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Family firms are ubiquitous around the world. Family involvement in family businesses gives rise to unique features that not only make family firms behave distinctively from their nonamily counterparts but also lead to great variations among such firms. From an innovation perspective, while family firms are regarded as conservative businesses that lack an innovation spirit in some studies, others recognize family firms as key economic drivers demonstrate entrepreneurial spirit. This dissertation is an attempt to advance the understanding of family firm innovation heterogeneity by focusing on the role of family CEOs. In particular, this research explores what idiosyncratic resources and capabilities are generated from family management, specifically when a family member holds the CEO position. Employing a capability-based perspective of firm innovation, this research posits that the impact of a family CEO on firm innovation is twoold. Family CEOs have a direct impact on firm innovation due to the distinctive resources possessed and the unique goals pursued. Family CEOs also have an indirect impact on firm innovation via the configuration and orchestration of other top management team (TMT) members’ competencies, which manifests as high-order, idiosyncratic managerial capabilities. Therefore, superior or inferior family firm innovation is the result of both TMT members’ unique competencies acquired and developed by family firms as well as family CEOs’ idiosyncratic managerial capabilities. A randomly selected sample of 250 high-technology firms was used for the empirical tests. Findings suggest that family CEOs have a direct impact on firm innovation input and output and that family CEOs configure and orchestrate TMT resources distinctively compared to their professional counterparts. The results reveal theoretical implications for both family business and firm innovation and offer practical implications for leaders of family firms.

Innovation is the central value of economic behavior. In this dissertation research, I attempt to explore the social and cognitive origins of firm innovation through three interrelated studies, by merging several research streams — managerial cognitions, social networks, and innovation, and collecting data through multiple methods — archives and surveys. First, I proposed a social-cognitive view to study the sources of firm innovation. In the context of firm innovation, top management teams' cognitions or an entrepreneur's cognitions shape the way they use the social structure available to them, while the social structures influence the embedded actors' cognitions and ultimately strategic actions. Managers and entrepreneurs form collaborative partnerships aimed at innovation and competitiveness. During this dynamic social learning process, cognitive differences influence the formation of social capital and its realized benefits. The impact of social capital on innovation cannot be evaluated without understanding the individual cognitive characteristic first. Next, I tested this theoretical model in two contexts. In the first empirical study, I derived firm-level hypotheses that link the top management team's cognitions, the firm's social capital, and the technological innovations. These hypotheses are tested on a sample of U.S. semiconductor firms in the years 1991-1998. In the second empirical study, I derived similar hypotheses that link entrepreneur's cognitions, social capital and startup's technological innovations. A survey was conducted in both Pennsylvania and Virginia, targeting the entrepreneurial firms in technology industries. The hypotheses were empirically tested on a final sample of 70 U.S. small and medium-sized manufacturers. Two empirical studies supported some of the derived hypotheses and the findings have significant theoretical, empirical, and practical implications. In a diverse social network, actors' knowledge structure tends to be more complex, and more centralized. In addition, these studies indicate that both social capital and cognitive structure play important roles in technological innovation. By distinguishing between cognitive structures, as well as social capital characteristics, and by investigating their effects on firm innovations, this dissertation extends the literature on organization theory, innovation research, entrepreneurship, and research methodologies. This dissertation research deepens our understanding of firm innovation, and opens a whole line of further research. / Ph. D.

