Innovations as a source of economic wellbeing and social prosperity has been well researched, albeit primarily done in the context of developed economies. However, of late, interest in the effect of innovation on economic performance and quality of life has been renewed as the world observes the rise of emerging economies, and at the same time, the prolonged recession in the more developed economies (i.e. North America and European countries). There has been a marked increase in the quantity and quality of research and development, spawn by innovative companies from emerging economies that are making their mark in global marketplace. These phenomena challenge the traditional concept that innovation flows from the resource rich developed countries to less developed countries, and that the latter are at a disadvantage in terms of knowledge, technology and competitiveness. Existing studies on national innovation highlight the relationships between innovative capability and its outcomes; however, few have tried to explain the determinants of a nation’s innovative capabilities. Using a sample of 95 countries and panel data analysis covering 28 years of observation, this study attempts to model the determinants of innovative capability at national level, and focuses on absorptive capacity and institutional framework as the main determinants of innovative capability. Further, this study identifies different aspects of absorptive capacity: creation and exploitation of innovation. Findings offer support on the importance of various sources of external knowledge in the creation of innovation, with FDI inflow and High Technology Export as the strongest sources. Corruption as institutional factor has negative effect on innovative capability, whereas openness shows no effect. National absorptive capacity moderates the effect of external knowledge on innovative capability, except on FDI outflow in which a negative effect on trademark application as a measure of innovative capability. The findings suggest that innovative capability and moderating role of absorptive capacity enhance economic wellbeing. Findings show that economic wellbeing increases happiness and income inequality (as the measures of quality of life); same thing as innovative capability, which also increases both happiness and income inequality. This study demonstrates that for happiness, higher education and better infrastructure (as the measure of foundational absorptive capacity) decrease the level of happiness. Higher education and ease access to information may increase expectation, which lead to unhappiness when the expectation is not met. For income inequality, negative effect of the moderating role of absorptive capacity means that higher education and better infrastructure contribute to lowering income inequality. Based on these findings, a nation should continue to attract FDI and trade in high technology because these sources of knowledge contribute to innovative capability. Policy makers can develop country positioning and country’s marketing activities by using the combination of the improvement of national factors and policy reforms. The upgrading of national factors helps to achieve higher economic wellbeing and quality of life in general.

The case study explores how leveraging on experience, risk and control can be used to enhance a late-entrant globalisation strategy.

Ce travail de recherche vise à identifier la relation entre la performance d'une organisation, son système de gestion ainsi que le cadre institutionnel de l'économie. A travers un débroussaillage de la littérature managériale en rapport avec notre problématique de recherche, nous avons pu constater l'effet dominant du cadre institutionnel sur la performance de l'entreprise et que celui-ci impose aux dirigeants l'adoption de systèmes de gestion capables d'assurer pour la survie de l'entreprise un minimum de réactivité et de vigilance face à la complexité, l'incertitude et la mouvance perpétuelle de l'environnement ce qui veut dire que le système de gestion est un sous-produit du cadre institutionnel de l'économie. Empiriquement, à travers une étude comparative France-Tunisie, nous avons pu constater que la part relative du cadre institutionnel dans l'évaluation de la performance de l'entreprise tunisienne, majoritairement importante, est le résultat des maintes et profondes transformations et restructurations par lesquelles le pays a traversé pour voir son économie qualifiée comme émergente. En ce qui concerne le France, il nous a paru évident que la crise qui a secoué cette économie phare de l'Europe va certainement conditionner la performance de l'entreprise française, parfois incapable de surmonter ce cap, ce qui a nécessité l'intervention des pouvoirs publics à travers des politiques de redressement et de régulation adéquates. C'est ce qui explique encore la suprématie de l'effet exercé par le cadre institutionnel de l'économie sur la performance de l'entreprise française / This research work aims to identify the relationship between the performance of an organization, its system of management as well as the institutional framework of the economy. Through a good airing of the managerial literature in report with our problem of research, we have seen the dominant effect of the institutional framework on the performance of the enterprise and that the latter imposed to leaders the adoption of management systems capable of providing for the survival of the company a minimum of reactivity and vigilance over the complexity, uncertainty and the perpetual change to the environment which means that the management system is a by-product of the institutional framework of the economy. Empirically, through a comparative study France-Tunisia, we have seen that the relative share of the institutional framework for the assessment of the performance of the Tunisian company, predominantly important, is the result of numerous and profound transformations and restructuring by which the country has crossed to see its economy as qualified emerging. As regards France, we thought it was obvious that the crisis that has shaken the economy lighthouse in Europe will certainly affect the performance of the French company, sometimes unable to overcome this cape, which has required the intervention of the government through the policies of recovery and regulating adequate. That is why even the supremacy of the effect exerted by the institutional framework of the economy on the performance of the French company

