Search results

1 – 10 of over 1000
Article
Publication date: 4 December 2023

Anannya Gogoi, Jagriti Srivastava and Rudra Sensarma

While firms in developing countries are increasingly adopting lean practices of inventory management, there is limited evidence showing the impact of lean practices on firm…

Abstract

Purpose

While firms in developing countries are increasingly adopting lean practices of inventory management, there is limited evidence showing the impact of lean practices on firm performance in countries such as India. Lean practices improve the financial performance of the firms through superior cost-reduction measures and operational efficiencies. This paper examines the impact of inventory leanness in Indian manufacturing firms on their financial performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors measure inventory leanness based on stochastic frontier analysis (SLA), apart from using conventional measures available in the literature. The authors analyze the impact of inventory leanness on the financial performance of firms by examining data for 12,334 unique Indian manufacturing firms for the period 2009–2018. The authors present a comparative analysis using different methods of inventory leanness and study the effects on firm performance.

Findings

First, the authors find that only 68 industries out of 411 industries follow lean practices, i.e. most industries do not follow lean practices. Second, the estimation results show that there exists a positive relationship between inventory leanness and firm performance. The results suggest that an inverted U-shaped relationship exists between inventory leanness and firm performance for the entire sample. In particular, 17% of the industries in the sample exhibit such a relationship, and it is sufficiently strong to show up in the average regression results for the entire sample.

Originality/value

The authors introduce a novel measure of inventory leanness named stochastic frontier leanness based on the SFA method used in production economics. It measures leanness by benchmarking the inventory levels against the industry “frontier”. Furthermore, the authors conduct an empirical study of the lean-financial performance relationship with a large panel dataset of Indian firms instead of the survey-based methods that were previously used in the literature.

Details

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. 73 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0401

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 15 December 2023

Nicola Castellano, Roberto Del Gobbo and Lorenzo Leto

The concept of productivity is central to performance management and decision-making, although it is complex and multifaceted. This paper aims to describe a methodology based on…

1368

Abstract

Purpose

The concept of productivity is central to performance management and decision-making, although it is complex and multifaceted. This paper aims to describe a methodology based on the use of Big Data in a cluster analysis combined with a data envelopment analysis (DEA) that provides accurate and reliable productivity measures in a large network of retailers.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology is described using a case study of a leading kitchen furniture producer. More specifically, Big Data is used in a two-step analysis prior to the DEA to automatically cluster a large number of retailers into groups that are homogeneous in terms of structural and environmental factors and assess a within-the-group level of productivity of the retailers.

Findings

The proposed methodology helps reduce the heterogeneity among the units analysed, which is a major concern in DEA applications. The data-driven factorial and clustering technique allows for maximum within-group homogeneity and between-group heterogeneity by reducing subjective bias and dimensionality, which is embedded with the use of Big Data.

Practical implications

The use of Big Data in clustering applied to productivity analysis can provide managers with data-driven information about the structural and socio-economic characteristics of retailers' catchment areas, which is important in establishing potential productivity performance and optimizing resource allocation. The improved productivity indexes enable the setting of targets that are coherent with retailers' potential, which increases motivation and commitment.

Originality/value

This article proposes an innovative technique to enhance the accuracy of productivity measures through the use of Big Data clustering and DEA. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no attempts have been made to benefit from the use of Big Data in the literature on retail store productivity.

Details

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. 73 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 January 2024

Mohammad Alsharif

This study attempts to comprehensively analyze the cost Malmquist productivity index of conventional and Islamic banks in Saudi Arabia, the largest dual banking sector in the…

Abstract

Purpose

This study attempts to comprehensively analyze the cost Malmquist productivity index of conventional and Islamic banks in Saudi Arabia, the largest dual banking sector in the world, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employs the novel approach of cost Malmquist productivity index, which focuses on production costs, to measure the change in cost productivity so that the actual impact of the COVID-19 pandemic could be captured.

Findings

The Saudi Central Bank has successfully mitigated the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on the Saudi banking sector by implementing several policies and services. This success is reflected in the large positive shift in the production frontier of Saudi banks. Moreover, it was found that Islamic Saudi banks were by far more productive than conventional Saudi banks during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the total cost productivity index (CMPCH) of Islamic Saudi banks starts to decline sharply in the last quarter of 2022 compared to conventional Saudi banks, indicating that Islamic banks in Saudi Arabia are suffering the most from the tighter monetary policy recently implemented by the Saudi Central Bank.

Practical implications

The results provide insights for policymakers and investors on how different types of banks respond differently to economic crises and monetary policy changes. Targeted support measures may be needed to ensure all banks remain productive and efficient.

Originality/value

To the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to use this innovative methodology to assess the impact of COVID-19 on bank performance in a dual banking sector.

Details

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. 73 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0401

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 7 November 2023

Cristian Barra and Pasquale Marcello Falcone

The paper aims at addressing the following research questions: does institutional quality improve countries' environmental efficiency? And which pillars of institutional quality…

1073

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims at addressing the following research questions: does institutional quality improve countries' environmental efficiency? And which pillars of institutional quality improve countries' environmental efficiency?

