An international perspective of the business incubators' perception about business model canvas for startups

This work aims to approach the reasons for Business Incubators (BINCs) to replace Business Plan by Business Model Canvas (BMC) for creating and accelerating the startup process. The main value of this study lies in its empirical appliance to test the adoption of business modeling for startups in two different entrepreneurial ecosystems. A qualitative approach has been used in analyzing two case‐studies, one from Brazil (Supera) and the other from Portugal (Fabrica). The method used was inquiring into the managers' impressions when helping to create startups and accelerating their development. The analysis was based on the data obtained from interviews and secondary data through a content analysis technique supported by ATLAS ti 7.0 software. The findings highlight how the use of BMC is bringing real opportunities for the development of nascent businesses. Furthermore, the perceptions of the BINCs studied suggest the adequacy of this model to startups due to their flexibility, user‐friendliness, and capability to manage innovation, communicate, and share business logic.     

The role of social networks and institutions in the internationalization of Russian entrepreneurial firms: Do they matter?

Drawing upon network theory and institutional theory, this paper examines the influence of networks on the internationalization of Russian entrepreneurial firms. Our case analysis suggests that within the context of the Russian environment, networks play a much less important role in the internationalization process than it is usually assumed in the literature. For the Russian entrepreneurial firms examined in our study, the most important factor in their internationalization was their engagement in honest business practices that established trust and commitment in their relationships with international business partners. This study underscores the importance of the institutional context of an entrepreneurial firm’s country.     

Expect the unexpected: examining the shaping role of entrepreneurial orientation on causal and effectual decision-making logic during economic crisis

ABSTRACT

While many firms operate in dynamic environments, the competitive conditions faced by firms during an economic crisis are especially unstable and turbulent. We examine firm strategic decision-making in this distinctive context and investigate the question of whether causal and effectual logic provide similar paths to performance during such challenging economic times. Further, we examine the potential impact that a firm’s level of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has upon the relationship between managers’ predominant decision-making logic and their firm’s overall performance in this crisis. To test these relationships, we employ a robust national random sample of 447 Russian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) collected from 2015 to 2016 during a period of economic crisis. Our results indicate that EO plays an important moderating role, shaping the nature of the relationships between managers’ decision-making logic and financial performance. Moreover, additional analysis identifies the presence of a non-linear relationship between both logics and the performance of SMEs.     

Foreign Direct Investment and the Incentives to Innovate and Imitate*

We propose a new channel of FDI spillovers on domestic firms, which operates through imitation of original products. Domestic heterogeneous firms may not introduce any new products, introduce a new product line (innovate), or develop a variety that is a close substitute to an existing product line (imitate). The presence of foreign firms generates incentives for imitation because they introduce original products that are vertically differentiated from domestic products. Using firm‐level panel data for China, we find that increased FDI presence in a given industry leads to more imitation, but not necessarily more innovation, by domestic firms.     

Impact of anti-discrimination laws on credit scoring

The political desire for further integration within the European Union will have an increasing effect on the financial services industry, including banking and credit lending. Harmonisation can potentially have great benefit for consumers as the European banks compete for their business across the Union. Harmonisation, however, brings with it a set of decisions for both credit grantors and regulators. There are issues associated with information that can be used in risk assessment to ensure fair decisions in granting credit. In the past the rules have been developed under national legislation. EU directives seek to harmonise the national rules and provide a new guidance on variables that may be held. The major concern relates to the issue of discrimination. The aim of the law is to promote the principle of equal treatment, which can be interpreted in a number of ways. The legal interpretation of discrimination does not necessarily coincide with the economic standpoint. Furthermore, previous empirical research suggests that prohibition of variables may not only affect the ability to distinguish between good and bad risk, but may also be disadvantageous to the groups the legislation is supposed to protect. This paper explores these issues from both theoretical and practical points of view.     

Measuring heterogeneity in hospital productivity: a quantile regression approach

Journal of Productivity Analysis - This paper focuses on acute-care local public hospitals in Japan and evaluates differences in hospital technology, as reflected in the productivity of labor...