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1 – 10 of 11M. Kabir Hassan, Muneer M. Alshater, Hasanul Banna and Md Rabiul Alam
World legends and the scientific community have taken the devastating impact of poverty issue seriously which has been reflected in the growing trend of research in this area…
Abstract
Purpose
World legends and the scientific community have taken the devastating impact of poverty issue seriously which has been reflected in the growing trend of research in this area. Hence, this paper aims to conduct a bibliometric analysis on poverty alleviation literature, discuss the various dimensions of poverty alleviation and deliver some ideas for future research.
Design/methodology/approach
This study deploys a combined quali-quantitative method familiar as meta-literature review on 454 articles collected from the Web of Science (WoS) database with Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) coverage over the period 1971–2020. Using Rstudio, VOSviewer and Excel, the collected data have been analysed from different lenses.
Findings
This study considers the most contributing scientific actors like authors, journals, topics, institutions and countries as parameters for analysing articles. Based on the analysis from various perspectives, it determines five main research streams upon which it provides some potential research directions to be considered in future research.
Research limitations/implications
This study solely relies on the articles available in the WoS database with index in SSCI. However, it excludes analysing thousands of articles on the same topic available in other platforms.
Originality/value
This study provides a retrospective on the scientific works and collective efforts of scholars germane to poverty alleviation from the highest ranked journals, which would help better understand the literature development and the intellectual structure of this field.
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Zach Zacharia, Michael Plasch, Usha Mohan and Markus Gerschberger
Increasing environmental uncertainty, more demanding customers, rapid technological growth and rising capital costs have all forced firms to evolve from collaborating with buyers…
Abstract
Purpose
Increasing environmental uncertainty, more demanding customers, rapid technological growth and rising capital costs have all forced firms to evolve from collaborating with buyers and suppliers to collaborating with their competitors and that is called coopetition. The purpose of this paper is to better understand the antecedents and outcomes associated with coopetition.
Design/methodology/approach
Building from the existing literature and three theoretical foundations, resource-based theory, resource dependence theory and game theory, the authors develop a model showing the antecedents and outcomes of coopetition and associated propositions of coopetition. Using a semi-structured interview process of 21 industry executives, the authors offer empirical support for the proposed coopetition model and propositions.
Findings
Firms are increasingly dependent on the knowledge and expertise in external organizations to innovate, solve problems and improve supply chain performance. This research suggests that there is a value for firms to consider coopetition as a part of their inter-firm strategies.
Research limitations/implications
The semi-structured interview process used in this research provided a wealth of information and executive experiences in coopetition. The interviews, however, only provide a single perspective of collaborative engagements with competitors. Multiple perspectives of each project would add value to this research.
Originality/value
Collaboration among buyers and suppliers have been well researched; however, there has not been as much research on coopetition. This research provides a new area for future research for academics and offers suggestions for managers to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their coopetition projects.
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Pham Thi Bich Ngoc, Pham Thi Hoa Tien, Pham Dinh Long and Huynh Quoc Vu
The paper aims to investigate the difference in total factor productivity (TFP) among those firms with and without outsourcing in a developing country like Vietnam. Also, it…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to investigate the difference in total factor productivity (TFP) among those firms with and without outsourcing in a developing country like Vietnam. Also, it explores the effect of outsourcing activities on total factor productivity with a specified concentration on the Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Design/methodology/approach
The panel data set of SMEs used in this study was originated from biannual surveys conducted under the collaboration between educational organizations and government agencies: Stockholm School of Economics (SSE), Department of Economics – the University of Copenhagen, the Institution of Labor Studies and Social Affairs (ILSSA) in the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA). In this study, the model is developed based on the production function in accordance with the model of Girma and Görg (2004). The firms’ TFP is the difference between the actual and the predicted output as with the approach by Levinsohn and Petrin (2003).
Findings
This study finds out that firms with outsourcing have higher total factor productivity than those without outsourcing activities. In addition, the more firms spend on outsourcing, the higher total factor productivity they can gain. Outsourcing to SMEs in a developing country can significantly increase its TFP by means of either maintaining core competencies or searching external resources in conducting some internal activities.
Originality/value
Although outsourcing has been widely applied by large firms, the research studying its impact on productivity at firm level is limited. Especially, this study can shed light on the impact for the case of SMEs in a developing economy.
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Enoch Yao Vukey, Irene S. Egyir, Edward Asiedu and Nana Afranaa Kwapong
This paper analysed the motives behind farmers' savings with Rural and Community Banks (RCBs) and the effect of these savings on rice yield in the Hohoe Municipality of the Volta…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper analysed the motives behind farmers' savings with Rural and Community Banks (RCBs) and the effect of these savings on rice yield in the Hohoe Municipality of the Volta region of Ghana.
Design/methodology/approach
A multi-stage sampling approach was used to draw a random sample of 222 rice farmers, and a structured questionnaire was employed to collect cross-sectional data. A Likert scale was used to rank the motive behind farmers' savings while the endogenous switching regression model was used to estimate the effect of savings on rice yield.
