Search results

This study investigates the optimum size for manufacturing firms and the impact of subcontracting on firms' likelihood of achieving their optimal scale in Vietnam.

Using data from the enterprise census in 2017 and 2021, the paper first estimates the production function to identify the optimum firm size for manufacturing firms and then, applies the logit model to investigate factors associated with the optimal firm size.

The study reveals that medium-sized firms exhibit the highest level of productivity. Nevertheless, a consistent trend emerges, indicating that nearly 90% of manufacturing firms in Vietnam operated below their optimal scale in both 2017 and 2021. An analysis of the impact of subcontracting on firms' likelihood to achieve their optimal scale emphasizes its crucial role, especially for foreign firms, exerting an influence nearly five times greater than that of the judiciary system.

The paper's findings offer crucial policy implications, suggesting that initiatives aimed at enhancing the overall productivity of the manufacturing sector should prioritise facilitating contract arrangements to encourage firms to reach their optimal size. These insights are also valuable for other countries with comparable firm size distributions.

This paper provides the first empirical evidence on the relationship between firm size and productivity as well as the role of subcontracting in firms' ability to reach their optimal scale in a country with a right-skewed distribution of firm sizes.

This study proposes an analysis of the performance of companies that have assumed the responsibility of facilitating the digitalization of economic activities. Because of their potential to accelerate digitization, these companies have been financially supported. The monitoring of the performances recorded by these companies, including the evaluation of the impact of different determining factors, meets both the needs of the financiers (concerned with the evaluation of the efficiency of the use of nonreimbursable financing) and the needs of continuous improvement of the activities of the companies in the field.

The study assesses performance dynamics and the impact of its determinants. The model allows achieving a simplified vision of performance and its determinants, supporting decision-makers in the management process. The construction of an estimation model based on the multiple regression method was considered. Robustness tests were performed on the results, using parametric and nonparametric tests.

The results of the analysis at the level of the extended sample indicated that, during the analyzed period, the economic and commercial performances decreased, and significant influences in this respect include the financing structure, sales dynamics and volume of receivables. The analysis at the level of the restricted sample confirmed these interdependencies and provided additional evidence of the impact of other determinants.

The study contributes both to performance research and to the assessment of the prospects for accelerating digitalization in support of economic activities. Since the empirical research was carried out on a sample of Romanian companies that provide services in information technology, which accessed nonreimbursable financing, the representativeness of the results is limited to this sector. For the analyzed sample, the study provides support for improving performance.

The results of the study prove to be useful from a microeconomic and macroeconomic perspective as well, as they provide evidence on the performance of companies that have implemented information and communication technology (ICT) projects and on the efficiency of the use of non-reimbursable funding dedicated to business support.

The study fills the literature gap regarding the performance of companies that have developed ICT projects and received grant funding for the implementation of these projects. The literature review indicated that there are few studies conducted on these companies, which did not include Romanian companies.

Waste management is a crucial aspect of sustainable development, but is it economically sustainable for marginalized informal firms? The study tries to answer this question by revisiting the Porter–Wagner dilemma about the association between environmental management (EM) and firm performance (FP). The study looks into the various liquid waste management practices (LWMPs) adopted by them and the overall impact of LWMPs on firms' economic performance.

The study uses the latest available cross-sectional data source on Indian informal firms by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), 73rd survey round 2015–16. First, ordered logistic regression was used to analyse the factors that impact a firm's adoption of a particular LWMP. Subsequently, to capture the heterogeneity among the firms based on productivity and size, a quantile regression (QR) was employed to analyse the impact of LWMPs on firm productivity. Additionally, the propensity score matching technique was used to address endogeneity concerns.

The authors find that bigger, urban-located and female-owned firms adopt cleaner LWMPs that positively impact their economic performance. Furthermore, the QR analysis observed that the most productive firms could extract higher returns from adopting cleaner LWMPs, indicating the relevance of the Porter–Wagner dilemma, i.e. environmental and economic sustainability are possibly symbiotic, thus having a feedback mechanism.

