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This paper aims to explore the promotion decisions of heterogeneous sellers on a decentralized platform under competitive conditions and analyze how seller behaviors impact platform profit, seller revenue, buyer surplus and social welfare.

This paper considers a Cournot model consisting of a platform charging a commission rate and two sellers with different conversion rates and browsing costs. Promotion efforts by sellers can increase traffic, but they also incur promotion costs for sellers. The sellers decide on promotion effort by weighing these two effects. The authors also explore the equilibrium when the platform charges a fixed usage fee.

The seller’s profit improves as its conversion rate increases and worsens as browsing costs increase. Also, increasing the commission rate charged by the platform makes the seller invest less in promotional efforts. Therefore, the platform must consider this trade-off to determine an optimal rate. The analysis shows that the seller with a high conversion rate and high browsing cost plays a greater role in generating more overall revenue. When the market favors such a seller, the platform tends to charge less in order not to impair its profitability.

This paper incorporates conversion rate, buyer’s browsing cost, unit promotion cost and the fee charged by the platform into the model to study sellers’ promotion decisions on decentralized platforms.

This study aims to examine the impact of board characteristics on debt choice.

The sample comprises of unique nonfinancial firms listed in the FTSE 350 over the period 2011–2018. This study uses Tobit and OLS regressions to check the impact of board characteristics on debt choice. The results are robust to the battery of robust checks.

This study finds that board size and board independence are positively associated with public debt. However, CEO duality and board meetings frequency are inversely associated with public debt. Overall, the findings are consistent with the “financial intermediation theory” that the firms with weak governance rely on bank financing, and firms with better corporate governance go for public debt.

This study offers significant insights for investors and policymakers.

This study offers new insights regarding the role of board characteristics in firms’ debt choice by showing the significant impact of board characteristics on debt choice. The findings indicate that the board’s efficient internal monitoring may substitute external monitoring by the bank.

This empirical study uses herd behavior model to explore the role of anchor investors in ensuring fundraising success and overfunding of crowdfunded ventures.

Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) is applied to find the configurational patterns describing how anchor investors' information disclosure leads to successful financing and overfunding.

Even when the anchor investor's resume is not detailed or the anchor investor has little experience in entrepreneurial investment, success or overfunding can be achieved, provided the anchor investor is a corporation rather than an individual. For individual anchor investors, a detailed resume matters. Overfunding can be achieved even when an individual anchor investor makes a small relative investment, if this small relative investment is compensated for by a detailed resume. Experience in entrepreneurial investment is crucial when individual anchor investors have few previous investments. Regardless of the anchor investor's identity, investment in absolute terms is crucial for crowdfunding success when experience in entrepreneurial investment is low. Such experience must be extensive if the anchor investor's resume is not detailed.

Both entrepreneurs and crowdfunding platforms can benefit from the findings in relation to the design of campaigns that use anchor investors' informational cues to achieve success and overfunding.

The study examines the importance of anchor investors' information disclosure in digital crowdfunding environments, differentiating between individual and corporate anchor investors.

本實證研究使用羊群行為模型, 去探究錨定投資者在確保眾籌活動可達成功籌資以及過多籌資方面所扮演的角色。

研究人員以定性比較分析法、去找出描述錨定投資者的資訊公佈如何帶來成功融資和過多籌資的配置模式。

研究結果顯示、只要錨定投資者不是個人、而是一間公司, 則即使他們的履歷不詳盡, 又或他們對企業投資的經驗淺薄, 也無礙籌資或過多籌資的成功完成。如錨定投資者為個人, 則詳盡的履歷會影響甚鉅。即使個人錨定投資者相對而言參與少量的投資, 但若這少量的投資給他們詳盡的履歷所彌補的話, 則過多籌資仍可成功達到。若個別錨定投資者原有的投資量不多的話, 則企業投資的經驗至為重要。不管錨定投資者的身份是什麼, 若他們對企業投資所持的經驗淺薄, 則按絕對值計算的投資額對眾籌能否成功至為重要。若錨定投資者的履歷不詳盡, 則這種經驗必須是豐富廣泛的。

本研究區分了個人錨定投資者與公司錨定投資者兩者對眾籌的影響, 就此而研究在數碼的眾籌環境裡, 錨定投資者信息公佈的重要性。

研究結果可幫助企業家和群眾募資平台去設計可使用錨定投資者的資訊提示來達至成功眾籌和過多籌資的活動。

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.

