Institutional Environment, Managerial Attitudes and Environmental Sustainability Orientation of Small Firms

This study examines the direct impact of three dimensions of the institutional environment on managerial attitudes toward the natural environment and the direct influence of the latter on the environmental sustainability orientation (ESO) of small firms. We contend that when the institutional environment is perceived by owner?Cmanagers as supportive of sound natural environment management practices, they are more likely to develop a positive attitude toward natural environment issues and concerns. Such owner?Cmanager attitudes are likely to lead to a positive and proactive orientation of their firms toward environmental sustainability. The study uses survey data from 166 small manufacturing firms located in three Philippine cities. First, the study develops and tests the measurement models to examine the validity of the constructs representing the firm??s institutional environment, managerial attitudes toward the natural environment and the ESO of firms. Second, the study develops and tests the structural models examining the institutional environment?Cmanagerial attitudes?CESO linkages. Multi-sample invariance structural model analysis shows the mediating role of managerial attitudes in the institutional environment?CESO nexus. The findings show that ESO is a construct comprising three dimensions: knowledge of environmental issues, sustainable practices and commitment toward environmental sustainability. The cognitive, regulatory and normative elements of the institutional environment are strongly linked to positive managerial attitudes toward environmental sustainability, which in turn, positively influences the firm??s overall ESO. Managerial attitudes play a mediating role in the institutional environment?CESO linkages. The managerial, practical, research and policy implications of the research findings are discussed.     

制度环境、会计准则与会计信息价值相关性

文章以2006年至2007年已经完成股权分置改革的上市公司为研究对象,从地区制度环境这一会计规则的外部执行机制入手,运用会计信息决策有用性的经验模型检验了2007年会计准则变迁的资本市场经济后果,研究发现：受证券市场环境的影响,会计准则变迁后会计信息的价值相关性显著降低了;制度环境对会计制度变迁效果影响符合投资者保护的“替代假说”相一致,即在会计信息价值相关性的影响研究中财务会计系统发挥了“替代机制”的作用。文章增进了会计准则变迁理论的实证研究积累。     

治理环境、会计制度变迁与会计信息价值相关性

基于《股份有限公司会计制度》和《企业会计制度》的变迁,运用国内外关于决策有用性的经验研究模型,从会计信息价值相关性的角度,检验中国地区治理环境对会计制度变迁效果的潜在影响。研究结果表明,投资者保护的"后果假说"和"替代假说"均得到一定程度的支持。从而为地区治理环境影响制度变迁效率提供了新的经验证据,对会计准则的国际趋同效果提供了一定的经验证据。     

企业社会责任的制度理性及行为逻辑:合法性视角

对企业社会责任的研究,学界一直是分歧多于应有的共识,主要原因是基于效率视角的经济理性分析主导着话语权,却过于注重技术环境和效率机制,而忽视了基于合法性视角的制度理性分析,忽视了制度环境和合法性机制。为揭示企业社会责任的行为逻辑,文章首先反思经济理性,并从新视角——合法性视角突出制度理性,指出制度理性是企业社会责任行为逻辑的起点。接着,按"制度环境—制度压力—企业行为"逻辑,着重分析了制度环境和制度压力对企业社会责任行为的作用机制,构建了合法性机制模型,其核心观点是制度环境对企业产生制度压力,通过规制机制、规范机制和模仿机制导致企业行为。最后,得出结论及其启示。     

International diversification of the emerging-market enterprises: A multi-level examination

This study develops a cross-level research model based on insights from the capabilities view and institutional theory. We examine the drivers of international diversification for firms from emerging economies, specifically how top managers’ prior experiences and a favorable institutional environment for human capital affects the international diversification of emerging-market enterprises (EMEs). This research demonstrates that firm- and country-level factors collectively influence the international diversification of EMEs. We find that an EME whose top managers have global managerial and technological experiences is more likely to venture into international markets when a favorable institutional environment provides globally competitive, highly skilled human capital. This study demonstrates that for a multidimensional phenomenon such as EMEs’ international diversification, a more complete picture emerges given a theoretical framework that builds on diverse perspectives which are empirically tested across levels.     

The influence of social institutions on managers’ concept of trust: Implications for trust-building in Sino-German relationships

Trust has predominantly been seen as a universal construct. Recent research suggests that members of different cultures vary in their understanding of trust. These variations are mostly attributed to the national institutional environment. In describing China and Germany's institutional environments, we emphasize the fundamental institutional differences reflected in their managers’ conceptualizations of trust. Based on 45 interviews with Chinese and German managers, we identify shared elements in their concepts of trust that are likely to foster Sino-German trust development, but also two important dissimilarities which can hinder the development of trust in these relationships.     