The dissertation consists of three chapters examining U.S. public firms' innovation and patenting activities and their relationship with patent policy and economic growth. In the first chapter, I empirically study the effect of patent publications on firm-level innovation and patenting. Previous works have studied the effect of patent monopoly rights and knowledge disclosure on innovations. The proposed chapter supplements these studies by analyzing the disincentive effect of patent publications on firm innovations through costly knowledge disclosure. Exploiting the American Inventors’ Protection Act of 1999 as a natural experiment that shortened the time it took for patents to get published, I show the negative effect of earlier patent publications on manufacturing firms' patenting and innovation activities. The benchmark analysis shows that the average decline of 10 months in patent publication lag resulted in 13 percentage points lower firm-level patent growth rate during 2001-2005. In the second chapter, I build an endogenous growth model with a patent system. By modeling patenting decisions endogenously, I also introduce patent protection and information disclosure mechanisms through patents. Traditional innovation and growth models assume that innovators patent whenever they innovate and consider patenting and innovating as the same. However, this assumption is no longer innocuous if patenting has an implicit cost to the innovator e.g., the cost of disclosing valuable information. Therefore, to analyze the impact of the patent system’s disclosure mechanism on firm innovation, one must at a minimum work with a model distinguishing between the two concepts. Using my model, I show that a higher patent disclosure policy reduces firm patenting intensity as firms strategically opt out of patenting. In the absence of patents, there is less knowledge diffusion in the economy, which leads to less industry competition and growth. The third chapter studies the effect of firms' ability to build on their previous innovation on firm growth. While innovating, firms can either develop fully novel exploratory ideas or exploit their existing ideas. Using firm patent data, I document that U.S. manufacturing firms' innovation became more exploitative and that their patent growth rate simultaneously declined after 2000. To rationalize these changes in firm innovation, I build a firm-level endogenous growth model with both initial exploratory and subsequent exploitative innovations. Estimating my model using 1990-2000 microdata, I show that a decline in the usefulness of exploratory innovations as a foundation for future exploitation can match a shift in the composition of innovation we saw over this period, resulting in a 0.8 percentage point decline in firm average growth and a 9% decline in firm market value post-2000.

Cette thèse explore comment les réseaux intra-organisationnels et la collaboration inter-organisationnelle déterminent, séparément et conjointement l'innovation d'entreprise. Les organisations s'appuient à la fois sur la collaboration externe et interne pour obtenir et intégrer des connaissances sur de nouveaux produits et procédés. Les réseaux de collaboration interne entre les scientifiques en recherche et développement facilitent le partage et le transfert de connaissances tandis que la collaboration externe, via des alliances et des "joint ventures", offre accès à de nouvelles connaissances. Ce modèle a été testé empiriquement en utilisant des données de l'industrie des dispositifs médicaux en Amérique du nord entre 1990 et 2005. Contrairement aux attentes, les réseaux intra-organisationnels plus cohésifs et plus regroupés réduisent le transfert de connaissances et la diversité, ce qui réduit aussi l'innovation d'entreprise. Alors que les réseaux intra-organisationnels très connectés augmentent les effets de la collaboration inter-organisationnelle sur l'innovation d'entreprise. Cette thèse contribue à la littérature des réseaux et de l'innovation en examinant les mécanismes qui interviennent dans les effets de la structure du réseau sur l'innovation d'entreprise. Elle explore également le caractère multi-niveaux des réseaux en combinant à la fois les relations intra-entreprise et inter-entreprises pour expliquer l'innovation d'entreprise / This dissertation explores how intraorganizational networks and interorganizational collaboration, individually and jointly, shape firm innovation. Organizations rely on both external and internal collaboration to obtain and integrate knowledge in new products and processes. Internal collaboration networks among R&D scientists facilitate knowledge sharing and transfer whereas external collaboration via alliances and joint ventures provide an organization with access to new knowledge. This model is empirically tested in the North-American medical devices industry between 1990 and 2005. Contrary to the expectations, more cohesive and clustered intrafirm networks actually reduce knowledge transfer and diversity, which then reduces firm innovation. But well-connected intrafirm networks augment the effects of interorganizational collaboration on firm innovation. This dissertation contributes to the networks and innovation literature by examining the mechanisms that mediate the effects of network structure on firm innovation. It also explores the multilevel nature of networks by combining both intrafirm and interfirm relationships to explain firm innovation

This paper investigates the effects of going public on firm innovation by comparing the innovation activities of firms that go public with firms that choose to not undergo an initial public offering (IPO) and remain privately held. Going public here is a transformation of a privately held firm into a public firm, i.e. the first time for the firm to publicly trade in stock markets. The combination of a propensity score matching (PSM) and a difference-in-difference (DiD) methods are adopted to measure the innovation trends in terms of patent applications. Using the patent-based metric, firm innovation increases following IPOs. Comparing to the innovation activities of privately held peers, going public can boost the patent growth rate of firms and delay the downward trend of patent growth in the two years following IPOs.