This paper aims to elaborate on current research on fourth party logistics “4PL” by offering a taxonomy that provides a deeper understanding of 4PL service offerings, thus drawing clear frontiers between existing 4PL business models.

The authors collected data using semi-structured interviews conducted with 60 logistics executives working in 44 “4PL” providers located in France. Using automatic analysis of textual data, the authors combined spatial visualisation, clustering analysis and hierarchical descending classification to generate the taxonomy.

Two key dimensions emerged, allowing the authors to clearly identify and distinguish four 4PL business models: the level of reliance on interpersonal relationships and the level of involvement in 4PL service offering. As a result, 4PL providers fall under one of the following business models in the taxonomy: (1) The Metronome, (2) The Architect, (3) The Nostalgic and (4) The Minimalist.

The study focuses on investigating 4PL providers located in France; thus, future studies should explore the classification of 4PL business models across different cultural contexts and social structures.

The findings offer valuable managerial insights for logistics executives and clients of 4PL to better orient their needs, the negotiations and the contracting process with 4PLs.

Using a Lexicometric analysis, the authors develop taxonomy of 4PL service providers based on empirical evidence from logistics executives; the work addresses the existing confusion regarding the conceptualisation of 4PL firms with other types of logistical providers and the role of in/formal interpersonal relationships in the logistical intermediation.

This study explores the evolving dynamics of participatory accountability within humanitarian contexts, where digitally connected crisis-affected populations demand better accountability from aid organisations, and as a result, shift traditional hierarchies and relationships between humanitarian agencies and beneficiaries.

This study employs a case study approach, focussing on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), to investigate how participatory accountability manifests outside formal practices and re-emerges in social media spaces. The study analyses internal organisational challenges and explores the implications of digital platforms on humanitarian practices. The authors employ Chouliaraki and Georgiou's (2015, 2019, 2022) networks of mediation, particularly intermediation and transmediation, to understand how digital expressions translate to offline contexts and reshape meanings and actions.

The study reveals that social media platforms enable beneficiaries to demand participatory accountability beyond traditional practices, democratising humanitarian response and challenging power structures. These effects are multifaceted, introducing enhanced democratic and inclusive humanitarian aid as well as new vulnerabilities. Digital intermediaries and gatekeepers play pivotal roles in curating and disseminating crisis-affected voices, which, when transmediated, result in nuanced meanings and understandings. Positive effects include capturing the potential of digital networks for democratic aid, while negative effects give rise to moral responsibilities, necessitating proactive measures from the ICRC.

This study contributes to the literature by highlighting the impact of digital technology, particularly social media, on participatory accountability. It expands the understanding of the evolving landscape of accountability within the humanitarian sector and offers critical insights into the complexities and dual purposes of participatory accountability in contexts of resistance. Employing Chouliaraki and Georgiou's networks of mediation adds depth to the understanding of digital technology's role in shaping participatory practices and introduces the concept of transmediation as a bridge between digital expressions and tangible actions.

The primary objective of this study aims to intensively explore the environment of Indonesian regulations and laws related to the Islamic banking system and micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSME) and unveil the restrictive laws and regulatory flaws that potentially hinder the Islamic banking institution and MSME industry in achieving financial inclusion and promoting sustainable growth.

This paper implements a qualitative method by implementing a multi-case study research strategy, both from the Islamic banking institutions and the MSME industries. The data were gathered primarily through an interview approach by adopting purposive uncontrolled quota sampling.