Design/methodology/approach

By specifying a directional distance function in the context of stochastic frontier method where GHG emissions are considered as the bad output and the GDP is referred as the desirable one, the work computes the environmental efficiency into the appraisal of a production function for the European countries over three decades.

Findings

According to the countries' performance, the findings confirm that high and upper middle-income countries have higher environmental efficiency compared to low middle-income countries. In this environmental context, the role of institutional quality turns out to be really important in improving the environmental efficiency for high income countries.

Originality/value

This article attempts to analyze the role of different dimensions of institutional quality in different European countries' performance – in terms of mitigating GHGs (undesirable output) – while trying to raise their economic performance through their GDP (desirable output).

Highlights

  1. The paper aims at addressing the following research question: does institutional quality improve countries' environmental efficiency?

  2. We adopt a directional distance function in the context of stochastic frontier method, considering 40 European economies over a 30-year time interval.

  3. The findings confirm that high and upper middle-income countries have higher environmental efficiency compared to low middle-income countries.

  4. The role of institutional quality turns out to be really important in improving the environmental efficiency for high income countries, while the performance decreases for the low middle-income countries.

The paper aims at addressing the following research question: does institutional quality improve countries' environmental efficiency?

We adopt a directional distance function in the context of stochastic frontier method, considering 40 European economies over a 30-year time interval.

The findings confirm that high and upper middle-income countries have higher environmental efficiency compared to low middle-income countries.

The role of institutional quality turns out to be really important in improving the environmental efficiency for high income countries, while the performance decreases for the low middle-income countries.

Details

Journal of Economic Studies, vol. 51 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3585

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 September 2024

Mahyar Kamali Saraji, Dalia Streimikiene and Tomas Balezentis

The study seeks to shed light on the estimates of the carbon shadow price in the literature relying on frontier techniques. The shadow price of undesirable outputs, such as…

Abstract

Purpose

The study seeks to shed light on the estimates of the carbon shadow price in the literature relying on frontier techniques. The shadow price of undesirable outputs, such as greenhouse gas emissions, assists policymakers in determining the most cost-effective methods for reducing emissions.

Design/methodology/approach

The study relies on the PSALSAR and PRISMA approaches for a systematic literature review. The Web of Science and Scopus databases were used for the references.

Findings

Both parametric and nonparametric methods have been employed in the literature to estimate the shadow prices of undesirable outputs. Also, results were discussed according to the methodological and application aspects, and broad conclusions on obtained results were provided, bridging climate change mitigation policies and the shadow price of undesirable outputs.

Originality/value

The present study applies an integrated method, PSALSAR, to conduct a systematic review of 53 studies published between 2014 and 2023 in which efficiency models were applied to estimate the shadow price of undesirable outputs, especially CO2. After presenting the most applicable parametric and nonparametric estimation models, a systematic summary of included articles was provided, highlighting the key features of publications.

Details

Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 August 2022

Amina Bousnina, Marjène Rabah Gana and Mejda Dakhlaoui

This study aims to provide empirical evidence on the impact of foreign share ownership on the liquidity of the Tunisian Stock Exchange (TSE).

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to provide empirical evidence on the impact of foreign share ownership on the liquidity of the Tunisian Stock Exchange (TSE).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors hypothesize in the first strand that stock liquidity could be positively affected by foreign ownership based on the real friction channel. The authors then hypothesize in the second strand, based on the information friction channel, that foreign ownership's impact on stock liquidity could be insignificant or negative and that foreign investors raise the level of information asymmetry. A sample of 318 firm-year observations from Tunisia over the 2012–2017 period and a random-effects estimation were used. Moreover, using the 2SLS estimator, a robustness check framework was applied in order to address any potential reverse causality concerns.

Findings

The authors find strong evidence that higher foreign ownership improves stock liquidity. More specifically, firms with higher foreign ownership engender a lower bid-ask spread, a better stock ability to absorb a large amount of trading volume, and a larger depth. These findings are still valid when reverse causality concerns are addressed through the use of the 2SLS estimator.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the existing literature by focusing on the ownership–liquidity relationship on a frontier market. It provides further empirical support that higher corporate governance quality reduces the information asymmetry problem and enhances stock market liquidity.

Details

EuroMed Journal of Business, vol. 19 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1450-2194

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 22 July 2024

Júlio Lobão and João G. Lopes

The purpose of this study is to investigate the presence of psychological barriers both in the main stock market indices of the Baltic states and the most actively traded…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the presence of psychological barriers both in the main stock market indices of the Baltic states and the most actively traded individual stocks. A psychological barrier refers to a specific price point, often at round numbers (i.e. powers of 10), that investors believe is challenging to breach, influencing their behavior and trading decisions.

