The Dynamics of Offshoring and Institutions

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Previous research has found that weak institutions can hamper investment and alter patterns of trade. However, little is known about the impact of institutional quality on offshoring. This lack of knowledge is surprising, given that offshoring has become an important part of many firms’ internationalization strategies. This study uses detailed firm-level data for the 1997-2005 period to examine the relationship between institutional quality in 113 source countries and offshoring by Swedish firms. The results suggest that weak institutions are negatively related to offshoring in general and to the offshoring of R&D- and relationship specificity-intensive inputs in particular. An analysis of learning effects suggests that the impact of weak institutions on the offshoring of relationship specificity-intensive inputs vanishes when firms return to countries from which they have previous market experience. Our results are robust to the use of various measures of institutional quality.

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Working Paper no. 328 Wholesale firms: A catalyst for Swedish exports?

Working paperPublikation

Daunfeldt, S-O., Engberg, E., Halvarsson, D., Kokko, A. & Tingvall, P.

Ladda ner

Publiceringsår

2019

Publicerat i

Ratio Working Paper

Sammanfattning

This paper examines the role of wholesale firms as facilitators of exports for small and medium-sized Swedish businesses. Our findings suggest that wholesale firms do facilitate access to difficult markets located outside Europe. For exports of a particular good to a given market, we observe a positive correlation between the export volumes of wholesale and manufacturing firms. Finally, we present evidence that supports a prediction from recent trade models with differentiated firms, namely that wholesale firms can facilitate exports for firms that are not themselves capable of direct exports.

The openness of open innovation in ecosystems

Artikel (med peer review)Publikation

Öberg, C., & Alexander, A.

Publiceringsår

2019

Publicerat i

Journal of Innovation & Knowledge

Sammanfattning

Open innovation has rendered increased interest both in practice and research, and has expanded from dyadic transfers of ideas, to ecosystem levels. Knowledge is at the heart of open innovation, and this paper describes and discusses knowledge-transfer linkages for open innovation. It does so based on a literature review. The paper links together open innovation research with general management research to categorise and discuss linkages among parties in terms of their openness and how they relate to knowledge management. Conclusions indicate that openness needs to be considered in different dimensions that also links to different knowledge management outcomes. The paper’s contribution consists of how it connects open innovation research to the general management literature, and how it builds a practical understanding of how linkages between firms can be categorised to aid firms to consider which mechanisms they may choose and why.

A revised perspective on innovation policy for renewal of mature economies – Historical evidence from finance and telecommunications in Sweden 1980–1990

Artikel (med peer review)Publikation

Eriksson, K., Ernkvist, M., Laurell, C., Moodysson, J., Nykvist, R. & Sandström, C.

Publiceringsår

2019

Publicerat i

Technological Forecasting and Social Change

Sammanfattning

What is the role of innovation policy for accomplishing renewal of mature industries in Western economies? Drawing upon an unusually rich dataset spanning 9752 digitized archival documents, we categorize and code decisions taken by policymakers on several levels while also mapping and quantifying the strategic activities of both entrant firms and incumbent monopolists over a decade. Our data concerns two empirical cases from Sweden during the time period 1980–1990: the financial sector and the telecommunications sector. In both industries, a combination of technological and institutional upheaval came into motion during this time period which in turn fueled the revitalization of the Swedish economy in the subsequent decades. Our findings show that Swedish policymakers in both cases consistently acted in order to promote the emergence of more competition and de novo entrant firms at the expense of established monopolies. The paper quantifies and documents this process while also highlighting several enabling conditions. In conclusion, the results indicate that successful innovation policy in mature economies is largely a matter of strategically dealing with resourceful vested interest groups, alignment of expectations, and removing resistance to industrial renewal.

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