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The purpose of this study is to analyze how institutional governance and business environment affect countries’ competitiveness and their relative importance.

In this paper, the authors analyze how institutional governance and business environment affect countries’ competitiveness, their relative importance and what are the implications for Brazil. The authors have collected data from 131 countries related to the institutional governance, business environment and competitiveness of these countries. For the analysis of the mentioned influences, the technique of partial least squares structural equations modeling is used.

Results indicate that the main role in countries’ competitiveness is played by the quality of institutional governance. The quality of the business environment reinforces the positive effect of the quality of institutional governance on countries’ competitiveness (mediation effect). Brazil has poor governance quality indicators when compared to high-middle income countries, especially regarding government effectiveness, political stability and control of corruption.

The study provides a better understanding of the relative importance of governance quality and business environment quality for countries’ competitiveness. One limitation of this study is that the research was restricted to data related to the year 2019.

For strategists and decision-makers, understanding these effects on countries’ competitiveness and their relative importance is fundamental to understanding what makes their companies internationally competitive.

The presence and appreciation of institutional governance quality need to be cultivated in society.

Instead of using the original diamond model, which presents circular relationships, the authors have used the business environment construct, composed of elements of the diamond model to test the relationships between the quality of institutional governance, competitiveness and the business environment.

International Journal of Emerging Markets (IJoEM) is a leading journal that publishes high-quality research focused on emerging markets. In 2020, IJoEM celebrated its fifteenth anniversary, and the objective of this paper is to conduct a retrospective analysis to commensurate IJoEM's milestone.

Data used in this study were extracted using the Scopus database. Bibliometric analysis, using several indicators, is adopted to reveal the major trends and themes of a journal. Mapping of bibliographic data is carried using VOSviewer.

Study findings indicate that IJoEM has been growing for publications and citations since its inception. Four significant research directions emerged, i.e. consumer behaviour, financial markets, financial institutions and corporate governance and strategic dimensions based on cluster analysis of IJoEM's publications. The identified future research directions are focused on emergent investments opportunities, trends in behavioural finance, emerging role technology-financial companies, changing trends in corporate governance and the rising importance of strategic management in emerging markets.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to conduct a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of IJoEM. The study presents the key themes and trends emerging from a leading journal considered a high-quality research journal for research on emerging markets by academicians, scholars and practitioners.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the interplay of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and green innovation in boosting competitiveness in manufacturing in an emerging market context. This study adds green innovation as mediator in the relationship between CSR and competitiveness.

A model with three second-order constructs is developed and tested, in a sample of 325 managers from manufacturing companies in Ecuador, using quantitative and cross-section methods.

After obtaining adjusted and validated measurement models, a structural equation model was conducted, where the main hypotheses were confirmed, providing empirical evidence that CSR and green innovation significantly influence manufacturing competitiveness in a developing economy.

This study considers only manufacturing companies in Ecuador, focusing on CSR practices in a single territorial case study. It arguably contributes to reinforce the business case for CSR, with new evidence on the causal relationships between CSR, green innovation and competitiveness, in the context of emerging market manufacturing industries. Although the literature often points at a positive relationship between CSR and firm-level competitiveness, supporting empirical evidence remains scarce. This model, introducing green innovation as mediator in the relationship between CSR and competitiveness in developing markets, accounts for a novel theoretical approach.

The findings are consistent with previous research, reporting the positive influence of CSR activities on organizational competitiveness, reducing risks and cost structures, as well as improving the relationship with employees, enhancing talent attraction, retention and productivity. Incorporating formal CSR tools to the model allowed us to highlight the relevance of ‘green’ certifications as a means to provide a competitive edge, along with increased bargaining power in the supply chain, resulting in competitiveness gains. The findings on the role of green innovation suggest a transition from cost-savings to a more strategic leverage on responsible innovation as a source of competitive advantage.

Additionally, this research contributes to shed light on the impact of green processes and product innovations on social and environmental performance, providing evidence of a more efficient use of energy and natural resources, increasing productivity and by extension, profitability. CSR shapes an innovation culture that, through the use of social, environmental and sustainability controllers, can create new business models, products, services or processes that boost both firm-level and supply chain productivity, benefits that eventually spill over to the host community.

This study aims at bridging the research gap on the interplay of CSR, green innovation and competitiveness in manufacturing in an emerging market context.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a measure of competitiveness of the Spanish autonomous communities from a multidimensional and dynamic perspective for the period 2008-2016.

This paper adopts a broad definition of competitiveness based on five key environments (productive capital, human capital, social and institutional capital, infrastructure and knowledge) and comprising 53 indicators. The method used to construct the competitiveness index is based on the P-distance proposed by Pena Trapero (1979), which objectively assigns weights to the indicators. There is an important advantage in the methodological proposal of this study, as it allows analyzing the behavior of partial and aggregated indicators from a dynamic perspective, taking the same value as a reference for the entire period. Therefore, not only a classification obtained for each year but also the variation that occurs in terms of the reference period can be analyzed.

