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This research aims to compare website-based investor relations (WIR) in developed and developing economies, represented by the US, UK, Hong Kong and mainland China.

A WIR level evaluation index consisting of 82 items was constructed, based on website content analysis. Item discrepancies caused by local contexts were considered in order to make the items applicable to all economies. Data were collected from the websites of companies listed in the Dow Jones Industry Average, the biggest 30 companies on the FTSE100, Hang Seng Index and China CNINFO40. The WIR levels of developed and developing economies were evaluated and compared under the index system. T-tests of differences between means were used to evaluate significance.

Listed companies' WIR levels were very similar between Hong Kong and mainland China as well as between the US and UK, but companies listed in the US and UK have a much higher level of WIR. The differences of WIR between developed and developing economies were very significant. Developed economies' WIR show many advanced features such as using real-time and being more complete, convenient, user-friendly, accurate and fair.

As a comparative study of WIR between developed and developing economies, the study is among the first in this field, especially in including mainland China.

This study aims to investigate the effects of institutional qualities on corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement from a global perspective.

The authors examine CSR engagement across 83 developed and developing economies focusing on four potential institutional drivers: the rule of law, economic financial development, human capital formation and exposure to international trade.

The authors find that the level of human capital formation and financial development is positively associated with CSR engagement in both developing and developed economies. However, the rule of law was only associated with CSR engagement in developing economies whereas the level of international trade was found having no association with CSR engagement across both developed economies and developing economies.

The effect of macroinstitutional qualities on aggregate CSR engagement practices across 83 developed and developing economies was examined; however, the analysis did not attempt to identify the relevance of these institutional factors at the micro or mezzo level and how they interplay with firm-level factors.

The empirical findings in this study offer some important insights into the theoretical constructs of institutional qualities and institutional logics that impact CSR engagement from both developing and developed economy contexts. Not only will these findings encourage regulators and stakeholders to call for enhanced CSR engagement, it will also benefit the accounting and assurance profession’s efforts to evaluate organizational risk and mitigate corporate opportunistic use of CSR disclosure. The finding that strengthening a country’s rule of law enhances CSR engagement in developing economies is further evidence for the current debate in the accounting literature regarding mandating firm CSR disclosure.

The authors conclude that improving the level of human capital formation and encouraging financial development is important for the overall social well-being of all economies, whereas developing economies can further encourage CSR engagement by enhancing their rule of law.

This paper aims to contribute to the literature on global talent management by examining how multinational corporations (MNCs) from developed and emerging economies manage talented employees in other emerging economies. Specifically, it aims to understand why MNCs from developed economies are likely to face lower levels of challenge than MNCs from emerging economies when translating corporate-level talent management strategies to their subsidiaries located in emerging economies and how local contextual factors influence the translation processes.

This paper undertakes a matched-case comparison of two MNCs, one from a developed economy and the other from an emerging economy, that operate in the emerging economy of Thailand. Evidence was obtained from semi-structured interviews field visits and a review of archival documents and Web resources.

Based on the obtained evidence, this paper proposes that MNCs from developed economies tend to face challenges in terms of skill shortages, and these challenges affect their translation of talent management strategies to the subsidiary level. By contrast, MNCs from emerging economies tend to face challenges in terms of both skill shortages and the liability of origin (LOR) (i.e. weak employer branding) in the translation process. Both groups of MNCs are likely to develop talent management practices at the subsidiary level to address the challenge of successfully competing in the context of emerging economies.

One limitation of this research is its methodology. Because this research is based on a matched-case comparison of an MNC from a developed economy and an MNC from an emerging economy, both of which operate in the emerging economy of Thailand, it does not claim generalizability to all MNCs and to other emerging economies. Rather, the results of this research should lead to further discussion of how MNCs from developed and emerging economies translate corporate-level talent management strategies into subsidiary-level practices to survive in other emerging economies. However, one important issue here is that there may be a tension between the use of expatriates and local top managers at MNCs’ subsidiaries located in other emerging economies as drivers for knowledge sourcing in that the importance of expatriates may diminish over time as the subsidiaries located in those economies age (Dahms, 2019). In this regard, future research in the area of global talent management should pay special attention to this issue. The other important issue here is that it is possible that the two case study MNCs are very different from one another because of their organizational development stage, history and current globalization stage. Thus, this issue may also influence the types of talent management strategies and practices that the two case study MNCs have developed in different countries. In particular, MNCs from emerging economies (ICBC) may not have developed their global HR strategies, as they have not yet operated globally as in the case of MNCs from developed economies (Citibank). This can be another important issue for future research. Additionally, both MNCs examined in this research operate in the banking industry. This study, therefore, omits MNCs that operate in other industries such as the automobile industry and the hotel and resort industry. Future researchers can explore how both groups of MNCs in other industries translate their talent management strategies into practices when they operate in other emerging economies. Moreover, this study focuses only on two primary contextual factors, the skill-shortage problem and LOR; future research can explore other local contextual factors, such as the national culture, and their impact on the translation of talent management strategies into practices. Furthermore, quantitative studies that use large sample sizes of both groups of MNCs across industries might be useful in deepening our understanding of talent management. Finally, a comparison of talent management strategies and practices between Japanese MNCs and European MNCs that operate in Thailand would also be interesting.

The HR professionals and managers of MNCs that operate in emerging economies or of companies that aim to internationalize their business to emerging economies must pay attention to local institutional structures, including national skill formation systems, to successfully implement talent management practices in emerging economies. Additionally, in the case of MNCs from emerging economies, HR professionals and managers must understand the concept of LOR and look for ways to alleviate this problem to ensure the success of talent management in both developed economies and other emerging economies.

This paper provides policy implications for the government in Thailand and in other emerging economies where the skill-shortage problem is particularly severe. Specifically, these governments should pay attention to solving the problem of occupation-level skill shortages to alleviate the severe competition for talented candidates among firms in the labor market.

This paper contributes to the prior literature on talent management in several ways. First, this paper is among the first empirical, qualitative papers that aim to extend the literature on global talent management by focusing on how MNCs from different groups of countries (i.e. developed economies and emerging economies) manage talented employees in the emerging economy of Thailand. Second, this paper demonstrates that the institutional structures of emerging economies play an important role in shaping the talent management practices adopted by the subsidiaries of MNCs that operate in these countries. In this regard, comparative institutionalism theory helps explain the importance of recognizing institutional structures in emerging economies for the purpose of developing effective talent management practices. Finally, there is scarce research on talent management in the underresearched country of Thailand. This study should, therefore, assist managers who wish to implement corporate-to-subsidiary translation strategies in Thailand and other emerging economies.

Prior research on international diversification has focused primarily on multinational enterprises (MNEs) from developed economies, such as the U.S. and other developed nations. As an increasing number of MNEs are now located in emerging economies, new theoretical frameworks are needed to better understand the motivations of these MNEs to diversify internationally. This paper contributes to the theory development of MNEs by examining the characteristics of international diversification by business groups from emerging economies. Using the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm and organizational learning theory, we suggest that the international diversification motives of business groups from emerging economies vary by host country context. Business groups from emerging economies are more likely to enter developed economies (rather than other emerging economies) when their primary aim is exploring new resources and capabilities, and more likely to enter other emerging economies (rather than developed economies) when their primary aim is to exploit existing group resources and capabilities. We also suggest that these motives influence business-group performance. We identify two important moderators of these relationships: product diversification and social capital. Because of the importance of the business-group organizational form in emerging economies, understanding business-group international diversification may lead to improved MNE theory.

Extending prior studies which suggest that the disclosure practice of developed economy entities tends to be more transparent than that of emerging economy entities, this study investigates whether such differences in the degree of disclosure transparency translate into different levels of value‐relevance of their accounting summary measures (i.e., book values and earnings). Consistent with theories that link disclosure quality with the impact of disclosure on investors' decisions, the evidence indicates that the accounting summary measures of developed economy entities are more value‐relevant than those of emerging economy entities in the U.S. stock market. This finding has some implications for the current policy debate in IASB regarding accounting for emerging economy entities.

Entering a new era of digital transformation, Industry 4.0 (I 4.0) promises to revolutionize the way business has been done, providing unprecedented opportunities and challenges. This study aims to investigate empirically and comparatively analyse the benefits, challenges and critical success factors (CSFs) of Industry 4.0 across four continents and developing and developed economies.

This study used an online survey to explore the benefits, challenges and CSFs of developed and developing economies. In order to ensure the validity of the survey, a pilot test was conducted with 10 respondents. A total of 149 participants with senior managerial, vice-presidential and directorial positions from developed and developing economies spanning four continents were invited to take part in the survey.

The study ranks benefits, challenges and CSFs across economies and continents. Further, the benefit of Industry 4.0 helping to achieve organizational efficiency and agility differed across the developing and developed economies. Furthermore, the benefit improves customer satisfaction significantly differed across continents; in terms of challenges, Employee resistance to change had a higher proportion in developing economies. The future viability of I 4.0 also differed across the continents. Regarding CSFs, there was no difference across the developing and developed economies. Finally, change management and project management vary across the continents.

