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The effects of ownership concentration on firm performance usually considers two conflicting perspectives: monitoring and expropriation hypotheses. Past studies have produced mix findings. This study aims to shed light on this relationship by focusing on a specific measure of firm performance, firm growth. The moderating effect of industry growth in the aforementioned relationship is also considered, which advances knowledge on the role of moderators.

This study resorts to data from a sample of 21,476 Portuguese firms, which is examined using hierarchical linear modelling. This approach is adequate because the data has a hierarchical structure: the firms are nested within industries.

The results show that equity ownership concentration has a positive effect on firms’ growth and that industry growth amplifies this relationship. Ownership concentration can spur effective monitoring, thereby alleviating principal–agent conflicts of interest and speeding up decision-making, enabling timely competitive actions that promote growth.

The research conceives ownership structure in two groups. However, equity ownership concentration often acquires more complex shapes. In addition, the data used is from a single country.

The results show that firms pursuing growing strategies and operating in growing industries benefit from equity concentration.

Different from past studies, this study focuses on firm growth performance and considers the moderating effect of industry growth.

Focusing on municipalities, this study aims to examine whether citizens’ engagement with local public administration activities on Facebook can have a positive effect on citizens’ trust.

Using data from 333 citizens and resorting to structural equation modelling, a conceptual model is tested.

The results show that communicating directly with citizens through social media can enhance the citizens’ involvement in social issues and their identification with their city council. The effect of citizen engagement on trust propensity is mediated by citizens’ identification with the city council and by citizens’ involvement in social issues.

The study provides a conceptual model that can be used by practitioners to improve practices that enhance citizen engagement and build trust in the local government. City councils should promote activities on social media that encourage identification and citizens’ involvement. Furthermore, the findings suggest that municipalities can increase trust by involving citizens in social issues.

This study contributes to a better understanding of the government social media phenomenon, highlighting and empirically testing the effect of citizen engagement on institutional trust. In doing so, a process to build citizens’ trust in their city council through social media is unpacked. The findings show that communicating directly with citizens through social media can enhance the citizens’ involvement in social issues and their identification with the city council. The important role of identification to build institutional trust is emphasized.

This paper aims to better understand the conditions that can lead to high and low opportunity entrepreneurship in countries with oil rents. Additionally, the study aims to find out the differences between countries with oil rents and countries without oil rents.

A configurational analysis based on fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis was performed for a sample of 46 countries with oil rents and a sample of 20 countries without oil rents, using Country data from the World Bank World Development Indicators, World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, and Global Entrepreneurship Monitor.

The results show that control of corruption is important to achieve high levels of opportunity entrepreneurship in countries with oil rents and countries without oil rents alike. It is highlighted that the abundance of oil resources in a given country is not a curse, if some conditions are met. Multiple configurations that lead to high levels of opportunity entrepreneurship in countries with oil rents are presented. The study shows that none of the antecedent conditions is necessary per se, it is the combination of conditions that leads to the outcome of interest. The study indicates that either high control of corruption or low taxes should occur, no matter the combination of conditions, to achieve high levels of opportunity entrepreneurship.

The relation between control of corruption and entrepreneurship is complex and, in spite of the insights that were gathered herein, much is still to be explored. The coverage rate of the solutions shows that there are countries with high levels of opportunity entrepreneurship that do not fit in any of the obtained configurations. The sample size is also a limitation. Furthermore, to compute the set membership thresholds, the anchors were based on the percentiles, given the lack of theoretical basis to do so. Thus, other methods should also be used in the future, if possible with a larger data sample.

The obtained results have implications for policy makers, authorities and potential entrepreneurs. In countries that are oil producers, policy makers aiming to promote opportunity entrepreneurship should take into account that it is the combination of conditions that is important, and not each condition by itself. They should consider that several solutions are possible. Authorities aiming to promote anti-corruption reforms, can leverage the findings of this study to demand for more resources to institute practices and structures to better control corruption, and should articulate among themselves the actions to carry on to improve the level of opportunity entrepreneurship in their country. Potential entrepreneurs can use the findings of this study to ask for anticorruption reforms and tax reforms, and they should use their entrepreneurial talent to try to speed up the change.