The classification of the autonomous communities is established using common intervals based on the results obtained for the whole period, i.e. 2008-2016. The data point to the unequal situations of the autonomous communities. The results also reveal that the evolution of the regional competitiveness synthetic index is clearly cyclical and the drop recorded in the recessive period is less pronounced than the increase recorded in the growth phase.

The main innovation of the competitiveness index presented here lies in its allowing comparisons over time.

In Paris, in 2015, 195 countries agreed to limit the emission of CO₂. The German Energiewende is an example of the types of regulatory changes that countries will need to enact to meet their Paris commitments. The Energiewende saw the German Government forcefully shift the energy base from non-renewable to renewable sources to reduce CO₂ emissions, and the effect of this was to reduce the market value of some German energy firms by as much as 70%. This paper aims to consider the strategic options available to energy incumbents facing the sort of regulatory challenges implied by the Paris agreement.

This paper is a literature review and a thought experiment, in which, 12 fields of strategy research are reviewed, and using the insights obtained from these fields, four strategic options are proposed for the energy incumbents, namely, “fight,” “flight,” “fit” and “follow.” Each strategy is introduced and evaluated, and, by looking at examples from other industries, the viability of that strategy for the energy industry is concluded.

Of the four strategies identified – that is, fight (lobbying), flight (internationalization or diversification), follow (imitation) or fit (adopt a core competencies perspective that re-imagines the firm) – it was concluded that only the last is feasible. The present review, and the application of the discussion to the energy industry, suggests that “fight” is viable only in the short term as a delaying strategy; “flight” is a value-destroying strategy, and, therefore not a real option for the energy industry; “follow” will lead the energy incumbents to lose their current positions of power; and only “fit” will allow the energy incumbents to remain viable in the long term.

All research has its limitations. The main limitation of this research is the fact that this study is a thought experiment based on a literature review. The suggested strategies are forward-looking, but are based on historical examples, and are intended to guide the energy incumbents, even when they are based on non-energy examples. The reader should view this paper in that light.

The practical implication of this research is that, of the 12 fields of strategy that it reviews, there is only one feasible strategy for the energy incumbents looking to survive the sorts of regulatory challenges implied by the Energiewende and the Paris agreement. The research suggests that many/most/all of the energy incumbents will, at first, choose a “fight” strategy, but in the long term only those that choose for a “fit” strategy will survive the sort of disruptions implied by these regulatory changes.

The social implications of this research are that many/most/all firms in the affected industry will go through a predictable process, of first resisting the change, before eventually supporting it; that “flight” is not a viable strategy; and that radical innovation rarely comes from incumbents. Policymakers should be aware of these facts when not only working with incumbents to develop the regulations necessary to meet the Paris climate commitments but also looking at the impacts of regulation and when trying to “pick winners.”

The paper reviews the existing literature, and the review is not new. The application to a specific industry and the advice gleaned from this for managers and policymakers is new and of high value.

The emergence of distributed manufacturing (DM) is examined as a new form of localised production, distinct from previous manifestations of multi-domestic and indigenous production.

Supply network (SN) configuration and infrastructural provisioning perspectives were used to examine the literature on established localised production models as well as DM. A multiple case study was then undertaken to describe and explore the DM model further. A maximum variation sampling procedure was used to select five exemplar cases.

Three main contributions emerge from this study. First, the research uniquely brings together two bodies of literature, namely SN configuration and infrastructure provisioning to explore the DM context. Second, the research applies these theoretical lenses to establish the distinctive nature of DM across seven dimensions of analysis. Third, emerging DM design rules are identified and compared with the more established models of localised production, drawing on both literature and DM case evidence.

This study provides a rich SN configuration and infrastructural provisioning view on DM leading to a set of design rules for DM adoption, thus supporting practitioners in their efforts to develop viable DM implementation plans.

The authors contribute to the intra- and inter-organisational requirements for the emerging DM context by providing new perspectives through the combined lenses of SN configuration and infrastructural provisioning approaches.

Effective policy to support business ecosystems should build on evidence-based analyses of firm-level activities and outcomes. This paper aims to contribute to this requirement and makes three contributions. The first contribution is to extend the application of the network capital concept to a variety of eight distinct linkage categories (e.g. suppliers, customers and business support agencies) that support networking and clustering, in both activity and impact terms. The second contribution is outlining a novel method of network visualisation (V-LINC) based on the collection of primary and qualitative data. The third contribution is in applying the method to one cluster, information and communications technologies.

Qualitative research on the nature and extent of organisational network linkages was undertaken. Structured interviews with a set of focal firms followed a tailored design approach. The concept of network capital was extended and applied to the cluster context by measuring network inputs and output (i.e. investments and impact). The approach was operationalised via a novel impact measurement approach, denoted as V-LINC, an acronym for visualising linkages in networks and clusters.

