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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the linkage of innovation and entrepreneurship to economic growth in countries with different levels of development. Design/methodology/approach Following quantitative analysis, the authors carry out three empirical approaches to examine the effects of innovation and entrepreneurship on competitiveness. In accordance with their initial study framework, they test the conceptual model of competitiveness through applying descriptive statistics, structural equation modelling (SEM) and hierarchical cluster analysis. Descriptive statistics and SEM data sources from the Global Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum were analysed for 148 countries. The hierarchical cluster analysis furthermore analysed Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data on 67 different countries. Findings The study confirmed that innovation and sophistication factors are crucial to the competitiveness of economies. The study also revealed the definition of five clusters relative to the competitive performance of advanced economies following the introduction of new entrepreneurship variables. Originality/value This research aims to open up avenues for the development of regional competitiveness studies.

Purpose This paper focuses on the issue of global competitive advantage of nations, based on the dimensions analyzed by the World Economic Forum in assessing the economic competitiveness of a large sample of countries. From the different stages of development of the countries, this study aims to help us to recognize what variables better explain the global competitive advantage of economies. Design/methodology/approach Following quantitative analysis, results based on PLS show what dimensions within each economic development stage best explain the global competitive advantage of economies. Findings Beyond the institutions, infrastructure and regulation of the markets, higher education and training, the technological readiness, the business sophistication and innovation contribute greatly to explain the competitive advantage of economies. Originality/value Understanding the drivers of global competitive advantage of nations, this study may help academics to conduct new studies, as well as politicians to define intervention priorities.

Purpose Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have become increasingly important in national and international markets because they contribute to the development of local and national economies. SMEs often face serious challenges when competing with multinational companies. The purpose of this paper is to develop a method for assessing SMEs’ competitiveness. Design/methodology/approach Based on a constructivist epistemology, this study makes an integrated use of cognitive mapping and the measuring attractiveness by a categorical-based evaluation technique (MACBETH). To this end, face-to-face sessions were conducted with a panel of entrepreneurs and senior managers who deal with the challenges of maintaining SME competitiveness every day. The proposed assessment system was tested and validated by the panel members. Findings The methodological processes adopted in this study provide promising results for decision makers seeking to identify the most competitive SMEs. Specifically, the results emphasize, among other points, the importance of innovation and the human dimension to gaining competitive advantages. Research limitations/implications The evaluation system developed in this study is extremely versatile and confirms the usefulness of integrating cognitive mapping and MACBETH to facilitate evaluations of SME competitiveness. However, due to its idiosyncratic and process-oriented nature, generalizations need to be done with caution. Practical implications The proposed method can be valuable to researchers seeking to develop mechanisms for evaluating SMEs’ entrepreneurial performance and include specialized know-how and sensemaking in organizational decision-making processes. Originality/value The integrated use of cognitive maps and MACBETH contributes to a better understanding of how to assess SMEs’ competitiveness. No prior work reporting the use of this dual methodology in this study context has been found.

This paper aims to understand how the different stakeholders assess the adequacy of smart specialization policies defined for their regions. Design/methodology/approach This paper has followed a quantitative methodology through the application of questionnaire surveys to stakeholders of the various territorial regions in Portugal. Findings As a result, from the “resource-based view” approach applied to the various regions, the attained results highlight that the suitability of smart specialization policies defined for the Portuguese regions is not unanimous among its stakeholders. Originality/value The research can be used as a tool to assist regional policymakers in strategic reflection when defining and adjusting smart specialization strategies in their territories.

The purpose of this paper is three-fold. The first objective is to contextualize and clarify the concepts of regional innovation systems and entrepreneurship, addressing their differences and complementarities and suggesting an analytical filter to enhance their understanding. The second aim is to question and analyse the challenges this renewed approach brings to the domain of territorial policy, namely, the role it may bring to local and regional development strategies, opening up the way for a set of public policy interventions on the fields of entrepreneurship and innovation promotion. Finally, the paper presents and analyses the example of Coimbra, a medium-sized city in Portugal, underlining both the role of academia and the Instituto Pedro Nunes-Incubator have had on these domains.

