Public Credit Guarantee Schemes and SMEs’ Profitability: Evidence from Italy

The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the Italian State Credit Guarantee Scheme (Central Guarantee Fund). The paper analyzes the impact of the program on SMEs’ profitability considering the firm size and sector. The analysis is performed using propensity‐score matching estimators and the Difference in Differences regressions on a proprietary sample of about 38,000 SMEs in the period 2007–2009. Overall, the Central Guarantee Fund generated an increase in the profitability of guaranteed firms during the period of economic downturn. However, significant differences emerged across firms by size and sector. The effect is positive and robust only for micro‐ and small‐sized firms, and the most relevant improvement in the profitability is recorded for firms operating in the manufacturing sector. This implies that more customized programs are necessary to reach a higher value for money in entrepreneurial policies.     

家族涉入对企业外包决策的影响:来自中国制造业的经验证据

文章利用重庆和浙江两地制造业民营企业的问卷调查数据,实证检验家族涉入与企业外包倾向之间的关系,分析结果表明:第一,现阶段中国家族企业外包倾向强于非家族企业;第二,家族管理权、领导企业的家族代数与家族企业外包倾向之间有显著的正向关系,家族或泛家族信任与家族企业外包倾向之间有显著的负向关系.研究结论对我国家族企业成长实践具有重要指导意义.     

The Role of Top Management Participation and IT Capability in Developing SMEs’ Competitive Process Capabilities

This research explores how top management participation and three types of IT capability enable SMEs' competitive process alignment and flexibility capabilities. Our research hypotheses are tested using data from 310 Australian SMEs. Results show that top management participation and external IT linkage capability positively affect both process alignment and process flexibility. While IT infrastructure capability and IT business spanning capability positively affect process alignment, they are not significantly related to process flexibility. In addition, both process alignment and process flexibility capabilities have significant positive effects on SME performance. Contributions and implications of this study are discussed.     

The Theory of Raising Rivals’ Costs and Evidence from the International Labour Organisation

The strategy of raising rivals’ costs may be adopted by firms in a market, a cartel or interest group or by political majorities in a federal state or international organisation. We provide a first survey and formal exposition of the theory and present examples for each of these applications. In an international cross‐section analysis using unpublished data for the period 1980–98, we explain roll‐call voting of government representatives in ILO committees drafting international labour standards. Using four different indices of regulation and country samples, we find that governments vote for tighter standards if labour regulation is high in their own country. Our evidence rejects the hypothesis of Brown, Deardorff and Stern that countries exporting low‐skill labour‐intensive products vote for ILO standards in order to restrict their own supply and increase their terms of trade. As expected, left‐party governments vote more in line with labour unions than other governments do. Domestic regulation has a considerably larger effect on voting if the convention in question would raise labour costs in ILO member states. This indicates that highly regulated countries try to raise others’ costs.     

An Analysis of External Finance Availability on SMEs’ Decision Making: A Case Study of the Emerging Market of Poland

This article explores an understanding of the entrepreneurial behavior of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Poland, one of the emerging markets of the European Union, during the recent period of economic slowdown. It considers the role of accessibility to external financial resources in shaping decisions undertaken by such enterprises. The hypothesis is that, in a period of economic slowdown, SMEs that have difficulty in accessing external sources of financing adopt different strategies than those that have free access to those resources. The findings indicate that access to the external sources of financing is a statistically significant factor determining decisions of SMEs in relation to employment reduction, price reductions on goods/services, suspension of previously planned investments, and an increase in the level of salaries. Consequently, the study is important as it considers factors that impact the success and survival of SMEs in the emerging market; it is also unique, as it investigates these aspects in the recent period of the global economic downturn. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

省以下财政分权、晋升竞争与环境质量:理论与证据

基于中国经济持续高速增长和环境污染恶化并存的现象,本文构建了引入环境质量因素的多维晋升激励政府间竞争模型,解释中国环境质量下降的形成机制.本文利用2004～2010年河流水质监测面板数据,匹配地级市面板数据,运用系统GMM方法实证检验了省以下财政分权与地方官员晋升竞争两种形成机制.结果表明,省以下财政收入分权程度、地方官员晋升竞争力上升,促使地方政府降低环境保护支出和环境监管力度,增加污染物排放,降低地方环境质量.两种机制对环境质量下降的扩张效应具有替代效应,省以下财政支出分权程度对环境质量的影响则不确定.     

