Small firm performance in online markets

Firms which enter the online marketplace do so for a variety of reasons. The effects of the motive for entry on the ultimate success of entry, for both online and ‘blended’ firms, are largely unknown. This study utilises a unique data set of small Australian firms and examines the relationship between the strategic motivation for entry and the actual results of entry. Utilising a trivariate probit model with exogenous ‘reason for entry’ dummy variables, estimates of aftermarket business performance are obtained. The study finds that the entry goal materially affects subsequent performance: firms entering to expand their market size ordinarily succeed, but those entering to reduce costs are often disappointed. Blended firms enjoy no strong advantages over pure online entrants.     

Aid and the Delegated Fight Against Terrorism

A positive empirical relationship is found between the level of foreign aid received by a country and the number of terrorist attacks originating from it. A simple model is used to explain it, where the donor delegates some actions against terrorism to the aid‐recipient government. Aid is endogenous in an econometric equation explaining participation in terrorist events, as expected from the model, and an attacks‐supply curve in which aid has a negative impact is presented at the end.     

Political Competition Between Countries and Economic Growth

Political competition between European countries has been viewed as being a stimulus to the innovation process and part of the reason why Europe was the first region of the world to experience sustained growth. Countries that fell behind their rivals technologically and economically became more vulnerable to exploitation. In this way, the presence of rival states provided added incentive to innovate. This paper uses a simple model of conflict between countries to study the role of political competition in economic growth. The governments of each country are threatened politically by innovation and, hence, face a trade‐off between the stability of their regime and keeping up with their rivals. The model shows that “institutional spillovers,” such as a decrease in the level of rent‐seeking in one country, can affect growth in a competing country. Thus, political fragmentation can be growth enhancing as it can result in more political competition.     

Marketing challenges and organic farming in India—Does farm size matter?

The growing health consciousness among the consumer and increasing awareness about organic food has led numerous opportunities for organic producers. Along with opportunities, there also arise challenges; thus, the main purpose of this study is to explore the marketing challenges faced by the organic and conventional farmers in India. The study also aims to examine the differential association of the marketing challenges on various farm sizes. The sample comprised 400 Indian farmers including both conventional and organic producers. A sequential form of mixed‐method design, that is, qualitative–quantitative, was applied. In the first phase, an exploratory study was convened to find out the marketing challenges among organic and conventional farmers. In the second (quantitative) phase, binomial and multinomial logistics regression was applied to ascertain the differential impact of the marketing challenges on the type of farming and different farm sizes. The results of the qualitative analysis revealed six major marketing challenges faced by the farmers, namely, lack of warehousing facility, lack of price information, inadequate demand for crop, costly transportation, market price variations, and lack of government support. The results suggest there are significant differences in the marketing challenges faced by the conventional and organic farmers across farm sizes. This study is among the few to examine the marketing challenges of organic and conventional farmers in a developing country such as India. The findings will help different stakeholders to frame policies and build strategies to promote organic farming, which will lead to sustainable and responsible consumption in India.