Findings
The results of the study showed that most farmers mobilise savings to enhance farm investment which is critical to increasing rice productivity. Improved labour and fertiliser use had a positive influence on rice yield, while farm size had an inverse relation with rice yield. Further, the findings show that savings with RCBs help mobilise the necessary finance to enhance rice productivity. In terms of the treatment effect of savings, the results indicate that farmers who patronise saving products of RCBs recorded a statistically significant average yield of 1.41 Mt/ha more than those not patronising saving products from any bank.
Practical implications
While the literature on agricultural finance focuses largely on credit, this study demonstrates that savings hold significant benefits for the development of agriculture through productivity gains. The importance of this demonstration is further shown by the fact that credit access depends on the ability to save in most developing countries.
Social implications
There is a need to educate farmers about the essence of patronising formal savings products.
Originality/value
This study represents the first attempt at linking farmers' savings to agricultural productivity using an econometric methodology in Ghana. The study serves as a foundation paper and for that matter will serve as a guide to future research on savings mobilisation and agricultural productivity nexus.
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Telma Mendes, Vítor Braga, Aldina Correia and Carina Silva
Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV) and knowledge-based view (KBV) theories, this study contributes to deepen the knowledge that corporate social responsibility (CSR) exerts…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV) and knowledge-based view (KBV) theories, this study contributes to deepen the knowledge that corporate social responsibility (CSR) exerts on firms' innovation, considering the role played by cooperation. The research also seeks to ascertain the factors that influence the development of business cooperation.
Design/methodology/approach
The database used is the Community Innovation Survey (CIS, 2014) applied in the European Union (EU) during the time period 2012–2014. A sample of 7083 Portuguese firms were analyzed through the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).
Findings
The results suggest that CSR positively relates with firms' innovation, and business cooperation partially mediates this relationship. The outcomes also reveal that investing in certain types of innovation activities increases the firms' willingness to cooperate.
Originality/value
The findings contribute to encourage an open innovation strategy as an easy and effective way to cope with rapid trends and changes, since it demonstrates the complementary between innovation and cooperation, as sources of value creation. From a triple bottom line (TBL) perspective, it also highlights that CSR must include social, economic and environmental initiatives, and should be a part of the firms' innovation strategy. As a result, managers who intend to contribute for society in the long term should plan, monitor and manage all CSR dimensions.
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How should managers organize their R&D workforce in order to maximize the benefit of internal R&D and R&D outsourcing strategy? The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects…
Abstract
Purpose
How should managers organize their R&D workforce in order to maximize the benefit of internal R&D and R&D outsourcing strategy? The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of R&D workforce diversity on firms’ performance when the firms use internal and external knowledge acquired from R&D outsourcing. Diversity of R&D employees as R&D workforce can enable firms to utilize the knowledge of internal R&D and internalize the external knowledge.
Design/methodology/approach
Panel data analysis with fixed effects is used. The authors conduct hierarchical multiple regression analyses to test the moderating effect of R&D workforce diversity with 10,401 data from Korean manufacturing firms.
Findings
This study finds out that age and education diversity of R&D workforce have positive moderating effects on the relationship between the R&D outsourcing and firm performance. In contrast, internal R&D is negatively associated with firm performance when the age diversity of R&D workforce increases. The results point to the significant role of R&D workforce diversity in R&D unit since firms often use both internal R&D and external R&D.
Practical implications
For practical implications to be more effective, CEOs and managers of firms should employ differentiated approaches to manage the diversity of R&D workforce based on whether they primarily focus on their internal R&D or utilize external R&D.
Originality/value
This research extends recent efforts to better understand the effect of organizational diversity on the firms’ performance when firms use internal R&D and R&D outsourcing strategy.
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Abdul-Hanan Abdallah, Micheal Ayamga and Joseph A. Awuni
The purpose of this paper is twofold: to determine the factors contributing to farm income in the Transitional and Savanna zones of Ghana and to ascertain variations between in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is twofold: to determine the factors contributing to farm income in the Transitional and Savanna zones of Ghana and to ascertain variations between in the same and across the two locations; and to determine the impact of credit on farm income in each of the two zones and to ascertain the variation in impact of credit across the two locations.
Design/methodology/approach
In order to address endogeneity and sample selection bias, the authors draw from the theory of impact evaluation in nonrandom experiment, employing the endogenous switching regression (ESR) while using the propensity score matching (PSM) to check for robustness of the results.
Findings
The results show significant mean differences between some characteristics of households that have access to credit and those that did not have access. Further, the results revealed farm size, labor; gender, age, literacy, wealth and group membership as the significant determinants of both credit access and income in the two zones. With the ESR, credit access increases households farm income by GH¢206.56/ha and GH¢39.74/ha in the Transitional and Savanna zones, respectively, but with the PSM, credit increases farm income by GH¢201.50 and GH¢45.69 and in the Transitional and Savanna, respectively.
Research limitations/implications
The mean differences in characteristics of the households revealed the presence of selection bias in the distribution of household’s covariates in the two zones. The results further indicate the importance of productive resources, information and household characteristics in improved access to credit and farm income. Also, the results from both methods indicate that credit access leads to significant gains in farm income for households in both zones. However, differences exist in the results of PSM and that of the ESR results.
