Sustainable Value Creation in Firms and Markets

of the coordinated Project: The coordinated project titled Integrated Research Agenda on Governance, Organization, and Market Responses (IRAGOMaR) advances the research frontier in business economics by examining how firms create value in a context of profound economic, technological, and societal transformation. Building on more than three decades of scientific collaboration among UAB, UPNA, and UIB, as well as ten consecutively funded national projects, the proposal integrates three interconnected research lines that address how governance structures, organizational dynamics, and market interactions jointly shape firm behavior, innovation, and societal outcomes. This long-standing alliance has generated high-impact scientific contributions, shared doctoral and master programs (MMOBE and DEMO), and a robust scholarly ecosystem that ensures the feasibility and impact of the proposed research agenda. Research Line 1 examines the mechanisms of corporate governance, focusing on ownership heterogeneity, executive and board leadership, and stakeholder influence. It investigates how distinct ownership groups, leadership configurations, and pressures for transparency and responsibility shape strategic behavior, innovation, and long-term value creation. This includes developing new theoretical models on ownership constellations, executive compensation structures, leadership transitions, and governance responses to stakeholder and ESG demands. Research Line 2 explores how technological change reshapes people management, job design, organizational structures, and worker well-being. It analyzes how digitalization, automation, AI, and new work modalities transform competencies, training, incentives, team structures, and career trajectories. It also investigates how organizational design and HR practices influence innovation, occupational mobility, and employee well-being. It also investigates how firms manage knowledge and organizational capabilities to sustain innovation while balancing openness with the protection of intellectual assets. Research Line 3 extends the analysis beyond the firm to its market and institutional environment. It studies prosocial preferences in firms and individuals, the functioning of entrepreneurial ecosystems, financing mechanisms such as crowdfunding, and the role of SMEs in regional development and the twin transition. It further examines innovation economics, including technology licensing, open innovation, and sustainable innovation strategies, as well as supply-chain relationships, vertical and horizontal interactions, and the competitive effects of common ownership and integration. Methodologically, the project applies a multi-theoretical empirical strategy rooted in the economic analysis of organizations and supported by extensive archival, hand-collected, survey, experimental, and qualitative data. The work plan follows an abductive logic that iterates between theory development, empirical testing, and theoretical refinement. The coordinated structure ensures strong integration across subprojects through shared data infrastructures, joint doctoral supervision, annual workshops, and continuous cross-institutional collaboration. By deepening the links between governance, organizational behavior, and market dynamics, the project aims to deliver frontier knowledge that enhances the scientific understanding of firm behavior and contributes to societal debates on sustainability, technological change, and economic competitiveness.