This diploma thesis represents an effort to contribute to the solving of the problem of optimal relations between the institutional environment, entrepreneurial activity and innovative activity in terms of securing a higher degree of competitiveness of the current economy in the Czech Republic. The institutional environment is perceived as the rules of the game, under which social interactions take place. When defining the business activity the Schumpeter's theory of creative destruction is not ignored and the issue of innovation activity is viewed from the perspective of institutional change. Various forms of institutional environment are analyzed in the selected European countries (Germany, Finland, Switzerland), whose competitiveness is based on successful innovation activities. The research is extended by the comparison of innovation policies and the analysis of the level of ICT infrastructure of the above mentioned countries. The significance of the institutional framework for innovation activities is evaluated in the final part of the thesis. The content of the corrective measures in the current economic policy of Czech Republic is drawn from the evaluation.

This licentiate thesis investigates the decision-making process behind the regulation of winter shipping along the coast of the northern part of Sweden, the Norrland region, in the period 1940-1975. The licentiate thesis examines two aspects of this decision-making process. First, how the regulations in the field of winter shipping were designed in the period. Second, this work examines the underlying factors behind this regulatory outcome on the premise that the regulatory design in the field was the result of an interaction between the regulating actors in the government and their political and economic institutional context. As for the first issue, it is demonstrated that the period 1940-1975 was characterised by a regulatory ambition to expand winter shipping along the coast of Norrland. This meant that the government made substantial investments in ice-breakers during the period, which gradually expanded the shipping season until the target of year-round shipping even to the northernmost ports was established in the first part of the 1970s. Accordingly, those dues for ice-breaker services proposed by several committees that investigated the issue were never introduced. Instead, government-led ice-breaking has served to compensate Norrland as a peripheral region for its relatively high transport costs. Regarding the second issue, it is showed that the decision-making process was influenced by developments at different policy levels of the government hierarchy. In the period 1940-1964, when a public authority within the maritime sector emerged and was consolidated, developments at the maritime sector level affected the decision-making process to a large extent. In turn, the period after 1964 witnessed a change in government policy towards the Norrland region as a more interventionist regional and industrial policy than earlier was implemented. This meant that the decision-making process to a larger extent was influenced by factors originating from a macro policy level. During the decision-making process, actors at both the maritime sector level and the macro level emphasized the importance of government-regulated winter shipping for the regional industrialization of the Norrland region in terms that reflected the aims and interests of their policy levels. In this respect, actors in the maritime sector pointed to the role of winter shipping as a trade policy instrument while actors who represented the interests of regional development policy and industrial policy considered the expansion of winter shipping as crucial in achieving the general ambition to create a geographically egalitarian welfare state, characterised by high levels of growth and low unemployment.

