Innovation, Technological Change & Entrepreneurship Ecosystems

Theme III

📋 Research Overview

This theme examines how industrial policy, R&D subsidies, intellectual property reform, trade openness, and regional knowledge spillovers shape firm competitiveness, technology upgrading, and entrepreneurship ecosystems. Research draws on firm-level microdata, patent records, trade data, and administrative datasets, applying spatial econometrics, machine learning, and quasi-experimental methods. The comparative focus spans China and the United States, including studies of innovation policy shocks, export resilience, and the geography of relatedness and economic complexity. Recent work extends to supranational IP institution reform and its effects on firm innovation and commercialization in advanced economies.

💰 External Funding

ASU Internal Grant

Watts Research Seed Funding Program - Innovation, Technology-Driven Economic Change

Supported foundational research on innovation ecosystems, entrepreneurship, and the economic geography of technological change across U.S. and Chinese regions.

China National Natural Science Foundation

Impacts of Industrial Policy Support on Firm R&D Investment, Patenting, and Export Competitiveness

Examines how state-directed industrial policy instruments shape firm-level innovation behavior, patent output, and export performance in China, with implications for comparative technology policy and industrial strategy.

📄 Featured Publications

Prud'homme, D., Howell, A., Duenas, M., Campi, M., Andrews, D., Yoon, D., & Park, W. (2026)
Effects of a supranational intellectual property institution reform on firm innovation and commercialization outcomes
Strategic Management Journal
Howell, A. (2026)
Agglomeration disruption, firm innovation, and export resilience: Evidence from a place-based policy shock
Regional Science and Urban Economics
Howell, A., Li, R., Feldman, M., & Qian, H. (2023)
Agglomeration, recombinant innovation, and the role of market reforms in a transitioning China
Economics of Innovation and New Technology
Boeing, P., Eberle, J., & Howell, A. (2022)
The impact of China's R&D subsidies on R&D investment, technological upgrading, and economic growth
Technological Forecasting and Social Change