Role of Family Resources in Firm Performance: Evidence from Tanzania

The main purpose of this article is to examine the role of intangible family resources in the performance of family enterprises in Tanzania. In particular, the article examines the role of information sharing, family patient capital and family labor in firm performance. Using a sample of 163 family firms and the structural equation model of analysis, the findings indicate that family patient capital and information sharing contribute significantly to the performance of firms. With regard to the cost of labor, the study does not show any evidence that lower labor costs improve family firms' performance, most probably because these businesses incur additional labor costs which are not directly linked to the business. Based on the results, it is concluded that the family has an influence on the strategic level of family businesses, thereby contributing to their success.     

Family firms’ identity communication and consumers’ product involvement impact on consumer response

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the image transfer theory and the elaboration likelihood model can provide a theoretical framework capable of assessing the influence of consumers’ product involvement and family firms’ identity communication through websites on consumer responses. This research conducted an experiment using an eye‐tracking technique measuring attention to family and nonfamily corporate websites. The procedure involved 120 participants. Consistent with the image transfer theory, family firms’ identity through websites positively impacts attitude toward the website and intention to buy. Additionally, the attitude toward the website affects the relationship between family firms’ identity through websites and the intention to buy. In line with the elaboration likelihood model, consumers’ product involvement negatively impacts the relationship between family firms’ identity through websites and intention to buy.     

The Impact of Entrepreneurial Orientation,Technological Capability,and Consumer Attitude on Firm Performance: A Multi‐Theory Perspective

Despite the maturing entrepreneurial orientation literature, limited advance has occurred in the theoretical aspect of entrepreneurial orientation–firm performance relationship, and wide‐ranging empirical investigations are few. The authors address these concerns by testing a comprehensive model and by extending the theoretical boundary. Specifically, drawing on dynamic capability theory, core competence perspective, and consumer theories, we argue that technological capability is central for growth and financial performance of an entrepreneurially oriented firm. We introduce a construct called consumer attitude dynamism. We reason that this variable influences the growth of entrepreneurial firms. Our theory and empirical results primarily contribute to the entrepreneurship literature.     

Trade Liberalisation and Economic Performance: Theory and Evidence for Developing Countries

The last five decades have witnessed a profound evolution of economic policy in developing countries, particularly in the case of trade strategies. Both internal, as well as external, factors have prompted the need for more outward‐oriented (or liberalised) trade policy regimes. The creation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947 and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1995 have been important driving forces for free trade. Since then, the major quantitative barriers to trade, i.e. tariffs and non‐tariff barriers (quotas, licences and technical specifications, among other restrictions), have substantially been reduced or dismantled. Also, the progress towards more liberalised trade regimes, mainly in developing countries, has been manifested in the trade and development literature. Major studies suggest that the performance of more outward‐oriented economies is superior to that of those countries pursuing more inward‐looking trade practices (Greenaway and Nam, 1988; Dollar, 1992; Sachs and Warner, 1995; and Rodríguez and Rodrik, 2000). Recent developments in the international trade literature focus on the potential dynamic effects of trade liberalisation, i.e. simplification of tariff structures and elimination of non‐tariff barriers, in reducing the incentives to rent seeking and in accelerating the flow of technical knowledge from the world market. Moreover, there have been important advances regarding the study of trade liberalisation and its impact on exports, imports and the balance of payments, largely neglected in the literature, often driven by supply‐side considerations.     

职业化管理能力对家族企业绩效的影响——基于信任的中介作用

家族企业在发展壮大过程中,在管理上遇到了许多障碍,采用职业化管理是家族企业发展的必然要求,其中职业经理人的职业化管理能力成为目前研究的热点.研究认为,家族企业职业化管理能力是家族企业引入职业经理人,由经理人对家族企业的社会和企业文化进行深入理解和驾驭,从而在企业计划、组织、控制、领导、激励等环节中,高效运用相关专业知识和经验(如正规能力),更好地达成组织目标的能力.职业经理人的职业化管理能力与企业家和职业经理人之间的信任不存在显著关系,但存在正相关关系,与研究假设存在差异,职业化管理的正规能力对家族企业经营绩效存在正相关关系,职业化管理的文化能力与家族企业经营绩效存在正相关关系,企业家与职业经理人之间的信任与企业绩效存在正相关关系.     