<p>This licentiate thesis investigates the decision-making process behind the regulation of winter shipping along the coast of the northern part of Sweden, the Norrland region, in the period 1940-1975. The licentiate thesis examines two aspects of this decision-making process. First, how the regulations in the field of winter shipping were designed in the period. Second, this work examines the underlying factors behind this regulatory outcome on the premise that the regulatory design in the field was the result of an interaction between the regulating actors in the government and their political and economic institutional context.</p><p>As for the first issue, it is demonstrated that the period 1940-1975 was characterised by a regulatory ambition to expand winter shipping along the coast of Norrland. This meant that the government made substantial investments in ice-breakers during the period, which gradually expanded the shipping season until the target of year-round shipping even to the northernmost ports was established in the first part of the 1970s. Accordingly, those dues for ice-breaker services proposed by several committees that investigated the issue were never introduced. Instead, government-led ice-breaking has served to compensate Norrland as a peripheral region for its relatively high transport costs.</p><p>Regarding the second issue, it is showed that the decision-making process was influenced by developments at different policy levels of the government hierarchy. In the period 1940-1964, when a public authority within the maritime sector emerged and was consolidated, developments at the maritime sector level affected the decision-making process to a large extent. In turn, the period after 1964 witnessed a change in government policy towards the Norrland region as a more interventionist regional and industrial policy than earlier was implemented. This meant that the decision-making process to a larger extent was influenced by factors originating from a macro policy level.</p><p>During the decision-making process, actors at both the maritime sector level and the macro level emphasized the importance of government-regulated winter shipping for the regional industrialization of the Norrland region in terms that reflected the aims and interests of their policy levels. In this respect, actors in the maritime sector pointed to the role of winter shipping as a trade policy instrument while actors who represented the interests of regional development policy and industrial policy considered the expansion of winter shipping as crucial in achieving the general ambition to create a geographically egalitarian welfare state, characterised by high levels of growth and low unemployment.</p>

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the implementation of a political aim – formulatedfrom a context of sustainable development. In 2006 both the Swedish national Parliament andthe municipality of Växjö (among others) stated that 25% of publically served food wouldstem from organic production by the end of 2010. The thesis investigates the outcome of theimplementation of this policy in a local perspective - looking at one part of the public sectorby focusing on four differently organized schools within Växjö municipality. School food in Sweden has a specific institutional setting. It holds the almost unique statusas a non-charged, legal right to all pupils in the compulsory school system. School food as apublic good is affected by the EU legislation of public procurement. The thesis studies theoverall institutional framework (i.e. legislation and regulations) fundamental to school food.With the institutional framework in mind the thesis also describes different organizationalactivities connected to school food. Thus the thesis involves four geographical levels: Theregional (EU), the national, the local and the individual level. The latter is defined in theorganized context from a number of individual professionals. Some of these individuals arefurther considered as so called street level bureaucrats – officials sandwiched between superiorsand their clients. The thesis builds a conceptual framework based on institutional, organizational and streetlevel theory together with policy analysis. Methodologically the thesis is formed around andcarried out as a local case study through a number of semi-structured qualitative interviews.The empirical and analytical part of the thesis is further structured around the three theoreticalconcepts. From the thesis´ purpose three guiding questions were outlined. The main implications of the thesis are that a number of factors were found to be involvedin the policy implementation. The most significant factors for the policy implementation arefirstly the formulation of the political goal, and secondly the individual professionals actuallybuying the food for the schools. As long as the policy of the school food is non-forcing (i.e. anaverage aim of the public sector, and not included in the legislation) the final outcome of thefood depends on the decisions made by the buyer. There is disagreement of the policy intention and of whether organic food is more sustainablethan other food. Thus I end the thesis by suggesting a change of concepts if the politicalaim is to reach sustainability. I encourage a system to control the food´s total ecological footprint.This would be achieved by formulating the policy around a suggested level of the ecologicalfootprint. The level would be calculated and set where experts say it´s in accordancewith sustainable development. From this the street level bureaucrats can sum up the componentsof the lunch they buy and serve. No matter if the individual product is labeled organic,local, conventional, or… This would – according to me – improve the chances for Växjö actually to live up to itslogo: the greenest city in Europe. At least this idea could awake a debate. / Opposition kl. 13.15

