Militarization as a Socio-Political Context for Entrepreneurial Innovation

Country level militarization is negatively related to commercial product innovation by new technology ventures. Using multilevel mixed effects logistic regression modeling, I find that country militarization is a significant predictor of firm innovation in high technology industries like robotics. These findings contribute to the entrepreneurial innovation literature by specifically focusing upon the socio-political context in which entrepreneurs innovate. New technology ventures should take this into account when considering R&D financing and product development strategy. National governments should also assess the potential for narrowing of innovation scope when public R&D initiatives are being formulated. In cases of high country militarization, respective governments are at risk for confining innovation to military related applications.