Intellectual capital and innovativeness in software development firms: the moderating role of firm size

Abstract

We examine the effect of intellectual capital on firms’ innovativeness and the moderating role of firm size in software development firms in Kenya. Using moderated regression analysis, we found support for the proposition that human and social capital enhance firms’ innovativeness. We did not, however, find any significant effect of organizational capital on firms’ innovativeness. The results from the moderated regression suggest that the smaller the firm, the stronger the influence of intellectual capital on firms’ innovativeness. The results therefore indicate that human and social capital are critical in the innovation process and so firms that neglect these capitals are unlikely to realize the potential to innovate particularly in software development firms.     

Log-normal continuous cascade model of asset returns: aggregation properties and estimation

Multifractal models and random cascades have been successfully used to model asset returns. In particular, the log-normal continuous cascade is a parsimonious model that has proven to reproduce most observed stylized facts. In this paper, several statistical issues related to this model are studied. We first present a quick, but extensive, review of its main properties and show that most of these properties can be studied analytically. We then develop an approximation theory in the limit of small intermittency λ²???1, i.e. when the degree of multifractality is small. This allows us to prove that the probability distributions associated with these processes possess some very simple aggregation properties across time scales. Such a control of the process properties at different time scales allows us to address the problem of parameter estimation. We show that one has to distinguish two different asymptotic regimes: the first, referred to as the ‘low-frequency asymptotics’, corresponds to taking a sample whose overall size increases, whereas the second, referred to as the ‘high-frequency asymptotics’, corresponds to sampling the process at an increasing sampling rate. The first case leads to convergent estimators, whereas in the high-frequency asymptotics, the situation is much more intricate: only the intermittency coefficient λ² can be estimated using a consistent estimator. However, we show that, in practical situations, one can detect the nature of the asymptotic regime (low frequency versus high frequency) and consequently decide whether the estimations of the other parameters are reliable or not. We apply our results to equity market (individual stocks and indices) daily return series and illustrate a possible application to the prediction of volatility and conditional value at risk.     

Political versus economic institutions in the growth process

After a decade of research on the relationship between institutions and growth, there is no consensus about the exact way in which these two variables interact. In this paper we re-examine the role that institutions play in the growth process using data for developed and developing economies over the period 1975–2005. Our results indicate that the data is best described by an econometric model with two growth regimes. Political institutions are the key determinant of which regime an economy belongs to, while economic institutions have a direct impact on growth rates within each regime. These findings support the hypothesis that political institutions are one of the deep causes of growth, setting the stage in which economic institutions and standard covariates operate.     

Poverty,disputes, and access to justice in two Indonesian provinces

This analysis explores the determinants behind the unequal access to justice services among poor Indonesians. The study analyzes the stock of observed past disputes by socioeconomic group and the demand for conflict resolution services for unresolved conflicts or “trajectories.” It also models the hypothetical demand of justice services for future disputes. Results suggest that unequal access to justice might go beyond the financial costs of seeking justice and also depends on individual preferences and community infrastructure. These findings warn against focusing exclusively on formal justice costs to improve the equal access of the poor to conflict resolution services.     

Estimating the speed of adjustment of European banking efficiency under a quadratic loss function

This paper investigates the speed of adjustment of cost efficiency to equilibrium level in the European banking industry. Our analysis provides for the first time insights into the process of convergence across European banking markets as measured by the speed of adjustment of cost efficiency. In particular, we employ a quadratic loss function specification based on forward-looking rational expectations to model the underlying dynamics of efficiency scores in the banking industry of the EU-15 region over the period 1998–2005. Results show that there is considerable variation in the speed of adjustment across banking systems, while over time it appears that continuing efforts to advance financial integration have led to some improvement in the speed of adjustment to the long-run equilibrium.     

Quantile price convergence and spillover effects among Bitcoin,Fintech, and artificial intelligence stocks

This research explores the distributional and directional predictabilities among Fintech, Bitcoin, and artificial intelligence stocks from March 2018 to January 2021 using nonparametric causality-in-quantile and crossquantilogram approaches. We also examine connectedness across the assets using a quantile VAR approach. The results indicate the existence of bidirectional causality-in-variance between the variables in a normal market. We also find that directional predictability among the assets is oscillatory over time lags. Finally, we observe a strong price connectedness for highly positive and negative changes. These results further document the diversification potential and safe-haven properties of technology-related assets for portfolio investors.     

Mobile Telephony and Economic Growth in Africa

This article analyzes the impact of mobile telephony on economic growth in Africa. It uses panel data on 36 African countries over the period 1995 to 2010, and estimates an econometric model made up of two equations–one expressing output as a function of mobile telephony, and the other, a demand function, reflecting the possibility of a reverse causation from the former to the latter. Given the importance of telecommunication in the development process and the dire state of fixed‐line telephones in Africa, the explosive growth in mobile telephony on the continent could potentially contribute to addressing some of the important challenges it faces today, including the lack of robust economic growth and of poverty alleviation. Employing panel data estimation procedures, this study finds evidence that supports the view that increased mobile penetration contributes to the growth rate of real gross domestic product (GDP). However, the increase in mobile telephone use was not found to have been significantly influenced by GDP growth. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Divided we stand: institutional collaboration in tourism planning and development in the Central Region of Ghana

This research is an exploratory study that examines collaboration at the institutional level in the tourism sector of the Central Region, Ghana. The research begins with a review of the key issues related to collaboration in tourism planning and development followed by an extensive exploration of three main issues related to institutional collaboration in tourism in the Central Region. The three main issues are the vision of tourism development shared among stakeholders, collaboration and coordination within the public sector and between the public and private sectors and the factors that constrain and facilitate collaboration and coordination. Using extensive interviews with key stakeholders and reviewing policy documents, the research indicates low levels of collaboration between tourism institutions both within the public sector and across the public–private sectors. This is notwithstanding a shared awareness of the benefits of collaboration among all actors. The research thus contributes interesting insights into the politics of collaboration in tourism destinations. Given tourism's contribution to the Ghanaian economy, it is imperative that efforts are made towards improving the levels of collaboration and coordination between tourism agencies and institutions.     

Migrants' Remittances,Governance and Heterogeneity

This paper investigates the effect of governance on remittances with specific focus on accounting for heterogeneity in the relationship. Using nonparametric kernel methods that are robust to arbitrary forms of non-linearity, heterogeneity and model specification, and six governance measures from the World Governance Indicators (WGI), the relationship is analysed for 109 countries for the period 1996–2014. The findings show that all six measures: voice and accountability, political stability, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law and control of corruption are significantly related with remittances. Moreover, the relationship is highly nonlinear and heterogeneous across countries or regions, and time. In addition, specific aspects of governance quality matter differently for remittances across each regional groupings. Hence, there is the need for country-specific rather than a one-size fits all governance reform agenda.     

Trading firms in the services sectors: comparable evidence from four EU countries

We establish a set of stylised facts for trade and trading firms in five market services sectors using comparable firm- and activity-level data from four EU countries. Our analysis shows that exports account for much lower shares of overall sales in the services sectors than in manufacturing. This is because fewer firms are engaged in trade in the services sectors and also because within particular sectors firms trade a lower share of their sales on average. Services producers trade mostly goods, but in terms of value, trade in services is much more important to them than to manufacturers. Larger and more productive firms are more likely to be two-way traders and to engage in both goods and services trade. Trade by services firms is somewhat less dominated by firms that both export and import than trade by manufacturing firms. Few firms export many services or to many countries. The value of services exports is increasing in the number of markets served but not necessarily in the number of services traded.