Beyond Additive Effects: How Bundled Capabilities Drive Firm Competitiveness in Economic Corridors
Cheng Ma, Faheem Zeb, Asad Shahjehan, Liya Zheng
Keywords:
sustainable competitiveness; economic corridors; capability complementarities; digital transformation; quality productivity
Abstract:
Economic corridors are expected to support green transition, digital upgrading and firm capability development as well as lower transport costs, yet corridor programs usually fund these objectives through separate streams even though firms experience them jointly. This study asks whether firm competitiveness in corridor settings depends on the joint presence of four capability domains: corridor-integrated innovation systems (CIIS), resilient resource reformation (RRR), industrial ecosystem advancement (IEA), and human capital and knowledge networks (HCKN), which together form the CORISE-PK framework. Survey data from 480 corridor-linked firms in five sectors and five regions of Pakistan were analyzed with hierarchical regression and interaction terms. Main effects explain much of the variance in new quality productivity, but two-way and three-way interactions each add explanatory power, and the four-way interaction is positive and significant. The four domains reinforce one another instead of acting as independent drivers, and the synergy estimates are larger, although not significantly so, in higher-technology sectors and in more established corridor regions. The findings imply that green finance is most useful when it supports resource reformation and ecosystem upgrading together, and that digital transformation works as a coordination layer linking knowledge, operations and performance across firms. The paper offers a capability-systems account of corridor competitiveness and guidance on the design of bundled interventions.
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 10.7441/joc.2026.SI.18
Ma, C., Zeb, F., Shahjehan, A., & Zheng, L. (2026). Beyond Additive Effects: How Bundled Capabilities Drive Firm Competitiveness in Economic Corridors. Journal of Competitiveness, 18(SI 2), 206–221. https://doi.org/10.7441/joc.2026.SI.18
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