By overlapping streams of research in entrepreneurship, institutions and oil curse, this study makes several contributions to the entrepreneurship literature. Different from extant literature, the study uses a configurational approach and identifies the combinations of conditions that lead to high and low opportunity entrepreneurship in countries with oil rents. The non-linearity of the configurations is highlighted. Furthermore, for the first time, the study includes a panel without oil rents in the analysis, which enabled a comparison with the other set of countries and provides new insights about the importance of control of corruption to achieve high levels of opportunity entrepreneurship.

This study examines the impact of social media activities on consumers’ willingness to pay a premium price (WTPp) in the banking industry, and investigates the role of consumer-brand identification (CBI) on this relationship. For the first time, the effect of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) is considered separately from other social media marketing efforts (SMME).

Data from a sample of 145 banking customers that follow bank social networks was analysed using structural equation modelling and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to test a proposed structural model.

Findings indicate that the effect of eWOM and SMME on WTPp is fully mediated by CBI. The results uncover a viable path to achieve WTPp in the banking industry, which includes the joint presence of SMME, eWOM and CBI.

The study was conducted on the banking sector of Portugal. It is advocated that further research would investigate the results in other service sectors, across different countries.

Findings highlight the importance of social media marketing in banking. Results reveal opportunities for managers in the banking sector to enhance CBI and ultimately WTPp, through SMME and eWOM.

The study is the first to consider the influence of SMME and eWOM as separate antecedents of WTPp. The findings indicate that the effect of eWOM and SMME on WTPp is fully mediated by CBI. In particular, the results of the fsQCA indicate that the combined presence of SMME, eWOM and CBI, is sufficient to obtain WTPp.

This work uses survey data from the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (Comissão de Mercado de Valores Mobiliários – CMVM) to examine financial literacy and literacy bias. The main objective of this study is to shed light on this issue by identifying the individual characteristics that are associated with financial literacy, namely overconfidence and underconfidence, which in turn might help explain individuals' financial decisions. The study distinguishes two groups, i.e. students and nonstudents, and considers several characteristics that are usually employed in this stream of research.

The data are based on a survey conducted by a partnership between the CMVM and a consortium of Portuguese universities. This paper has a three-fold aim. First, it studies the main individual features associated with objective financial literacy. Second, it analyzes the relationship between those variables and the bias between self-perceived and objective literacy, distinguishing overconfidence and underconfidence. Third, and most originally, this framework was also used to examine the differences between students and nonstudents. Those aims are pursued using cross-sectional ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions, except for the study of the literacy bias, for which the authors use an ordered probit.

Literacy is higher in individuals of the male gender who are older, have higher incomes, live in metropolitan areas, are highly educated, have a field of study related to finance and have high self-perceived literacy. Younger people are more overconfident. Unconditionally, women are less overconfident than men, but conditionally, they overestimate their knowledge. People holding securities and with a field of study related to finance are more overconfident. The gender effect is mainly driven by students, and the impact of a field of study and of holding securities on overconfidence decreases and increases, respectively, for students. The results highlight the importance of financial education.

Due to the way that the questionnaire was made available, there is no guarantee that the sample is representative of the Portuguese general population, or, for that matter, representative of the typical Portuguese retail investors or households. Also, there is no guarantee that the same individual did not answer the questionnaire more than once, although this is highly improbable. The link to the online questionnaire was only transmitted within e-mail databases owned by the CMVM and Portuguese universities, so the authors cannot guarantee its unbiasedness.

The authors' results may help the National Plan for Financial Education (the acronym in Portuguese is PNFF) fine-tune the required actions towards different target groups and, most importantly, highlight that different groups may require different approaches aiming to narrow the gap between objective and perceived literacy. The first step should be creating procedures to provide feedback on the objective and perceived literacy of those who enroll in financial formation programs.