This is the accepted manuscript of an article published by Emerald Publishing Limited in Journal of Knowledge Management in 2018, available online: https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/JKM-08-2017-0363

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to involve the differences in the entrepreneurial intentions of student at higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Portuguese regions (mainland and insular). Design/methodology/approach – Applying a sample of 594 valid responses, the authors analyzed the data according to linear regression models. Findings – The results convey how HEI students generally do not intend to become entrepreneurs in both the mainland and the insular regions. Although HEI students broadly do not aim to launch their own businesses, the results show that students in mainland regions feel they have the skills to start a business and drive it to success. In insular regions, students feel encouraged by their friends and family to set up their own business. When comparing insular and mainland regions, the results demonstrate how in insular regions, there is a greater probability that HEI students become entrepreneurs than in the mainland regions. Furthermore, entrepreneurial intentions in the mainland regions develop in terms of “opportunities” while driven by necessity in the insular regions. Practical implications – This furthermore makes recommendations to regional governments and to HEIs in order to enable better encouragement of entrepreneurship in academia. Originality/value – This study is original and innovative due to its comparison of the entrepreneurial intentions prevailing in mainland and insular regions and may propose new highlights to the academic scientific literature.

Design/methodology/approach This study uses bibliometric methods and topic models, specifically latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) methods to evaluate the nature and course of the tourism crises and disasters scientific literature. Data from 2810 documents were retrieved from the Web of Science database and were used to perform the analysis. Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented global turmoil and a halt on international tourism. This study aims to evaluate the scientific literature about tourism crisis and disasters and depict how this research stream evolved in the face of economic, security, health, environmental, or trust crises, further providing insights about a research agenda on this stream. Findings Results show an increase of tourism crises and disasters scientific literature departing from 2010, and a surge in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, themes such as tourism competitiveness, tourism demand, crisis management, perceived risk, natural disasters, and destination recovery are among the most relevant themes in the research line, showing that the effect of economic and financial crises on tourism industry, sustainable tourism, and tourism demand are set to be among the most relevant in the upcoming years. Implications This study fills a void in tourism literature by providing a roadmap to understand the past, present, and future of the tourism crises and disasters research line and the avenues for future research in this field, including methods, in the period post COVID-19. Originality/value Previous studies on tourism crises and disasters were focused on literature review and on the relationship between crises and disasters and the tourism industry. This study uses a set of methods unused before in the research stream, namely a combination of bibliometric methods and latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) methods, to provide a road map for the present state-of-the-art of tourism crises and disasters research and promising future research lines.

Purpose – Regional innovation performance is an important indicator for decision-making regarding the implementation of policies intended for regional development. However, regional development policies have led economies to very different competitive positions in matters of innovation. To address these issues, this paper aims to identify the variables that most contribute to the positioning of economies in terms of performance innovation in Europe. Design/methodology/approach – The data for this study were collected at the regional innovation scoreboard. This paper uses a quantitative methodology through a multivariate statistical technique (discriminant analysis). Findings – The results suggest that specific innovation strategies explain the competitive positioning of economies within each group of countries. It was possible to demonstrate that economies with leader classification show greater comparative robustness in the variables “Small and medium enterprise (SMEs) with product or process innovations,” “SMEs with product or process innovations,” “research and development (R&D) expenditure public sector” and “population with tertiary education,” constituting an effective instrument of innovation policy. Furthermore, it was possible to show that the economies belonging to the modest group do not have a competitive advantage in any of the variables under study, thus providing a reflection opportunity for policymakers at this level. Originality/value – The present research identifies which variables are most relevant to the classification considering the regional innovation performance in leader, strong, moderate and modest. Several suggestions were given to companies, policymakers and higher education institutions in the sense that the regions where they operate can improve their innovative performance, which may help to a change in their current classification.