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on Business Economics |
| By: | Sarah Ben Yahmed (IEP Aix-en-Provence - Sciences Po Aix - Institut d'études politiques d'Aix-en-Provence - Institut d'Études Politiques [IEP] - Aix-en-Provence - Aix Marseille Université - Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques [FNSP], GREQAM - Groupement de Recherche en Économie Quantitative d'Aix-Marseille - Université de la Méditerranée - Aix-Marseille II - Université Paul Cézanne - Aix-Marseille III - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - CNRS : UMR7316); Sean Dougherty (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne, EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris, OCDE - Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques - OCDE) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how import penetration affects firms' productivity growth taking into account the heterogeneity in firms' distance to the efficiency frontier and country differences in product market regulation. |
| Keywords: | Firm productivity growth ; Behind-the-border regulatory barriers ; Product market regulation ; Import competition, international trade |
| Date: | 2014–03–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:gmonwp:hal-00959389&r=bec |
| By: | Dragana Cvijanovic; Amil Dasgupta; Konstantinos Zachariadis |
| Abstract: | We investigate how business ties with portfolio firms influence mutual funds’ proxy voting using a comprehensive dataset spanning 2003 to 2011. In sharp contrast to the prior literature, we show that the proxy voting of mutual funds is significantly influenced by their business ties with portfolio firms. Our result holds at the level of individual proposals after robustly controlling for unobserved heterogeneity across firms and fund families and over time as well as for the e?ects of ISS recommendations and fund family holdings. We also show that the influence of business ties on proxy voting is strongest for highly contested shareholder proposals where proxy votes are most relevant for firm value. Finally, we show that the prominent class action lawsuits of 2006 against 401(K) sponsors and providers had di?erential e?ects on the voting of di?erent fund families depending on whether they were sued, thus unearthing a potential link between investor attention and corporate governance. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fmg:fmgdps:dp731&r=bec |
| By: | Pedro Bento (West Virginia University, College of Business and Economics) |
| Abstract: | I incorporate an insight of Friedrich Hayek - that competition allows a thousand flowers to bloom, and discovers the best among them - into a model of Schumpeterian innovation. Firms face uncertainty about the optimal direction of innovation, so more innovations implies a higher expected value of the `best' innovation. The model accounts for two seemingly contradictory relationships reported in recent empirical studies - a positive relationship between competition and industry-level productivity growth, and an inverted-U relationship between competition and firm-level innovation. Notwithstanding the positive relationship between competition and growth, I find antitrust policy reduces industry-level growth. |
| Keywords: | competition, innovation, productivity growth, inverted-u, antitrust, regulation |
| JEL: | O31 O40 L41 L51 |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wvu:wpaper:13-10&r=bec |
| By: | Jaewon Jung (THEMA - Théorie économique, modélisation et applications - CNRS : UMR8184 - Université de Cergy Pontoise); Jean Mercenier (ERMES - Equipe de recherche sur les marches, l'emploi et la simulation - CNRS : UMR7017 - Université Paris II - Panthéon-Assas) |
| Abstract: | We adapt Yeaple's (2005) heterogeneous agents framework to model firms in the North as making explicit offshore outsourcing decisions to cheap-labor economies. Globalization results from a lowering of the set-up costs incurred when engaging in offshore activities. We highlight how firms' technology transformations due to globalization will induce skill upgrading in the North, increase aggregate productivity, average wages and therefore total welfare at the cost of increased wage inequalities. We analytically derive mild conditions under which all consumers--including lower-skilled workers--will nevertheless gain from the surge of offshore outsourcing. A parameterized version of the model roughly calibrated on U.S. data is then numerically explored and confirms our positive welfare predictions. |
| Keywords: | Offshore outsourcing ; Globalization ; Skill upgrading, Technology upgrading ; Firm heterogeneity |
| Date: | 2014–03–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:gmonwp:halshs-00967369&r=bec |