Ownership structure and earnings management in emerging markets—An institutionalized agency perspective

Previous earnings management research has largely focused on firm-level governance mechanisms in single countries or on macro-level variables in multiple countries. Building on this research, we incorporate firm ownership predictors along with national institutional dimensions to explore why firm decision makers in emerging markets vary in their earnings management behavior. Our theoretical framework integrates agency and institutional theories proposing that firm-level ownership mechanisms do not function in isolation, but are reinforced or attenuated by elements of the institutional governance environment. The multilevel empirical analysis of 1200 firms in 24 emerging markets indicates that controlling ownership is positively related to earnings management. We find that the level of minority shareholder protection in a country weakens this positive relationship. We also find that regulatory quality strengthens the negative relationship between institutional ownership and earnings management activity. It is hoped that awareness of how firm ownership structures interact with national-level institutions in affecting firm-level behavior will help managers and investors develop skills and practices to better cope with business norms in emerging economies.     

Can Female Directors Enhance the Value of Private Firms? Evidence from China’s Listed Companies

Female directors have become common in private companies. Using data from private listed companies in China’s A-share stock market from 2000 to 2009, this paper analyzes whether the existence of female directors can enhance firm value. Results show that female directors have a significantly positive impact on firm value. Moreover, female directors promote enterprise value less significantly in regions with better institutional environment, which implies that there is a substitution relationship between female directors and institutional environment. Furthermore, we use 2SLS (two-stage least squares) and LEVOP (lag the explanatory variables one period) to control endogeneity, and the research conclusion remains robust. Our study provides additional empirical evidence for economic consequence of female directors, and expands research on the relationship between board structure and firm value.     

Tracing the utility of injury surveillance data in Pretoria (South Africa) and Borås (Sweden)

Our research attempted to study the factors that influenced the use of injury data in two cities, representing different injury and socio-economic profiles. In Pretoria, the South African capital city, injury data uptake was constrained by, among other factors, the transitional institutional environment, stakeholders' suspicion of research and the absence of safety promotion champions. In the Swedish city of Bor?s, injury data uptake was facilitated by well-established research agency-municipality partnerships, injury prevention champions, a receptive political and knowledge driven environment and dedicated resources. The study signified the role of a range of content issues, contextual arrangements, social actors who may or may not operate from a perspective of sufficient consensus and institutional communication processes that may either facilitate or hinder the multiple employment and rapid movement of data along the 'ladder of knowledge utilisation'. Safety promotion researchers may need to expand their roles beyond data production to improve data utility.     

Export strategy,export intensity and learning: Integrating the resource perspective and institutional perspective

Export intensity (EI) has been widely examined as a performance outcome of exporting firms. To date, studies on the determinants of EI have generated mixed and even contradictory results. To reconcile such inconsistencies, this study dichotomizes export strategy in emerging economies into two distinctive types, expansion-oriented vs. escape-oriented, with the former inspired by exploiting firm-specific competencies as portrayed by the RBV and the latter motivated by avoiding the domestic institutional deficiencies as informed by the institutional perspective. Different from prior findings in the International Business literature, this research finds that a firm’s extremely high EI might not result from their superior competencies. Instead, high EI firms might focus on export mainly for the purpose of escaping from their home country’s deficient institutional environment that places extra burdens in terms of costs of doing business. Such escape-oriented exporters are more sensitive and responsive to changes in the environment while they do not enhance their learning as much as those expansion-oriented exporters. Furthermore, institutional environment has heterogeneous impacts on firms with different ownership types. Our study helps integrate the insights from both the RBV and the institutional perspective, and our dichotomization of export strategy adds precision and sophistication to the understanding of EI and export performance. Our hypotheses are supported by an empirical study based on a sample of exporting firms in China between 1998 and 2007.     

Tracing the utility of injury surveillance data in Pretoria (South Africa) and Borås (Sweden)

Our research attempted to study the factors that influenced the use of injury data in two cities, representing different injury and socio-economic profiles. In Pretoria, the South African capital city, injury data uptake was constrained by, among other factors, the transitional institutional environment, stakeholders' suspicion of research and the absence of safety promotion champions. In the Swedish city of Borås, injury data uptake was facilitated by well-established research agency–municipality partnerships, injury prevention champions, a receptive political and knowledge driven environment and dedicated resources. The study signified the role of a range of content issues, contextual arrangements, social actors who may or may not operate from a perspective of sufficient consensus and institutional communication processes that may either facilitate or hinder the multiple employment and rapid movement of data along the ‘ladder of knowledge utilisation’. Safety promotion researchers may need to expand their roles beyond data production to improve data utility.     

Networking Ability and the Financial Performance of New Ventures: Moderating Effects of Venture Size,Institutional Environment,and Their Interaction

Building on prior research, this study provides insights on the complex interaction between individual, organizational, and environmental factors in the field of new venture success. Specifically, we develop and test hypotheses on how venture size, institutional context, and their interaction moderate the effect of entrepreneurs' networking ability on the financial performance of new ventures. Based on a sample of 283 new ventures in Germany and Brazil—two countries that differ significantly in terms of their institutional frameworks—our analyses reveal moderating effects of venture size and the interaction between venture size and institutional environment.     

To be different,or to be the same? An exploratory study of isomorphism in the cluster

Entrepreneurial firms are argued to struggle between being different and being the same. To join the debate, we asked this question: How can entrepreneurial firms in a geographically concentrated locale gain both competitive advantage and legitimacy, given the competitive pressures for differentiation and the institutional pressures for conformity? Drawing from the network perspective, we conducted the research in a furniture cluster in Southwestern China. Based on qualitative and quantitative data, we found that peripheral firms tended to be institutionally and competitively isomorphic, while central firms could avoid the tradeoff between institutional conformity and competitive differentiation by creating and using their networks to innovate and at the same time to shape the institutional environment.     

