Impact of funding sources on innovation: evidence from Brazilian software companies

This paper aims to investigate the impacts of different sources of innovation funding on company performances in the context of an emerging economy. Brazilian software companies are selected as a case for this investigation. Data – related to the types of funding support received and eight types of company performances measured in binary scales – was collected through an online survey from 188 companies located across Brazil. A multivariate probit model was estimated to assess the impacts of different funding schemes on company performances – controlling for other confounding effects. The findings confirmed the critical importance of public innovation funding, and revealed that companies that: (1) Used public funds were more likely to become nationally competitive; (2) Used loans from commercial banks were less likely to become nationally and internationally competitive; (3) Reinvested revenues were more likely to gain market share, and help in increasing the number of employees; (4) Not aware of public funding schemes were less likely to invest on research, development, and innovation. The overall findings suggest the positive impacts of innovation funds on company performance. They can serve as a policy guide to develop targeted performance strategy to determine which funding scheme would be effective to foster what outcomes.     

The extent and magnitude of formalin adulteration in fish sold in domestic markets of Bangladesh: a literature review

Bangladesh has been suffering from rampant food adulteration for the last few decades. Dishonest businessmen use formalin illegally as preservative to prevent spoilage and increase shelf‐life of fish. Prolonged consumption of formalin adulterated fish may cause serious health hazards (i.e. cancers) which lead to increased morbidity and mortality. The aim of the review was to examine the extent and magnitude of illegal formalin treatment in fish sold in domestic markets of Bangladesh. A systematic review was conducted using conventional databases and non‐conventional approaches to identify the relevant studies. Out of nine studies, eight confirmed the presence of formalin in fish collected from the markets of four main cities. Large and imported fishes were found to be mainly affected. Formalin adulterated fish was reported in seven studies. The fish were tested using a locally developed kit, and the amount of formalin treated fish ranged between 0.5 and 50%. Two other studies used the spectrophotometric method and reported specific formalin levels. The study conducted in Dhaka found mean levels of formalin to be 402.35 mg/kg in imported fishes and 118.60 mg/kg in local fishes which were much higher than the WHO recommended levels. In another study conducted in Mymensingh, formalin levels ranged between 1.4 and 7.3 mg/kg in both marketed and freshly caught pond fishes. The use of accurate, simple, specific and sensitive techniques is therefore highly recommended. The government and other agencies should address the issue as a priority basis by formulating effective policies and programs to safeguard the health of the public.     

Authorship,Collaboration, Topics,and Research Gaps in Environmental and Resource Economics 1991–2015

Environmental and Resource Economics is one of the premier journals in the field of environmental economics. It was established with an aspiration to focus more on applied and policy relevant research compared to other established journals, and to establish better channels of communication and collaboration between researchers from Europe and other parts of the world. We present a text based exploratory analysis of 1630 articles published in the Journal from 1991 to 2015 that suggests the Journal has been somewhat successful in meeting both these aims. Perhaps more importantly, it shows the Journal continues to progress toward these goals. The European authors are the largest contributors to the Journal, which is in contrast to other prominent journals (such as Journal of Environmental Economics and Management and Ecological Economics). And while most of the collaboration has occurred within this geographic region (e.g., European authors collaborated with other European authors more frequently), this trend appears to be changing as the proportion of articles written by international collaborators is gradually increasing. Topic analysis reveals that almost all of the articles could be grouped under applied and/or policy relevant topics, and almost two-thirds of the articles are empirical in nature, which suggest that the journal has been able to fulfil both of its commitments. We also investigate trends in research foci over the last 25 years and what kind of research gaps can be discerned.     

Basel III and perceived resilience of banks in the BRICS economies

This study investigates how the additional capital and liquidity requirements of Basel III would increase the resilience of banks. In particular, using panel data from 2007 to 2014, we examine the resilience of banks in the BRICS economies. Our results suggest that a 10% increase in capital adequacy ratio (CAR), Tier 1 capital ratio (TRA), and leverage ratio (LEV), the resilience (as measured by Z-Score of banks) increases by about 2.18, 0.89 and 1.31%, respectively. Similarly, for a 100% increase in liquidity coverage ratio (LCR), the resilience of banks increases by 0.51%, 1.10% and 1.19%, respectively, in the models associated with CAR, TRA, and LEV. Hence, our findings suggest that the CAR is robust to increase the resilience of banks. Our study also reveals that the LCR and LEV are the most effective to increase the resilience of banks if implemented simultaneously. We also find that the stage of economic development does not matter in formulating policies for the BRICS economies, and finally, we provide empirical evidence that economy-wide risk, such as a financial crisis, does not affect the resilience of banks and it influences the resilience of banks in the BRICS economies in the same way before and after the crisis.     

