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This work explores the link between firm performance in emerging economies and transport infrastructure endowment, as a key element of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. We ground on the idea that transport infrastructures, by enabling connectivity, interactions and the exchange of knowledge and ideas, have the potential to enhance commercial opportunity recognition, technological development and, thus, firm economic performance. We also emphasize the crucial role of logistics system performance in providing better linkages between suppliers, firms and customers. The empirical analysis is focused on emerging economies whose infrastructure endowment is lower than those of developed ones; thus, its improvement is likely to be associated with better performance of their firms and economies. The results suggest that part of country-level differences in firm's labour productivity is explained by transport endowment. Particularly, transport networks, such as roads and railways, and the logistics system and services show strong and positive relationships with productivity, while transport nodes, such as airports and ports, show little or no association. This might occur because networks spread knowledge spillovers in a more capillary way compared to nodes. Overall, the empirical results suggest that policy-makers in emerging economies can sustain the economic performance of firms, with beneficial effects on the economic system, by improving their transport endowment. Plain English Summary: Firms are part of national ecosystems whose attributes may influence their performance and, therefore, the economic growth of a country. In this paper, we focus on transport infrastructure endowment. We distinguish between transport networks and transport nodes, and we consider the logistic system and services. Our research questions are tested on a sample of firms in emerging economies. In so doing, we combine micro-data on firms from East Europe and Central Asia with macro-data on transport endowment. We show that more developed transport systems are positively associated with better economic performance of firms. Particularly, the beneficial effect of transport networks is found to be more prominent, possibly because more developed transport networks are associated with increased opportunities for knowledge exchange between firms. Also, the logistics system is linked to better firm performance by reducing time and distance constraints and providing better linkages along the supply chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article sets out to investigate the relationship between the knowledge spillovers and the potential for high-value inventions to emerge. We study knowledge spillovers through the lens of knowledge networks: a web of interrelated knowledge elements with structural patterns. Knowledge spillovers influence the productivity of a technology sector and hence their pattern should impact the pathways for knowledge appropriation in the sector. It is hypothesized that a robust knowledge network is associated with knowledge appropriation leading to valuable inventions. We test the hypothesis using patent citation network of 1821 patents from 78 inventions belonging to two different technological sectors. Based upon the findings, we suggest network robustness as a new metric for determining the technical value of inventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main sources of technological development are from abroad rather than domestic in many countries. The global networks for knowledge and technology flows are becoming sophisticated. This article examines how a country's embeddedness in the global knowledge spillover networks, particularly trade and FDI, is related to national innovation performance. Network closure and structural hole, the main arguments in network theory literature, represent the main objectives of our network analysis. The results are subsequently used to assess how these network characteristics are related to national innovation performance via panel negative binomial regression analysis. The findings show an overall tendency of a negative effect of network closure and a positive one of structural holes on a country's innovative outcome. In conclusion, this article not only highlights the significant role of network characteristics in national innovation performance, but also provides implications on how to leverage such network resources to improve national innovation systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]