The purpose of this study is to analyse differences in a small open transitional economy 's loci on innovation and internationalisation pace. Specifically, the effect of absorptive capacity, product ...and service innovation, and institutional support on internationalisation pace differences between firms founded in the command and capitalist market systems. Geographical setting of this study is the Republic of Croatia, which underwent a transition from a command to a capitalist market system in the early 1990s. Its information and telecommunications firms were pillars of innovation. The survey on Croatian information and telecommunications ' firms ' innovation and internationalisation was done between March and May 2014. This paper analysed 82 single firm responses based on firms ': internationalisation pace, amount of product and service innovation, absorptive capacity and institutional support in finding international markets. Results show that greater service innovation and smaller institutional support lead to faster internationalisation for all firms in the sample. When distinguishing between firms founded in the command system ("incumbents ") and those founded in the capitalist system ("young firms "), neither the amount of absorptive capacity, their product nor service innovation statistically significantly predict incumbents' internationalisation pace. Conversely, young firms' internationalisation pace was: (a) positively influenced by service innovation and absorptive capacity, and (b) negatively by product innovation and institutional support. Hence, absorptive capacity and service innovation are more important for internationalisation pace of firms founded in the capitalist system, which is consistent with the globally integrated growth of the information and telecommunications industry. This paper further discusses theoretical and practical implications of the identified findings with respect to the small open transitional economy.
This paper fills in the gap in innovation–internationalisation research based on differences between low and high internationalised firms. It examines how open innovation model serves as a mediator, ...transforming innovation culture into inbound, coupled and outbound open innovation. A cross-sectional research was used, and data were collected in 2014 on a sample of 82 telecommunication sector, obtaining a response rate of 26% of total telecommunication firms in the Republic of Croatia. The study differentiates between four elements of innovation culture: preparatory teamwork, knowledge sharing, intellectual property rights and established teamwork through formal communication processes. Results confirmed significance of (1) all innovation culture elements on open innovation model, especially in low internationalised firms, and (2) open innovation on inbound and coupled open innovation. Furthermore, open innovation model mediates the relationship between (a) preparatory teamwork and IPR on one side and inbound open innovation on the other side and (b) both preparatory and established teamwork on one side and coupled open innovation on the other side. In terms of different internationalisation levels, the study confirms the importance of (3) intellectual property rights for all open innovation types of highly internationalised firms and only for coupled open innovation of low internationalised firms and (4) established teamwork of both coupled innovation of low and high internationalised firms.
Starting from competitiveness as the ability of an entity (company, sector, state) to successfully increase sales on the domestic and/or international market, and through a balance surplus to create ...growing revenues for its company and/or residents, i.e. the entire country, the concept of competitiveness should be transformed according to today’s business conditions. Competitiveness was initially related to cost, and sales grew due to lower product prices, and later due to productivity and better product quality. Today’s consumer is not only interested in price and quality, but also in environmental sustainability and social responsibility, and customers are looking for sustainable products. This paper investigates the relationship between the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) index on a sample of 27 member states of the European Union in the period 2007-2017, with the main goal and purpose of determining the direction and strength of the relationship and creating a platform for the necessity of redesigning the GCI. The impact of climate change on the GCI was examined by the Sustainable Development Index. For this purpose, Difference GMM was used. The results show that SDG12 (waste generation) hurts competitiveness, while SDG14 (maritime, ocean conservation) has a positive impact on competitiveness. This study contributes to the ongoing discourse on the intersection of competitiveness and sustainability, providing a foundation for future discussions and potential reconstructions of indices that reflect the changing global environment.
As the world economy is growing and globalisation is on the rise, climate change and its effects on the planet Earth are also increasing. But climate changes do not disturb only nature; they also ...affect businesses and their supply chains. Many companies have recently recognised the positive impacts of green and circular supply chain management practices. Supply chains that deliver products from around the world are increasingly exposed to the impacts of a changing climate and scarce resources. In this research, it was determined how climate change impacts supply chains in the food, automobile, and energy industry sectors. Furthermore, we wanted to find out if and how the management of supply chains is altered to adapt to the business environment which is more and more affected by environmental changes.
