivity of qualitative analysis and the lack of quantitative evidence. To address this, this study integrates scenario analysis with quantitative multi-criteria decision analysis to support decision makers in conducting scenario evaluations. We achieve this by applying a multi-criteria approach to analyze the weights of uncertainty axes and causal relationships, leading to management prioritization that yields near-optimal decision analysis and enhances decision quality. Our methodology is validated with a case study in Taiwan's wind energy sector. In the best-case scenario, Taiwan's green energy substitution rate surpasses 20 %, simultaneously fostering new industrial chains in green manufacturing, energy storage, and carbon management. Conversely, under a pessimistic scenario, challenges such as land acquisition issues, tense international relations, grid delays, or regulatory uncertainties could limit renewable energy penetration to below 20 %.
{"title":"Technology assessment through a hybrid scenario-based decision Making: Case of wind energy","authors":"Chih-Hung Hsieh , Dana Bakry , Tugrul Daim","doi":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2025.103205","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2025.103205","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study combines the CRITIC and DEMATEL methods and introduces a new hybrid scenario analysis approach that identifies cross-scenario strategies. We use Taiwan's wind energy industry as a case study to validate the process. Although scenario analysis has been applied across various fields and organization types—including strategic planning, education, training, and recent environmental issues—scholars have highlighted problems such as the subjectivity of qualitative analysis and the lack of quantitative evidence. To address this, this study integrates scenario analysis with quantitative multi-criteria decision analysis to support decision makers in conducting scenario evaluations. We achieve this by applying a multi-criteria approach to analyze the weights of uncertainty axes and causal relationships, leading to management prioritization that yields near-optimal decision analysis and enhances decision quality. Our methodology is validated with a case study in Taiwan's wind energy sector. In the best-case scenario, Taiwan's green energy substitution rate surpasses 20 %, simultaneously fostering new industrial chains in green manufacturing, energy storage, and carbon management. Conversely, under a pessimistic scenario, challenges such as land acquisition issues, tense international relations, grid delays, or regulatory uncertainties could limit renewable energy penetration to below 20 %.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47979,"journal":{"name":"Technology in Society","volume":"85 ","pages":"Article 103205"},"PeriodicalIF":12.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145924197","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-29DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2025.103210
Meiting Ma , Xiaojie Wu , Xiuqiong Wang
The technological imprint of the top management team (TMT) plays a critical role in firms' digital transformation. However, research on why and how educational and positional technological imprints affect digital transformation differently is lacking. Taking 2303 Chinese listed A-share enterprises from 2011 to 2022 as a sample and combining imprint theory with upper echelons theory, we investigate the mediating effect of the size and quality of the technological resource configuration on the relationship between TMTs' technological imprints and firms’ digital transformation. The results show that when executives have a technological imprint, they prefer a high level of digital transformation. Executives with educational technological imprints tend to enhance the quality of the technological resource configuration to pursue advanced digital transformation, whereas those with positional technological imprints focus on expanding the size of such a configuration. This finding has important theoretical and practical significance for traditional enterprises attending to the role of TMTs in digital transformation.
{"title":"Technological imprints of TMTs, configuration of technological resources and Chinese enterprise digital transformation","authors":"Meiting Ma , Xiaojie Wu , Xiuqiong Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2025.103210","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2025.103210","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The technological imprint of the top management team (TMT) plays a critical role in firms' digital transformation. However, research on why and how educational and positional technological imprints affect digital transformation differently is lacking. Taking 2303 Chinese listed A-share enterprises from 2011 to 2022 as a sample and combining imprint theory with upper echelons theory, we investigate the mediating effect of the size and quality of the technological resource configuration on the relationship between TMTs' technological imprints and firms’ digital transformation. The results show that when executives have a technological imprint, they prefer a high level of digital transformation. Executives with educational technological imprints tend to enhance the quality of the technological resource configuration to pursue advanced digital transformation, whereas those with positional technological imprints focus on expanding the size of such a configuration. This finding has important theoretical and practical significance for traditional enterprises attending to the role of TMTs in digital transformation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47979,"journal":{"name":"Technology in Society","volume":"85 ","pages":"Article 103210"},"PeriodicalIF":12.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145975860","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-27DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2025.103211
Tamiru Amanu Abetu , Paul T.M. Ingenbleek , K.E. Giller , Endalkachew Wolde-Meskel , Edward Baars
Research and innovation have developed an impressive number of technologies that can increase the agricultural productivity of African smallholders. The impact of technology is nevertheless hindered by the heterogenous and unpredictable adoption patterns of smallholders. Most current studies examine farm-level constraints and environmental barriers (e.g., distance to market and access to financial capital) as the main explanation for variations in adoption. We take a complementary approach that draws on adoption theories from consumer psychology, thus considering the interplay between contextual barriers and the micro-level decision making processes of smallholders with regard to the adoption of technology. Qualitative data on the adoption of legume technologies by Ethiopian smallholders reveal barriers that hinder adoption at three stages of the process: as negative expectations, as impediments to translating adoption intentions into behaviour and as impediments to impact after adoption, thus hindering the continued use of technologies. To overcome adoption barriers, our findings suggest that more attention should be devoted to business innovations through effective product design and the marketing of the technologies, as well as to the development of value chains and business ecosystems within which to bundle technological products with other products and services.