Practical implications
The presence of selection bias in the samples suggests that the use of ESR and PSM techniques is appropriate. Further, the results suggesting that enhanced credit access and farm income could be attained through improved access to household resources and information. The results also suggest the need for establishing and expanding credit programs to cover more households in both zones. The differential impact of credit between the two methods employed in each zone revealed the weakness of each model. The low values from PSM could indicate the presence of selection bias resulting from unobservable factors whiles the high values from the ESR could stem from the restrictive assumption of the model. This reinforces the importance of combining mixed methods to check robustness of results and to explore the weakness of each method employed.
Originality/value
The novelty of this study lies in the use of a very extensive and unique data set to decompose the determinants of credit access and farm income and as well as the impacts of credit into zones.
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Ayman Issa, Hesham Yousef, Ahmed Bakry, Jalal Rajeh Hanaysha and Ahmad Sahyouni
The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of board diversity (e.g. nationality, gender and educational level) on financial performance for a sample of banks listed in 11…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of board diversity (e.g. nationality, gender and educational level) on financial performance for a sample of banks listed in 11 countries in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses the system generalized method of moments estimation approach on the data of banks listed in the MENA countries over the period 2011–2018 to investigate the relationship between board diversity and financial performance. Also, the findings are supported by additional robustness tests, including ordinary least squares, fixed and random effect techniques.
Findings
The empirical results show that there is a significant relationship between board diversity and financial performance in banks. Specifically, the findings demonstrate that board diversity related to nationality has a significant positive impact on bank performance. The findings also show an insignificant association between gender and educational level diversity and bank performance. The robustness analysis supports the findings of the baseline model.
Practical implications
The study provides multi-country evidence on the importance of board diversity in the MENA region and it sheds light on possible tracks for future reforms aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of the board’s functions.
Originality/value
This paper extends the existing literature by providing empirical evidence on the association between board diversity and financial performance of banks in the MENA countries. This paper also provides preliminary evidence on the importance of board diversity to influence financial performance.
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Amos Mensah, Maxwell Asiamah, Camillus Abawiera Wongnaa, Faizal Adams, Seth Etuah, Eli Gaveh and Patrick Appiah
The paper aims to examine impact of adopted maize seed technology on farm profitability. It assesses both the revenue and cost implication of the adopted technology on farmers'…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to examine impact of adopted maize seed technology on farm profitability. It assesses both the revenue and cost implication of the adopted technology on farmers' welfare. The study aims to expand the domain of farm investment assessment analysis by including a broader range of production outcome indicators than is normally found in the adoption impact on farm profitability literature.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper opted for an empirical study using field survey data. A structured questionnaire was used to interview 400 maize farmers across four regions of Ghana. The survey was complemented with focus group discussions in each region with participants representing male and female farmers cultivating maize on a commercial basis. The data captured detail household level (i.e. demographic and socioeconomic characteristics) as well as farm-level information on maize production (i.e. input use and farm output).
Findings
The paper provides empirical insights about maize farmers' perception on the adopted maize seed technology and the factors influencing adoption. It also shed light on the fact that maize farmers do not base their adoption decisions solely on farm output and revenue indicators alone, but mainly on the return on their investment and the cost associated with the maize seed technology adopted.
Research limitations/implications
Because of data limitation, the influence of some important actors (market power) could not be directly captured in the analysis; this may lead to over simplification of a very complex situation in the maize sector. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to future investigate the influence of such important phenomenon on farm profitability.
Social implications
Improving maize productivity and farm profitability across the sectors is important in order to improve farmer income. This study, therefore, highlights the effect of adopted seed technology and its impact on farm profitability.
Originality/value
This paper fulfils an identified need to study how investment cost in maize seed technology affect farm profitability.
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Astrid Heidemann Lassen and Bjørge Timenes Laugen
The purpose of this paper is to test the effect of internal and external collaboration on the degree of newness (incremental/radical) in innovation projects. This adds to the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to test the effect of internal and external collaboration on the degree of newness (incremental/radical) in innovation projects. This adds to the understanding of the particular patterns of open innovation (OI) and what characterizes the innovation emerging through this approach.
Design/methodology/approach
Tests are performed on the effect of internal and external collaboration on the degree of newness (incremental/radical) in innovation projects. This adds to the understanding of the particular patterns of OI and what characterizes the innovation emerging through this approach. The empirical analysis is based on a data set including responses from 512 Danish engineers.
Findings
The results show that external collaboration has significantly different effects on the degree of newness depending on the type of external partners involved, and they also show that radical innovation output is positively related to involving the R&D department (internal) and universities (external involvement) and negatively related to involving suppliers.
Originality/value
The results provide a more detailed understanding of how different OI patterns affect the development of incremental vs radical innovation in existing organizations. In particular, three findings add new insights into how OI affects innovation to reach the highest degree of newness: high importance of collaboration with external partners with distinct interests and skills; low reliance on existing customers and suppliers for the development of radical innovation; and narrow and focused internal involvement rather than broad internal involvement.
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