Comprises of a selection of competitive papers from the 34th European International Business Academy Annual Conference, held in Tallinn, Estonia in December 2008, with the theme International Business and the Catching-up Economies: Challenges and Opportunities.

Comprises of a selection of competitive papers from the 34th European International Business Academy Annual Conference, held in Tallinn, Estonia in December 2008, with the theme International Business and the Catching-up Economies: Challenges and Opportunities.

As firms increasingly rely on knowledge as a key factor for innovation, the ability to innovate is increasingly perceived as a key asset for being competitive in international markets. This new volume argues that innovation, knowledge and internationalisation should be viewed as tightly related concepts. It provides a stimulating and comprehensive framework for understanding key tendencies in modern economics, as well as an overview of the state of the art in the three fields covered. The first section explores in detail the relationship between knowledge and the innovative capability of firms, focussing on key topics such as social capital, intentional knowledge diffusion and unintentional knowledge spillovers. Section two examines the drivers and the impact of innovation strategies, assessing the role of technological advantage, networking and R & D investments in innovation, as well as the impact on innovation on the labour market. The third and final section examines the ongoing internationalisation process faced by ‘global’ economies. The topics explored in each section are tightly linked, ensuring that a strong thematic thread runs through the collection.

It is commonly believed that innovations are crucial in company's activity. The significance of the role that is assigned to the issue of innovation is confirmed by numerous scientific research studies that indicate the existence of a link between innovativeness and company performance. In terms of the dynamically progressing process of globalization it seems that the relationship between innovation and company performance should be examined in the context of entities participating in international expansion. The process of internationalization may influence the creation of innovations by enterprises and at the same time the achieved results. Despite many literature publications in the field of economics and management, concerning internationalization and innovations, there is a small number of publications describing the influence of internationalization on the innovation activities of enterprises in a comprehensive manner. Likewise, there is no answer to the question on how the innovations created in the process of internationalization influence the results of companies. Due to the identification of a substantial research gap, this book undertakes an attempt at determining the manner in which internationalization affects the process of enterprises creating innovations and ascertaining their impact on company results. The conclusions presented in the book may be used by researchers representing many fields of science and be the subject of interest to the representatives of business practice. In addition, it is one of the few domestic and foreign studies concerning the innovations created in the process of internationalization.

This book explores how companies combine technological innovation and competitive actions that create new opportunities for business growth in the international market. The complexity of designing today’s technology platforms requires profound knowledge in multiple areas. Technology development and commercialization as an ongoing competitive process involves enabling and inhibiting mechanisms, which govern the speed and acceleration of technological innovation. To compete more effectively, potential competitors are using coopetition and pooling their resources for shared gain in areas where they do not compete directly. Thus, a thorough examination of the current paradigms, theories, and frameworks is needed to increase our understanding of the technology-innovation-competitiveness linkages of business growth. This book brings together recent developments and methodological contributions within technological innovation, international competitiveness, and business growth that bridge the existing gaps and simultaneously advances the debate on this research topic.

As firms increasingly rely on knowledge as a key factor for innovation, the ability to innovate is increasingly perceived as a key asset for being competitive in international markets. This new volume argues that innovation, knowledge and internationalisation should be viewed as tightly related concepts. It provides a stimulating and comprehensive framework for understanding key tendencies in modern economics, as well as an overview of the state of the art in the three fields covered. The first section explores in detail the relationship between knowledge and the innovative capability of firms, focussing on key topics such as social capital, intentional knowledge diffusion and unintentional knowledge spillovers. Section two examines the drivers and the impact of innovation strategies, assessing the role of technological advantage, networking and R & D investments in innovation, as well as the impact on innovation on the labour market. The third and final section examines the ongoing internationalisation process faced by ‘global’ economies. The topics explored in each section are tightly linked, ensuring that a strong thematic thread runs through the collection.

​This volume showcases contributions from leading academics, educators and policymakers derived from two workshops hosted by the Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science (ICES) at George Mason University on internationalization and competitiveness. It aims to present key areas of current research and to identify basic problems within the field to promote further discussion and research. This book is organized into two sections, focusing on: science and economics and innovation policy and its measurement, with an underlying emphasis on exploring connections across disciplines and across research, practice and policy. The first workshop was held at George Mason University (GMU) in Arlington, VA, USA in March 2013 and a second, building on the key results from the first, was held at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden in October 2013. A variety of problems were discussed and several interdisciplinary concepts in internationalization and competitiveness have already emerged from these workshops. For example, many of the presentations emphasized a need for productivity, which is a key goal of economic development. It was proposed to shift the emphasis from productivity towards creativity by examining property right regimes and their measurement to provide incentives for creative idea generation. These regimes span across higher education, invention, labor markets, and many other markets and institutions. Addressing fundamental issues along four dimensions--economics, higher education, strategic collaboration, and new research methods--this book provides a multidimensional, interdisciplinary perspective on the challenges and opportunities for future development.​ This excellent collection of essays provides new insights as to how the development and diffusion of knowledge are facilitating convergence in the structure of research organizations across the globe -- a process that has enormous implications for how actors in all parts of the world compete with one another in an increasing array of arenas. The essays have valuable implications for understanding how producers of all kinds of knowledge across the globe are competing with one another and how geographical space and nation states are less important in the competition for novelty. Rogers Hollingsworth University of Wisconsin (Madison) University of California San Diego