To the authors’ limited knowledge, this is the first study analysing the relationship between EM and FP among the informal sector firms, which are away from any regulations or obligations. Since sustainability is a two-way process, policies should be devised that incentivise sustainable business practices.

The aim of the research is to examine in depth the relationship between financial support, entrepreneurship and economic growth in emerging African economies.

The study adopts the system-generalized methods of moments (sys-GMM) technique for data analysis and hypothesis testing on a sample of 34 African emerging economies (340 observations) from 2010 to 2019.

The results show that there is significant positive correlation between financial support, entrepreneurship, and economic growth. Moreover, entrepreneurship served as a partial mediator between financial support and economic growth in African emerging economies.

This research suggests that African governments should focus on entrepreneurial systems, which are essentially networks driven by the pursuit of individual opportunities and the promotion of new business creation; and introduce other forms of financial assistance, such as loans, loan guarantees, interest subsidies, technical assistance, insurance, etc.

The main novelty of the paper is that the authors empirically investigate the mediating role of entrepreneurship in the association between financial support and economic growth in 34 African emerging economies.

This paper aims to investigate the performance of OECD countries' long-term productivity during the period of 1975–2018.

This study employed different approaches to evaluate how efficiency scores vary with changes in inputs and outputs: Data Envelopment Analysis (CRS, VRS and FDH), TOPSIS and TOPSIS of these scores.

The findings suggest that, during the period of this study, countries with higher freedom of religion and with Presidential democracy regimes are positively associated with higher productivity.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that uses efficiency models to assess the productivity levels of OECD countries based on several contextual variables that can potentially affect it.

This study addresses the empirical results of the spillover effect with export as the primary economic activity that enhances local businesses' total factor productivity (TFP). A learning mechanism is expected to be generated and used as the basis for the policy implication.

This study adopted the Cobb–Douglas function and multiple estimation approaches, including the generalized method of moments, the Olley–Pakes and the Levinsohn–Petrin estimation techniques. The findings were estimated based on the panel data of a Vietnamese local businesses survey conducted by the General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO) from 2010 to 2019.

The results showed that the highest TFP belongs to the businesses in the Southeast region, the Mekong Delta region, the mining industry and the foreign-invested enterprises. The lowest impacted TFP are businesses in the Northwest region and agricultural, forestry and fishery sectors. In addition, the estimated results also show that the positive spillover effect on TFP is shown through forward and backward linkage. The negative spillover effect is expressed through the backward and horizontal channels.

This study offers original empirical evidence on the learning mechanisms via which exports contribute to productivity improvement in a developing Asian economy, so making a valuable contribution to the existing academic literature in this domain. The findings of this research make a valuable contribution to the advancement of understanding on the many ways via which spillover effects manifest such as horizontal, forward, backward and supplied-backward linkage.

The study's findings indicate that it is advisable for governments to give priority to the development and improvement of forward and supply chain linkages between exporters and local suppliers. This approach is recommended in order to optimize the advantages derived from export spillovers. At the organizational level, it is imperative for enterprises to strengthen their technological and managerial skills in order to efficiently incorporate knowledge spillovers that originate from overseas partners and trade counterparts.

This study sheds new evidence on the export spillover effect on productivity in emerging economies, with Vietnam as the case study. The paper contributes to the research's originality by adopting novel methodological aspects to estimate local businesses' impact on total factor productivity.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-05-2023-0373

To ensure that students are well prepared to successfully analyze this case, they should be familiar with the following concepts, theories and principles:

â–ª Stakeholder theory

â–ª Concept of duty to consult and accommodate

â–ª Concept of social license to operate (SLO)

