Raphael Bar El | Innovation Strategy | Best Researcher Award

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Prof. Raphael Bar El | Innovation Strategy | Best Researcher Award 

Professor | Ben-Gurion University of the Negev | Israel

Prof. Raphael Bar El is a distinguished economist and innovation scholar recognized for his extensive contributions to the fields of regional development, innovation policy, and public management. His research focuses on innovation systems, entrepreneurship, and the strategic interplay between economic policy and regional growth. Professor Bar-El has authored and edited several influential books, such as Regional Development and Conflict Management: A Case for Brazil, Desenvolvimento Econômico Regional para a Redução da Pobreza e Desigualdade, Industrialização Rural no Nordeste, and The Economic Development of the Arab Sector in Israel. His academic publications have appeared in leading volumes and journals, addressing topics such as under-investment in innovative enterprises, the spatial distribution of high-tech industries, and socio-economic policy frameworks for conflict regions. Professor Bar-El’s leadership extends beyond academia to public service and international development. He has served as Director of the National and Economic Planning Authority at the Ministry of Economy and Planning and as Director General of the Development Study Center. As the Founder and President of the Israeli Regional Science Association, he has played a pioneering role in advancing regional science and innovation policy in Israel and abroad. His expertise has been sought by numerous international organizations and governments, including the World Bank, UNDP, and various ministries across Latin America, Africa, and Europe, where he has led and advised more than thirty major development and innovation projects. With an academic record comprising 56 documents, 387 citations across 328 publications, and an h-index of 11, Professor Bar-El continues to influence policy thinking and academic discourse on regional innovation and sustainable economic development. His long-standing commitment to integrating theory with practical policy solutions has positioned him as a leading voice in shaping innovation ecosystems and fostering socio-economic growth across diverse regions.

Profiles : Scopus | ORCID | Google Scholar 

Featured Publications :

Bar-El, R., Gavious, I., Kaufmann, D., & Schwartz, D. (2017). Under-investments in innovative SMEs: The effect of entrepreneurial cognitive bias. In K. O. Lundvall & P. Nielsen (Eds.), Human capital and assets in the networked world.

Schwartz, D., Avnimelech, G., & Bar-El, R. (2012). The location of knowledge economy and high-tech in Israel. In J. K. Gibson-Graham & G. Roelvink (Eds.), Societies in motion: Innovation, migration and regional transformation.

Bar-El, R. (2014). Economic considerations in implementing a parallel states structure. In M. Cohen & C. Scheindlin (Eds.), One land, two states: Israel and Palestine as parallel states University of California Press.

Bar-El, R., & Co-authors. (2024). Can the periphery survive innovation-led growth? Insights from Israel. Regional Studies, Regional Science.

Bar-El, R., & Co-authors. (2022). Adapting reverse mentoring strategy to SMEs: A new pilot model implemented in Brazil. Sustainability.

Yiyong Yu | Innovation Strategy | Best Researcher Award

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Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yiyong Yu | Innovation Strategy | Best Researcher Award 

Associate Professor at Nanjing Normal University | China 

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yiyong Yu is an Associate Professor at the School of Business, Nanjing Normal University, specializing in strategic management and innovation management. He earned his doctorate in management from the School of Business at Nanjing University. His research focuses on innovation chains, collaborative innovation, organizational inertia, and creativity. Yu has contributed extensively to the academic field, publishing papers in reputable journals such as Management World, Nankai Business Review, Studies in Science of Science, and Technovation. His work explores topics including overcoming organizational inertia to sustain growth, strategic knowledge disclosure, the role of leading enterprises in collaborative innovation, leadership behaviors influencing team creativity, and the impact of market competition on cooperative innovation. He has led multiple youth-focused research projects supported by national and provincial funding agencies and actively contributes as a reviewer for prominent journals in management and psychology. His scholarly contributions are recognized with 16 citations across 16 documents, 2 Publications and he maintains an h-index of 1.

Profile : Scopus

Featured Publications : 

Yu, Y., & Yang, Z. (2022). How can enterprises overcome organizational inertia to achieve sustained growth in a dynamic context? — Based on the “Context-Cognition-Action” analytical framework. Management World, 38(12), 159–177.

Yu, Y., & Yang, Z. (2022). Connotation, research issues and prospects of strategic knowledge disclosure. Nankai Business Review, 25(6), 214–226.

Yu, Y., & Yang, Z. (2020). How to effectively exert the innovation chain function of leading enterprises — From the perspective of collaborative innovation based on the new Pasteur’s quadrant. Nankai Business Review, 23(2), 4–15.

Yu, Y., Yang, Z., & Li, J. (2020). A study on the influence mechanism of leadership boundary-spanning behavior on team creativity. Studies in Science of Science, 38(3), 515–524.

Yu, Y., Cheng, L., & Zhang, D. (2024). How does market competition affect enterprise cooperative innovation? The moderating role of intellectual property protection and government subsidies. Technovation, 137, 103102.

Hasan Mustafa | Global Innovation | Best Researcher Award

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Assist. Prof. Dr. Hasan Mustafa | Global Innovation | Best Researcher Award 

Assistant Professor at Higher Colleges of Technology | United Arab Emirates 

Dr. Hasan Mustafa is an accomplished economist and academic with extensive experience in teaching, research, and industry engagement. He earned his Doctorate in Economics from the Georg-August-University in Goettingen, Germany, where his doctoral thesis focused on the controlling of direct banks using the Balanced Scorecard. He also holds a Master’s degree in Economics and Business Administration from the same institution. His research centers on bridging the gap between academic theory and industrial practice, with a particular focus on long-term oil demand and supply, the impact of alternative energy on global energy markets, and the economic implications of health issues such as diabetes on national economies. Dr. Mustafa has an impressive record of publications in reputed international journals, contributing to areas such as global innovation and uncertainty dynamics, investor sentiment, geopolitical risk, economic diversification, and macroeconomic determinants of oil prices. His works have been cited 64 times across 60 documents, with an h-index of 4, reflecting his growing influence in economic and energy-related research. Some of his notable publications include studies on the economic costs of diabetes in the United Arab Emirates, the role of investor sentiment in MENA bank stock returns during the COVID-19 pandemic, and scenario analyses for the establishment of an electric vehicle industry and future oil demand trajectories. In his academic career, Dr. Mustafa has served as an Assistant Professor at several higher education institutions, where he has taught a wide range of economics and business-related courses including macroeconomics, microeconomics, cost-benefit analysis, financial management, money and banking, and business statistics.

Profiles : Scopus | ORCID | Google Scholar | ResearchGate | Linked In 

Featured Publications : 

Albaity, M., Mallek, R. S., Ur-Rehman, I., & Mustafa, H. (2025). Global innovation and uncertainty dynamics: Implications for bank performance. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 10(6), 100800.

Mustafa, H., Al Shawwa, H., & Kļaviņš, K. (2005). China’s new dynamic cooperation paradigm with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Mustafa, H., Theuma, A., & Al Shawwa, H. (2025). Knowledge-driven economic diversification: Scenario analysis for future trajectories in the UAE.

Mustafa, H., & Al Shawwa, H. (2023). Direct costs of diabetes mellitus in the United Arab Emirates in 2018. International Journal of Diabetes in Developing Countries, 43(1), 1–6.

Mustafa, H., Albaity, M., & Mallek, R. S. (2023). Heterogeneity of investor sentiment, geopolitical risk, and economic policy uncertainty: Do Islamic banks differ during the COVID-19 pandemic? International Journal of Emerging Markets, 2023(1), 1–22.