A QUANTITATIVE DATA BASE TO EVALUATE THE PERFORMANCE OF THE CORPORATE

Currently, there is not an adequate data base which would cover the performance of the corporate sector at the industry level. The Australian Financial Systems Inquiry has initiated the development of such a data base, which includes both financial and market variables to quantify the performance of the different industry groups for the period of 1963–1978. This data base can assist both the academic researcher and the financial practitioner in their work. The objective of this paper is to describe the content of this data base.     

Capitalisation of Intangibles — A Review of Current Practice and the Regulatory Framework

This paper reports on capitalisation practices of Australian managers for a large sample of firms in the 1993–97 period, and on accounting regulatory issues in relation to intangibles during and after this period. The data show diversity in capitalisation practices in 1993–97, which we suggest is a consequence of abstract conceptual bases for capitalisation decisions under the Australian regulatory framework. The analysis indicates the framework retains traditional emphasis on conservatism and reliable measurement while providing managers with substantial accounting discretion to capitalise intangible assets. We conclude there is an imperative for research investigating capitalisation decisions for intangibles to guide any further regulation.     

THE PRIMARY, SECONDARY, TERTIARY AND QUATERNARY SECTORS OF THE ECONOMY

The recognition of differences among the major sectors of the economy, such as agriculture, commerce, or manufacturing, has a considerable tradition in economic thinking. Also, there is evidence that important national and international predicaments of our time are closely related to sectoral-structural developments. Yet economists in the developed countries are often disinclined to study the shifts among the megasectors.
This paper suggests that an intensified study of the topic may be profitable. In order to support this proposition it first reflects on the traditions of sectoral emphasis in literature. Second, it considers the evidence for the ascendancy of the quaternary activities. Third, it deals with the input-output relations among the four megasectors of the economy. Thereafter it points to the emergence of potential inefficiencies among quaternary activities and raises the possibility of a megasector misequilibrium. Finally it outlines certain connections to the thoughts of Leontief and Sraffa; considers services in the neoclassical framework; explores the relationships to institutional thought; and ponders the extension of its basic hypothesis to the developing nations, the socialist countries, and to historical analysis.     

The digital entrepreneurial ecosystem

A significant gap exists in the conceptualization of entrepreneurship in the digital age. This paper introduces a conceptual framework for studying entrepreneurship in the digital age by integrating two well-established concepts: the digital ecosystem and the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The integration of these two ecosystems helps us better understand the interactions of agents and users that incorporate insights of consumers’ individual and social behavior. The Digital Entrepreneurial Ecosystem framework consists of four concepts: digital infrastructure governance, digital user citizenship, digital entrepreneurship, and digital marketplace. The paper develops propositions for each of the four concepts and provides a theoretical framework of multisided platforms to better understand the digital entrepreneurial ecosystem. Finally, it outlines a new research agenda to fill the gap in our understanding of entrepreneurship in the digital age.     

The campus as entrepreneurial ecosystem: the University of Chicago

This paper employs Frederick Jackson Turner’s Frontier Thesis of American democracy to construct a framework for understanding the U.S. university campus as an entrepreneurial ecosystem. One question that immediately comes to mind when studying ecosystem performance is what the proper unit of analysis is: the country, the state, the city, the region, or something smaller, like an incubator or accelerator? This paper suggests that the open, innovative American frontier that closed at the end of the twentieth century has reemerged in the entrepreneurial economy on the U.S. campus. The contemporary campus entrepreneurial ecosystem offers the characteristics of Turner’s frontier: available assets, liberty, and diversity while creating opportunity, and fostering entrepreneurship and innovation. A case study of the University of Chicago explores governance of the campus as an entrepreneurial ecosystem and the output produced by that campus ecosystem.     

Could the Irish Miracle be Repeated in Hungary?

It is widely recognized that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) plays an important role in economic development. However, its impact on entrepreneurial activity has not been well researched. Internalization theory is used to explore how inward FDI impacts entrepreneurial activity. Using data from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), we find significant differences in entrepreneurial activity between Ireland and Hungary in both the type of people starting businesses and the opportunities pursued. Economic development policies should focus on increasing human capital, promoting enterprise development, and upgrading the quality of FDI. Authors’ names appear alphabetically.     

What does “entrepreneurship” data <Emphasis Type="Italic">really</Emphasis> show?

In this paper, we compare two datasets designed to measure entrepreneurship: The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) dataset and the World Bank Group Entrepreneurship Survey (WBGES) dataset. We find a number of important differences when the data are compared. First, GEM data tend to report significantly higher levels of early stage entrepreneurship in developing economies than do the World Bank business entry data, while the World Bank business entry data tend to be higher than GEM data for developed countries. Second, we find that the magnitude of the difference between the datasets across countries is related to the local institutional and environmental conditions for entrepreneurs, after controlling for levels of economic development. Our findings suggest that entrepreneurs in developed countries have greater ease and incentives to incorporate, both for the benefits of greater access to formal financing and labor contracts, as well as for tax and other purposes not directly related to business activities.

Entrepreneurship, Economic Growth and Public Policy

This paper is an introduction to the second Global Entrepreneurship Research Conference. The conference focused on developing a better understanding of the relationships among entrepreneurship, economic growth and public policy, and variations according to the stage of economic development. The papers in this special issue conduct analysis with GEM micro-and-macro data, and offer several important policy recommendations. First, middle-income countries should focus on increasing human capital, upgrading technology availability and promoting enterprise development. It is important to start enterprise development policies early because the main drivers are perceptual variables that are difficult to change in the short run. Second, for developed economies, reducing entry regulations, in most cases, will not result in more high-potential startups. Both labor market reform and deregulation of financial markets may be needed to support growth of high-performance ventures.      

CFO's accounting talent,compensation and turnover

This paper builds on and contributes to the literature on Chief Financial Officer's (CFO) compensation and turnover. We contend that the accounting talent of CFOs can be measured by accounting errors that occur when CFOs implement accounting standards. We find (i) a positive association between the CFO's accounting talent and the CFO's compensation ex ante in the transition year; (ii) a positive association between the CFO's accounting talent and the CFO's bonus in the subsequent year (adoption year); and (iii) an inverse association between the CFO's accounting talent and CFO turnover in the subsequent year (adoption year).     

Job creation and persistence in services and manufacturing

An important new literature on gross employment flows has produced a great outpouring of stylized facts. In this paper we examine one aspect of this literature through the lens of dynamic models and theories of industrial evolution. We extend the Davis and Haltiwanger methodology for analysis of the persistence of gross job creation, distinguishing the persistence of new jobs from business births and from expansions. The persistence rates are then compared with those expected in each sector if average annual job creation and destruction were distributed across the business population independently of the prior years changes. The results provide a basis for discussing aspects of the different dynamics of job creation in services and manufacturing.JEL Classification: J6, L6, L8, M13Correspondence to: Zoltan J. AcsThis research was conducted while the authors were research associates at the Center for Economic Studies of the U.S. Bureau of the Census, with support from the American Statistical Association/National Science Foundation/Census Bureau Research Program under grant number SBR 9808594. We would like to thank Radwan Saade for valuable research assistance, seminar participants at the International J. A. Schumpeter Society Conference in Manchester, England and two anonymous referees for helpful comments. The research results and conclusions expressed in this paper do not necessarily represent the views of the Census Bureau or of the Center for Economic Studies. The usual caveat applies.