{"title":"Why smallholders (do not) adopt productivity-increasing technologies? Developing a smallholder adoption-process model through an in-depth qualitative study in Ethiopia","authors":"Tamiru Amanu Abetu , Paul T.M. Ingenbleek , K.E. Giller , Endalkachew Wolde-Meskel , Edward Baars","doi":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2025.103211","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2025.103211","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Research and innovation have developed an impressive number of technologies that can increase the agricultural productivity of African smallholders. The impact of technology is nevertheless hindered by the heterogenous and unpredictable adoption patterns of smallholders. Most current studies examine farm-level constraints and environmental barriers (e.g., distance to market and access to financial capital) as the main explanation for variations in adoption. We take a complementary approach that draws on adoption theories from consumer psychology, thus considering the interplay between contextual barriers and the micro-level decision making processes of smallholders with regard to the adoption of technology. Qualitative data on the adoption of legume technologies by Ethiopian smallholders reveal barriers that hinder adoption at three stages of the process: as negative expectations, as impediments to translating adoption intentions into behaviour and as impediments to impact after adoption, thus hindering the continued use of technologies. To overcome adoption barriers, our findings suggest that more attention should be devoted to business innovations through effective product design and the marketing of the technologies, as well as to the development of value chains and business ecosystems within which to bundle technological products with other products and services.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47979,"journal":{"name":"Technology in Society","volume":"85 ","pages":"Article 103211"},"PeriodicalIF":12.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145883636","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-23DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2025.103207
Sarah V. Bentley, Emma Schleiger, Rod McCrea, Rebecca Coates, Elizabeth Hobman
Scientific and technological innovation has become a contested area of societal progress, often compounded by rising levels of societal mistrust and populist thinking. Responding to this, scholars and practitioners are deeply contemplating public ethics, accountability, and risk. At the heart of this motivation lies the domain of Responsible Innovation, where academics alongside applied stakeholders are endeavouring to align the values of innovation with those of society. To further our understanding of value alignment across the diversity of public opinion, this research maps opinions of science and technology through the lens of responsible practice using segmentation analysis on a large Australian sample (N = 2127). We find opinion divided into four typologies: Champions (22 %); Supporters (40 %); Moderates (30 %); and Sceptics (8 %). To investigate the impact of mistrust on these typologies, we assessed their relationship to both mistrust of society and of science, as measured by conspiratorial thinking and anti-science populism. Data showed levels of mistrust to be moderate across all typologies, but societal mistrust to be significantly higher for Sceptics. This research provides a benchmark for public opinions of responsible scientific and technological innovation against which other studies can compare. Moreover, results suggest that societal mistrust may be influencing perceptions of science across all typologies, but particularly for those normally perceived as disinterested or disengaged. These results call for a more concerted application of informed Responsible Innovation principles with which to deliver Responsible Innovation practice.
{"title":"Australian public opinions of responsible innovation: Understanding its champions, supporters, moderates, and sceptics","authors":"Sarah V. Bentley, Emma Schleiger, Rod McCrea, Rebecca Coates, Elizabeth Hobman","doi":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2025.103207","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2025.103207","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Scientific and technological innovation has become a contested area of societal progress, often compounded by rising levels of societal mistrust and populist thinking. Responding to this, scholars and practitioners are deeply contemplating public ethics, accountability, and risk. At the heart of this motivation lies the domain of Responsible Innovation, where academics alongside applied stakeholders are endeavouring to align the values of innovation with those of society. To further our understanding of value alignment across the diversity of public opinion, this research maps opinions of science and technology through the lens of responsible practice using segmentation analysis on a large Australian sample (<em>N</em> = 2127). We find opinion divided into four typologies: Champions (22 %); Supporters (40 %); Moderates (30 %); and Sceptics (8 %). To investigate the impact of mistrust on these typologies, we assessed their relationship to both mistrust of society and of science, as measured by conspiratorial thinking and anti-science populism. Data showed levels of mistrust to be moderate across <em>all</em> typologies, but societal mistrust to be significantly higher for Sceptics. This research provides a benchmark for public opinions of responsible scientific and technological innovation against which other studies can compare. Moreover, results suggest that societal mistrust may be influencing perceptions of science across all typologies, but particularly for those normally perceived as disinterested or disengaged. These results call for a more concerted application of informed Responsible Innovation principles with which to deliver Responsible Innovation practice.