https://hdl.handle.net/10419/111 Mon, 14 Sep 2026 02:21:23 GMT 2026-09-14T02:21:23Z http://econstor.eu:80/retrieve/5c852de7-4bed-4baa-b8f7-3ab070da051a/logo-uni-goettingen.png https://hdl.handle.net/10419/111 https://hdl.handle.net/10419/336810 Title: Linking KfW-financed aid projects and FDI: Global evidence at the sub-national level Authors: Wedemeyer, Laura; Kaplan, Lennart; Kluve, Jochen; Reiners, Lennart Abstract: This study analyzes the empirical link between German bilateral development finance and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) at the sub-national (ADM2) level. We construct a unique dataset by merging geo-referenced development aid projects - implemented by KfW Development Bank - over more than two decades with FDI project data. The analysis investigates four research hypotheses, and finds that: (i) development finance activity is positively and significantly associated with FDI inflows; (ii) the positive link is similarly pronounced in both hard and soft sectors; as well as (iii) irrespective of recipient countries' income level; and (iv) the positive aid-FDI association appears to be driven by projects with stronger implementation, as measured by higher ex-post evaluation ratings. For these higher-rated projects, KfW aid is significantly more likely to be associated with FDI from Germany and the EU. Our findings suggest that FDI may be an important channel through which development aid simultaneously benefits both recipient - by providing capital and technology - and donor countries, by signaling investment opportunities for its enterprises. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/10419/336810 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10419/342346 Title: More than meets the port: Donor export effects of foreign aid revisited Authors: Martínez-Zarzoso, Inmaculada; Lessing, Jonathan Abstract: Despite growing fiscal pressures and public scrutiny of aid spending, the domestic returns from official development assistance (ODA) remain understudied, particularly for services trade. This paper examines how bilateral ODA from five different European donors - Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden - affects their exports to recipient countries over the period 2005-2024. Using a gravity model specification estimated with panel dynamic feasible generalised least squares, we mostly find robust positive aid-trade elasticities that hold across goods and services sectors. ODA variables retain explanatory power after controlling for Aid-for-Trade shares, suggesting that indirect channels, such as economic development and goodwill, persist next to direct procurement. These findings provide evidence for the benefits of aid for donor countries. When recipient countries are analysed separately by political importance or income level, evidence suggests that the aid-trade-link is mainly driven by larger emerging economies as the effect of aid for poorer countries yields comparable point estimates yet translates into smaller economic returns. Further analysis also shows heterogeneity by donor in terms of domestic effects. The underlying causes for the differences remain to be explored. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/10419/342346 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10419/342482 Title: Resourcing in over-supported sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems Authors: Dekker, Thekla; Günzel-Jensen, Franziska; Scheidgen, Katharina Abstract: This paper explores how sustainable entrepreneurial ventures mobilize resources within over-supported sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems (SEEs). Drawing on 76 interviews and field data from Copenhagen and Stockholm-two mature, sustainability-oriented ecosystems densely populated with entrepreneurial support organizations (ESOs)-the study employs an inductive qualitative design using the Gioia methodology. Contrary to prevailing assumptions that greater ESO density enhances entrepreneurial outcomes, the findings reveal that excessive and redundant support infrastructures generate structural inefficiencies and resource misallocations for ventures. Three distinct resourcing approaches emerge: The Hoarders, who over-engage and become trapped in ESO dependency; The Inverted Resources, who evolve from recipients to exploited ESO assets; and The Instrumentally Engaged, who selectively leverage ESO offerings for targeted gains while maintaining independence. These patterns demonstrate that in munificent ESO landscapes, venture resourcing shifts from acquisition under scarcity to navigation under abundance. The study contributes to ecosystem and resourcing theory by conceptualizing over-support as a paradoxical condition where institutional logics of support invert into extractive dynamics, undermining venture autonomy and ecosystem efficiency. Policy implications emphasize the need for outcome-oriented ESO evaluation and strategic curation over quantitative proliferation of support infrastructures. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/10419/342482 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10419/342484 Title: Different paths, same outcome: System-level agency across the RIS-CORIS continuum Authors: Jantos, Louisa; Bizer, Kilian Abstract: Regional innovation systems (RIS) and challenge-oriented regional innovation systems (CORIS) represent competing ideal types along a continuum from market-driven to sustainability-oriented innovation governance. Yet how these ideal types manifest empirically, and what forms of system-level agency emerge across this continuum, remains largely unexamined. Drawing on 47 semi-structured expert interviews in Zurich and Helsinki - two European innovation leaders selected through a most different systems design - and analysed through an inductive-deductive thematic coding approach, this paper shows that neither case conforms neatly to either ideal type. Both cities occupy intermediate positions on the RIS-CORIS continuum, with Zurich exhibiting a market-driven logic in which sustainability is contingent on economic viability, and Helsinki a challenge-oriented configuration in which economic development remains a constitutive co-goal. System-level agency operates through fundamentally different mechanisms in each case: resource mobilization through contractual arrangements in Zurich, and the active construction of institutional rationales in Helsinki. Despite these differences, both cases achieve comparable levels of regional innovation capacity - a finding consistent with equifinality across the continuum. Two shared structural limitations are identified: a persistent science-policy translation gap and multi-scalar governance dependencies that constrain regional actors regardless of system orientation. These findings advance the empirical understanding of hybrid RIS configurations and carry direct implications for regions seeking to reconfigure their innovation systems towards challenge orientation. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/10419/342484 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z