â–ª Concept of indigenous economic self-determination

â–ª Indigenous world view

â–ª Seventh generation principle

â–ª Cree principles

â–ª Dene principles

The information provided in this case was gathered by the authors through face-to-face interviews, phone interviews, e-mail exchanges and secondary research. Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC) separates business operations from council operations through use of corporate entities (as shown in Exhibit 1 of the case). Meadow Lake Tribal Council II (MLTCII) is the corporate entity that oversees two companies referenced in the case: Mistik Management and NorSask Forest Products LP. Interviews were conducted with the General Manager at Mistik Management, Certification Coordinator at Mistik Management, Chief of Buffalo River Dene Nation, Chief of Waterhen Lake First Nation, MLTC Vice-Chief, Board Member and Advisor to MLTCII, President and CEO of MLTCII, MLTCII Business Development Consultant and a former consultant with MLTC, NorSask Forest Products and Mistik Management.

Mistik Management Ltd., a forestry management company co-owned by the nine First Nations of MLTC, was a leader in economic reconciliation in 2022. However, the company had dealt with significant challenges not long after it was established in 1989. Richard Gladue, former Chief of the one of MLTCs Member First Nations and a leader in economic development at MLTC, had been actively involved in establishing the organization. Gladue loved the life and vitality of the boreal forest in the Meadow Lake region and felt a sense of responsibility to take care of the forest and the land for generations to come. This responsibility was balanced with the acknowledgement that the forest also provided vast economic development, employment and wealth generation opportunities for MLTC and its Member First Nations.

In the early 1990s, MLTC and Mistik Management dealt with a year-long blockade by a group of protesters that included members of Canoe Lake Cree First Nation, one of the Member First Nations of MLTC. They had not been consulted on Mistik’s processes and policies, and the company’s clear-cut logging had affected their ability to continue their traditional way of life and practices on the land. After the incident, Mistik Management moved more quickly to invest in a co-management process that they were still refining and using in 2022 when consulting with Indigenous groups and communities.

A natural resource economy brings together Indigenous peoples, industry and government. In this case, students will learn about the important role that relationships play and how decisions are made when balancing complex legal, environmental and economic interests. Students will learn about the history of duty to consult and accommodate in Canada; conduct a stakeholder analysis and reflect on how decisions affect stakeholder interests; and make recommendations for meaningful Indigenous engagement strategies using the concept of social license and indigenous principles.

This case is suitable for use in undergraduate courses on indigenous business, ethical decision-making, public policy and/or natural resource development. There may also be applications in other fields of study, including anthropology, economics and political science.

If the case is used in an indigenous business course, it would be best positioned in the last third of the class, after topics such as duty to consult and accommodate, social license and meaningful engagement with indigenous communities have been covered. If used in an ethical decision-making course, it would be best used when discussing stakeholder theory and engaging in stakeholder analysis. If used in a public policy course, the case could be used to start a discussion around the duty to consult and accommodate indigenous communities in Canada. If used in a natural resource development course, the case would be best used as an example of indigenous economic development.

A debate on whether new ventures should be supported with public funding is taking place. Adopting a position on this discussion requires rigorous assessments of implemented programs. However, the few existing efforts have mostly focused on regional cases in developed countries. To fill this gap, this paper aims to measure the effects of a regional acceleration program in a developing country (Medellin, Colombia).

The economic notion of capabilities is used to frame the analysis of firm characteristics and productivity, which are hypothesized to be heterogeneous within the program. To test these relationships, propensity score matching is used in a sample of 60 treatment and 16,994 control firms.

This paper finds that treated firms had higher revenue than propensity score-matched controls on average, confirming a positive impact on growth measures. However, such financial growth is mostly observed in service firms rather than other economic sectors.

Further evaluations, with a longer period and using more outcome variables, are suggested in the context of similar publicly funded programs in developing countries.

These findings tip the balance in favor of the literature suggesting supportive programs for high-growth firms as opposed to everyday entrepreneurship. This is an insight, especially under the context of an emerging economy, which has scarce funding to support entrepreneurship.

The farm sector is crucial for rural poverty alleviation, alongside the non-farm sector, which contributes to mitigating risks associated with crop failures. This paper investigates the effects of public policies on productive employment within both the farm and non-farm sectors in sub-Saharan Africa.