This study contributes to a balanced understanding of I 4.0 by providing empirical evidence for comparative analysis. Moreover, it extends the concept of resource dependence theory to explain how organizations in developing economies and developed economies deploy resources to manage external condition uncertainties to implement I 4.0. Furthermore, this study provides a structural framework to understand the specific benefits, challenges and CSFs of implementing I 4.0, which can be utilized by policymakers to promote I 4.0 in their economies or continents.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no studies have empirically demonstrated the comparative analysis of benefits, challenges and CSFs across economies and continents and distinguish an original contribution of this work.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

Entrepreneurial activity is a phenomenon that increases the economic growth of countries and improves their social welfare. The economic development levels of countries have significant effects on these entrepreneurial activities. This research examines which institutional and macroeconomic variables explain early-stage entrepreneurship activities in developed and developing economies.

The authors conducted panel data analysis on the data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) surveys covering the years 2009–2018.

First, the authors' results reveal that cognitive, normative and regulatory institutions and macroeconomic factors affect early-stage entrepreneurial activity in developed and developing countries differently. Second, the authors' findings indicate that cognitive, normative and regulatory institutions affect early-stage entrepreneurship more positively in developed than developing countries. Finally, the authors' results report that macroeconomic factors are more effective in early-stage entrepreneurial activity in developing countries than in developed countries.

This study provides a better understanding of the components that help explain the differences in entrepreneurship between developed and developing countries regarding institutions and macroeconomic factors. In this way, it contributes to developing entrepreneurship literature with the theoretical achievements of combining institutional theory and macroeconomic indicators with entrepreneurship literature.

This paper investigates whether sustainability performance (SP) protects financial performance (FP) for firms in both developed and emerging economies during the COVID-19-induced economic downturn.

Using a recent sample of firms in 34 countries between 2003 and 2021, the authors employ ordinary least squares regressions, moderations and the Heckman two-step method to test the hypotheses.

Firms with strong SP have higher FP in developed and emerging economies in the upcoming year. During the COVID-19 crisis in 2020–2021, the impact of sustainability on FP is pronounced in developed but not in emerging economies. Furthermore, cross-listings expose firms in emerging economies to high-standard institutional mechanisms in developed economies. Thus, sustainable firms in emerging economies cross-listed on European stock exchanges are more profitable.

For regulators and standard setters, the global-level comparative analysis helps them find solutions that may assist firms in improving SP globally (e.g. mandatory reporting) and enduring crises resiliently. For institutional investors, the study reveals the relatively different impact of sustainability risk for firms in developed and emerging economies. For practitioners and private sector firms, this study contributes to the dialogue on what makes firms more resilient in COVID-19. Although COVID-19 might be temporary, the lessons learned could protect firms from future crises.

The authors contribute to the contingency perspective between sustainability and financial performance by providing recent empirical evidence in a global setting during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors demonstrate how different external institutional mechanisms (rule-based governance and relation-based governance) and cross-listing affect the SP-FP relationship during a crisis. The authors extend the knowledge in crisis management literature with a comparative study and fill the research gap on how SP affects FP for firms in emerging economies compared to developed economies.

The study aims to empirically investigate the trends and determinants of labour productivity of the two broad sectors –industry and services – and their components, namely, manufacturing and market services sectors, in the case of major developing and developed economies of Asia-Pacific over the period 1980-2014 and make a comparison thereof.

The study uses econometric methodology of panel unit root tests, panel cointegration and group-mean full modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS).

The study finds that while capital deepening, government size, institutional quality, productivity of the other sector and financial openness affect productivity of all the sectors significantly, the impact of human capital and trade openness varies across sectors in the case of developing economies. Furthermore, the impact of technological progress becomes significant in the post-liberalization reforms period in the developing economies. The study further finds that capital deepening, human capital, government size, institutional quality, productivity of the other sector, government size and trade openness are significant determinants of productivity of all sectors of developed economies under consideration. However, the impact of technological progress is stronger for manufacturing sector than services and its components. Furthermore, while both equity and debt liabilities (as measures of financial openness) influence sectoral productivity of industry and manufacturing sectors positively and significantly in case of developed economies, only equity liabilities have a significant influence on the productivity of developing economies. This may indicate existence of more developed financial markets in the case of developed economies.

The study identifies important structural differences in determinants of productivity both across sectors and across developing and developed economies of Asia-Pacific.