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The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of geographic location of research-intensive firms in the ability to generate new research and products, which consequently affects firm value.

The authors conduct the empirical study following a three-step process. First, if pharmaceutical firms are more likely to cite the patents of other firms and other innovators that are nearby, as opposed to firms and other innovators that are far away, then location (i.e. close proximity) is likely important when it comes to the ability to learn and to use the knowledge being generated by other innovators. The authors employ a “geographic information systems” (GIS) and geo-code each pair of citing and cited patents. In addition, the authors utilize spatial statistics such as Moran’s I to analyze the spatial clustering pattern of patent citations and knowledge flows. Next, the authors measure the pharmaceutical companies’ ability to generate useful patents as a function of the amount of innovation and industrial activity that is occurring close to them. Finally, the authors test whether a firm’s location relates to its firm value. Specifically, the authors model firm value as a function of its patents quality, but the authors also allow the firm’s patents quality to be a function of its location and locational attributes. In this way, the authors establish a link between location and firm value. Using a simultaneous system of equations, the authors find that location explains patent quality, which, in turn, explains firm value. In other words, there is a positive relationship between firm value, innovation and location.

In empirical tests using pharmaceutical firms and their patents, the authors first find that firms more often cite patents of other firms that are geographically closer to them than those firms that are farther away. The authors then find that a patent’s quality is a function of the firm’s near proximity to other knowledge-intensive institutions and activities. Finally, the authors find that because patent quality is a function of a firm’s geographic location, location consequently affects firm value.

For knowledge-intensive firms, geographic location matters. More specifically, the authors contend that research-intensive firms are better able to use and to expand on existing knowledge when they are closer to other research-intensive enterprises. The implication is that firm value maximization involves a location factor.

The practical implication for investors is that investors should invest in those firms that are situated in a location that is rich in geographic innovation resources because those firms are more likely to generate more and higher quality patents or innovations.

The study is the first to establish the linkage among spatial knowledge diffusion, geographic drivers of innovation, and market valuation of the firm. The study is unique in that the authors not only present evidence on spatial knowledge flows by geo-coding the exact longitude and latitude location coordinates of citing and cited patens, but more importantly, the authors also identify geographic drivers of innovation, and examine their impacts on citation-weighted patent counts and knowledge stock. Finally, using a series of simultaneous equations, the authors show how geographic innovation resources positively affect citation-weighted patent stock and knowledge stock and consequently affect market value of the firm. Thus, the novel approach contributes not only to the literature that measures geographic localization of knowledge flow using patent citations, but also to the literature that examines the impact of geographic sources of innovations on patent outputs and patent quality and, thus on firm value for research-intensive firms.

This chapter applies the five drivers of productivity framework to regional microdata for Egypt and extends it by introducing an index of industrial clusters as an explanatory factor of the productivity performance of local private sector firms. Applying structural equation models, the geographic concentration of sectoral economic activity is found to have a positive and statistically significant effect on labor productivity. The transmission mechanism is conjectured to be the positive spillovers that are created, which local firms can tap into. In contrast, a higher concentration of skilled workers in an industrial sector in a region is associated with lower levels of labor productivity – a finding that suggests there may be structural deficiencies in the allocation of skilled workers. Regional policy should focus on net investments in gross capital formation throughout the country, for which the national and regional governments should improve how public investments are managed and the institutional framework – including the rule of law, bureaucracy and red tape, conflict of interest, transparency, and governance – so that private investment (both local and foreign) may substantially increase.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

While previous research has identified that environmental innovation is shaped by a variety of drivers, researchers have devoted limited attention to the role of nature-based resources in the country. Building on environmental innovation theory and the natural resource-based view of the firm, this study introduces ecological resource deficits as a novel driver of environmental innovation. The authors explore how ecological resource deficits interact with institutional and regulatory drivers as well as firm-level technology drivers to explain the extent of environmental innovation across different countries.

The authors apply fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to a multi-source dataset to identify different pathways for environmental innovation across 28 countries.

Findings show that higher environmental innovation is a function of ecological resource deficits complemented by the presence of at least two other conditions. Moreover, the results show that environmental policy stringency and societal expectations are substitute conditions of environmental innovation.

This study reveals the interdependences between different conditions for environmental innovation across countries contributing to a more nuanced understanding of the geography of environmental innovation.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the different drivers of the establishment of innovation relationships in an aerospace cluster. In particular, the work investigates the impact of the various forms of proximity in the formation of inter-organisational collaborations for innovation.

The analysis is based on primary data collected through interviews and questionnaires on innovation collaborations, administered to all the firms operating in the aerospace cluster in Tuscany. The work applies social network analysis and Exponential Random Graph Models to analyse the forces that drive inter-organisational collaborations for innovation.

Results confirm the importance of geographical proximity in the formation of ties in the cluster, but social proximity is one of the main drivers for tie formation. Reciprocity shows that companies develop innovations in a reciprocal way and that most relationships are bidirectional. Triadic closure is also relevant, where the role played by trust and previous relationships is evident. Finally, hierarchy network processes are underlined, where the most central actors of the network are the most popular confirming a processes of preferential attachment. The central organisations gradually are more important, whereas the marginal ones are left in the periphery.

The work presents some novelties. First, it measures the different impacts of the various forms of proximity together with more advanced measures of network analysis. It allows pointing out the relevance of a firm’s network position in clusters and the fact that clusters assume hierarchical structures similar to centre-periphery networks, where most relevant nodes are in the inner core and marginal organisations are relegated.

This study aims to explore the relationship between geographic search and business model innovation and proposed a contingent framework to focus on how governmental networking and environment turbulence are interdependent moderate the relationship between geographic search and business model innovation.

A large-scale questionnaire survey was carried out among the firms in three high-tech parks of the Pearl River Delta, with a total of 287 firms as empirical samples. Hypotheses are tested using ordinary least squares analyzes on hierarchical multiple regression to find out how geographic search can drive business model innovation generations.

The empirical results showed that the more frequent geographic search is, the more favorable it is for firms to generate innovative business models, and firms may be more effective in geographic searching and business model innovation with better governmental networking. However, the above relationship may be weakened if the environment turbulence in emerging markets is further considered. It was argued that firms must take into account both the positive effects of governmental networking and the negative effects of environmental turbulence in conducting a geographic search for external knowledge resources to generate innovative business models. The study results showed how and why governmental networking can be a key catalyst for firms to generate innovative business models.

This study contributes to the business model innovation literature by documenting the large-scale survey evidence that confirms the practicality of geographic search in the business model innovation generations. The findings advance previous studies in the business model innovation by identifying the moderating roles of governmental network and environment turbulence that predict business model innovation behaviors in the emerging market.

The results indicate that the geographic search can be easily operationalized for external resources acquisitions by managers in generating business model innovation. This has applications for external resource acquisitions on the basis of business model innovation in the emerging China market. In addition, to facilitate the business model innovation generations, the focus should be on critical contingency factors; on the one hand, to promote the continued use of external resources, the focus should be on enhancing benefits such as governmental networking.

The findings extend existing theory in three ways as the original value. First, the results show that geographic search is an important driver of business model innovation generations in an emerging market context. Second, this study is the first to take organizational learning and open innovation perspective to examine geographic search as a boundary-spanning search of external resources in business model innovation generations. Third, this study also explores the moderator role of governmental network and environmental turbulence on how to strengthen or impair the geographic search and business model innovation generations.

This chapter investigates the geographical variations and approaches that shape the implementation of smart city projects on a global scale. Recognizing the significant influence of contextual factors on smart city initiatives, this chapter aims to comprehend the dynamics that drive the objectives and approaches of smart city projects across different countries. This chapter provides an overview of the strategic and geographical factors that impact smart city implementation, considering organizational drivers and practices, such as the Hofstede model in context. It explores the role of citizen-based, technology-based, and decision-making-based development in smart city implementation. Moreover, this chapter examines the strategic, cultural, socioeconomic, and geographical differences that influence smart city projects worldwide. It analyzes the geographical influence and internal drivers of smart city projects, focusing on Europe, North America, Latin America, and East and South Asia. This analysis offers insights into diverse approaches to smart city development, encompassing top-down and bottom-up approaches. By examining various perspectives and experiences from smart city initiatives worldwide, this chapter sheds light on the challenges and opportunities associated with implementing smart city strategies in different contexts.

Agri-food supply chains are facing a number of challenges, which cause inefficiencies resulting in the waste of natural and economic resources, and in negative environmental and social impacts. Food waste (FW) is a result of such inefficiencies and supply chain actors search for economically viable innovations to prevent and reduce it. This study aims to analyse the drivers and the barriers that affect the decision of supply chain operators to adopt innovations (technological – TI, organisational – OI and marketing – MI) to reduce FW.

The analysis was carried out using a four-step approach that included: a literature review to identify factors affecting the decision to adopt innovations; analysis of FW drivers and reduction possibilities along agri-food supply chains through innovations; mapping the results of Steps 1 and 2 and deriving conclusions regarding the factors affecting the adoption of innovations to reduce and prevent FW.

Results show that different types of innovations have a high potential in reducing and preventing FW along the supply chain; however, they still must be economically feasible to be adopted by decision makers in the food supply chain. TI, OI and MI are often interrelated and can trigger each other. When it comes to a combination of different types of innovation to reduce and prevent FW, a good example of combining TI, OI and MI may be observed in the retail sector in Europe. Here, innovative smartphone apps (TI) to promote the sale of products nearing their expiration dates (OI in terms of organising the sales differently and MI in terms of marketing it differently) were developed and adopted via different retailing channels, leading to the creation of a new business model.

This study analyses the drivers of FW generation together with the factors affecting the decision to adopt innovations to reduce it and provides solutions to supply chain operators to prevent and reduce FW through different types of innovations.

Literature has not systematically addressed innovations aiming at the reduction of FW yet. This paper provides a comprehensive literature review of the determinants of innovation adoption and offers a novel view on the problem of FW reduction by means of innovation, by linking factors affecting the decision to innovate with FW drivers.

The study investigates the profitability of manufacturing firms backshoring (BS) to Europe. In particular, the article analyses the relation between BS drivers and post-relocation profitability and tests whether this relation is moderated by innovation policies that firms adopt in conjunction with BS.

The empirical model links the post-relocation profitability to BS drivers, firms’ involvement in product innovation and/or adoption of new manufacturing technologies. Data concerning BS initiatives to Europe between 2012 and 2018 extracted from secondary sources have been matched to firms’ balance sheet data.

Results show that responsiveness-driven BS is associated with higher profitability when the relocation is coupled with product innovation. A second key finding is that the adoption of new manufacturing technologies has a positive impact on post-BS profitability.

The restriction of the dataset to firms for which information on post- and pre-BS financial performance was available has led to a small sample size. Availability of longer time series of profitability data will allow estimating long-term impact, especially for innovation.

The study provides first evidence on the impact of BS on financial performance and throws light on the relevance of innovation as a lever supporting manufacturing relocation to high-cost countries.

The study advances empirical research on BS by offering evidence of its impact on profitability and by linking it to previous research on BS drivers. Further, the study throws light on the role of different drivers as “success factors” of BS and on how they interact with innovation efforts. The study also offers insights to business leaders who are evaluating the potential benefits on company profitability of a return to a high cost-environment and provides useful indications on the conditions under which BS pays off.