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“It should also be noted that the objective of convergence and equal distribution, including across under-performing areas, can hinder efforts to generate growth. Contrariwise, the objective of competitiveness can exacerbate regional and social inequalities, by targeting efforts on zones of excellence where projects achieve greater returns (dynamic major cities, higher levels of general education, the most advanced projects, infrastructures with the heaviest traffic, and so on). If cohesion policy and the Lisbon Strategy come into conflict, it must be borne in mind that the former, for the moment, is founded on a rather more solid legal foundation than the latter” European Commission (2005, p. 9)Adaptation of Cohesion Policy to the Enlarged Europe and the Lisbon and Gothenburg Objectives.

The purpose of this paper is to present a review of variance decomposition studies of firm performance and the theoretical foundations that served as the antecedents and promptings for this stream of research. Known collectively as “variance decomposition literature,” these studies use variance decomposition techniques to partition firm performance into various classes of effects in a bid to unveil the relative importance of factors responsible for firm performance variance.

A review of papers published in SCOPUS and institute for scientific information indexed journals was conducted.

The study found that firm, industry, corporate, business group and country effects are the major effects included in most extant studies. However, of all effects, firm effects remain the dominant and most important impact on firm performance. The effects that affect firm performance are also interdependent.

Consequently, the decisions of managers in firms are still the most important element in helping the firm to navigate industry and contextual factors, especially during periods of recession.

From the review, research gaps were identified and suggestions for future research provided. There is still much to learn from variance decomposition literature in an age of new business models, unprecedented start-up firms and from developing and emerging market countries.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of globalization and credit market imperfections on child labour.

Analysis is based on cross-country regression framework, incorporating 129 developing countries for the period 1970-2010.

The findings indicate that countries that are more open to trade and having higher foreign direct investment inflow have lower incidence of child labour. As child labour in export-related industries is hard to find, trade sanctions may not have a significant effect on child labour. Further study concludes that income of the bottom quartile of the population is the best representation of the income of the poor when studying child labour.

The study uses the data compiled by International Labour Organization (ILO). Though much of the variation in the data is because of the adjustments made by ILO, this is the only comparable cross-country estimates available. Hence in the absence of the cross-country comparable estimates, many empirical studies have used this data set (e.g. Cigno et al., 2002; Dehejia and Gatti, 2002; Rogers and Swinnerton, 2001). This study acknowledges this limitation but again in the absence of any comparable estimates, the assessment is also based on this data set.

Study contributes in the literature by comparing the effect of export and trade and by exploring the effect of an alternate measure of the income, estimated by using Gini coefficient, on child labour. Further studies exploring the effect of globalization did not explore the presence of imperfect credit market, however, this study has explored the effect of credit market imperfections as well.

The purpose of this paper is to explore location effects on firm performance in emerging economies simultaneously accounting for permanent and transitory country, industry, country-industry and firm-specific effects.

The authors utilize a novel methodological approach: an autoregressive, cross-classified, mixed-effect linear regression model that allows them to simultaneously estimate a permanent (long-run) component, a transitory (short-run) component and the speed of decay of the transitory (autoregressive) component.

The authors find that the firm-specific effect is most important in explaining permanent and transitory differences. The country–industry interaction is the second most important effect, confirming that industries are not completely global and are still subject to country conditions. Broader views of the country–business context and industry conditions taken independently would be incomplete unless the country–industry interactions are considered. In other words, country matters because industry matters and vice versa. Country effects are also significant, but only transitory emphasizing the dynamic nature of emerging economies and the shortcomings that may result from considering the country business context static. Finally, the authors find that the chances of achieving sustainability of abnormal returns in emerging economies are dynamic and have significantly increased recently.

To the authors' knowledge, this is the first to simultaneously estimate country, industry, country–industry and firm effects on the permanent and transitory components of abnormal returns in a sample of emerging economies. The study generates important evidence regarding the sources of sustainable differentiation for firms competing in emerging economies. Finally, the authors find that chances of achieving sustainability of abnormal returns in emerging economies are dynamic and have significantly increased recently.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the magnitude of country, industry and firm‐specific effects for firms competing in emerging economies and also explore differences between high and low performers.

The authors use ANOVA methodologies on samples from firms competing in Latin America between 1990‐2006.

It was found that the firm‐specific effect is the most important one, and relatively equivalent in magnitude to the firm‐specific effects found in developed countries. Country and industry effects are less important than the firm‐specific effect. Contrary to previous studies that indicate that the country effect is relatively more important in emerging economies, the authors found that it is even less important than the industry effect, a result that has important implications for strategic management and international business theory. The source behind the strong firm‐specific effects might stem from their resources and capabilities to manage and take advantage of the institutional and macroeconomic environments. Further analysis indicates that the firm‐specific effect is relatively more important for firms showing high performance than for those firms showing low performance.

Through these findings the authors feel that further research is needed so as to arm future managers with a more clear and comprehensive strategy when doing business in a Latin American country. The paper's findings are specific for large public corporations in Latin America.

The paper allows managers to think about sources of competitive advantages in emerging economies.

The paper shows that, despite weak institutional contexts and highly volatile macroeconomic environments, managers in the region should be able to obtain substantial differences in economic performances within the region. Activities needed for such differentiation might differ from those carried out in developed countries, with more emphasis on managing institutional voids and periods of economic and political cycles but the result should be the same.

Understanding the impact of country effect on financial performance is important for service firms as they continue to grow and operate across national borders. The purpose of this paper is to empirically quantify the impact of country and several country-specific variables on firm performance in the service sector by estimating the portion of variation in firm performance attributed to these factors.

Using hierarchical linear models, the authors estimate the proportion of variation driven by country effects. These estimates are obtained from a data panel of 16,051 units from 3,345 service firms across 32 countries over a seven-year time frame (2001-2007).

In the analysis, home country explains approximately 11 percent of the variance in performance. Additionally, the authors find that six country-specific variables, namely, quality of governance, openness to trade, wealth, growth rate, uncertainty avoidance and individualism collectively explain 10 percent of variation in performance or 26.8 percent relative variation of performance.

This study extends the literature on country effect by quantifying the impact of country-specific dimensions on performance. It focusses on a single industry within the service sector. This allows for a more reliable estimate of the country effect, as it will not be confounded by cross-industry effects – thus alleviating some of the concerns with earlier research. Understanding the impact of the six specific country variables investigated in this work will allow service firms to better predict and improve the performance of subsidiaries.

This study employs firm-level data to evaluate how the knowledge economy impacts the financing constraints of businesses across 106 low- and middle-income nations, focusing on the influence of technological transformation on corporate financing choices.

The research centers on privately held, unlisted firms and examines the distinct effects of knowledge at both the within-country and between-country levels using a panel dataset. Rigorous sensitivity and endogeneity analyses are conducted to ensure the reliability of the findings.

The findings indicate that greater levels of the knowledge economy correlate with reduced financing constraints for firms. However, this effect varies depending on the location within a country and across different geographical regions. Firms situated in larger urban centers and more innovative regions reap the most significant benefits from the knowledge economy when seeking external funding. Conversely, firms in smaller cities, rural areas and regions characterized by structural and institutional inefficiencies in knowledge generation experience fewer advantages.

The impact of knowledge exhibits variability not only within and among countries but also between poor and affluent developing nations, as well as between larger and smaller countries. The knowledge effect on firms' access to external finance is influenced by factors such as financial openness and development, educational quality, technological absorption capabilities and agglomeration conditions within each country.

Purpose – This study examines the effect of price regulation and competition on launch timing and pricing of new drugs.

Methods – Our data cover launch experience in 15 countries from 1992 to 2003 for drugs in 12 major therapeutic classes. We estimate a two-equation model of launch hazard and launch price of new drugs.

Findings – We find that launch timing and prices of new drugs are related to a country's average prices of established products in a class. Thus to the extent that price regulation reduces price levels, such regulation directly contributes to launch delay in the regulating country. Regulation by external referencing, whereby high-price countries reference low-price countries, also has indirect or spillover effects, contributing to launch delay and higher launch prices in low-price referenced countries.

Implications – Referencing policies adopted in high-price countries indirectly impose welfare loss on low-price countries. These findings have implications for US proposals to constrain pharmaceutical prices through external referencing and drug importation.