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47979,"journal":{"name":"Technology in Society","volume":"85 ","pages":"Article 103207"},"PeriodicalIF":12.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145883607","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Reconciling economic growth with sustainability challenges is a pressing priority for the Eurozone’s digital revolution. This study addresses a key gap by examining how green FinTech, global supply chains, and sustainable infrastructure interact to foster digital trade in the OECD and Europe. This study constructs a 24-year panel dataset of 39 economies from 2000 to 2023 to achieve the study’s main objective. To efficiently explore this research objective, the study employs novel and robust approaches, firstly, to construct three indices: the global supply chain, sustainable infrastructure, and Green FinTech index via Machine-Learning Time Heterogeneous factor analysis. Secondly, the study employs a dynamic, robust Panel Quantile Autoregressive Distributed Lag model with a moderation-effect specification (P-QARDL-ME). The theoretical foundation draws on global value chain and sustainability theories to link the variables to the study’s overarching goals. The findings reveal that integration of global supply chains and green FinTech solutions significantly enhances digital trade. Whereas Sustainable infrastructure plays a pivotal role in digital trade, it significantly decouples economic growth from environmental pollution, thereby promoting sustainability across the Eurozone. Integrating these results with global value chain and sustainability theories offers meaningful policy insights for the European Union, the World Trade Organization, regulators, businesses, and policymakers. Overall, the study advocates for stakeholder engagement and cross-border digital trade to support sustainable economic growth.
{"title":"Revolutionizing European digital exports: The intersection of global supply chains, green FinTech, and sustainable infrastructure","authors":"Qaisar Ullah , Yuzhuo Qiu , Shayan khan kakar , Mansoor Sami","doi":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2025.103209","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2025.103209","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Reconciling economic growth with sustainability challenges is a pressing priority for the Eurozone’s digital revolution. This study addresses a key gap by examining how green FinTech, global supply chains, and sustainable infrastructure interact to foster digital trade in the OECD and Europe. This study constructs a 24-year panel dataset of 39 economies from 2000 to 2023 to achieve the study’s main objective. To efficiently explore this research objective, the study employs novel and robust approaches, firstly, to construct three indices: the global supply chain, sustainable infrastructure, and Green FinTech index via Machine-Learning Time Heterogeneous factor analysis. Secondly, the study employs a dynamic, robust Panel Quantile Autoregressive Distributed Lag model with a moderation-effect specification (P-QARDL-ME). The theoretical foundation draws on global value chain and sustainability theories to link the variables to the study’s overarching goals. The findings reveal that integration of global supply chains and green FinTech solutions significantly enhances digital trade. Whereas Sustainable infrastructure plays a pivotal role in digital trade, it significantly decouples economic growth from environmental pollution, thereby promoting sustainability across the Eurozone. Integrating these results with global value chain and sustainability theories offers meaningful policy insights for the European Union, the World Trade Organization, regulators, businesses, and policymakers. Overall, the study advocates for stakeholder engagement and cross-border digital trade to support sustainable economic growth.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47979,"journal":{"name":"Technology in Society","volume":"85 ","pages":"Article 103209"},"PeriodicalIF":12.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145839462","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-23DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2025.103208
Najeh Aissaoui , Zahida Ayari , Abir Smiti
Digital technologies are creating unprecedented entrepreneurial opportunities to overcome the main challenges facing emerging and developing economies. This paper analyzes data from 35 emerging and developing countries spanning 2001 to 2023 to examine the multifaceted effects of digital technologies on key aspects of entrepreneurship, including motivation, entrepreneurial intention, business creation, innovation, and viability. Using the causal forest method, our empirical findings show that while digital technologies significantly boost motivation, entrepreneurial intention, the conversion of this intention into actual business creation, innovation, and viability strongly depends on the institutional context-particularly government support, access to finance, and social norms. Our study also reveals heterogeneity based on income levels, with stronger effects observed in less mature markets. These results emphasize the need to complement digital investments with tailored policies to fully unlock entrepreneurial potential.