This study tests the existence and direction of the relationship between investment in intangible assets and export and internationalization growth using the VAR, IRF, and VECM approaches. To gain a ...deeper understanding of this relationship, the following research question was posed: How does investment in intangible assets affect Croatian exporters’ export and internationalization growth? How long does this effect last? Based on the microfinance data of the largest Croatian exporters, the results suggest a relationship between exports and investments in intangible assets in previous periods. Accumulated impulse responses suggest that investment in intangible assets reduces and increases export growth. This U-shaped relationship between intangible asset investment and export growth does not converge to equilibrium within the ten years studied. The VECM shows that increased intangible assets lead to increased exports in the long run. However, the speed of adjustment to long-run equilibrium is slow, only 6.42% annually. The study is significant in two ways. First, it points out the relationship between investment in intangible assets and long-term export growth. Second, it provides information for policy implementation on the choice of strategic direction companies need to take to reposition themselves, preferably in forward-looking value chains, while opening discussion of the institutional infrastructure needed for this repositioning.
Ova studija testira postojanje i smjer veze između investiranja u nematerijalnu imovinu i rasta izvoza i internacionalizacije, korištenjem VAR, IRF i VECM pristupa. Kako bi se dublje razumjela ova veza, postavljeno je istraživačko pitanje: Kakav je utjecaj investiranja u nematerijalnu imovinu na rast izvoza i internacionalizaciju hrvatskih izvoznika i koliko dugo traje taj utjecaj? Rezultati, temeljeni na mikro-financijskim podacima najvećih hrvatskih izvoznika, ukazuju na vezu između izvoza i ulaganja u nematerijalnu imovinu u prethodnim razdobljima. Akumulirani impulsni odgovor pokazuje da ulaganje u nematerijalnu imovinu prvo smanjuje, a zatim povećava rast izvoza. Veza između ulaganja u nematerijalnu imovinu i rasta izvoza ima oblik slova U i ne konvergira prema ravnoteži unutar analiziranog desetogodišnjeg razdoblja. VECM pokazuje da povećanje nematerijalne imovine dovodi do povećanja izvoza u dugom roku. Međutim, brzina prilagodbe dugoročnoj ravnoteži je spora i iznosi samo 6,42% godišnje. Postoje dva znanstvena doprinosa ove studije. Ona ukazuje na vezu između investiranja u nematerijalnu imovinu i dugoročnog rasta izvoza. Nadalje, studija pruža informacije za provedbu politika o izboru strateškog smjera, kojeg poduzeća trebaju izabrati, da bi se ponovno pozicionirale, po mogućnosti u perspektivnim lancima vrijednosti, otvarajući pritom raspravu o institucionalnoj infrastrukturi, potrebnoj za ponovno pozicioniranje.
This study analyses the role of investment in intangible and tangible fixed assets on firm internationalisation pace. Financial microdata of the largest 300 Croatian exporters for the period ...2006-2015 were examined by system dynamic panel GMM. Results illustrate that investments in intangible assets significantly and positively increase export growth but not domestic revenue growth. The study also analysed differences in internationalisation and localisation growth depending on investments in intangible and tangible fixed assets. Investments in intangible assets positively affect firm internationalisation growth, while an increase in intangible assets negatively affects localisation growth. Significance of this study is twofold. Firstly, it provides evidence of the importance of investments in intangible assets for export growth and internationalisation growth. Secondly, it shows that investments in intangible assets are more important that investments in fixed assets, thereby providing practical implication for firms aiming to increase the pace of their international expansion.
Cilj ovog rada je empirijski provjeriti različite teorije međunarodne trgovine na
primjeru međunarodne robne trgovine Republike Hrvatske. Na temeljima različitih
teorijskih postavki definiran je ...analitički okvir kroz koji se vrednuje valjanost pojedinih
teorija međunarodne trgovine u objašnjavanju obrazaca trgovine Republike Hrvatske.
