The impact of COVID-19 on the evolution of online retail: The pandemic as a window of opportunity

Pandemic-related shocks have induced an unexpected volatility into the evolution of online sales, making it difficult for retailers to cope with frequently occurring, drastic changes in demand. Relying on a socio-technical approach, the purpose of this paper is to (a) offer a deeper insight into the driving forces of online sales during the pandemic, and (b) investigate whether pandemic-related shocks accelerate the long-term growth of online retail. Novel, high-frequency data on GPS-based population mobility and government stringency is used to demonstrate how time spent in residential areas and governmental restrictions drive the monthly evolution of online sales in 23 countries. We deconstruct these effects into three main phases: lure-in, lock-in, and phase-out. Lastly, using time series analysis, we show that the pandemic has induced a level shift into the long-term growth trend of the online retail sector in the majority of countries investigated.     

Speed of internationalization of new ventures and survival in export markets

Speed of internationalization may refer to how early a new venture goes abroad as well as how fast it expands its activities post-entry. The present paper incorporates both aspects and analyzes to what extent several dimensions of speed influence the ability of new ventures to survive in export markets. Based upon extant theories, two perspectives are deduced – a Learning perspective and a Resource perspective – leading to partly contrasting hypotheses. The hypotheses are tested based upon a unique data set consisting of all new ventures established in Norway a specific year that started to export goods in the following nine years. Among the findings are that survival rates increase when ventures go international immediately after inception and when they expand rapidly into new countries rather than focusing on expanding their export share in a limited number of markets, thus lending support to the Resource perspective.     

价值链视角下人才链支撑创新链产业链融合的动态协同模式研究 ——以新型研发机构为例

党的二十大报告提出“推动创新链产业链资金链人才链深度融合”和“人才是第一资源”。如何充分发挥人才效能,使人才链与产业链、创新链有机融合,是我国新时代人才工作的重要议题。新型研发机构是科研机构的创新模式,是打通创新链、产业链、人才链的重要尝试。以新型研发机构作为研究对象,以北京的七所新型研发机构为例,从价值链视角对新型研发机构内部人才链支撑创新链、产业链融合的过程进行分析,归纳出新型研发机构实践人才链支撑创新链与产业链融合的动态协同模式。为新型研发机构发展给出具体指导建议,为人才链支撑双链融合的过程提供理论支撑,为我国实践三链融合给出了具体的治理对策。