The Impact of Key Retail Accounts on Supplier Performance: A Collaborative Perspective of Resource Dependency Theory

Existing literature suggests that the increasing concentration in the retail industry is allowing powerful retailers to exploit their weaker suppliers, which causes the suppliers’ performance to suffer. This study takes a collaborative perspective of resource dependency theory and suggests that when suppliers engage in supply chain relationships with key retail account (KRA) customers, their performance may improve, depending on the varying levels of the supplier's and KRAs’ market shares. The empirical analysis of data from two large retailers, Wal-Mart and Target, and a broad cross-section of their suppliers provides ample support for most of the hypotheses set forth in this paper: Suppliers that depend on KRAs for a significant share of their total revenues relinquish some of their leverage in the marketplace, but as the KRAs gain market share, their suppliers’ performance tends to increase. Cumulatively, these results provide evidence of collaborative supplier–KRA relationships, such that a supplier's dependency on KRAs may positively affect supplier performance. This finding supports a more positive, symbiotic view of dependency, resulting in important implications for key account management, supply chain management, and retail research and practice.     

家族涉入、家族理性与家族企业目标偏好——基于一项比较案例的探索

家族涉入是家族企业的基本特征,它影响了家族社会资本的结构分布,进而决定了家族理性的效用构成,并通过对家族企业二元目标的不同偏好表现出来。其中,家族理性反映为家族企业对家族整体责任的兼顾,二元目标指的是对企业即期利润的追求以及对家族非货币化利益的追求。这种家族涉入决定家族理性,家族理性体现家族企业目标偏好的理论构念,通过一项比较案例分析得以验证。案例中的两家家族企业背景相似,但由于企业传承上的不同选择影响了家族涉入情况,进而两家企业表现出显著的经营目标差异。     

The ‘New’ Theory of Optimum Currency Areas

Highbrow opinion is like a hunted hare; if you stand long enough it will come back to the place it started from. Dennis Robertson     

The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure on Financial Performance: Evidence from the GCC Islamic Banking Sector

We examine corporate governance diversity within a Coasian framework of stakeholder rights, where the central role of governance is to ensure that necessary firm-specific investments are made. This Coasian perspective on stakeholder theory offers a unifying framework towards a global theory of comparative corporate governance, bridging the gap between economic theories of the firm and stakeholder theory, also offering an economics-based alternative to agency theory that explicitly accounts for stakeholder rights. The Coasian perspective encompasses a diversity of corporate governance systems, but does not imply a unique global corporate governance benchmark. We posit that governance is firm dependent and endogenous conditional on the constraints imposed by a national governance system; consequently, there should be no systematic relationship between governance and firm performance once the national constraints are controlled for. However, the same national corporate governance system constraints confer comparative advantages to firms whose efficient levels of firm-specific investments are favored.     

The Impact of Human and Social Capital on Entrepreneurs’ Knowledge of Finance Alternatives

Building upon prior research that demonstrates how the limited knowledge of finance alternatives of entrepreneurs may cause suboptimal finance decisions, this paper examines how entrepreneurs’ human and social capital influence their knowledge of finance alternatives. For this purpose, we use survey data from 103 Belgian start‐ups. Results demonstrate that entrepreneurs with a business education and entrepreneurs with experience in accountancy or finance have a broader knowledge of finance alternatives. Having a strong network in the financial community is further positively associated with the knowledge of finance alternatives. However, generic human capital, including higher education, industry experience, and management experience, is almost not related with the knowledge of finance alternatives.     

家族经营权涉入对经理人薪酬业绩敏感度的权变影响

从家族经营权涉入的角度,考察不同治理问题情境下经理人薪酬业绩敏感度的差异。结果表明:在主要受第一类代理问题困扰的直接上市家族企业中,家族经营权涉入的退出,即家族企业职业化,对治理绩效有显著负面影响,反映为经理人薪酬业绩敏感度的降低。而在第二类代理问题相对严重的间接上市企业中,家族经营权涉入的加强,即公众企业家族化,也不利于治理绩效的好转,经理人薪酬业绩敏感度会随之降低。这说明,家族化与职业化在处理两类治理问题上的能力不同,家族化与职业化的选择应该权变而定。     

基于证据理论的政府低碳政策绩效评价方法探析

研究了基于证据理论对省级区域政府低碳政策实施的效果进行评价的方法。建立了产业层面、能源消费、碳排放、公众低碳意识和环境保护等5个一级指标13个二级指标的政策实施效果指标体系;提出了基于灰色相似性关联度的平均融合规则,解决了由于证据的相关性导致的证据合成的过估计问题;文后运用2010年中国统计年鉴的相关数据,对我国5个省级区域进行了综合评价。