Employment relations in small commercial businesses in China

There has been a growing interest in the way patterns of employment relations are changing in China. However, there remains insufficient understanding in employment relations in small private businesses. This study of small businesses in China explores major issues in employment relations in these firms. The finding shows that there are major differences between large and small businesses in China in their employment practices and that considerable similarities exist between small firms in China and those in other countries.     

Environmental reporting by the Fortune Global 250: exploring the influence of nationality and sector

While research on environmental reporting frequently includes large multinational enterprises, the number of surveys that systematically analyses a whole set of such firms, including the non‐reporters, is limited – and mainly focuses on the United States. This article presents the state of environmental reporting by the Fortune Global 250, all large multinationals with a potentially large impact on other firms. Of these 250 firms, 35% has a recent environmental report, with another 32% publishing other types of environmental information. Reporting frequencies between the financial and non‐financial sector differed considerably, at 15 and 44% respectively. Besides an analysis of the number and contents of environmental reports, the importance of sectoral differences and firms' nationality is also considered. A framework is developed that posits the existence of reporting legislation in firms' home countries (some in place/pending, or none) against the direct environmental impact of the sector (large or small). The results of the analysis fit partially in this framework. Only a small number of reporting firms originates from countries with some kind of legislation (particularly The Netherlands), but national societal pressure seems to play a large role (especially in the UK, The Netherlands and Germany). Many operate in sectors with a substantial direct environmental impact (chemicals, pharmaceuticals, oil and motor vehicles and parts); reporting in sectors with more indirect effects is getting off the ground. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Co‐determination and strategic integration in German firms

Looking at the economic development and importance of German companies in Europe, one might expect that an important aspect of a good economic performance is a well‐functioning HR system. Although a number of scholars claim this, the empirical evidence seems to point to the opposite. Several comparative studies have found that HRM in German companies is less strategically integrated and proactive than that of comparable firms in other countries. This article argues that the empirical results reported fail to grasp the essence of HRM in German firms. This lacuna is partly due to the co‐determination structure. HRM in large German firms has to be evaluated within the co‐determination structure, with the Betriebsrat (works council) being an important actor. For German firms co‐determination might even be a strategic resource. By examining this issue within such a framework, a more favourable picture of HR integration in German firms emerges.     

The ‘Company with Committees’: Change or Continuity in Japanese Corporate Governance?

Corporate governance practices are arguably diffusing across the world. This paper examines the adoption of the committee‐based governance system (i.e. audit, nomination, and remuneration) in Japanese firms, a practice common in Anglo‐American capitalism but potentially contestable in Japan. The study finds that firms that are internationally exposed through cross listing are more likely to adopt the committee system. Moreover, more experienced and highly cross‐held firms, with larger proportions of foreign ownership, are more likely to adopt the committee system. On the other hand our study finds partial support for the hypothesis that larger proportions of bank ownership are negatively associated with the adoption of the committee system, suggesting a gradual withdrawal by banks from the traditional monitoring of firms. This paper adds to the longstanding debate on the convergence on or persistent divergence from the Anglo‐American corporate governance system. The study thus provides insights into corporate governance changes in non‐Anglo/American countries that face a struggle between global capital market forces for change and deep‐seated institutional practices of continuity.     

Growing and mature stage technology selection patterns of small sized firms in selected Asian countries — Korea,Hong Kong,and Japan

By comparing successful technology innovation cases with unsuccessful ones in Hong Kong and Korea, as deueloping countries, comparing with Japan, as an advanced country in the Asian region, this study suggests a basic policy of the selection of R&D projects for small firms in developing countries. These countries have great differences. For instance, with respect to governmental support, small firms in Hong Kong do not haue any opportunity of government support while small firms in Korea enjoy it so much. In Japan, small firms have enjoyed it previously but now they face the similar situation of small firms in Hong Kong. Based on the difference of these countries, the existing hypotheses related to technology innovation are elicited and modified suitably for small sized firms in developing country, since these hypotheses have been derived on the basis of large firms in advanced countries by other authors. 77ns study shows the different selection pattern of R&D projects with respect to growing and mature stage technologies, based on the field study.     

Human resource management in the Canadian manufacturing sector

Using a sample of 356 Canadian manufacturing organizations, this study examines the pattern of implementation of a wide range of HRM practices including external recruitment procedures, internal job posting systems, performance appraisal methods, job evaluation methods and pay-for-performance systems. A comparison of the adopted HRM practices between large and small firms and between union and non-union firms is also made. The results show that the main difference between large and small firms lies in the recruitment procedure and the job evaluation process. The difference between the union and non-union firms is associated with the greater emphasis placed on performance by the latter.

This study also presents some evidence regarding the perceived importance of twenty HRM activities. The evidence suggests that the three most important activities include health and safety compliance, employee/labour relations and disciplinary issues. On the other hand, the three least important ones are conducting attitudinal surveys, public relations activities and career planning development.     

