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Innovating with Limited Resources: The Antecedents and Consequences of Frugal Innovation

Quan Cai, Ying Ying, Yang Liu, Weiping Wu · 2019 · Sustainability

Summary. Frugal innovation—developing affordable solutions with limited resources—drives performance improvements for firms in emerging markets. The study identifies two types: cost innovation and affordable value innovation. Firms facing institutional, technological, and market constraints generate more frugal innovations when they possess strong institutional leverage and bricolage capabilities. Dysfunctional competition also spurs frugal innovation. These findings show how resource-constrained emerging-market firms can compete effectively through resourceful product development.

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Cai, Q., Ying, Y., Liu, Y., & Wu, W.. (2019). Innovating with Limited Resources: The Antecedents and Consequences of Frugal Innovation. Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11205789

Details

DOI
10.3390/su11205789
Countries
China
Regions
Asia
Categories
innovation-theory, regional-innovation-systems, general-innovation
Added
2026-04-28