Natural gas,trade and sustainable growth: empirical evidence from the top gas consumers of the developing world

Natural gas is the key non-renewable source of energy for a low-carbon economy. The research applies heterogeneous panel techniques to investigate the impact of natural gas consumption on economic growth across a panel of top 15 natural gas consumers of the developing world. We establish long-run dynamics with cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneity across the sample countries. The long-run output elasticities suggest that the natural gas consumption and trade variables have significant positive effect on the output in a panel of developing economies. Further, we establish feedback relationship among gas consumption, output and trade in the short-run. Given the significance of natural gas as the low-emission source of energy, we suggest governments and policy advisers of these major natural gas consumers to focus on developing pipeline infrastructure for adequate supply, reforming natural gas sector with a competitive price structure to combat excess demand in individual natural gas market. With trade integration, majority of these countries need to incorporate these initiatives to improve the technologies such as combined cycle power plant technology and value-added chemical production technology to achieve sustainable economic growth.     

Bank image in the UAE: Comparing Islamic and conventional banks

This study investigates how bank customers in the UAE view Islamic banks versus conventional banks and whether this image affects customer loyalties or selection of a bank. We distributed a questionnaire to a convenient sample of UAE bank customers that focused on five areas: bank image, bank products, service quality, cultural aspects and religious factors, in addition to demographic attributes of the sample. The main findings of this study are: first, most UAE bank customers prefer banking with Islamic banks, although they are not satisfied with the quality of products and services; second, customers generally have a positive image of whatever bank they dealt with; third, the regression analysis results indicate that the most important factor in choosing a bank was bank products followed by service quality and then religious factors; fourth, there is a significant difference between how customers perceive UAE Islamic banks versus conventional banks; fifth, there is a significant difference in how customers perceive UAE Islamic banks based on their gender, education and duration of the relationship; and finally, there is a significant difference in how customers perceive UAE conventional banks based on their gender.     

The influence of eco-label knowledge and trust on pro-environmental consumer behaviour in an emerging market

Consumers are increasingly concerned about the negative environmental implications of purchasing goods, which in turn shape their behaviour. Yet, there are indications that consumers do not always act on these concerns, causing an attitude–behaviour gap. For consumers to make ecologically responsible purchases, they need relevant product environmental information. Therefore, marketers and firms are increasingly integrating more detailed environmental information in their offerings, including eco-labels with externally validated information. This study integrates consumers’ knowledge and trust in eco-labels with their environmental knowledge to determine how these affect pro-environmental consumer behaviour (PECB). The findings suggest environmental and eco-label knowledge is positively associated with attitudes towards the environment, and that positive environmental attitudes and trust in eco-labels affect PECB. This implies that firms, policy-makers and accreditation organisations (i.e. labelling) can educate consumers about eco-labels and the environment to increase PECB. Such strategies will also build consumer knowledge and trust in eco-labels, necessary for facilitating PECB.     

Neighbors follow early adopters under stress: panel data analysis of submergence‐tolerant rice in northern Bangladesh

The benefits of a stress‐tolerant crop become visible under the stresses that the crop is tolerant against. We investigate the adoption of submergence‐tolerant rice in northern Bangladesh by using panel data of 461 households, interviewed in 2013 and 2015. The sample households were randomly selected in 31 villages where submergence‐tolerant rice seeds were given to a small number of farmers in each village. The results from the household fixed‐effects model indicate that submergence in the previous year increased the adoption of submergence‐tolerant rice. The adoption impact was larger among farmers who were neighbors of early seed recipients. Our results suggest that being neighbors of early seed recipients may have helped the neighboring farmers observe the benefits of the submergence‐tolerant rice under submergence. The results indicate the importance of the information flow from early recipients to neighboring farmers.     

Determinants and consequences of financial distress: review of the empirical literature

We synthesise the empirical literature on the determinants and consequences of financial distress, critique the findings and offer suggestions for future research. We categorise these indicators into (i) firm-level fundamental determinants, (ii) macroeconomic determinants and (iii) firm-level corporate governance determinants. We categorise the consequences into (i) financial reporting and auditing consequences, (ii) firm-level operational consequences, (iii) capital market consequences and (iv) corporate governance consequences. We suggest that future research can make a more meaningful contribution, by developing more comprehensive models of predicting financial distress which will entail a departure from the current partial analysis to a more holistic complex analysis.