外商直接投资在中国的空间外溢效应研究

本文的研究结果发现,除了国外直接投资对大型企业不存在空间外溢比邻优势外,国外直接投资对中、小型企业以及港澳台地区直接投资对所有规模的企业均存在一定的空间外溢比邻优势;外商直接投资拉大了东西部企业生产率的差距,其中港澳台地区直接投资对东西部大型企业的生产率外溢差异远大于国外直接投资,港澳台地区直接投资分布相对集中于东部以及其对大型企业表现出的比邻优势使其外溢效应出现明显的区域差异,这是导致东西部生产率差异的主要因素;外商直接投资对不同规模的企业具有不同的外溢效应,加剧了我国大、小企业之间的竞争地位差异。     

Global Credit Risk: World,Country and Industry Factors

We investigate the dynamic properties of systematic default risk conditions for firms in different countries, industries and rating groups. We use a high‐dimensional nonlinear non‐Gaussian state‐space model to estimate common components in corporate defaults in a 41 country samples between 1980:Q1 and s2014:Q4, covering both the global financial crisis and euro area sovereign debt crisis. We find that macro and default‐specific world factors are a primary source of default clustering across countries. Defaults cluster more than what shared exposures to macro factors imply, indicating that other factors also play a significant role. For all firms, deviations of systematic default risk from macro fundamentals are correlated with net tightening bank lending standards, suggesting that bank credit supply and systematic default risk are inversely related. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Corporate governance and the returns to acquiring firms' shareholders: an international comparison

We examine the effects of mergers on the returns to acquiring companies' shareholders for a large sample of companies from both Anglo‐Saxon and non‐Anglo‐Saxon countries over the 1980s and 1990s. With the important exception of Japan, we find similar patterns of returns across both types of countries. For a sample of 9733 acquiring companies the mean percentage gain over a short window of 21 days is 0.6%. This picture changes dramatically as the market has more time to evaluate the mergers and/or the acquiring firms. After three years, acquirers' shareholders in the United States and continental Europe lost on average 19% of their market value compared to a portfolio of non‐merging firms in their size deciles and their two‐digit industry, in Canada, Australia and New Zealand roughly 16%, and in the four Scandinavian countries almost 15%. Further analysis indicates that some mergers are consistent with the hypothesis that mergers generate synergies, but that a majority of mergers in Continental Europe are explained by the managerial discretion and/or hubris hypothesis. Our findings also suggest that corporate governance institutions in the United States and the other Anglo‐Saxon countries lead to better investment performance than in continental Europe, when one confines one's attention to mergers. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Network effects,trade, and productivity

We consider network effects in the monopolistically competitive model of trade developed by Melitz and Ottaviano (2008). We show that a larger network effect intensifies competition by allowing more‐productive firms to raise prices and earn higher profits, but forcing less‐productive firms to reduce prices and earn lower profits. As a result, low‐productivity firms are driven out of the market. We also show that when network effects are asymmetric, it may be difficult for firms from a country with a small network effect to compete with firms from a country with a large network effect.     

Sustainable development of small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises in the European Union: A taxonomy of circular economy practices

This paper focuses on the implementation of circular economy (CE) practices in small‐ and medium‐sized firms in all 28 European Union (EU) countries. The analyses take into account the hierarchical nature of the collected data as firms are nested within EU countries, that is, the heterogeneity between different types of firms and countries according to practices and attitudes towards CE. The multilevel latent class model identifies groups of firms and groups of EU countries that are homogeneous in terms of CE, that is, how the homogeneous groups of small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) are distributed across the groups of EU countries. These results, together with the fact that firms with similar CE attitudes and practices have different demographic and business profiles across groups of countries, shed further light on the topic of green behavior in the EU with implications for businesses' environmental policies. Moreover, indications emerge that European policies favoring the implementation of CE practices should be targeted at least for subgroups of European countries, considering the different composition by typology of SMEs operating in their territories and that, at the same time, policies should be defined within each group of countries to account for the specific features of each of the four classes of SMEs.     

The transformation of the German vocational training regime: evidence from firms’ training behaviour

The German system of industrial relations has undergone significant changes in the last decade. This article reflects on and provides empirical evidence for how these changes have affected the training behaviour of firms. Conventional perspectives would predict a general decline in training investment when the constraints of collective wage bargaining are loosened. Relying on a large data set on the costs and benefits of apprenticeship training for the years 2000 and 2007, we do find evidence for this hypothesis but would add that the strength of the effect varies strongly across different types of firms. Large firms have benefited much more from participating in training than have small firms and have therefore maintained their investment in training because they are able to reduce net costs by expanding the productive contributions of apprentices. This finding may help to explain the apparent resilience of the German training system in the recent economic and financial crisis.     

Investment and Capital Structure of Partially Private Regulated Firms

We develop a model that examines the capital structure and investment decisions of regulated firms in a setting that incorporates two key institutional features of the public utilities sector in many countries: firms are partially owned by the state and regulators are not necessarily independent. Among other things, we show that regulated firms issue more debt, invest more, and enjoy higher regulated prices when they face more independent regulators, are more privatized, and when regulators are more pro‐firm. Moreover, regulatory independence, higher degree of privatization, and pro‐firm regulatory climate are associated with higher social welfare.     

