Navigating the internationalization process: Strategic resources for early internationalizing firms

Journal of International Entrepreneurship - Despite an increasing number of studies identifying factors that influence the internationalization process for early internationalizing firms (EIFs), it...     

An inspector calls: farm accommodation providers' attitudes to quality assurance schemes in the county of Devon

Estimates suggest that 10 000 farms in the UK offer bed and breakfast (B and B) serviced accommodation. A thorough review of the existing literature indicates over 50% of Devon and Cornwall's farmhouse B and B sector operate without participating in any form of quality assurance inspection scheme. This research executes a stratified postal survey to gain a comprehensive understanding of Devon's farmhouse B and B product, with particular interest in extracting providers' attitudes towards quality assurance inspection schemes. The very representative results suggest a divergence of attitudes towards the notion of quality inspections for all farmhouse B and B providers. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

CEO performance-based grants’ vesting provisions and debt contracts: Evidence from GAAP,Non-GAAP and KPI metrics

We examine the influence of CEOs’ equity and cash grants’ vesting provisions that are based on (i) accounting performance metrics prepared under US generally accepted principles (GAAP), (ii) non-GAAP performance metrics and (iii) key performance indicators (KPIs) on debt contracts. We find that grants with vesting provisions based on GAAP metrics and KPIs lead to a lower cost of debt, a lower likelihood of collateral requirements and less restrictive covenant terms. In contrast, performance-based grants with non-GAAP vesting provisions lead to a higher cost of debt, a higher likelihood of collateral requirements and more restrictive covenant terms. Supplementary analyses reveal that our results are incremental to other debtholder-friendly features in the CEO contracts, such as grants with debt-related performance measures and CEOs’ inside debt holdings, and robust to alternative variable definitions and specifications. Overall, our results suggest that debtholders understand the differing incentives associated with GAAP, non-GAAP and KPI-based performance measures, and incorporate these differences into debt contracts.     

Using trust-based philanthropy with community-based organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic

Community-based organizations (CBOs) fill a critical role in acting as public health partners and trusted resources for their communities, especially in an emergency. The CDC Foundation, an independent, nonprofit organization, used trust-based philanthropy to manage more than 110 COVID-19 grants focused on equitable vaccine information, outreach, and access. The CDC Foundation team uses a trust-based philanthropy paradigm by applying five out of six of the grantmaking practices: do the homework; simplify and streamline paperwork; be transparent and responsive; solicit and act on feedback; and offer support beyond the check. By applying trust-based philanthropy practices, the CDC Foundation is empowering CBOs through flexible grant management and more equitable power dynamics as grantee and grantor. This has been essential to CBOs in their efforts of tackling health inequities during the COVID-19 pandemic and improving community resilience. Lessons learned will inform future collaborations with CBOs where the power dynamics are shared.     

Connecting nature with luxury service

Many service and retail facilities, such as hotels, restaurants, hospitals, and airports, are incorporating nature elements into their building design. Individuals' affinity for nature is called biophilia. The literature on biophilic design heavily focuses on the restorative effects of biophilic design on the facility users, leaving many other effects under-investigated. In particular, biophilic design implementation requires significant financial investment, thus, whether biophilic design can bring financial returns from consumers would be of interest to practitioners. This study investigates whether biophilic design attributes are linked to consumers’ willingness to pay a price premium (WTPP). Two pretests show that when biophilic attributes are moderately implemented, they can elevate aesthetic and attractiveness perceptions, but this effect tapers off if the implementation is excessive. Through three between-subjects main experiments, this study confirms that WTPP is enhanced via increased aesthetic value and luxury perceptions when biophilic attributes are present (vs. absent—Studies 1 and 2), but this serial mediation is moderated by biophilic scarcity (low vs. high—Study 3). An adequate level of nature elements, when implemented in biophilic-scarce areas, can improve customers' perceptions of aesthetic value and luxury. This, in turn, improves customers' WTPP for the service.     

What's in a Name? Defining New Entrants to Farming

New entrants to farming are eligible for CAP targeted supports. The intention of these supports is to promote innovativeness and sustainability in the agricultural sector through generational renewal. However, new entrants (successors or those completely new into the industry), still face multiple barriers above other longstanding farmers, including lack of access to necessary capital, land and housing. There is also ambiguity about the success of new entrant supports in achieving their stated objectives. We draw on results from an online survey distributed to anyone involved in farming in Europe, including European new entrants and those working in new entrant support services. Survey respondents were asked how they would define a ‘new entrant farmer’. A clear majority of respondents indicated that new entrants should be new to the industry; that is, not successors to existing farm businesses. A substantial minority of respondents indicated that new entrants should be establishing innovative new businesses, with an overlapping cohort emphasising sustainability. Very few respondents identified age as an important criterion. We argue that the new entrant definition utilised in policy supports could be more targeted towards policy objectives, distinguishing social justice supports (enabling newcomers to enter the sector), from supports for innovation (e.g. venture capital funds) and sustainability (greening the CAP).     

Recourse as shadow equity: Evidence from commercial real estate loans

We study the role that recourse plays in the commercial real estate loan contracts of the largest U.S. banks. We find that recourse is valued by lenders as a substitute for conventional equity. At origination, recourse loans have rate spreads that are about 20 basis points lower and loan-to-value ratios that are almost 3 percentage points higher than nonrecourse loans. Dynamically, recourse affects loan modification negotiations by providing additional bargaining power to the lender. Recourse loans were half as likely to receive accommodation during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the modifications that did occur entailed a relatively smaller reduction in payments.