Economic convergence is a major aim of the EU. Innovation and investment in economically weaker regions are key steps to foster convergence • Public institutions and the regulatory environment for investments differ substantially across EU member states and increase economic disparities •...

We evaluated the execution of the operational programs (OPs) committed to encouraging the adoption of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). To achieve this goal, we employed a novel three-stage weighted Russel directional distance (WRDD)...

Foreign aid is an important means of finance for governments of developing countries. The current study investigates whether too much inflow of aid to developing countries is beneficial or harmful to their economy and whether institutional quality and economic freedom matters in aid–growth...

Purpose: The purpose of the article is to examine the justification for encouraging SME involvement in public procurement, as a means to stimulate innovation.Design/methodology/approach: By applying a post-positivistic/non-disciplinary approach the paper combines a narrative literature review of...

Conventional wisdom suggests that small businesses are innovative engines of Schumpetarian growth. However, as small businesses, they are likely to face credit rationing in financial markets. If true then policies that promote lending to small businesses may yield substantial economy-wide...

This paper looks at the patterns of causation between income, export, import, and investment growth for 39 developing countries. Our approach differs from previous efforts in a number of ways. First, we examine each country individually in order to allow for complete heterogeneity. Second, we...

This article reviews the impact of intellectual property (IP) protection on foreign direct investment (FDI) by multinational enterprises (MNEs) in developing countries. Applying different panel data techniques to a newly-created comprehensive FDI/IP dataset of 31 Swiss MNEs investing into 53...

Innovation and marketing strategies adopted by multinational companies in the globalized economy are subject to continuous challenges. Consider EU exporting companies that produce, for example, solar panels. Depending on political elections and the ensuing support for environmental policies (or...