A meta-analysis is conducted exclusively on the results of the Partnership for Economic Policy (PEP)-funded studies under the Policy Analysis on Growth and Employment (PAGE II) initiative. Selected studies focused on the impact of public policies on productive employment in rural farm and non-farm sectors, encompassing a total of nine sub-Saharan Africa countries in: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Lesotho, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa.

The results indicate that public investments in rural areas and public policies that facilitate access to productive resources are likely to enhance productive employment. The overall effect size is positive and significant, ranging from 2% to 10% increases in productive employment. Sources of variation include the sector of activity and the policy instrument. In addition, the policy effects are gender-sensitive and seem more consistent in the non-farm sector.

Although the selected working papers addressed several aspects of productive employment, other aspects warrant further investigation. Policies involving restrictions or regulations have received little attention in the impact analysis. Researches to fill this gap would be important. Another suggestion for further research is the analysis of the relative importance of non-farm employment in rural areas in developing countries. It is always assumed that rural households depend heavily on agriculture for their subsistence.

The contribution of the paper lies in the comparative analysis of numerous public policies implemented in nine distinct countries. By consolidating data from fourteen 14 different experiences into a single study, the paper offers valuable insights on factors that determine policy effectiveness and contribute to understanding what worked for whom and why.

A quantitative study sought to better understand responsible leadership (RL) style in the private security sector. The authors analyzed RL’s mediating role in the relationship between rules climate (RC) and employees' perceived organizational support (POS).

The data were collected through an online questionnaire administered to full-time private guards in Ankara (Turkey). A mediation model was proposed, and research hypotheses were tested with structural equation modeling (SEM).

The results indicate a significant positive relationship between the company’s RC and managers' RL, and a positive significant relationship between managers' RL and employees' POS. RL mediates the relationship between company’s RC and employees' POS.

The theoretical framework draws on conservation of resources (COR) theory to consider RL an effective resource. The organization’s RC was a key factor the affecting leader’s responsible behaviors.

This study explores a thriving leadership style, gaining research attention across fields. To the authors' knowledge, no prior research has studied this leadership style in the security sector. The authors use COR to increase understanding of an important antecedent (company’s RC) and consequence (employees' POS) of RL, highlighting this emerging style’s mediating role.

Este artículo de enfoque cuantitativo favorece una mayor comprensión del liderazgo responsable (RL) en el sector de la seguridad privada. Analiza el papel mediador de este estilo de liderazgo en la relación entre un clima de regulación (RC) y la percepción de los trabajadores del apoyo organizacional (POS).

Los datos fueron recolectados a través de un cuestionario online que se administró a guardas de seguridad privados empleados a tiempo completo en la región de Ankara (Turquía). Se propone un modelo de mediación y se comprueban las hipótesis propuestas a través de ecuaciones estructurales con el software (SEM).

Los resultados obtenidos indican una relación positiva y significativa entre el RC y el liderazgo responsable de los superiores, así como una relación también positiva y significativa entre el RL y la POS de los empleados. Se encuentra que el RL media la relación entre el RC y el POS.

Bajo el marco teórico de la Teoría de Conservación de Recursos (COR) se considera que el RL es un recurso altamente efectivo para las organizaciones. El RC de la organización se perfila como un factor clave que afecta los comportamientos del líder responsable.

El diseño transversal del estudio (datos recogidos en un memento del tiempo) y el uso de una muestra de conveniencia son las principales limitaciones del trabajo.

Este estudio explora un estilo de liderazgo aún desconocido, pero con gran potencial, que está ganando fuerza en el ámbito de la investigación científica en los últimos años. Según nuestro conocimiento, se trata del primer estudio que explora este novedoso estilo de liderazgo en el sector de la seguridad privada. El empleo de la Teoría COR favorece la comprensión del RC como un antecedente de este estilo de liderazgo (RL), y también contribuye a comprender la POS de los empleados como clara consecuencia, destacando el papel mediador de este estilo de liderazgo emergente.