National innovation systems and firms’ capital investment around the world
A N-tuple helix approach
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 14869501 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Apostolos Vetsikas (0000-0003-4118-7433, University of Thessaly, corresponding author), Charilaos Mertzanis (0000-0002-9028-5585, Abu Dhabi University), Athanasios Pavlopoulos (0000-0001-5498-1690, University of Thessaly) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-10 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Small Business Economics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0921-898X • E-ISSN: 1573-0913 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s11187-026-01195-7 |
| OpenAlex | W7134894291 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 104 |
We examine whether national innovation system (NIS) performance shapes firms’ fixed-capital investment decisions across 93 countries from 2008 to 2020. We use firm-level data from the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys and reconstruct a helix-based composite indicator (SFIGA) to measure countries’ innovation performance globally. The index integrates the roles of government, industry, academia, society, and finance. To capture the broader context, we include firm-level and country-level controls that reflect organizational, financial, and institutional factors. Probit estimates with sector, year, and country fixed effects indicate a robust positive association between national innovation performance and the propensity to invest in fixed assets. Results remain stable under instrumental variable estimation, Oster test, and propensity score matching. Mechanism tests indicate transmission through technology adoption, ICT export activities, and workforce training. Additional heterogeneity analyses show that system maturity matters. The evidence supports an actor-centered view of NISs and suggests that strengthening helix performance can crowd in corporate capital formation
Entrepreneurship · Human capital · Index (typography · Instrumental variable · Investment (military · National innovation system · Probit · Propensity score matching · Workforce · Innovation and Socioeconomic Development · Innovative Approaches in Technology and Social Development · University-Industry-Government Innovation Models
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| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |