The positive effects of export and R&D strategies upon productivity, firm profits, economic growth or innovation have been extensively studied in the economics literature (Bernard and Jensen, 1999; Greenaway and Kneller, 2007; Wagner, 2007; Girma, Görg and Strobl, 2004; Becheikh, Landry and Amara, 2006; Greenaway and Kneller, 2004). Moreover, a positive correlation between the two strategies has also been found in some studies, suggesting positive synergies if jointly adopted (Golovko and Valentini, 2011; Aw, Roberts and Winston, 2007). Therefore, adopting both strategies should be one of the priority goals for any firm. However, very little is known about the adoption dynamics behind the achievement of this target. Sunk costs, learning effects and likely decreasing marginal performance associated with diseconomies of scope from simultaneous adoption, would make it rational for any strategy to be adopted at different points in time rather than simultaneously (Battisti, Colombo and Rabbiosi, 2015; Astebro, Battisti and Colombo, 2016). Nevertheless, to the best of my knowledge, no study has looked to the most likely adoption path and to their drivers. Literature is also limited on the impact that liquidity and demand conditions, associated to both the financial and the economic crisis that started in 2008, may have had upon export and R&D adoption decisions and the depth of their adoption. To address these research gaps I studied a sample of Spanish manufacturing firms from the period 2000-2014. Interestingly, to the study, the sample covers an entire business cycle as well as the 2008 world financial and economic crisis. Drawing upon the econometric analysis, I provide new insight into the research field through three separate contributions. In the first Chapter, I examine whether sequential is more likely than simultaneous adoption for export and R&D and also whether the sequential adoption order matters. I also investigate the crisis effects upon this sequentiality. In the second Chapter, I analyse the factors that have driven the adoption of these strategies during the crisis, disentangling the effects of the dropping demand and credit crunch. Finally, in Chapter three, to observe the whole picture about the consequences of the crisis upon export and R&D strategies, I extend the analysis started in Chapter 1 to the intensive margin. Findings from these three chapters shed light on the relationship between export and R&D with important industrial policy implications.

My research lies at the intersection of international trade and industrial economics. I contribute to the firms and trade literature, both empirically and theoretically, focusing on the impact of the financial crisis of 2008-09 on various dimensions of firms' activities. In particular, I study the response of international trade to the shock, focusing on the reaction of importers to the reduction in demand. Additionally, I explore the impact of the crisis on firms' innovation decisions, together with the implications of this for firms' export participation. I pursue these avenues of research as the Great Recession constituted a large shock, impacting severely various aspects of firms' operations. This allowed me to study the impacts of the fall in demand on trade, and the effects of liquidity scarcity on innovation and exporting. In Chapter 2 I exploit detailed Slovenian custom data to explore the product dimension of the trade crisis. I find that imports of inputs accounting for a larger share of firms' costs underwent an enhanced reaction during the event. This finding is explained with an inventory adjustment model which predicts a more than proportionate adjustment for high cost-share inputs because of their higher storage costs. In the Chapter 3 and 4, I concentrate on the effects of the 2008 crisis on firms' innovation decisions and selection into exporting. I augment the Melitz and Ottaviano (2008) framework to include process innovation subject to liquidity constraints, and show that a reduction in liquidity for innovation has opposing outcomes on innovators and exporters: innovative activity is reduced but entry into exporting is stimulated by a reduction in the industry-wide degree of competition. Evidence supporting these theoretical predictions is found in an empirical analysis with Slovenian firm level data in Chapter 4.

