IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i2p1570-d1034974.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Firm-Level Innovations in an Emerging Economy: Do Perceived Policy Instability and Legal Institutional Conditions Matter?

Author

Listed:
  • Samuel Kwesi Dunyo

    (Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Nakhon Sawan Rajabhat University, Nakhon Sawan 60000, Thailand)

  • Samuel Amponsah Odei

    (Department of Economics, University of Hradec Králové, 50003 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic)

Abstract

Innovation has become a key factor of production, driving and sustaining firms’ productivity and competitiveness. Despite the growing importance attached to innovations, existing studies have produced different results on the factors driving firm-level innovations. This study investigates the factors driving innovations in the service and manufacturing sector firms in Thailand. The study tests proposed hypotheses using cross-sectional data on a sample of 613 firms from the World Bank enterprise survey of 2016. Our empirical results show that specific aspects of the business environment, such as policy instability, legal institutions, corruption, and informal competition, negatively influence non-technological innovations. Contrarily, we find that formal training, foreign technology licenses, research and development have marginal and additionality effects that positively enhance both technological and non-technological innovations. We provide practical implications for firm managers and policymakers in Thailand on adaptive measures to improve the business environment to make it conducive for firm-level innovations.

Suggested Citation

  • Samuel Kwesi Dunyo & Samuel Amponsah Odei, 2023. "Firm-Level Innovations in an Emerging Economy: Do Perceived Policy Instability and Legal Institutional Conditions Matter?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-24, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:2:p:1570-:d:1034974
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/2/1570/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/2/1570/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nicholas Bloom & John Van Reenen & Heidi Williams, 2019. "A toolkit of policies to promote innovation," Voprosy Ekonomiki, NP Voprosy Ekonomiki, issue 10.
    2. Utumporn Jitsutthiphakorn, 2021. "Innovation, firm productivity, and export survival: firm-level evidence from ASEAN developing countries," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 10(1), pages 1-17, December.
    3. Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph, 2016. "The evolution of science, technology and innovation policies: A review of the Ghanaian experience," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 134-142.
    4. Aamir Rafique Hashmi, 2013. "Competition and Innovation: The Inverted-U Relationship Revisited," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(5), pages 1653-1668, December.
    5. Jing Li & Jun Xia & Edward J. Zajac, 2018. "On the duality of political and economic stakeholder influence on firm innovation performance: Theory and evidence from Chinese firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(1), pages 193-216, January.
    6. Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés & Zhang, Min, 2020. "The cost of weak institutions for innovation in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    7. Teimuraz Gogokhia & George Berulava, 2021. "Business environment reforms, innovation and firm productivity in transition economies," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 11(2), pages 221-245, June.
    8. Pål Børing, 2019. "The relationship between firm productivity, firm size and CSR objectives for innovations," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 9(3), pages 269-297, September.
    9. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Wang, Chih-Wei & Ho, Shan-Ju, 2020. "Country governance, corruption, and the likelihood of firms’ innovation," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 326-338.
    10. Arusha Cooray & Friedrich Schneider, 2018. "Does corruption throw sand into or grease the wheels of financial sector development?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 177(1), pages 111-133, October.
    11. Mehmet Akif Demircioglu & David B Audretsch & Timothy F Slaper, 2019. "Sources of innovation and innovation type: firm-level evidence from the United States," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 28(6), pages 1365-1379.
    12. Xuemei Xie & Guoyou Qi & Kevin Xiaoguo Zhu, 2019. "Corruption and New Product Innovation: Examining Firms’ Ethical Dilemmas in Transition Economies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 107-125, November.
    13. Pino, Cesar & Felzensztein, Christian & Zwerg-Villegas, Anne Marie & Arias-Bolzmann, Leopoldo, 2016. "Non-technological innovations: Market performance of exporting firms in South America," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 4385-4393.
    14. Samuel Amponsah Odei & Henry Junior Anderson, 2021. "Analysing Higher Educational Institutions' Role in Fulfilling their Third Mission," REGION, European Regional Science Association, vol. 8, pages 119-134.
    15. Mario Kafouros & Murod Aliyev, 2016. "Institutions and Foreign Subsidiary Growth in Transition Economies: The Role of Intangible Assets and Capabilities," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 580-607, June.
    16. SUN, Yu-tao & ZHANG, Chen & WANG, Jin-min, 2022. "How to Benefit from Balancing External Knowledge Acquisition? A Chinese EIT Industry Case," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    17. A. Smith, Jeffrey & E. Todd, Petra, 2005. "Does matching overcome LaLonde's critique of nonexperimental estimators?," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 125(1-2), pages 305-353.
    18. Pierre-Richard Agénor, 2017. "Caught In The Middle? The Economics Of Middle-Income Traps," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 771-791, July.
    19. de Faria, Pedro & Lima, Francisco & Santos, Rui, 2010. "Cooperation in innovation activities: The importance of partners," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(8), pages 1082-1092, October.