“一带一路”东道国制度环境与中国企业对外直接绩效研究

利用2006—2017年中国上市公司在“一带一路”沿线国家的560例OFDI事件为研究样本，实证探究了“一带一路”东道国制度环境对中国企业OFDI绩效的影响，并基于竞争优势视角进一步考察了境外经贸合作区、母国特定优势以及企业年龄的调节效应。研究发现：“一带一路”东道国制度环境在一定程度上会对中国企业OFDI绩效的提升产生负面影响，境外经贸合作区、母国特定优势和企业年龄对上述负面效应具有弱化作用，竞争优势效应在国有与民营企业之间呈现出异质性。研究结论将为中国企业在“一带一路”沿线国家开展高质量海外投资提供参考借鉴。     

Interfirm Arrangements in Different Institutional Environments

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the effect of the institutional environment variables on the organizational choice by franchise chains that share a business format. Inasmuch as this type of franchising requires strict standardization, a comparative analysis of the same franchise chain operating in different institutional environments allows for the control of several variables, such as product and firm strategies, so that the observed organizational differences may be attributed to institutional variables. Different rules of the game may explain different governance structures in the transaction between franchisor and franchisees and their procurement contracts. In this paper, we did case studies based on semi-structured interviews with procurement and franchising managers of McDonald's in France and Brazil. The main finding is that McDonald's uses in Brazil governance structures that provide more control on transactions, both in the transactions with their outlets and their suppliers. In accordance with our results, institutional environment features explains differences in the organizational choice in each country. Results suggest the need for further research in two directions: a larger sample of countries and the investigation of other franchise chains.     

Institutional and economic drivers of entrepreneurship: An international perspective

Entrepreneurial activity varies significantly across countries and over time. The economic and institutional context is a determining factor that can drive and lend shape to entrepreneurial activity. The search for a deeper understanding of the role of this factor constitutes a promising and important research stream. A thorough review of the specialist literature identifies groups of countries with similar economic and institutional environments. Subsequent analysis highlights differences in entrepreneurial activity and innovation outcomes between these homogeneous groups. Results indicate significant differences, not only in entrepreneurial activity, but also in the type of entrepreneurship and innovation results. These findings mark a relevant step forward in the identification of different environment types, and the effects of environment on entrepreneurial activity and innovation results.     

Effects of institutions on ecological attitudes and behaviour of consumers in a developing Asian country: the case of the Philippines

This study examines the effects of institutions emanating from the social environment on ecologically sustainable consumer behaviour in a developing country context. Drawing on the behavioural perspective model of consumer choice and institutional theory, this study argues that the regulative, normative and cognitive dimensions of the institutional environment play critical roles in shaping the pro‐environmental attitudes called eco‐attitudes of consumers. In turn, eco‐attitudes positively influence the eco‐behaviour of consumers. The structural equation modelling of data from a survey of 1045 consumers from the Philippines shows the significant and positive effects of the regulatory, normative and cognitive dimensions of the institutional environment on the eco‐attitudes of consumers, which in turn have strong positive influence on eco‐behaviour. The findings about the partial mediating role of eco‐attitudes offer a more nuanced explanation on how institutions explain the eco‐behaviour of consumers which is a topic that is less understood especially in a developing country context. The study highlights the theoretical, methodological, policy and future research implications of the findings.     

就业吸纳、产业集聚与生产者服务业发展

本文根据新经济地理学、产业经济学、城市经济学、制度经济学等理论体系和现有文献成果,将区域地位、市场规模、人力资本、信息技术及制度环境等纳入到生产者服务业就业吸纳、聚集发展等影响因素的分析框架中,对全国232个地级及以上城市的生产者服务业就业吸纳、聚集发展进行定量研究,并对影响因素和机制进行了阐释。     

Home country institutional environments and foreign expansion of emerging market firms

We propose that home country institutional environment shapes emerging market firms’ foreign expansion. We argue that better-developed home country institutional environment promotes emerging market firms’ expansion to foreign markets more advanced than the home country, while institutional instability in the home country reduces this propensity. We further hypothesize that the effects of home country institutional environment are contingent on firm-specific government ownership. Data on the foreign expansion of 921 Chinese firms in the period of 1996–2000 provide strong support for the effects of home country's institutional development and institutional instability. We also find that a high degree of government ownership weakens the positive effect of home country's institutional development on emerging market firms’ propensity to expansion to more advanced markets.     

民营企业政治关联及其效应研究

目前的中国正处于转轨时期,民营企业政治关联普遍存在。本文基于制度理论视角,在评述现有关于政治关联的研究前提下,分析了民营企业政治关联的产生根源和作用机理,认为民营企业政治关联作为一种非正式制度是适应当前制度环境的行为选择,也是通过合法性机制获得企业的经济利益和政治利益,从而促进企业成长。