The dynamic and often hostile competitive landscape of the twenty-first century has created significant threats to existing patterns of successful competition. A review of the extant literature and research about innovation and entrepreneurship identifies their importance to ensuring corporate vitality and wealth generation in today’s global economy. For over one hundred andfifty years the foundation of Australia’s prosperity has been from resource based industries such as agriculture and mining. Changes in the world economy clearly require a much broader range of globally competitive industries to sustain Australia’s strong economic position. It is proposed that the older more traditional industries must also undergo rapid transformation if they are to maintain their competitive advantage. This thesis describes an action research study conducted over four years (2002-2006) in the Australian red meat industry. The study aimed to extend the body of knowledge on innovation and entrepreneurship in the industry. It also sought to explore options for improving practice through interventions which would accelerate the development of firm innovation capabilities and a culture of innovation more broadly across the industry.The thesis articulates a comprehensive contextual framework of the sector’s innovation and entrepreneurship system and an associated model of firm innovation and entrepreneurial capability. In addition, a new methodology for mapping the effectiveness of an innovation system is developed based on the emerging concept of system failures. By applying this methodology, a new SI-Intervention Framework is developed and a suite of intervention projects is tested for acceptance and potential impact with industry participants.It is proposed that the thesis offers a contribution to knowledge through convergence of the related fields of innovation and entrepreneurship into a single conceptual framework. In addition, the development of new theoretical and analytical models and methodologies build on and extend the work of previous researchers. Evidence of improved practice is demonstrated in relation to incorporation of the new framework and methodologies into the industry’s future innovation strategy, building internal capability in the innovation intervention agency, and acceptance by industry participants of the new approach.It is acknowledged that the models and concepts articulated in this thesis are at an early stage of development and that there is a significant amount of further research required. Similarly, as the study is focused on a single case, no attempt is made to offer broad generalisations. The value of the study will ultimately be determined by the specifics of future research contexts and can only be evaluated to the extent that it seems accurate, appropriate and authentic from the reader’s own perspective.

The dynamic and often hostile competitive landscape of the twenty-first century has created significant threats to existing patterns of successful competition. A review of the extant literature and research about innovation and entrepreneurship identifies their importance to ensuring corporate vitality and wealth generation in today’s global economy. For over one hundred andfifty years the foundation of Australia’s prosperity has been from resource based industries such as agriculture and mining. Changes in the world economy clearly require a much broader range of globally competitive industries to sustain Australia’s strong economic position. It is proposed that the older more traditional industries must also undergo rapid transformation if they are to maintain their competitive advantage. This thesis describes an action research study conducted over four years (2002-2006) in the Australian red meat industry. The study aimed to extend the body of knowledge on innovation and entrepreneurship in the industry. It also sought to explore options for improving practice through interventions which would accelerate the development of firm innovation capabilities and a culture of innovation more broadly across the industry.The thesis articulates a comprehensive contextual framework of the sector’s innovation and entrepreneurship system and an associated model of firm innovation and entrepreneurial capability. In addition, a new methodology for mapping the effectiveness of an innovation system is developed based on the emerging concept of system failures. By applying this methodology, a new SI-Intervention Framework is developed and a suite of intervention projects is tested for acceptance and potential impact with industry participants.It is proposed that the thesis offers a contribution to knowledge through convergence of the related fields of innovation and entrepreneurship into a single conceptual framework. In addition, the development of new theoretical and analytical models and methodologies build on and extend the work of previous researchers. Evidence of improved practice is demonstrated in relation to incorporation of the new framework and methodologies into the industry’s future innovation strategy, building internal capability in the innovation intervention agency, and acceptance by industry participants of the new approach.It is acknowledged that the models and concepts articulated in this thesis are at an early stage of development and that there is a significant amount of further research required. Similarly, as the study is focused on a single case, no attempt is made to offer broad generalisations. The value of the study will ultimately be determined by the specifics of future research contexts and can only be evaluated to the extent that it seems accurate, appropriate and authentic from the reader’s own perspective.