    20. Rajeev K. Goel & James W. Saunoris, 2020. "Design versus utility innovation: Is corruption sanding or greasing the wheels of innovation?," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(5), pages 848-860, July.
    21. Athanasouli, Daphne & Goujard, Antoine, 2015. "Corruption and management practices: Firm level evidence," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 1014-1034.
    22. Mara Faccio, 2006. "Politically Connected Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 369-386, March.
    23. Stefano Elia & Surender Munjal & Vittoria G. Scalera, 2020. "Sourcing Technological Knowledge Through Foreign Inward Licensing to Boost the Performance of Indian Firms: The Contingent Effects of Internal R&D and Business Group Affiliation," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 60(5), pages 695-721, October.
    24. José María García Álvarez-Coque & Francisco Mas-Verdú & Norat Roig-Tierno, 2017. "Technological innovation versus non-technological innovation: different conditions in different regional contexts?," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 51(5), pages 1955-1967, September.
    25. Elizabeth A. Alexander, 2012. "The Effects of Legal, Normative, and Cultural-Cognitive Institutions on Innovation in Technology Alliances," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 52(6), pages 791-815, December.
    26. Petrou, Andreas P., 2015. "Arbitrariness of corruption and foreign affiliate performance: A resource dependence perspective," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(4), pages 826-837.
    27. Safi Ullah Khan & Attaullah Shah & Mohammad Faisal Rizwan, 2021. "Do Financing Constraints Matter for Technological and Non-technological Innovation? A (Re)examination of Developing Markets," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(9), pages 2739-2766, July.
    28. Mulkay, Benoît, 2019. "How does competition affect innovation behaviour in french firms?," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 237-251.
    29. Rodolphe Durand & Robert M. Grant & Tammy L. Madsen & Eric Yanfei Zhao & Greg Fisher & Michael Lounsbury & Danny Miller, 2017. "Optimal distinctiveness: Broadening the interface between institutional theory and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 93-113, January.
    30. Abubakar, Yazid Abdullahi & Hand, Chris & Smallbone, David & Saridakis, George, 2019. "What specific modes of internationalization influence SME innovation in Sub-Saharan least developed countries (LDCs)?," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 56-70.
    31. Samuel Amponsah Odei & Jan Stejskal & Viktor Prokop, 2021. "Understanding territorial innovations in European regions: Insights from radical and incremental innovative firms," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(5), pages 1638-1660, October.
    32. Agrawal, Ajay & Kapur, Devesh & McHale, John & Oettl, Alexander, 2011. "Brain drain or brain bank? The impact of skilled emigration on poor-country innovation," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 43-55, January.
    33. Mark Turner & Sineenat Sermcheep & Seksan Anantasirijkiat & Piti Srisangnam, 2016. "Small and medium-sized enterprises in Thailand: government policy and economic development," Asia Pacific Journal of Public Administration, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(4), pages 251-269, October.
    34. Mendi, Pedro & Costamagna, Rodrigo, 2017. "Managing innovation under competitive pressure from informal producers," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 192-202.
    35. Lenihan, Helena & McGuirk, Helen & Murphy, Kevin R., 2019. "Driving innovation: Public policy and human capital," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    36. Gabriele Pellegrino, 2018. "Barriers to innovation in young and mature firms," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 181-206, January.
    37. Miocevic, Dario & Arslanagic-Kalajdzic, Maja & Kadic-Maglajlic, Selma, 2022. "Competition from informal firms and product innovation in EU candidate countries: A bounded rationality approach," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    38. Elvis Korku Avenyo & Maty Konte & Pierre Mohnen, 2021. "Product innovation and informal market competition in sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 605-637, April.
    39. Axel Dreher & Martin Gassebner, 2013. "Greasing the wheels? The impact of regulations and corruption on firm entry," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 155(3), pages 413-432, June.
    40. Andrea Rotnitzky & Lingling Li & Xiaochun Li, 2010. "A note on overadjustment in inverse probability weighted estimation," Biometrika, Biometrika Trust, vol. 97(4), pages 997-1001.
    41. Huy-Cuong Vo-Thai & Trinh-Hoang Hong-Hue & My-Linh Tran, 2021. "Technological- and Non-Technological Innovation During the Growth Phase of Industry Life Cycle: An Evidence From Vietnamese Manufacturing Enterprises," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(3), pages 21582440211, July.
    42. Gill,Indermit S. & Kharas,Homi, 2015. "The middle-income trap turns ten," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7403, The World Bank.
    43. Cabaleiro-Cerviño, Goretti & Burcharth, Ana, 2020. "Licensing agreements as signals of innovation: When do they impact market value?," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    44. Kleibergen, Frank & Mavroeidis, Sophocles, 2009. "Weak Instrument Robust Tests in GMM and the New Keynesian Phillips Curve," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 27(3), pages 293-311.
    45. Daniel Johnson, 2002. ""Learning-by-Licensing": R&D and Technology Licensing in Brazilian Invention," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(3), pages 163-177.
    46. Muhammad Athar Nadeem & Zhiying Liu & Haji Suleman Ali & Amna Younis & Muhammad Bilal & Yi Xu, 2020. "Innovation and Sustainable Development: Does Aid and Political Instability Impede Innovation?," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(4), pages 21582440209, November.