It is generally recognized that multinational enterprises must take into account country differences in deciding the degree to which it makes sense to localize their human resource management (HRM) strategies and organization cultures to fit with the host country or rather standardize HRM strategies and organization cultures across countries. However, an important vein of academic work assumes that country differences, especially in national culture, are so important that management is “culturally dependent” (Hofstede, 1983) and that “national culture constrains variation in organization cultures” (Johns, 2006). I critically evaluate the logical and empirical evidence (including methodological issues regarding effect size) used to support such constraint arguments and conclude that the evidence is much weaker than widely believed. One implication then is that organizations may be less constrained by national culture differences in managing workforces in different countries than is often claimed. A second implication is that researchers may wish to re-think how they study such issues. I provide suggestions for future research.

Information and communications technology (ICT) offers enormous opportunities for individuals, businesses and society. The application of ICT is equally important to economic and non-economic activities. Researchers have increasingly focused on the adoption and use of ICT by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as the economic development of a country is largely dependent on them. Following the success of ICT utilisation in SMEs in developed countries, many developing countries are looking to utilise the potential of the technology to develop SMEs. Past studies have shown that the contribution of ICT to the performance of SMEs is not clear and certain. Thus, it is crucial to determine the effectiveness of ICT in generating firm performance since this has implications for SMEs’ expenditure on the technology. This research examines the diffusion of ICT among SMEs with respect to the typical stages from innovation adoption to post-adoption, by analysing the actual usage of ICT and value creation. The mediating effects of integration and utilisation on SME performance are also studied. Grounded in the innovation diffusion literature, institutional theory and resource-based theory, this study has developed a comprehensive integrated research model focused on the research objectives. Following a positivist research paradigm, this study employs a mixed-method research approach. A preliminary conceptual framework is developed through an extensive literature review and is refined by results from an in-depth field study. During the field study, a total of 11 SME owners or decision-makers were interviewed. The recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed using NVivo 10 to refine the model to develop the research hypotheses. The final research model is composed of 30 first-order and five higher-order constructs which involve both reflective and formative measures. Partial least squares-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is employed to test the theoretical model with a cross-sectional data set of 282 SMEs in Bangladesh. Survey data were collected using a structured questionnaire issued to SMEs selected by applying a stratified random sampling technique. The structural equation modelling utilises a two-step procedure of data analysis. Prior to estimating the structural model, the measurement model is examined for construct validity of the study variables (i.e. convergent and discriminant validity).

The estimates show cognitive evaluation as an important antecedent for expectation which is shaped primarily by the entrepreneurs’ beliefs (perception) and also influenced by the owners’ innovativeness and culture. Culture further influences expectation. The study finds that facilitating condition, environmental pressure and country readiness are important antecedents of expectation and ICT use. The results also reveal that integration and the degree of ICT utilisation significantly affect SMEs’ performance. Surprisingly, the findings do not reveal any significant impact of ICT usage on performance which apparently suggests the possibility of the ICT productivity paradox. However, the analysis finally proves the non-existence of the paradox by demonstrating the mediating role of ICT integration and degree of utilisation explain the influence of information technology (IT) usage on firm performance which is consistent with the resource-based theory. The results suggest that the use of ICT can enhance SMEs’ performance if the technology is integrated and properly utilised. SME owners or managers, interested stakeholders and policy makers may follow the study’s outcomes and focus on ICT integration and degree of utilisation with a view to attaining superior organisational performance.

This study urges concerned business enterprises and government to look at the environmental and cultural factors with a view to achieving ICT usage success in terms of enhanced firm performance. In particular, improving organisational practices and procedures by eliminating the traditional power distance inside organisations and implementing necessary rules and regulations are important actions for managing environmental and cultural uncertainties. The application of a Bengali user interface may help to ensure the productivity of ICT use by SMEs in Bangladesh. Establishing a favourable national technology infrastructure and legal environment may contribute positively to improving the overall situation. This study also suggests some changes and modifications in the country’s existing policies and strategies. The government and policy makers should undertake mass promotional programs to disseminate information about the various uses of computers and their contribution in developing better organisational performance. Organising specialised training programs for SME capacity building may succeed in attaining the motivation for SMEs to use ICT. Ensuring easy access to the technology by providing loans, grants and subsidies is important. Various stakeholders, partners and related organisations should come forward to support government policies and priorities in order to ensure the productive use of ICT among SMEs which finally will help to foster Bangladesh’s economic development.