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The purpose of this paper is to provide a robust version of the Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) in order to evaluate hotels' productivity levels during the Great Recession.

Based on the order-m frontiers, we apply a robust version of an MPI. We decompose the productivity into three robust components. We use a sample of hotels operating in the Balearic Islands and Canary Islands, and we decompose and evaluate their productivity levels during the period 2004–2013. Moreover, we evaluate hotels' productivity performance during the pre-crisis period, the US subprime crisis period, the global financial crisis (GFC), the sovereign debt crisis period and the after-crisis period.

Our findings show that productivity did not deteriorate due to the adverse effects of economic crisis. This is mainly driven by increased technical change and the ability to operate at optimal scales. The long-term investment in innovation policies which are related to services and processes, appear to be the dominating feature behind hotels' productivity levels, which helped the hotel industry to recover quickly from the Great Recession.

The vast majority of empirical studies evaluating the productivity change in the hotel industry apply MPIs which are based on data envelopment analysis (DEA). However, the productivity measurement which is based on the nonparametric framework is sensitive to sample characteristics. In order to avoid such shortcomings, we apply a robust version of the MPI.

The purpose of this paper is to use tenets of the complexity theory in order to study the effect of various determinants of firm’s performance, such as CEO’s compensation and age, for the case of 72 insurance companies.

The authors identify the asymmetries in the data set by creating quantiles and using contrarian analysis. Instead of ignoring this information and use a main effects approach, all the available information in the data set is taken into account. For this purpose, the authors use qualitative comparative analysis to find alternative equifinal routes toward high firm performance.

Five configurations are found which lead to high performance. Every one of the five configurations is found to be sufficient but not necessary for high firm performance.

The research findings contribute to a better understanding of the determinants of firm’s performance taking into account the asymmetries in the data set. The authors identify alternative paths toward high firm performance, which could be vital information for the decision maker inside a firm.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a fresh insight into the examination of the comparison between multinationality and firm performance, measured through technical efficiency levels by overcoming methodological constraints and misunderstandings presented in earlier research.

The authors estimate firms’ efficiency levels in a production function-type framework through technical efficiency levels using nonparametric data envelopment analysis. The authors include firms from both developed and developing economies, from different national origins and with different sectoral characteristics, with a particular focus on knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) and capital-intensive business services (CIBS).

The study confirms for the case of KIBS the existence of the three-stage sigmoid (S-shaped) hypothesis between multinationality and firm performance measured through technical efficiency levels. Finally, the empirical findings reveal that CIBS exhibit only the first two stages, thus forming a “U”-shape relationship.

The authors propose the application of different firms’ performance measurements, providing us with the ability to unpack a firms’ managerial decision processes with regards to determining the optimised investment(s) in technology and research and development and with a particular focus on KIBS and CIBS.

The rapid economic growth of China has attracted the attention of economists, researchers and politicians. China is one of the largest economies in the world, with its gross domestic product (GDP) rising on an average above 9 percent. This economic growth is considered responsible for environmental degradation, which appears to be the most significant problem that economic growth causes. The purpose of this paper is to explore China's carbon emissions during 1960‐2006, focusing on the role of growth, trade and the value added by various sectors.

Using time series data, this paper investigates China's carbon emissions during 1960‐2006, with particular focus on the direct role of growth and in connection to trade and the value added by various sectors such as agriculture, industry and services.

The authors' empirical results indicate the presence of an inverted U‐shaped curve between CO₂ emissions and growth represented by the GDP per capita. Trade seems to be an important determinant in this relationship.

Such empirical findings provide evidence for policy implications regarding the role of growth, trade and the value added by the various sectors of the economy on environmental degradation.

This study is the first effort to explore the associated implications of growth, trade and the effect of the various sectors' value added on environmental damage in an environmental Kuznets curve framework.