Towards Innovation in West African Business Sophistication: Lessons from the Eurozone

Towards Innovation in West African Business Sophistication: Lessons from the Eurozone | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Towards Innovation in West African Business Sophistication: Lessons from the Eurozone Pagnamam Yekpa, George Nana Agyekum Donkor, Joseph Kwadwo Asenso This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7344856/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This paper aims to shed light on the key factors that contribute to improving innovation in West African business sophistication by learning from the experience of the Eurozone. We have used panel data from 2013 to 2022 on 15 West African countries and 20 Eurozone countries. The study opted for non-parametric and semi-parametric modelling, estimated through the Generalized Additive Method. The results show that, first, human development in West Africa has not yet reached the minimum threshold required to positively impact innovation in business sophistication. Second, the relationship between human development and innovation in business sophistication in the Eurozone is non-linear, with 0.861 as the minimum threshold at which the Human Development Index positively influences innovation in business sophistication in the Eurozone. Third, political stability and non-violence positively and linearly influence innovation in business sophistication, whether in West Africa or the Eurozone. JEL: C51, M21, O32 Innovation Business Sophistication Non-parametric model Semi-parametric model Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7344856","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":499590675,"identity":"15bdc542-62fe-4ba6-a562-d602c6c3d648","order_by":0,"name":"Pagnamam Yekpa","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA4klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYHACZiC2SWBjSGBgYGyQYGwgUksa6VoOA9WDtTAQ1mIukXzYuKDmfB4fe/IDho87LGQb2Hsfv8CnxXJGWnLyjGO3i9l4nhkwzjwjYdzAc9zMAp8Wgxs5xod52G4ntknksP/mbZNIbJBIYzPAryX/82Gef+dAWhiY/xKnJYc5mbftAEQLI0QL8wO8ful5Zmw8sy8Z4pdeoF/aeI6x4dPBYM6e/Fi64Jtdnnw7MMR+7qiT7WdvY/6A12ECCeCIQQCgFWwSeLXwH0DTAgT4bRkFo2AUjIIRBwDBE0hH+IQltwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID)","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Pagnamam","middleName":"","lastName":"Yekpa","suffix":""},{"id":499590676,"identity":"389bd2bd-8cc1-439c-9d8f-60baf221e8e4","order_by":1,"name":"George Nana Agyekum Donkor","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"George","middleName":"Nana Agyekum","lastName":"Donkor","suffix":""},{"id":499590677,"identity":"bb7a458d-8a09-4a77-a1a8-3ed6356bbdbf","order_by":2,"name":"Joseph Kwadwo Asenso","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Joseph","middleName":"Kwadwo","lastName":"Asenso","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-08-11 09:38:56","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7344856/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7344856/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":89061215,"identity":"5bb4f5aa-2c27-4051-8d76-2d1d6cb423c5","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-14 09:23:47","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":893867,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ManuscriptwithAuthorsDetails.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7344856/v1_covered_3614beec-1bcb-43fa-9409-870c1e357c7d.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Towards Innovation in West African Business Sophistication: Lessons from the Eurozone","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Innovation, Business, Sophistication, Non-parametric model, Semi-parametric model","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7344856/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7344856/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis paper aims to shed light on the key factors that contribute to improving innovation in West African business sophistication by learning from the experience of the Eurozone. 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