The ‘energy efficiency paradox’ poses a significant challenge to the UK Government on three fronts – behavioural failures, agency problems and affordability – inasmuch as failing to address these issues in the residential sector will crucially hinder the nation’s ability to fight against climate change and fuel poverty. This proposition is explored in a three-paper series. The first paper investigates the decision-making process leading residential consumers to adopt district-heating technology, a greener alternative to individual heating systems, contained within a specially designed quasi-experimental survey of 784 households. Exploiting the random variation in prices, the paper utilises an ordered probit model to estimate the discount rate implied by the consumers’ preferences. Nesting the neo-classical approach within a behavioural framework, the paper sheds new light on the prevalence of the energy efficiency paradox. The second paper explores the split-incentives in heterogeneous landlord-tenant arrangements, which may produce a sub-optimal level of energy efficiency in privately rented housing, from an objective and subjective perspective. The analysis is conducted using Ordinary Least Squares regression, applied to a nationally representative sample of households and housing stock. A pseudo-panel analysis with a fractional response is executed to investigate problems of endogeneity. Using the English Housing Survey, the final paper brings together two leading indicators of relative poverty to identify three dimensions of fuel poverty: income-poverty-high-cost, housing-induced-poverty-high-cost and fuel-induced-poverty-high-cost. In doing so an alternative empirical strategy is proposed, utilising a multinomial logit model that helps identify the households most in need of support from energy efficiency schemes. This thesis reveals that a largescale deployment of energy efficient technologies will be hampered if policy does not 1) target consumer inattention and heuristic decision making, 2) promote insulation in the private rented sector, while combatting landlords taking advantage of inattention and vulnerability and 3) adopt a more flexible fuel poverty framework that can pinpoint the socio-economic characteristics of those most in need as we move towards a low-carbon, distributed energy market.

This PhD thesis is concerned with buyers' strategies in sequential and concurrent auctions. It deals with both the theoretical viewpoint and data analysis of online consumer auctions. The first chapter contains a newly developed model of sequential auctions with overlapping generations of bidders. The emphasis is on the existence of learning from observed past prices. With the addition of overlapping generations the learning happens through two channels: updating on valuations and expectation of composition of bidders with different horizons lengths. The model shows how this happens on the micro level, where expected distributions of bids are updated. In the following chapter, the predictions of theoretical models of sequential auctions together with learning are tested empirically. It is shown that bidders adjust their bids as a consequence of learning as predicted by the model. Bid discounting is also observed in the data. The following empirical chapter uses the bids data from online auctions to perform multinomial logit estimations. Individual choice model allows to analyze the aspects that attract bidders to particular auctions out of many very similar ones available. A unique dataset that contains data from many auctions for the same product is used in this new way. Dynamic aspects of auctions such as the number of bidders and bids are shown to play a role in auction choice. Overall, there are three approaches to the empirical analysis of bidders strategies, based on the same dataset. It is shown that with appropriate adjustments the data collected from online auctions can be used in different formats to answer various questions.

This thesis aims to explore the limits of introspection, concentrating on the methodological aspect of preference elicitation. I use the comparison between direct and indirect elicitation methods, as well as their use in predicting choices, to explore when people are able to self-report their preferences. Three distinct contexts are used: the purchasing of habitual grocery products, the preferences of ethical consumers, and the political preferences of urban Pakistanis towards the USA. The unreliability of direct elicitation methods, and the superiority of indirect methods in predicting choices that are uncovered in the first study are echoed in the context of ethical consumers. Indeed, even these more deliberative consumers, who reported an increased preference for ethical attributes, are shown to not be able to correctly report the drivers of their decisions. Conversely, the results of the third study indicated that urban Pakistani’s preferences towards the USA were introspectively accessible: both types of elicitation methods were aligned in their results and were robust to short term attempts to change them. This thesis contributes to the debate on the limits of introspection in several ways. Firstly, I demonstrate the inaccessibility of preferences for often experienced and purchased goods, even for more deliberative and attribute-conscious shoppers such as ethical consumers. I also demonstrate that unlike these preferences, political attitudes are more introspectively accessible. The work also presents a number of practical outcomes, such as the usability of lexicographic choice models with directly elicited preferences, as well as the plurality of ethical consumers’ concerns. Finally, the robustness of political attitudes in Pakistan to actual pro-American advertisements indicate the need for a change of strategy in promoting the USA’s positive impact in the country.

