Organizational Sustainability Determinants in Different Cultural Settings: A Conceptual Framework

Since the link between organizations’ sustainability initiatives and effects from the societal environment has not been consistently established in the literature, this paper provides a conceptual framework to demonstrate the antecedents to the levels of sustainability initiatives undertaken by firms. Taking insights from institutional theory, it proposes that the relationship between the sustainability determinants and the level of sustainability initiatives is mediated by coercive, mimetic and normative isomorphic pressures. Moreover, it suggests that culture plays a significant role in moderating the extent to which the various types of isomorphic pressure on firms may influence the levels of firms’ sustainability initiatives. The implications of the framework are discussed in the light of encouraging sustainability initiatives and overall sustainable development in various cultural settings as well as undertaking future research to enhance the framework and its applicability. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Poverty Reduction Effects of Agricultural Technology Adoption: The Case of Improved Cassava Varieties in Nigeria

We use DNA‐fingerprinting to estimate the poverty reduction effect of adoption of improved cassava varieties in Nigeria. We estimate the counterfactual household income distribution of cassava producers by combining farm‐level treatment effects with a market‐level model. Our results suggest that adoption of improved cassava varieties has led to a 4.6 percentage point reduction in poverty, though this is sensitive to the measurement of adoption status. Therefore, accurate measurement of adoption is crucial for a more credible estimate of the poverty reduction effect of adoption. Our analysis also suggests that farmers who are more likely to be adopters are also likely to face higher structural costs. Addressing structural barriers that make improved technologies less profitable for the poor would therefore be important to increase the poverty reduction effect of improved cassava varieties.     

Estimating volatility clustering and variance risk premium effects on bank default indicators

Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting - Default risk increases substantially during financial stress times due to mainly the two reasons: volatility clustering and investors’ desire...     

What drives global B2B e-commerce usage: an analysis of the effect of the complexity of trading system and competition pressure

The purpose of this paper is to examine the conditions in which B2B e-commerce is most likely to diffuse widely at the country level. This paper examines the role of trading system complexity and pressure of competition on B2B EC diffusion by controlling Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure. Our sample comprises a pool of country-year dataset from 143 countries over a three-year period (2014–2016). The data were collected from Network Readiness Index Report and Global Competitiveness Report. The findings provide evidence that greater the complexity of trading relationships with the global economy and high level of pressure from the competition are the main forces for B2B use across countries. Consequently, the authors suggest that having a strong trade relationship with developed countries with matured B2B e-commerce practice is helpful in sustaining B2B e-commerce use across countries.     

Enhancing green product and process innovation: Towards an integrative framework of knowledge acquisition and environmental investment

Despite the increasing interest in green innovation literature, little is known on how and under what conditions firms' knowledge transfer activities affect green innovation. There is lack of research that on how particular organizational capabilities are seen more useful and how it influences on green innovation performance. To address this research gap, we examine a mediation model in which we explore whether a firm's knowledge acquisition capability and investment in environmental management mediate the impact of buyer-driven knowledge transfer activities on green product innovation and green process innovation. On the basis of an analysis of a sample of 239 manufacturing firms, we find that buyer-driven knowledge activities have a greater positive impact on green product innovation than green process innovation. Investment in environmental management fully mediates the relationship between buyer-driven knowledge transfer activities and green process innovation, and knowledge acquisition capability partially mediates the relationship between buyer-driven knowledge transfer activities and green product innovation. The current study provides evidence that internal competencies and the role of buyers in knowledge transfer are critical for explaining the green product innovation and green process innovation. Our results suggest that buyer involvement pushes firms to develop resource acquisition capability to enhance green product innovation. Our results also highlight the importance of investment in environmental management for overcoming the environmental challenges in the manufacturing firms.     

Consistency of option prices under bid–ask spreads

Given a finite set of European call option prices on a single underlying, we want to know when there is a market model that is consistent with these prices. In contrast to previous studies, we allow models where the underlying trades at a bid–ask spread. The main question then is how large (in terms of a deterministic bound) this spread must be to explain the given prices. We fully solve this problem in the case of a single maturity, and give several partial results for multiple maturities. For the latter, our main mathematical tool is a recent result on approximation by peacocks.     

Compliance Costs of Corporate Income Taxation in Singapore

This study is the second in a series of studies investigating tax compliance costs incurred by public-listed companies. We found evidence of a size effect which is a predominant finding of similar studies. The size effect was more pronounced when absolute measures of costs were used than when a relative measure, cost/sales turnover, was used. Additional evidence was found of limited success relating to the IRAS's moves to simplify the tax system. Specifically, only large companies with sales turnover exceeding $500m benefited and considerably reduced their overall compliance costs. Most of the decrease was a result of the computational component of compliance costs. This resulted in the gap in absolute costs narrowing between Group 3 and any of the other categories of companies. There was also greater reliance on external professionals, the smaller the company. Views elicited indicate that more could be done to increase accessibility to IRAS publications for Group 1 and Group 2 companies.     

Country Risk,Regulation, and Liquidity Transformation in Palestine and Neighboring Countries

This study analyzes the impact of economic, financial, and political instability on the liquidity transformation of banks operating in unstable environments. Our main goal is to assess the relationship between overall risk in a country and liquidity transformation. With this goal in mind, we use a sample of five Middle Eastern countries during the period 2005–2010. Our results showed that the high-risk environment has a significant and negative impact on both liquidity transformation and the extension of credit. In addition, we conclude that high capital requirements may reduce further lending, while imposing liquidity requirements seems to be a better strategy for enhancing liquidity transformation.