The study distinguishes two groups, students and nonstudents, providing additional insights that might guide policymakers on how to structure financial education to enhance individual financial behavior. This is especially important in a country such as Portugal which has the lowest objective financial literacy in the Eurozone.

This study contributes to the financial literacy literature, in particular to the stream of research that focuses on psychological biases, by shedding light on the factors associated with both individual overconfidence and underconfidence. Differentiating between students and nonstudents provides additional insights, which might guide policymakers on how to structure financial education to enhance individual financial behavior.

This study aims to clarify the influence of different CEO’s political orientation (liberal/conservative) and corporate political activity on ESG performance, considering contingencies related to CEO attributes and corporate governance mechanisms.

Using a sample of 131 companies from the Standard and Poor’s 500 index, this study employs fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fs/QCA) to analyze combinations of conditions (i.e. configurations) that lead to greater ESG (i.e. environmental, social, and governance) performance.

Drawing on the upper echelon theory and the theory of social exchange, the findings show that different CEO’s political orientation (liberal/conservative) can contribute to ESG performance, depending on the combination of conditions. Furthermore, the results emphasize the importance of corporate political activity as a core condition to enhance ESG performance.

Taking a configurational approach, this study explores combinations of conditions that explain ESG performance, including CEO’s political orientation and corporate political activities as antecedent conditions. Unlike past research, this study examines possible complementarities between these two conditions and assumes that different CEO’s political orientation can have a positive influence on ESG performance, depending on the combination of conditions.

The purpose of this paper is to better understand the connection between culture and entrepreneurship in proposing and testing complex configurations of culturally endorsed implicit leadership theories (CLTs) and cultural practices that lead to entrepreneurial behaviour by studying entrepreneurial intentions (EI) and early-stage entrepreneurial activity (TEA) separately.

Using data from Globe Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) and Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) studies, a sample of 44 countries, and a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, several models for EI and TEA were developed.

The main findings provide a way of distinguishing between complex antecedent conditions that are required for each stage of the entrepreneurial realisation. The results empirically show that there is no ideal context – the path to stimulate entrepreneurship that works best for one country does not necessarily works the same for other countries. There are multiple paths to achieve the desired outcome.

The data from the GLOBE study were not completely up to date, the effect of which was minimised by considering data from GEM that respects temporal ordering. Nevertheless, data from GEM suggest that there is a degree of stability in the data over time. Future research could replicate this study with a larger selection of countries and with new data, collected in a different way. Additionally, the inclusion of CLTs proposed in this study opens new opportunities for future research, by providing a new angle to look at the entrepreneurial realisation process.

This study advances research into the association of culture and entrepreneurship, and develops testable models using a configurational approach, thus confirming the suitability of asymmetric configuration analysis for entrepreneurial research. The results expand an understanding of the entrepreneurial process by showcasing the different complex antecedent conditions for EI and TEA. Depending on a country’s cultural profile, policy-makers should invest in the dimensions that enable their society to align with the model that best suits their own culture. The obtained models offer a framework for evaluating new interventions that aim to develop entrepreneurial behaviour in a specific country.

Different configurations showcase that there are alternative paths to achieving high levels of EI and TEA. The differences among the possible configurations for each stage of the entrepreneurial realisation are uncovered. Country profiles are identified, quantified, and then compared providing guidance for policy-makers.

This research aims to investigate the influence of country culture on the next generation's intention to become managerial leaders of the family business, focussing on institutional and in-group collectivism practices. The authors investigate not only the direct effect of these collectivism practices on next-generation engagement, but also the extent to which institutional and/or in-group collectivism moderate the relationship between parental support and next-generation engagement and the extent to which institutional and/or in-group collectivism moderate the relationship between self-efficacy and next-generation engagement.

