Research Article

The roadblocks to progress: A comprehensive study on the relationship between regional institutional quality and firms’ innovation of sub-Saharan African nations

DOI: 10.1080/20421338.2025.2510832
Author(s): Abel Dula WedajoUniversity of Sanya, People’s Republic of China, Xiao HuilinUniversity of International Business and Economics (UIBE), People’s Republic of China,

Abstract

This study examines the impact of regional institutional quality (level two) on firm-level innovation (level one) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where cultural and institutional diversity challenges frameworks derived from homogeneous contexts. Analyzing 7,578 firms across Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe (2011–2019 World Bank Enterprise Survey data), the paper highlights the need for multi-level analysis to capture regional variations.

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