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 aims to reveal how mobile app stickiness is formed and how the stickiness formation process differs for apps of different social levels.

This study proposed and validated a stickiness formation model following the cognitive–affective–conative framework. Data were collected from surveys of 1,240 mobile app users and analyzed using structural equation modeling. Multigroup analysis was applied to contrast the stickiness formation process among apps of different social levels.

This study revealed a causal link between cognitive, affective and conative factors. It found partial mediation effects of trust in the association between perceptions and satisfaction, and the full mediation role of satisfaction and personal investment (PI) in the effects of subjective norm (SN) on stickiness. The multigroup analysis results suggested that social media affordances benefit stickiness through increased PI and strengthened effects of SN on PI. However, it damages stickiness through increased perceived privacy risk (PPR), decreased trust and strengthened effects of PPR on trust.

This study contributes to both stickiness scholars and practitioners, as it builds a model to understand the stickiness formation process and reveals the effects of the “go social” strategy. The novelty of this study is that it examined social influences, considered privacy issues and revealed two mediation mechanisms. The findings can guide the improvement of mobile app stickiness and the application of the “go social” strategy.