Design/methodology/approach

We conduct uniformity tests and barrier tests, such as barrier proximity tests and barrier hump tests, to evaluate the presence of psychological barriers. Additionally, we explore variations in means and variances near these potential barriers using regression and GARCH analysis.

Findings

The findings reveal that psychological barriers do exist in the Baltic stock markets, particularly within market indices. The Estonian market index stands out with the most pronounced indications of psychological barriers. Individual stocks also display significant changes in means and variances related to potential barriers, albeit with less uniformity.

Practical implications

Collectively, our findings challenge the traditional assumption of random returns within the Baltic stock markets. For practitioners, the finding that psychological barriers exist opens up opportunities for investment strategies that can capitalize on them.

Originality/value

This study is the first to comprehensively investigate psychological barriers in the Baltic stock markets. Our results provide a valuable contribution to understanding the impact of that phenomenon on pricing dynamics, which is particularly pertinent in less-researched frontier markets like the Baltic states.

Details

Baltic Journal of Management, vol. 19 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5265

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 12 September 2024

Cristian Barra, Sergio Destefanis, Vania Sena and Roberto Zotti

This paper provides novel evidence on the role of gender in the performance of university students, which is particularly relevant to the debate on the performance of female…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper provides novel evidence on the role of gender in the performance of university students, which is particularly relevant to the debate on the performance of female students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects.

Design/methodology/approach

Our approach relies on the metafrontier approach proposed by Huang et al. (2014), which measures students' efficiency within a given faculty and the impact of the faculty’s technology on students’ efficiency. We use a sample of 53,159 first-year students in 8 faculties from a large university in southern Italy from 2002–2003 to 2010–2011.

Findings

Students’ efficiency is relatively low, reflecting an essential role of unobserved heterogeneity. The different technologies of somewhat similar faculties have minimal impact on efficiency. There is a performance gap against women in five faculties, which on average is strongest for the faculties in the pure and applied science area. This gap increases with the proportion of female students and decreases with female lecturers.

Practical implications

The metafrontier has the benefit of providing relevant policy information on the drivers of student success by relying on data that universities routinely generate and preserve.

Originality/value

The stochastic metafrontier approach allows us to separate the group-specific frontiers from the metafrontier, yielding a decomposition of the efficiency scores of various faculties into technical efficiency scores and technological gaps.

Details

Journal of Economic Studies, vol. 51 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3585

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 July 2024

Seema Bhardwaj, Ritika Chopra and Eugene Cheng-Xi Aw

The wine market has witnessed intensified competition across all aspects. However, there is a limited systematic assessment of wine marketing literature. This study employs…

Abstract

Purpose

The wine market has witnessed intensified competition across all aspects. However, there is a limited systematic assessment of wine marketing literature. This study employs bibliometric and thematic content evaluation methodologies to present a comprehensive summary and trend of the existing research in wine marketing.

Design/methodology/approach

This integrates bibliometric and thematic content analytical techniques to trace the evolutionary arc of wine marketing research, underpinned by a framework-based evaluation - the 4 Ws (what, where, why, and how) to give a thorough overview of wine marketing literature. We draw on the thematic structure of wine marketing research by conducting keyword co-occurrence, thematic, social network, and cluster-based content analyses. A total of 291 publications from peer-reviewed journals, spanning the years 2001–2023, were examined in the present study.

Findings

The bibliometric analysis is used to determine the most notable journals, authors, nations, articles, and themes, thereby offering a comprehensive understanding of the publication trends within the sphere of wine marketing. Based on the findings, this study advocates a research agenda to extend further contributions to the field of wine marketing.

Originality/value

The study performs a comprehensive analysis of the publication patterns, influential authors, and emerging trends within the wine marketing research field. It provides a unique insight into the evolution and development of wine marketing as a scholarly discipline, facilitating future research directions and knowledge advancement.

Details

Marketing Intelligence & Planning, vol. 42 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-4503

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 4 October 2024

Simon J. Davies and Paul Robert van der Heijden

The chapter provides an overview of the book and addresses the rationale for the selection of cases reflecting teaching and research in major areas of SDG14. For example, the…

Abstract

The chapter provides an overview of the book and addresses the rationale for the selection of cases reflecting teaching and research in major areas of SDG14. For example, the impact of increasing global sea temperature, ocean acidification, and pollution on aquatic life and biosciences. Fisheries and aquaculture for seafood and marine ingredients and marine protected areas (MPAs) that favour the assemblage of fish, crustaceans, alga, coral, and mussels to enhance and stimulate biodiversity. New products derived from marine biotechnology are viewed to conserve and sustainably use the seas and oceans whilst promoting wealth creation and employment. Marine parks allow scientists to better study the marine environment and explore sustainable balances between tourism, work, and recreation in harmony with the Life Below Water – SDG14 mandate. Finally, the aspects of governance and roles of stakeholders and societal involvement are advocated in achieving the safe and effective use of marine resources. Throughout, the role of higher education in providing educated scientists and multidisciplinary specialists for future generations to come is highlighted.

1 – 10 of over 1000