The research examines the effectiveness of the Cameroonian government policies for export promotion on export performance of SMEs in Cocoa production in the South West and Centre Regions of the Cameroon which are the major production centres. The theoretical contribution of the research is divided into two parts. The first consists of the robustness of existing theory using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) model. The second constructs a structural equation model (SEM) based on the testing of the CFA model to test the effectiveness of government policies for export promotion on export performance. 101 questionnaires were collected through snowball sampling and analysed using SEM. The findings on the robustness of existing theories (resource-based view) are that government policies represent an external resource that enables SMEs to overcome the barriers to exporting and improve export performance through the provision country and firms specific advantages. The findings on SEM are that government policies have positive effects on export performance both directly and indirectly through Country and firms specific advantages. However, the positive and significant effects were through the provision of export marketing information. As a result of the analysis, normative policy recommendations are made on the government to improving access and usage of these policies and for SMEs to make concerted efforts in accessing information. The discussion of the reliability and validity of the research, its limitations, and implications for future studies, the theoretical underpinnings of the CFA and SEM models are carefully examined.

Ambient marketing is one of the fastest-growing out-of-home advertising methods, for the past 15 years, although formal research into this field is very limited. This research study investigates a particular subset of ambient ads, where physical features within the external environment are incorporated into the ads in some way, using an exploratory research design. The research addresses consumer engagement with ambient ads, through discussion of individual ad features and their influence on stimulating consumer interest in these ad messages, and consumer perceptions generated from these ads. The literature review presents theory and findings of existing ambient advertising, including various research perspectives on definitions of ‘ambient’ advertising. Related marketing practices are discussed, including stealth marketing, creative media and the wider practice of traditional OOH advertising. In addressing engagement within advertising, experiential marketing and interactivity concepts are reviewed, as well as ad clutter and creativity effects of traditional advertising. Due to the lack of existing literature into engagement with ambient messages, a series of five focus groups was conducted in order to identify categories of ad features, further developed through content analysis pre-tests. A content analysis of 494 ambient ads was conducted to illustrate marketers’ use of the identified ad features. In total, 15 interviews were conducted to provide further insights, coupled with focus group findings, into the influence of these features on consumer engagement with ambient ads. The findings presented indicate how each identified ad feature influences consumer engagement with ambient message, and with the advertised brands. The effects of ad novelty are discussed, where volitional attention and generation of word of mouth result from the perceived creativity of ambient ads. Consumer perceptions towards ambient ads, brands and the practice as a whole are presented. Throughout the discussion, the findings are analysed to suggest to marketers how ambient advertising practices can be developed to encourage engagement with ad messages, and provide brand experiences to consumers.

Knowledge is a source of competitive advantage which strengthens multinational corporations’ (MNCs) market position, and thus they set up overseas subsidiaries partly to access other firms’ knowledge which resides in local markets. From the MNC viewpoint, overseas subsidiaries have a chance to access local market information (LMI), develop new competences themselves and share this information with their headquarters; thereby contributing to the formation of MNCs’ competitive advantage. This study posits that the extent to which overseas subsidiaries reversely transfer local information is influenced by their knowledge transfer capacity and relational capital, both of which enhance the learning environment which facilitates the knowledge exchange process. In this context, the research objective is to identify the effects of factors encompassing knowledge transfer capacity and relational capital on the reverse transfer of LMI from subsidiaries within MNC networks. In addition, this study also tries to examine the different influences of those determinants on different sizes of organisation. Although study on reverse knowledge transfer (RKT) from subsidiaries to its headquarters is becoming increasingly prominent, the debate discussing the key determinants which affect it has not reached an academic consensus. By integrating both knowledge transfer capacity and relational capital as overarching theoretical lenses and exploring cause-and-effect relationships, this study fills certain extant research gaps. A conceptual framework is developed and then it is investigated empirically, using a sample of 432 subsidiaries operating in the Korean market. OLS regression and Spearman rank order correlation coefficients are used to interrogate the data. The OLS regressions find that knowledge development capability, subsidiary willingness and autonomy are critical factors affecting RKT within MNC networks. Both socialisation mechanisms and trust are the primary facilitators of relational capital between subsidiaries and MNCs and extend RKT from the former to the latter. In addition, the key drivers for RKT for large-sized subsidiaries are knowledge development capability, subsidiary autonomy and trust. For medium-sized subsidiaries, the key drivers are subsidiary willingness, trust and organisational distance. For small-sized subsidiaries, the key drivers of RKT are knowledge development capability, subsidiary autonomy and socialisation mechanisms. Based on the results, the contributions of this study are three-folds. First, the research identifies what determines RKT from subsidiaries to MNCs in the Korean context. Second, in doing so, it corporates both the relational capital and knowledge transfer capacity perspectives. Thus, it theoretically contributes to those perspectives. Third, it also elucidates the effect of organisational size on RKT.