{"title":"Causal forest estimation of heterogeneous effects of digital technologies on the national entrepreneurial process in emerging and developing countries","authors":"Najeh Aissaoui , Zahida Ayari , Abir Smiti","doi":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2025.103208","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2025.103208","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Digital technologies are creating unprecedented entrepreneurial opportunities to overcome the main challenges facing emerging and developing economies. This paper analyzes data from 35 emerging and developing countries spanning 2001 to 2023 to examine the multifaceted effects of digital technologies on key aspects of entrepreneurship, including motivation, entrepreneurial intention, business creation, innovation, and viability. Using the causal forest method, our empirical findings show that while digital technologies significantly boost motivation, entrepreneurial intention, the conversion of this intention into actual business creation, innovation, and viability strongly depends on the institutional context-particularly government support, access to finance, and social norms. Our study also reveals heterogeneity based on income levels, with stronger effects observed in less mature markets. These results emphasize the need to complement digital investments with tailored policies to fully unlock entrepreneurial potential.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47979,"journal":{"name":"Technology in Society","volume":"85 ","pages":"Article 103208"},"PeriodicalIF":12.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145924185","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-19DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2025.103206
Yuxiang Hong , Majid Mohammad Shafiee , Merrill Warkentin
Cybersecurity awareness refers to basic literacy in the digital age. This study discusses the influencing mechanism of an individual's life satisfaction on cybersecurity awareness, considering the mediating effects of internet dependence and burnout based on the broaden-and-build theory (BBT) of positive emotions as well as compensatory internet use (CIU) theory. We constructed a theoretical framework and tested hypotheses using regression analysis of a sample of 951 subjects based on a longitudinal survey. The empirical results showed that life satisfaction - as a stable cognitive indicator of subjective well-being - was associated with higher cybersecurity awareness, both directly and indirectly through pathways informed by the BBT and CIU theory. This study provides managers with actionable insights for promoting cybersecurity awareness by fostering psychological resources (e.g., life satisfaction) that buffer against security fatigue and burnout.
{"title":"The role of life satisfaction in cybersecurity awareness: A broaden-and-build perspective","authors":"Yuxiang Hong , Majid Mohammad Shafiee , Merrill Warkentin","doi":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2025.103206","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2025.103206","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cybersecurity awareness refers to basic literacy in the digital age. This study discusses the influencing mechanism of an individual's life satisfaction on cybersecurity awareness, considering the mediating effects of internet dependence and burnout based on the broaden-and-build theory (BBT) of positive emotions as well as compensatory internet use (CIU) theory. We constructed a theoretical framework and tested hypotheses using regression analysis of a sample of 951 subjects based on a longitudinal survey. The empirical results showed that life satisfaction - as a stable cognitive indicator of subjective well-being - was associated with higher cybersecurity awareness, both directly and indirectly through pathways informed by the BBT and CIU theory. This study provides managers with actionable insights for promoting cybersecurity awareness by fostering psychological resources (e.g., life satisfaction) that buffer against security fatigue and burnout.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47979,"journal":{"name":"Technology in Society","volume":"85 ","pages":"Article 103206"},"PeriodicalIF":12.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145839463","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-19DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2025.103204
Chiu-Chia Chen , Chien-Yi Huang
Amid global digital transformation and the restructuring of manufacturing supply chains, enhancing export resilience has become a central focus of industrial policy. Although many countries have promoted technology upgrading and capital incentives, empirical evaluations of their industry-level structural effects remain limited. This study examines Taiwan's manufacturing sector from 2016 to 2023, employing a fixed-effects panel model to assess the impact of technology investment penetration (a proxy for policy-driven investment) on export structure performance. The results show that technology investment significantly enhances export orientation and maintains positive effects during external shocks. However, early transformation stages exhibit increased volatility and lagged effects, reflecting a dynamic pattern where short-term instability coexists with long-term upgrading. The effects of policy incentives are moderated by industrial scale; outcomes in sectors with a higher proportion of large enterprises tend to be more pronounced but exhibit greater short-term fluctuations. By proposing an integrated structural-dynamic framework, this study shows that technology-oriented investment not only drives upgrading and technology absorption but also reinforces export stability and industrial resilience. These findings offer timely policy insights for export-oriented economies undergoing similar transitions.
{"title":"Industrial upgrading policies and export resilience: An empirical assessment of technology investment in Taiwan's manufacturing sector","authors":"Chiu-Chia Chen , Chien-Yi Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2025.103204","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2025.103204","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Amid global digital transformation and the restructuring of manufacturing supply chains, enhancing export resilience has become a central focus of industrial policy. Although many countries have promoted technology upgrading and capital incentives, empirical evaluations of their industry-level structural effects remain limited. This study examines Taiwan's manufacturing sector from 2016 to 2023, employing a fixed-effects panel model to assess the impact of technology investment penetration (a proxy for policy-driven investment) on export structure performance. The results show that technology investment significantly enhances export orientation and maintains positive effects during external shocks. However, early transformation stages exhibit increased volatility and lagged effects, reflecting a dynamic pattern where short-term instability coexists with long-term upgrading. The effects of policy incentives are moderated by industrial scale; outcomes in sectors with a higher proportion of large enterprises tend to be more pronounced but exhibit greater short-term fluctuations. By proposing an integrated structural-dynamic framework, this study shows that technology-oriented investment not only drives upgrading and technology absorption but also reinforces export stability and industrial resilience. These findings offer timely policy insights for export-oriented economies undergoing similar transitions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47979,"journal":{"name":"Technology in Society","volume":"85 ","pages":"Article 103204"},"PeriodicalIF":12.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145839460","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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