Using cross-national data from the Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students' Survey (GUESSS) and the Global Leadership and Organisational Behaviour Effectiveness (GLOBE), hierarchical linear modelling (HLM) is employed to test the hypotheses using a sample of 33,390 observations collected in 20 countries.

The main findings show that both institutional and in-group collectivism practices may increase next-generation engagement levels. Furthermore, these cultural practices can amplify the relationship between family business self-efficacy and next-generation engagement. However, institutional collectivism can slightly reduce the positive effect of parental support on family offspring's intention to become leaders of the family business. The results also reveal that parental support has a stronger direct effect on next-generation engagement than family business self-efficacy.

This study examines the influence of cultural practices on next-generation engagement, focussing on collectivism practices. The study distinguishes between institutional collectivism and in-group collectivism. Unlike past research, a direct effect of parental support on next-generation engagement is considered. The study also uses a particular type of self-efficacy: family business self-efficacy. In addition, a multi-level method is employed, which is rarely used in this context.

The purpose of this paper is to better understand complementarities-in-performance of three forms of innovations: product innovation, process innovation and organizational innovation. Additionally, complementarities-in-use for product innovation are examined, considering an additional condition: manufacturing flexibility.

Using data from 223 unlisted Portuguese industrial firms, and a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, different combinations of different forms of innovations were examined to identify complementarities-in-performance and complementarities-in-use.

Through the configurational analysis, a path to achieve high performance was uncovered, which includes the presence of both product and organizational innovations. The study also reveals that the joint absence of two conditions (from the three that were considered in the analysis) can lead to low performance. This result indicates that the relationships among the antecedent conditions are non-linear. The configurational analysis also shows that the combination of manufacturing flexibility with either process innovation or organizational innovation can lead to high product innovation. This result confirms that manufacturing flexibility is an important condition for product innovation.

The empirical evidence reported in this paper may be influenced by the definitions that were considered. Further conceptual and empirical research is encouraged to corroborate (or refute) or consolidate the findings presented herein. Moreover, although the obtained results present a high empirical coverage, other antecedent conditions beyond the scope of this study can also play an important role; for instance, marketing could influence innovation performance. Furthermore, radical innovation was not distinguished from incremental innovation when analyzing firm performance.

This study provides some clues for policy makers who aim to enhance firm performance through innovation. Managers should focus on both organizational and technological innovations, in particular product innovation, to improve firm performance. Moreover, they should be aware of the complementarities-in-use for product innovation. Considering the importance of developing product innovation to enhance performance, firms should promote high levels of product innovation. To achieve this outcome, manufacturing flexibility should be present.

Focusing on a very complex and still under-researched topic, this study contributes to the complementarities literature in several ways. This study employs a configurational approach to better understand complementarities and to integrate technological and organizational innovations. By taking this approach, this study acknowledges the existence of non-linearity and identifies not only the strategies to achieve high performance, but also the configurations that lead to low performance.

Drawing on consumer brand relationship theory, this study aims to investigate online brand engagement, brand trust and consumer brand identification as antecedents of brand love, amongst Generation Y and Z consumers. It explores the role of brand love in predicting consumers’ intention to co-create value and willingness to pay a premium price for the brand, for brands followed on social media.

Data from a study of 332 followers of brands on social media were analysed using structural equation modelling.

Results highlight the role of brand love in mediating the relationship between antecedents online brand engagement and consumer brand identification on intention to co-create value and willingness to pay a premium price. Consumers who trust the brand are more likely to intend to co-create value and are more willing to pay a price premium and these relationships are enhanced when the brand is loved.

Findings provide guidance for managers seeking to build brand friendship relationships with young consumers through social media. Results caution against a form of “superficial” friendship where the consumer may interact and co-create value online, yet fail to value the brand, evidenced through a willingness to pay a premium price.

The research identifies the critical role of brand love in fostering relationships with brands that young consumers follow on social media. The study reveals that neither online brand engagement nor consumer brand identification will result in co-creation of value or willingness to pay a premium price unless the consumer experiences brand love.