    47. Catherine Magelssen, 2020. "Allocation of property rights and technological innovation within firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(4), pages 758-787, April.
    48. Tsuji, Masatsugu & Ueki, Yasushi & Shigeno, Hidenori & Bunno, Teruyuki & Idota, Hiroki, 2018. "ICT and Two Categories of R&D in the Innovation Process among Firms in ASEAN Countries Based on Firm-level Survey Data," 29th European Regional ITS Conference, Trento 2018 184970, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    49. Wooldridge, Jeffrey M., 2014. "Quasi-maximum likelihood estimation and testing for nonlinear models with endogenous explanatory variables," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 182(1), pages 226-234.
    50. Hearn, Bruce, 2014. "The political institutional and firm governance determinants of liquidity: Evidence from North Africa and the Arab Spring," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 127-158.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Riana Razafimandimby Andrianjaka & Eric Rougier, 2017. "What difference does it make? Revue de littérature et analyse empirique des déterminants de la Trappe à Revenu Intermédiaire," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2017-16, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
    2. Xie, Xuemei & Liu, Xiaojie & Chen, Jialing, 2023. "A meta-analysis of the relationship between collaborative innovation and innovation performance: The role of formal and informal institutions," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    3. Ghulam, Yaseen, 2021. "Institutions and firms’ technological changes and productivity growth," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    4. Luca Farè, 2022. "Exploring the contribution of micro firms to innovation: does competition matter?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 1081-1113, October.
    5. Krammer, Sorin M.S. & Jiménez, Alfredo, 2020. "Do political connections matter for firm innovation? Evidence from emerging markets in Central Asia and Eastern Europe," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    6. Priya, Pragati & Sharma, Chandan, 2023. "Reinforcing the effects of corruption and financial constraints on firm performance: Normal versus crisis period in developing economies," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    7. Krammer, Sorin & Jimenez, Alfredo, 2019. "Do political connections matter for firm innovation? Evidence from emerging markets in Central Asia and Eastern Europe," MPRA Paper 94942, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. He, Wenjian & Chen, Xiaoyang & Liu, Zhiyong John, 2022. "Can anti-corruption help realize the “strong” Porter Hypothesis in China? Evidence from Chinese manufacturing enterprises," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    9. Roberto Iorio & Maria Luigia Segnana, 2022. "Is paying bribes worthwhile? Corruption and innovation in middle-income countries," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 12(3), pages 475-504, September.
    10. Dorgyles C. M. Kouakou, 2023. "Competing against ‘invisibles’: the effect of competition from informal firms on formal firms’ R&D," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 13(1), pages 87-117, March.
    11. Gan Jin & Günther G. Schulze, 2024. "The Long-Term Effect of Western Customs Institution on Firm Innovation in China," CESifo Working Paper Series 10967, CESifo.
    12. Dwibedy, Punyashlok, 2022. "Informal competition and product innovation decisions of new ventures and incumbents across developing and transitioning countries," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 17(C).
    13. Yu-Hong Ai & Di-Yun Peng & Huan-Huan Xiong, 2021. "Impact of Environmental Regulation Intensity on Green Technology Innovation: From the Perspective of Political and Business Connections," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-23, April.
    14. Rougier, Eric, 2016. "“Fire in Cairo”: Authoritarian–Redistributive Social Contracts, Structural Change, and the Arab Spring," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 148-171.
    15. Haddoud, Mohamed Yacine & Kock, Ned & Onjewu, Adah-Kole Emmanuel & Jafari-Sadeghi, Vahid & Jones, Paul, 2023. "Technology, innovation and SMEs' export intensity: Evidence from Morocco," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    16. Mendi, Pedro & Mudida, Robert, 2018. "The effect on innovation of beginning informal: Empirical evidence from Kenya," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 326-335.
    17. Hana Urbancová & Pavla Vrabcová, 2023. "Sustainability-oriented Innovation: Crucial Sources to Achieve Competitiveness," Journal of Economics / Ekonomicky casopis, Institute of Economic Research, Slovak Academy of Sciences, vol. 71(1), pages 46-64, January.
    18. Lakshmi, Geeta & Saha, Shrabani & Bhattarai, Keshab, 2021. "Does corruption matter for stock markets? The role of heterogeneous institutions," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 386-400.
    19. Glawe, Linda & Wagner, Helmut, 2020. "China in the middle-income trap?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    20. Janusz Heller & Rafal Warzala, 2018. "Is Poland in a middle income trap? A theoretical and empirical analysis," Ekonomia i Prawo, Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika, vol. 17(4), pages 367-381, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    technological innovations; non-technological innovations; business environment; corruption; legal institutions; foreign technology licenses; Thailand; ; L62; 030; 031; 036; P37; P48;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L62 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Automobiles; Other Transportation Equipment; Related Parts and Equipment
    • P37 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Legal
    • P48 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - Legal Institutions; Property Rights; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Regional Studies

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:2:p:1570-:d:1034974. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.