This thesis focuses on the welfare costs of exposure to risk linked to openness to international trade. This is a prominent issue in international debate, whereas it is largely ignored by trade literature, both theoretical and empirical. Trade theory is mainly focused on the first moment of the above relationship, which is actually insufficient for welfare purposes when people are risk averse. Empirical evidence is mixed, scattered in separate fields of analysis, and does not reach a common stance. As a result, current literature fails to make a full assessment of the net welfare impact of an opening-up process. This work contributes to the above debate by proposing: • A comprehensive review of the literature on the "destabilising effects" of openness to international trade; • An empirical test on the significance and relevance of "precautionary saving" behaviour under risk, estimated from cross-country data; • A conceptualisation of vulnerability to poverty induced by trade openness; • A comprehensive analysis of vulnerability to poverty induced by trade liberalisation in Vietnam under Doi Moi,¹ by exploiting the available household living standard surveys for the period 1992-2008; • An extended version of Ligon and Schechter's (2003) measure of Vulnerability as low Expected Utility; • An empirical application of the adjusted VEU measure to "trade-induced vulnerability" using VHLSS panel data (2002-06) The work is divided into four essays as follows: 1. Review of the literature and conceptualisation (and misconceptions) of "trade induced vulnerability to poverty" (Essay 1); 2. A cross-country empirical test in the long-run behaviour of consumption under risk (Essay 2); 3. A cross-sectional empirical test of trade-induced vulnerability in Vietnam under Doi Moi (period 1992-2008) (Essay 3); 4. A panel empirical test of trade-induced vulnerability in Vietnam in the period 2002-06 (Essay 4). ¹"Doi Moi" (renovation) was a comprehensive process of reforms undertaken from the early 1990s by Vietnam characterised by a combination of liberalisation, stabilisation and structural reforms.

My thesis explores the political economy of trade protection in India. The first essay outlines the political economy of trade protection in India. My second essay asks: Has Protection really been for Sale in India? To answer this question, I use a unique dataset to explain the political economy of trade protection since liberalisation. The traditional Grossman and Helpman (1992) (GH henceforth) model of Protection for Sale (PFS henceforth) is used with a new measure of political organization. I undertake cross-sectional analysis for several years from 1990-2007 and use the pooled dataset. The third essay outlines the modified PFS framework that introduces a new measure of lobbying effectiveness to analyse how heterogeneity in lobbying affects trade protection. The underlying framework is based on the idea that government preferences or the market structure of the industry can influence lobbying effectiveness. The empirical evidence provides estimates on effectiveness and examines its determinants. The fourth essay explores: Is Protection still for Sale with Lobbying Effectiveness? I undertake an estimation of the modified PFS model against the conventional results presented in my second essay. I examine if differences in lobbying effectiveness can explain the variation in tariff protection levels across Indian manufacturing sectors and construct a direct measure of lobbying effectiveness for Indian manufacturing. Finally, I include additional political factors of importance to Indian trade policy. The fifth essay asks: Join Hands or Walk Alone? I examine the factors that affect the choice of lobbying strategy of Indian manufacturing firms for trade policy and consider the exclusive use of a single strategy, to lobby collectively (Join hands) and lobby individually (Walk Alone), along with the possibility of a dual strategy i.e. a combination of collective and individual lobbying using information from a primary survey across 146 firms. The results are new for India and reveal the overall preference of a dual lobbying strategy.