The findings of this paper reveal two essential issues: First, the regulatory imbalances and restrictions could demotivate and hinder the efforts of Islamic banks in providing access to finance for the MSME segment, hence, encumbering the achievement of the financial inclusion agenda from the Islamic banking industry. Second, the flaws in MSME registration and taxation might discourage the formal MSMEs from extending their business license and prevent the informal MSME units from registering their business. This issue would potentially lower their chance of accessing external financing from the formal financial institutions and participating in supportive government programmes due to the absence of proper legality.

Since this paper only observed six Islamic banks and 22 MSME units in urban and rural locations in Indonesia using a case study approach, the empirical findings and case discussions were limited to those respective Islamic banks and MSME participants.

By referring to the recommendations as presented in this paper, two critical policy implications could be expected from adopting the proposed recommendations, among others: By addressing the issues of the regulatory imbalance associated with the Islamic banking industry and introduce the deregulatory policies on profit and loss sharing (PLS) scheme implementation, this approach will motivate the Islamic banking industry in serving the MSME sector better and provide greater access to financial services, particularly in using the PLS financing schemes. By resolving the problems on MSME registration and taxation, this strategy will enhance the sustainability of the formal MSMEs’ operation and encourage the informal ones to register, hence, improving their inclusion into the formal financing services and government assistance programmes.

The present study attempts to address the literature shortcomings and helps to fill the gaps – both theoretical and empirical – by incorporating the multi-case study among Indonesian Islamic banks and MSMEs to extensively explore the Indonesia regulatory environment pertaining to the Islamic banking system (supply-side) and MSMEs (demand-side), and thoroughly investigates and reveals the restrictive laws and regulatory flaws that could potentially hinder the Islamic banking institutions and MSME industries in attaining financial inclusion and contributing to sustainable development.

This chapter investigates the cost of public debt for firms using a comprehensive sample consisting of 17,368 industrial bond issues from 1970 to 2011. The empirical evidence shows that yield spreads for seasoned bond issues are significantly lower than those for initial bond issues. This seasoning effect is robust across different sample periods, subsamples, and model specifications. On average, the yield spreads for seasoned bond issues are around 50 bps lower than those for initial bond issues. This difference cannot be explained by other bond and firm characteristics. The seasoning effect is more pronounced for firms with higher levels of uncertainty, lower information disclosure quality, and longer time intervals between the first and subsequent issues. Our empirical findings provide supportive evidence for the extant theories that aim to rationalize the information role in determining the cost of capital.

The study explores how the intention to export affects financing and non-financing variables for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in a low-income country (LIC). The objectives of this study are (1) to discern between regional and global exporting and (2) to evaluate its policymaking implications.

Primary survey data were collected from 330 Rwandan SMEs and were analysed using ordered logistic models as an application of the expectation-maximisation iterating algorithm, which was tested for robustness using a sampling model variation.

The results show that alternative sources of finance are the predominant choice to finance the intention to export within and outside Africa. As the scope of export intentions broadened from regional to global, there was a shift in preferences from less formal to more formal lending technologies, moving from methods like factoring to lines of credit. Moreover, reliance on bank officers became more significant, with increasing marginal effects. Finally, the study determined that government financing schemes were not relevant for SMEs pursuing either regional or global exporting.

Whilst alternative sources of finance predominate the export intentions of Rwandan SMEs, establishing a robust banking relationship becomes crucial for global exporting. Despite this implication, the intention to export should prompt more transparent communication regarding government financial support programmes. There is an opportunity for increased usage of relationship lending to customise support for SMEs involved in exporting, benefiting both the private and public sectors.

This study accentuates how export distance alters SME financing priorities. The results also contribute to understanding how the value of relationship lending changes when less familiar markets (i.e. global exporting) are the objective. Moreover, the study offers a new perspective on how institutional voids affect entrepreneurial financing decisions in LICs.