Women entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa: An institutional theory analysis from a social marketing point of view

This paper takes an international marketing (IM) approach to the study of women entrepreneurs (WEs) in sub-Saharan Africa by examining factors in the environments in which WEs operate. The goal is to understand better how environmental barriers of many types impact the efforts of WEs. Using institutional theory-driven analysis, findings from a wide range of literature are integrated, with special attention to issues of the social legitimacy of women as entrepreneurs. Results of this study demonstrate that WEs in sub-Saharan Africa face a daunting array of challenges arising from the socio-cultural, economic, legal, political, and technological environments in which they live. Moreover, unfavourable conditions in local regulatory, normative, and cognitive systems place additional burdens on women who desire to become entrepreneurs or to expand an entrepreneurial business. In order to address these gender-specific problems, social marketing is recommended with the goals of (1) changing social beliefs, attitudes and behaviours that negatively affect Wes, and (2) improving conditions in institutional systems and market environments. Recommendations in the paper suggest how to bring about changes in attitudes towards women, work and their independent enterprise. In conclusion, directions for future scholarly research are identified.     

First‐Price Sealed‐Bid Tender versus English Open Auction: Evidence from Land Auctions

This article compares whether the first‐price sealed‐bid tender or the ascending English open auction generates higher revenue for the seller. Using a unique set of data for land sales and accounting for the presence of an endogenous discrete mechanism choice variable, our results show that the first‐price sealed‐bid tender generates a lower land price, in the range of 1.2–9.6%, than the English open auction. Our results validate the theoretical prediction that open auctions result in higher prices because bidders can infer other bidders’ information by observing their bids in the common value auction paradigm.     

Investment banking in the gulf: A case study of investcorp in bahrain

Investcorp is a low-profile investment banking company that was originally founded on the tiny island of Bahrain in the Arabian Gulf. Although little known to the general public, the company is a major player in North American and European investment markets. This case study presents a profile of the company, its founder, Nemir Kirdar, and his three “founding friends.” It relates details of the company's successes and explores how these were achieved. As most of the original Management Committee members are preparing to retire, efforts are being made to ensure the continuing prosperity of the company. This requires the risky step of appointing an almost completely new management team. Readers are invited to reflect on the likely success of this strategy and whether Investcorp's focus on North America and Europe remains appropriate in a global marketplace.     

Linking consumer behavior constructs to international marketing strategy: A comment on wills,samli, and jacobs and an extension

In a 1991 article by Wills, Samli, and Jacobs, a new approach to international marketing strategy development was presented. Two micro constructs, involvement and learning theory, and two macro constructs, cultural context and the diffusion process, were linked in an integrative matrix summarizing various tactics for promoting and distributing a VCR around the world, within the bounds of a global marketing strategy. This comment sharpens the focus and extends the thrust of their work. It examines their proposed research agenda, clarifies certain constructs, and suggests a reformulated approach to theory development. It also proposes an approach to segmenting the world market for VCRs, incorporating four levels of felt involvement and two rates of product learning. Finally, suggestions for future research are outlined. She received a Ph.D. in International Marketing from Bradford University Management Centre, England, and is bilingual in English and French. She has taught in England, France, and Morocco, and has published in theJournal of the Market Research Society, Journal of the Operational Research Society, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Research, International Marketing Review, Advances in International Marketing, International Journal of Advertising, European Journal of Marketing, and theJournal of Business and Industrial Marketing.     

2018 Real Estate Finance & Investment Symposium

The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics - In October 2018, the Real Estate Finance & Investment Symposium, sponsored and organized by the University of Cambridge, the University of...     

A Relook into the Impact of Divestitures in the Presence of Agency Conflicts: Evidence from Property Subsidiary Sell-Offs in China

We analyze property subsidiary sell-offs in China to examine her market reaction to firms’ divestiture decisions. Overall, the response from the stock market is neutral. However, detailed analysis reveals that the market reacts differently to property subsidiary sell-off announcements by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and non-SOEs. Consistent with findings from extant literature, we find statistically positive market returns associated with non-SOE sell-off announcements. However, we find statistically negative market returns associated with SOE sell-off announcements. We suggest that this divergent market reaction is influenced by the institutional feature of the Chinese market and is consistent with the high agency costs associated with state ownership.     

The Impact of Business Strategies on Online Sustainability Disclosures

With increasing attention being paid to corporate sustainability, pressure from stakeholders, especially customers, is forcing companies to implement sustainability strategies and practices that express their commitment to sustainable development, and engage with stakeholders through voluntary sustainability disclosure. To better understand the sustainability disclosure mechanisms from a business strategy perspective, this study investigates the influence of business strategy, formulated by customer groups, on online sustainability disclosure. It provides empirical observation of Malaysian public‐listed companies based on the combined lens of stakeholder and legitimacy theory. Despite the comparatively low level of corporate sustainability disclosure in Malaysia, this content analysis of online sustainability information disclosure reveals that the companies with more diversified product lines disclose more sustainability information, and that the corporate sustainability effort is significantly related to brand name. Hence, companies should be encouraged to proactively improve their sustainability performance and disclose more sustainability information in order to strengthen their brand names. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Can the Law Secure Women's Rights to Land in Africa? Revisiting Tensions Between Culture and Land Commercialization

This contribution is concerned with the challenges of securing women's rights to land in Africa in the context of contemporary land deals through a discussion of three distinct but interrelated problems in the framing of women's land rights discourses. First, this study discusses the interface between rights and “custom” to highlight the inherent distortions of African customary law. Second, it argues that liberal formulations of the law are limited by a set of assumptions regarding women's position in the political economy. And third, this discussion discursively assesses the debates in the literature regarding the efficacy of law in protecting women's rights to land. The discussion proceeds from a critique of two approaches to promoting gender equity in land tenure systems: the institutional approach, which deals with women's formal land rights; and the political economy approach, which deals with the structural nature of women's traditional relations to land.     

When boards use related parties: outsourcing and superannuation fund performance

Superannuation funds heavily outsource key fund functions to service providers who play a crucial role in superannuation fund operations and affecting Australians’ retirement savings. We examine the impact of related party service provider usage and trustee‐director affiliation on investment performance. We find that for‐profit funds significantly underperform when using related party service providers. The underperformance is more severe when the board is controlled by more affiliated trustee‐directors and belongs to a vertically integrated conglomerate group. Our results raise concerns about whether recent regulatory reforms increasing trustee‐directors’ duties effectively address the conflicts of interest inherent in related party service provider arrangements.