The dynamic and often hostile competitive landscape of the twenty-first century has created significant threats to existing patterns of successful competition. A review of the extant literature and research about innovation and entrepreneurship identifies their importance to ensuring corporate vitality and wealth generation in today’s global economy. For over one hundred andfifty years the foundation of Australia’s prosperity has been from resource based industries such as agriculture and mining. Changes in the world economy clearly require a much broader range of globally competitive industries to sustain Australia’s strong economic position. It is proposed that the older more traditional industries must also undergo rapid transformation if they are to maintain their competitive advantage. This thesis describes an action research study conducted over four years (2002-2006) in the Australian red meat industry. The study aimed to extend the body of knowledge on innovation and entrepreneurship in the industry. It also sought to explore options for improving practice through interventions which would accelerate the development of firm innovation capabilities and a culture of innovation more broadly across the industry.The thesis articulates a comprehensive contextual framework of the sector’s innovation and entrepreneurship system and an associated model of firm innovation and entrepreneurial capability. In addition, a new methodology for mapping the effectiveness of an innovation system is developed based on the emerging concept of system failures. By applying this methodology, a new SI-Intervention Framework is developed and a suite of intervention projects is tested for acceptance and potential impact with industry participants.It is proposed that the thesis offers a contribution to knowledge through convergence of the related fields of innovation and entrepreneurship into a single conceptual framework. In addition, the development of new theoretical and analytical models and methodologies build on and extend the work of previous researchers. Evidence of improved practice is demonstrated in relation to incorporation of the new framework and methodologies into the industry’s future innovation strategy, building internal capability in the innovation intervention agency, and acceptance by industry participants of the new approach.It is acknowledged that the models and concepts articulated in this thesis are at an early stage of development and that there is a significant amount of further research required. Similarly, as the study is focused on a single case, no attempt is made to offer broad generalisations. The value of the study will ultimately be determined by the specifics of future research contexts and can only be evaluated to the extent that it seems accurate, appropriate and authentic from the reader’s own perspective.

This Ph.D. project thesis is a collection of three autonomous works tied by a common focus, that is to inquire the role public sector – within the peculiar Italian context – may exert to improve firms’ performance, thus supporting the aggregate growth in country’s economy. The first two works relates to public procurement, the main tool within the demand-side policy measures, which is object of a revitalized interest in both policymakers and scholars. In the first work I investigate whether those Italian firms engaging in public procurement report a larger propensity to innovate with respect to their counterparts that exclusively target private customers, paying mainly at- tention on how any effect varies with the amount of public procurement a firm is engaged into. In the second work, which represents an extension of the previous one, the scope is enlarged in order to investigate whether municipal procurement, that is that promoted by Municipalities, affects firms (in terms of higher productivity) localized within the same municipal borders. This investigation grounds on a comprehensive dataset that merges the rich panel information about Italian firms – provided by RIL surveys – with more than a million of official administrative data on all the public tenders awarded in Italy between 2010-2018, provided by the Italian anti-corruption agency (ANAC). In the last work, the attention is shifted towards the way with whom firms manage their labor force to enhance their innovative performance. This work, which grounds its premises on the numerous reforms of labor market that followed one another in the last two decades, represents a first attempt with respect to the Italian context to look at three dimensions of numerical flexibility at the same time and to explore some potential channels capable to mediate the relation between numerical flexibility and innovation.