On December 21st, 2023, Helery Tasane, a PhD student at TalTech’s Department of Economics and Finance, defended her doctoral thesis, titled “Institutions and Innovativeness of SMEs”. The thesis aims to investigate the nexus between the institutional setting and the innovativeness of SMEs by exploring: (i) whether aggregate productivity, institutional setting and human capital are associated; (ii) entrepreneurial perception of formal and informal institutional settings associate with firm-level action to engage in R&DI; and (iii) whether government efforts through industrial R&DI-oriented policy affect the entrepreneurial outcomes. The core focus of this thesis lies in observing institutional settings in the context of ASEAN or other developing economies but also takes advantage on Estonian R&DI policy outcomes.
This thesis consists of four published articles that together address six research questions and hypotheses. The first article explores how human capital and institutional strength are related to productivity-relevant factors in nine ASEAN countries, described in terms of high variance in wealth levels. The second article explores the association between firm-level self-perceived institutional strength and bribe solicitation, and its effect on research and development engagement in the emerging economy of Laos. The third article addresses the nexus between bribe solicitation and innovation engagement in foreign- and domestically owned firms operating in developing economies. The fourth article studies the impacts of the European Union Cohesion policy targeting R&DI on Estonian SMEs’ short-term labour productivity, employment, and export outcomes.
Supervisor:
Professor Aaro Hazak, PhD
Co-supervisor:
Professor Kadri Männasoo, PhD
Opponents:
Researcher, Docent N. Emrah Aydinonat, PhD
Professor, Priit Vahter, PhD
The doctoral thesis is available here: LINK
https://digikogu.taltech.ee/en/Item/3db98bde-3038-485d-abc5-926e70baa1e4