The authors develop a business impact framework exploiting novel linkage visualisations and qualitative data from firms in a cluster in one city region across eight linkage types to capture distinct network capital elements. Organisational inputs into network development, measured as investment and involvement indicators and organisational outcomes from those networks, measured as importance and intensity indicators, are used to assess network performance. A comprehensive, systematic and robust analysis of network elements and performance is possible. Distance is found to interact differently across linkage types. Targeted recommendations may be made from the analysis of local or regional business ecosystems in light of measured business impacts of linkages.

Due to the resource-intensive nature of data collection, the current study engages a limited sample of firms and interviewees. Applications of this approach in other contexts will permit further research into its usefulness in evaluating business impacts generated through networking activities.

The method introduced here (V-LINC) offers a novel means to include both geography network theory into an understanding of knowledge relationships and networks within clusters. Accounting for both distance and linkage type reveals which categories of intra-regional and extra-regional linkages generate the greatest impact, given their frequency. The approach adds to available cluster visualisation and analysis approaches through identifying patterns of disaggregated knowledge flows and their impacts, with application to evaluation demands of policy.

This study aims to quantify sectoral energy and carbon intensity, revisit the validity of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) and explore the relationship between economic diversification and CO₂ emissions in Bahrain.

Three stages were followed to understand the linkages between sectoral economic growth, energy consumption and CO₂ emissions in Bahrain. Sectoral energy and carbon intensity were calculated, time series data trends were analyzed and two econometric models were built and analyzed using the autoregressive distributed lag method and time series data for the period 1980–2019.

The results of the analysis suggest that energy and carbon intensity in Bahrain’s industrial sector is higher than those of its services and agricultural sectors. The EKC was found to be invalid for Bahrain, where economic growth is still coupled with CO₂ emissions. Whereas CO₂ emissions have increased with growth in the manufacturing, and real estate subsectors, the emissions have decreased with growth in the hospitability, transportation and communications subsectors. These results indicate that economic diversification, specifically of the services sector, is aligned with Bahrain’s carbon neutrality target. However, less energy-intensive industries, such as recycling-based industries, are needed to counter the environmental impacts of economic growth.

The impacts of economic diversification on energy consumption and CO₂ emissions in the Gulf Cooperation Council petroleum countries have rarely been explored. Findings from this study contribute to informing economic and environment-related policymaking in Bahrain.

This empirical paper is an endeavor to explore the relationship between social media advertising (SMA) and customers' purchase intention (CPI) in three South Asian countries. SMA was further divided into three relevant dimensions: perceived relevance (PR), perceived informativeness (PI) and perceived credibility (PC). Furthermore, the authors incorporated a single mediator: customers' brand consciousness (CBC) to test the mediating effects on the direct relationships.

The authors purposively selected 1937 fashion-conscious individuals based on a cross-sectional survey design. The authors applied SPSS 25 for explanatory statistics and structural equation modeling (SEM) (through AMOS 25) for testing the hypothesized relationships.

Based on the responses and the application of statistical measures, the authors revealed that all of the three dimensions of SMA have significant positive relationships with CPI. CBC is also significantly and positively related to CPI. Regarding the mediating effects, CBC was identified to have full mediation effects on the relationships between PR and CPI and PI and CPI. On the contrary, the same variable was found to have partial mediation on the relationship between PC and CPI.

South Asia is a growing business hub and the largest consumer market in terms of population. This empirical study was undertaken to reveal the role of SMA on CPI in the three highly populated South Asian countries, which is rare in academia. The outcomes of this empirical study are expected to be useful for further research attempts regarding SMA and consumer behavior. Businesses and policymakers are also expected to benefit from formulating SMA-related strategies to retain present buyers as well as attract the prospective ones.

This study intends to explore the connection between Facebook-based social media marketing (FSMM) and Facebook-based online purchase order (FOPO) for 20 popular online fashion retail brands across three South Asian countries: India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. FSMM was further divided into four components: Perceived trust (PT), Perceived informativeness (PInf), Perceived interactivity (PInt) and Perceived benefit (PB). 

The authors selected 20 popular Facebook-based online fashion brands involved in clothing and fashion accessories businesses in those three countries. Later, the authors purposively selected 114 region-based Facebook page administrators (admins) responsible for operating those brands' Facebook pages and taking Facebook-based online orders. The authors collected primary data from those admins as respondents through a structured survey instrument. The authors applied SPSS 25 for descriptive analysis and a covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) (through AMOS 25) for testing the hypothesized relations.

Based on the valid responses and application of proper statistical measures, it was revealed that three FSMM components: PT, PInf and PB have significant positive relationships with FOPO, while PInt has an insignificant relationship with FOPO. 

South Asia is a growing business hub and the largest consumer market in terms of population. This study was conducted to identify the relationship between FSMM and FOPO in the three most prominent South Asian countries. As the first study was undertaken ever on customer perceptions of FSMM in a multi-country South Asian context, this paper is expected to be helpful for academics in conducting further empirical investigations on Facebook-based marketing as well as practitioners and policymakers in formulating and implementing Facebook-based marketing strategies.