On-the-job training and rigidity of employment protection in the developing world: Evidence from differential enforcement

This paper analyzes the causal effect between strict employment protection regulations and the firm incentive to invest in job training of their employees. We explore a large firm level data set across several developing countries and assume that the rigidity of labor regulations affects more the investment decision of firms that faces a rigid enforcement of labor regulations. Our findings show that differences across countries in the enforcement of more rigid employment protection regulation are associated with very small differences in the investment in job training across firms. This finding is robust across several specifications and samples.     

High‐performance work systems and workplace performance in small,medium‐sized and large firms

This article draws on the Organisational Growth and Development (OGD) life cycle model to explore the relationship between high‐performance work systems (HPWS) and performance in firms of different size, thereby extending understanding of congruence or ‘best fit’ theory within strategic HRM debates. With reference to management control theory, economies of scale and the availability of specialist managerial skills, the article hypothesises that while an HPWS–performance relationship might exist in small, medium‐sized and large firms, the relationship will be stronger in large firms than in both small and medium‐sized firms, and stronger in medium‐sized firms than in small firms. Analysis of data from the British Workplace Employment Relations Survey demonstrates, however, that there is no association between HPWS and workplace performance in medium‐sized firms, in contrast to the positive relationship between HPWS and performance found in large firms and between HPWS and labour productivity in small firms.     

On the Real Effect of Financial Pressure: Evidence From Firm‐Level Employment During the Euro‐Area Crisis

Using a large panel of mainly unquoted euro‐area firms over the period 2003–2011, this paper examines the impact of financial pressure on firms’ employment. The analysis finds evidence that financial pressure negatively affects firms’ employment decisions. This effect is stronger during the euro area‐crisis (2010–2011), especially for firms in the periphery compared to their counterparts in non‐periphery European economies. When we introduce firm‐level heterogeneity, we show that financial pressure appears to be both statistically and quantitatively more important for bank‐dependent, small and privately held firms operating in periphery economies during the crisis.     

The effectiveness of more advanced human resource systems in small firms

In this paper, we analyze whether Human Resource (HR) systems in small firms can be associated with higher performance as well as higher wages. Our study, which focuses on Dutch pharmacies, shows that more advanced HR systems do not have any effect on firms' productivity. In these micro firms, it is only employees who significantly benefit from the introduction of both a basic and a more advanced HR system. Our findings that small firms do not significantly benefit from introducing less traditional HR practices offer an explanation for the thresholds in the diffusion of these HR practices in small firms, and suggest that in these firms formal HR practices are less important than personal relations between the employer and his or her employees.     

Impact of Green Innovation on Labor Productivity and its Determinants: an Analysis of the Korean Manufacturing Industry

Due to worsening environmental conditions around the globe, firms have been investing a great deal of money in green technologies as a way of coping with the environmental crisis. This paper uses a unique data set based on the Korea Innovation Survey to examine the impact of green innovation on labor productivity, and the determinants of environmental activities in 2010. The empirical results show that green innovation intended for both firm and customer benefits has a positive effect on labor productivity. This finding means that firms need to implement firm‐oriented green innovation as well as customer‐oriented green innovation in order to increase their performance. Our findings also show that there are significant differences in aggregate green innovations depending on different firm sizes and industries. Specifically, large firms implement environmental activities more than small ones, and pollution‐intensive industries tend to invest more in activities related to environmental technology. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Exploring the firm and country determinants of the voluntary adoption of integrated reporting

Information used to manage the business and support the decision‐making of stakeholders is being subject to an evolution. In this context, traditional financial reporting is considered not sufficient anymore. This has translated into a sharp increase in the number of firms that have begun to adopt emerging reporting practices. This study aims to examine the influence that both firm‐ and country‐specific characteristics have on the voluntary uptaking of integrated reporting internationally. In order to do so, it analyses a sample of 71 international listed companies that have adopted this reporting form in 2016. The results show that firms are more likely to implement integrated reporting if they are located in countries with a higher level of corruption perception and a better risk rating and that are considered as relatively more collectivist and feminist and with a long‐term orientation. Legal system has resulted to be not significant. As for firms' characteristics, large size, profitability, market‐to‐book ratio, and the size of the board are found to be significant variables. Moreover, the results indicate that the adoption of integrated reporting is not influenced by a higher level of leverage, firm efficiency and board diversity and independence.     

Competitive strategy for open and user innovation

I study the incentives to open technologies in imperfectly competitive markets with user innovation. Firms may choose to open part of their knowledge or private information so that it becomes freely accessible to users. Openness decisions are governed by a trade‐off between collaboration and appropriability: by becoming more open, a firm encourages user innovation but hampers its ability to capture value. I find that large firms are less open and invest more in product development than small firms, and that firms react to greater openness from rivals by becoming more open. I also show that compatibility and spillovers have a negative effect on openness, and that firms become more open as the number of competitors increases.