Razmatra se utjecaj geografske udaljenosti glavnih gradova, broj stanovnika starijih od
15 godina, ulaganje u istraživanje i razvoj, razina bruto domaćeg proizvoda, obilnost
faktora proizvodnje te indeks financijske razvijenosti na robni izvoz i uvoz Republike
Hrvatske. Na temelju broja potencijalnih nezavisnih varijabli i veličine uzorka
istraživanja u ovom radu Bayesov model uprosječivanja nameće se kao primjeren
empirijski pristup. Na uzorku podataka o međunarodnoj robnoj trgovini Republike
Hrvatske s 26 zemalja partnerica u 2019. godini, empirijski rezultati su pokazali da su
geografska udaljenost glavnih gradova i broj stanovnika starijih od 15 godina u zemlji
partnerici glavne odrednice robnog uvoza i robnog izvoza Republike Hrvatske.
Transportni troškovi su teorijski konzistentno značajna odrednica izvoza i uvoza
Republike Hrvatske. Broj stanovnika starijih od 15 godina može se protumačiti dvojako. U zemlji partnerici kao odrednica robnog izvoza Republike Hrvatske predstavlja veličinu
tržišta dok kao odrednica robnog uvoza Republike Hrvatske predstavlja raspoloživost
radne snage u zemlji partnerici. Daljnja empirijska istraživanja mogu se usmjeriti na
eksplicitnu provjeru ekonomije obujma kao odrednice međunarodne robne trgovine
Republike Hrvatske.
In order to answer how increases in total factor productivity, labour productivity and capital productivity affect equilibrium export growth and export intensity growth, a panel vector error ...correction model (VECM) is applied onto a firm level data of Croatia's 300 largest exporters in the period 2006-2015. Significance of this study is twofold. Firstly, VECM approach determines short and long run responses to shocks in total factor productivity, labour productivity and capital productivity. Results show that shocks in total factor productivity affects export growth but not export intensity growth. Labour productivity shocks do not affect export or export intensity growth, while capital productivity shocks have an effect on both export and export intensity, whereby the system takes longer to go back to equilibrium after capital productivity shocks than total productivity shocks. Secondly, managerial and policy implications of short-term and long-term effects of total factor productivity and labour productivity on export and export intensity growth are discussed.
The aim of this study is to inspect differences in internationalisation level of firms from a transitional economy based on their innovation outcomes, open innovation and organisational learning ...practices. Results indicate that firms with lower internationalisation level owe their innovation success to coupled and outbound open innovation practices that originate from market research, competitor tracking and public information. Mediating effect of outbound innovation is present in the relationship between market research and innovation success. Firms with higher internationalisation level do not exhibit significant effect of open innovation on innovation success, but their organisational learning antecedents such as market research and research and development negatively affect innovation success, while public information and forecasting have a significant positive effect on innovation success. The major contribution of this study is the understanding of how organisational learning antecedents and open innovation practices interact in firms with different internationalisation levels, whereby firms with higher internationalisation level already have competitive advantage that lower internationalisation firms need to achieve.
This study examines the industry-specific effects of productivity shocks on exports and the internationalisation of the largest Croatian exporters. In order to answer two research questions: (1) ...Which hypothesis, the productivity-led hypothesis or export-led hypothesis, holds in the case of the largest Croatian exporters? (2) Are the effects of productivity shocks on exports and internationalization sectoral dependent, and in what way? The authors tested 300 largest exporters’ micro- financial data for the 2006-2015 period by using a vector autoregression (VAR) method. Three productivity measures examined are total factor productivity, labour productivity and capital productivity. The results imply that productivity-led hypothesis holds for majority of Croatian largest exporters’ sectors. Rather than a specific export-led hypothesis, a bi-directional flow has proved to have greater influence on several industrial sectors, including professional and scientific services and administrative services sectors, and to a lesser extent, transport and warehousing, accommodation and food sectors. It is predominantly negative in terms of TFP and positive in terms of labour productivity (agriculture, electricity and gas supply, wholesale and transport and warehousing, and information and communication) and capital productivity (electricity and gas supply). Managerial and policy implications of productivity shocks are discussed in the paper.
PDF
