Educating the international manager: Some issues in the African context

This article sets out what the author perceives as the goals which transnational corporations (TNCs) and, therefore, their managers, have in Africa; indicates how he sees these goals as interacting with those of Africans and African states, giving special attention to areas of present or potential conflict and to how these may be reduced; reflects briefly on possible future scenarios concerning international managers and the relations of them and their firms with Africans and African governments.     

The Validity of Gibrat’s Law: Evidence from Ecuadorian Service SMEs

The objective of this research is to analyze the relationship between size and growth through the validation of Gibrat's law. A sample of 17,082 Ecuadorian companies in the service sector is used for the period 2010–2015. The estimation method used is that of quantile regression for panel data; the results suggest that small companies grow faster than their larger counterparts. The results show that the growth, measured through sales and employment, of SMEs in the service sector in Ecuador is not independent of firm size and therefore does not correspond to a random process.     

Mutual funds,tunneling and firm performance: evidence from China

Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting - In contrast to US companies, Chinese firms have concentrated ownership with the effect that the central agency problem emanates from controlling...     

Outside Directors on Korean Boards: Governance and Institutions

Drawing on institutional theory, this study examines the factors that pressured Korean firms to appoint outside directors to their boards. While this practice could be considered to be a management innovation in Korea, in the Anglo‐American corporate governance system it has long been used as one of several mechanisms to mitigate agency costs between management and shareholders. As such, this response by Korean firms, following the 1997–98 currency crisis in Asia, could be seen as an example of corporate governance convergence on the Anglo‐American model, where higher levels of outside director representation on the board are the norm. We examine the antecedents of having a higher proportion of outside directors on Korean boards. Our findings indicate that larger firms that are under stricter control by the government have higher representation of outside directors on the board. We also find a positive and significant relationship between the proportion of outside directors and business group affiliation, poor prior firm performance, higher levels of debt and foreign ownership.     

Underemployment in South Africa

With the introduction of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey since 2008, a newly derived variable, namely underemployed, has become available. It is derived according to the ‘time-related’ approach (i.e. those who are employed, but would like to work longer hours and are available to work longer hours in the near future). However, underemployment could also be derived according to the ‘inadequate employment situations’ approach (e.g. under-utilisation of skills, over-qualification). Because underemployment is a seriously under-researched topic in South Africa, this article investigates the extent of underemployment according to these two definitions, before examining whether the characteristics of the two groups of underemployed are significantly different.     

Child care and female employment in urban nigeria

Several factors influence female employment in most societies. They include family economic pressures, employability, earning potential, labor market environment and family composition. Several studies have been done on the influence of all factors but the last, family composition, that is, whether the mother has a baby-sitter. If the answer is a “yes,” then the probability that she will engage in an economic activity increases. This article addresses the question of the role of the child-care on female employment. The results show that the influence of child-care on female employment in Lagos depends on the nature of such help.