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Examensarbete.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi o de examinar a influência do quadro institucional criado pelo Governo Federal na estruturação e na organização da cadeia de suprimento do biodiesel no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Por se tratar de uma cadeia de suprimento ainda em fase de consolidação, existem pontos descobertos que necessitam de estudos e análises, como é o caso dos temas relacionados à atuação do governo. Primeiramente, foram levantadas as questões teóricas acerca das abordagens que enfatizam a Gestão da Cadeia de Suprimentos, das instituições e sua influência sobre as organizações e as cadeias, assim como os elementos referentes às transações que ocorrem entre os membros da cadeia. Para tal, foi realizada uma revisão da literatura, que tratou dos conceitos referentes às cadeias de suprimentos, da Teoria Institucional e da Teoria dos Custos de Transação. A partir desta revisão, foi elaborado um esquema de análise para a verificação das respostas da cadeia de suprimento do Rio Grande do Sul frente às pressões do quadro institucional criado pelo Governo Federal e como estas influenciaram na estruturação e organização da cadeia. Na análise, optou-se pela realização de um estudo de casos múltiplos, para os quais foram utilizadas várias técnicas e fontes de evidência para a coleta dos dados, tais como : entrevistas, documentos, registros de reuniões e observações diretas. Os resultados da fase exploratória permitiram levantar os elementos que compõem o quadro institucional do biodiesel, além de possibilitar a caracterização da cadeia de suprimento do biodiesel no Rio Grande do Sul. A pesquisa identificou as principais pressões institucionais que incidem sobre a cadeia de suprimento do biodiesel, provenientes do quadro institucional do governo, e os atributos da transação e os pressupostos comportamentais que tiveram maior incidência nas transações que ocorrem na cadeia. Os resultados indicaram que o quadro institucional do biodiesel direcionou, de certa forma, a maneira como a cadeia de suprimento se estruturou. Observou-se, também, que o grupo de consumo da cadeia sofreu maior influência das pressões, por ter maior presença de leis, regras e normas, definidas pelo governo, regulamentando as operações e transações que ocorrem neste grupo. Apesar de não atuar de forma tão incisiva no grupo de fornecimento, a pesquisa indicou que a existência do Selo Combustível Social foi fundamental para a aproximação das usinas produtoras de biodiesel aos produtores familiares, fazendo com que estes passassem a atuar como membro da cadeia, modificando a estrutura da mesma e a forma como estes membros transacionam. Nas transações entre esses membros foi possível identificar a presença marcante do oportunismo, que é amenizado pelo tipo de contrato e de negociações que passam a ser realizados dentro do Selo Combustível Social. Assim, o estudo dos casos mostrou como o quadro institucional criado pelo governo influenciou a maneira como a cadeia de suprimento do biodiesel se estruturou. / This work had as objective examine the influence of institutional framework built up by the Federal Government over the Rio Grande do Sul State biodiesel supply chain’s arrangement and organization. As this chain is already in the consolidation phase, there are aspects that need to be studied and examined, as for instance the premise related to the government actuation. Fist of all, were identify the theoretical questions associated to the Supply Chain Management, the Institutions and their influence over the organizations and chains, as well as the elements linked with transaction between the chain members. To accomplish this purpose was elaborated a literature revision on the subject of Supply Chains, the Institutional Theory and the Transaction Cost Theory. From this revision was built a scheme for the analyses to verify the answers of the supply chain in Rio Grande do Sul State towards the pressure from institutional framework created by the federal government and how they influenced the structure and the organization of the chain. In the analyses, it was chose the realization of a study of multiple cases by using several techniques and proof sources for data compilation, such as: interviews, documents, meeting records and direct observation. The exploratory phase’s results allowed the identification of the elements that compose the biodiesel institutional framework, besides it permitted the Rio Grande do Sul State supply chain characterization. This research identified the main institutional pressures that work over the biodiesel supplying chain, not only the ones that come from the government institutional framework but also the transaction attributions and behavior presupposition that have more influence in the trades occurred in the chain. The results indicated that the biodiesel institutional framework drove, in a certainty way, the supply chain arrangement. It was also observed that the chain’s consume group was major influenced by the institutional pressures, because it has a great presence of laws, rules and norms, defined by the government, which regulate the operation and transaction that occur in the group. Although this search did not actuate intensively in the supplying group, it indicated that the existence of the Selo Combustível Social (Social Fuel Brand) was fundamental for the approximation of the biodiesel production factories with the family manufacturers, allowing them to act as the chain members, modifying its structure and the way how its members trade with each other. Through the relations among these members, it was possible to identify the remarkable presence of the opportunism, which is reduced by the contract and the negotiations under the Selo Combustível Social rules. The study of the cases demonstrated how the institutional framework created by the government influenced the way how the biodiesel supply chain has been structured.