| By: | Peter van der Zwan |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on SMEs – firms with 250 employees at most – and the proportion of their requested loan that is granted by the bank. Financial data for SMEs in 38 European countries for 2011 are used (SMEs’ Access to Finance survey) to test the relationship between ownership structure and innovation on the one hand and loan application success on the other hand. The set of control variables includes firm age, firm size, past firm growth, expected firm growth, and sector orientation. Focusing on the determinants of access to finance is important because restricted access could hinder firm growth. It turns out that SMEs that are part of a business group and SMEs with a multiple ownership structure have higher probabilities of receiving the requested bank loan than SMEs with a single owner. There is some evidence that female owned business have more success regarding their loan applications than male owned businesses. Furthermore, SMEs that adopt product or process innovations are less likely to receive the requested loan than SMEs that do not display innovative behavior. The robustness of these findings across several model specifications is shown and the implications of the findings are discussed. |
| Date: | 2014–04–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eim:papers:h201404&r=bec |
| By: | Hind El Makrini |
| Abstract: | We study the export performance of firms from developing countries based on the resource based view (RBV) of a firm. Drawing on the extant literature review, we found firm size, research and development (R&D) expenditure, advertising expenditure and business group affiliation to be important factors of export performance. A quantitative design was particularly used in this study. A two-stage least square estimation (G2SLS) was employed on a sample of 168 Moroccan SMEs over a period of four years from 2009 to 2013. Morocco is an illustrative case of a developing country where export performance studies are very limited. The findings suggest that export sales and domestic sales are interdependent and influence each other. R&D expenditure and business group affiliation have positive and significant impacts on export sales, while advertising expenditure has a negative and significant influence on export sales. The study has useful managerial implications for academics, practitioners and public policy makers, providing guidelines and interesting recommendations for a better export performance. |
| Keywords: | Developing economies, Export performance, Moroccan SMEs, Resource-based View (RBV), Two-stage least square estimation (G2SLS). |
| Date: | 2014–07–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipg:wpaper:2014-431&r=bec |
| By: | Francesco Amodio (Universitat Pompeu Fabra); Michele Di Maio (University of Naples) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effect of conflict on firms' output value and input misallocation in the context of Palestine during the Second Intifada. Using a unique establishment-level dataset, we compare firms' outcomes and input usage over time across districts experiencing differential changes in conflict intensity. We show how conflict diminishes the total and per-worker value of firms' output through the distortions it generates in firms' access to input markets. In particular, lack of access to the market for imported material inputs leads firms to adjust input usage accordingly, substituting domestically produced materials for imported ones. We also empirically identify the relative amount of conflict-induced input distortions. Furthermore, we find that conflict affects disproportionally more those sectors which were more intensive in imported materials and had higher average output value in pre-conflict years. Conflict is thus shown to be particularly harmful for the most productive sectors of the economy. |
| Keywords: | conflict, firms, misallocation, Palestine, Second Intifada |
| JEL: | D22 D24 N45 O12 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hic:wpaper:179&r=bec |
| By: | Michel Dumont (Federal Planning Bureau; Department of general economics, Ghent University); Bruno Merlevede (CERISE, Ghent University; Department of general economics, Ghent University); Glenn Rayp (SHERPPA, Ghent University; Department of general economics, Ghent University); Marijn Verschelde (SHERPPA, Ghent University; Department of general economics, Ghent University; Faculty of Economics and Business, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) |
| Abstract: | In this paper a semiparametric stochastic metafrontier approach is used to obtain insight into firmlevel competitiveness in Europe. We differ from standard TFP studies at the firm level as we simultaneously allow for inefficiency, noise and do not impose a functional form on the input-output relation. Using AMADEUS firm-level data covering 10 manufacturing sectors from seven EU15 countries, (i) we document substantial, persistent differences in competitiveness (with Belgium and Germany as benchmark countries and Spain lagging behind) and a wide technology gap, (ii) we confirm the absence of convergence in TFP between the seven selected countries, (iii) we confirm that the technology gap is more pronounced for smaller firms, (iv) we highlight the role of post-entry growth for competitiveness. |
| Keywords: | competitiveness, cross-country analysis, firm heterogeneity, total factor productivity, post-entry growth |
| JEL: | C14 D24 L25 M13 O33 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbb:reswpp:201407-261&r=bec |
| By: | Jeste, Dilip V. (University of California); Oswald, Andrew J. (University of Warwick and CAGE abstract- