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This paper aims to explain how the evolution of knowledge networks and firms’ strategic choices affect innovation. Endogenous factors associated with a path-dependent evolution of the knowledge network are jointly considered with a firm’s development of international relationships and increasing internal absorptive capacity over time.

In a biotech cluster, the authors gathered data on the firms’ characteristics and network relationships by asking about the technological knowledge they received in the cluster in 2007 and 2012 – “roster-recall” method. Estimation results were obtained using moderated regression analysis.

Firms that increase their involvement in knowledge networks over time also tend to increase their innovative capacity. However, efforts devoted to building international links or absorptive capacity negatively moderate the impact of network growth on innovation.

Practitioners have two alternative ways of increasing innovation inside knowledge networks: they can increase their centrality by developing their knowledge network interactions or invest in developing their internal absorptive capacity and new international sources of knowledge. Investing in both of these simultaneously does not seem to improve a firm’s innovative capacity.

Coupling firms’ strategic options with knowledge network dynamics provide a more complete way of explaining how firms can improve their innovative capacity.

The phenomenon of intellectual capital in the firm has been deeply researched and immensely debated in the management literature in recent years. After three decades of evolution, it has become established as a mature field of research. At this point, a review of its theoretical foundations and current and future evolution provides us with the state of the art of intellectual capital in the firm. The purpose of this paper is to present a quantitative review of the existing literature on intellectual capital in the firm.

In this paper, the authors present a quantitative review of the existing literature on intellectual capital in the firm. To do so, the authors searched the JCR-SSCI database from 1990 to 2016 and identified 553 citing documents; these were split into three main periods in order to identify the interactions and path dependencies existing between different foundations of research. In addition, areas of current and future research connected with the theoretical foundations were identified. For these purposes, the authors used both co-citation analyses as well as bibliographical coupling.

In this paper, three main stages of IC evolution have been identified with the main topics and research frames, as well as their path dependencies. Additionally, four main areas of current and future development of IC have been identified: IC measurement, IC in new business models, IC disclosure, and its role in social capital and human resource practices.

The present bibliometric study is a quantitative review of papers published in the Web of Science database.

By its dimensions ‒ broad academic disciplines and longitudinal character ‒ this bibliometric study constitutes a new quantitative review of the IC discipline, both drawing its intellectual evolution in the last decades, and showing current and future research trends in IC and the firm.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the benefits to firms arising from their geographical concentration; paying particular attention to the impact of specialized employees, information and knowledge spillovers and a collective reputation.

The authors have taken into account two main approaches: a cluster one, where location may increase firms’ competitiveness; and the resource-based view, where internal resources are the key for firms’ success. Empirical evidence has been gathered from the Ham cluster in Spain combining secondary and primary data. The authors undertook a Tobit regression model since the dependent variable is limited.

The authors observe that firms with human resources tend to benefit more from cluster externalities. On contrary, R&D and advertising investments induce firms to isolate themselves from crowded areas and prevent any local leakage.

It would be interesting to better understand the role that human resources play; undertake a longitudinal analysis; and take into account the resources of other proximate firms.

Local advantages depends the maturity of the industry by reducing the attractiveness of cluster locations through greater competition in the input and final markets; while internal resources may improve a firm's ability to absorb these externalities, they may also create leakage that benefits neighbouring firms.

It combines two approaches evaluating the moderating influence of internal resources on local externalities. It also offers new empirical evidence from a low-tech industry.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of the chosen specific internationalization pathway on the relationship between internationalization and firm performance.

This paper analyses the internationalization pathway among small- and medium-sized enterprises which internationalize through exporting and are more limited in terms of the resources they can leverage across markets.

Empirical evidence obtained from a sample of wineries in La Rioja shows that the internationalization – export performance relationship is characterized by a U-shaped curve for firms with a gradual internationalization pathway, and an S-shaped curve for firms with an accelerated internationalization pathway.

This empirical study on the impact of export intensity on performance has acknowledged the importance of costs caused by the liability of foreignness and the transaction and coordination costs involved in each market expansion process. However, it has not examined the effect of differences in absorptive and coordination capabilities at the firm level.

The findings about the role of the specific internationalization pathway in driving export intensity and performance appear to be relevant from a public-policy perspective. Local policies aimed at promoting exports have been widely based on the argument that firms can improve their performance through increasing their level of international sales. However, empirical evidence shows that these efforts may not work as well as was thought, unless combined with the right market expansion pathway and the optimal level of exports associated with this international market expansion.

Most studies on the effect of international market expansion on firm performance have not considered the influence of the specific market expansion pathway chosen. In taking this factor into account, this paper contributes to the existing body of work by developing an integrative theoretical framework that explores how the pathway of internationalization impacts on firms’ performance.

Most studies on the effect of international market expansion on firm performance have not considered the influence of the specific market expansion process chosen. In taking this factor into account, this paper contributes to the existing body of work by developing an integrative theoretical framework that explores how the process of international market expansion impacts on firms’ performance.

This study aims to focus on relational social capital in family wineries. Relational social capital is influenced by the family nature of the business and is at the same time a key antecedent of winery performance. The aim is to analyse these relationships in the qualified denomination of origin (DOC) Rioja wine industry (Spain).

Using a final sample of 110 family wineries, a Baron and Kenny approach was performed to investigate the causal and mediating relationships between the generation in control, relational social capital and family winery performance.

Using a final sample of 110 family wineries, the study demonstrates that later generations show a higher level of relational social capital, that the positive relationship between relational social capital and performance is maintained in a family firm sample and that the generation in control sequentially influence on performance through its influence on relational social capital.

The main limitations are that empirical data were obtained only from DOC Rioja wine family businesses and a cross-sectional study was conducted.

This study provides policymakers and family managers responsible for succession with a better understanding of the effects of transferring the business to the next generations in terms of relational social capital and performance.

To the best of the knowledge, this is the first study to examine the sequential relationships between generation, relational social capital and performance in DOC Rioja family wineries. The context of the DOC Rioja wine industry is particularly noteworthy for two reasons. First, in this industry, family-controlled firms predominate. Second, the DOC Rioja wine industry is focussed on the small-to-medium context, which has conventionally provided a very good area for the development of social capital theory.

Intellectual capital (IC) has been shown to play a crucial role in promoting competitive success among cooperatives as well as in other types of organizations. However, cooperatives are rarely included in this line of research. This paper aims to analyze how IC in agrifood cooperatives influences their prominence by fostering responsible research and innovation (RRI), reputation and performance.

A theoretical model was developed based on a literature review, and a quantitative study was conducted, including a representative sample of the current most prominent Spanish agrifood cooperatives. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the validity of constructs, path relationships and recent advances in the predictive model assessment.

This study’s findings show the specific role of human capital (HC) for enhancing social and structural capital in cooperatives. It was concluded that there is a need to revise and reconsider the role-played by IC in the cooperative movement.

The main practical contribution is to offer a specific vision of IC for agrifood cooperatives in order to maximize their market prominence. Since the study was conducted in Spain and based on a cross-sectional research approach, even though the new methodological tool partial least squares (PLS) predict was used, the authors cannot affirm whether IC will have the long-term expected effects as assumed in this research and in all contexts of the agrifood industry.

This is the first empirical study that has examined IC in agrifood cooperatives in Spain, with attention focused on the role of HC as a predictor of market success.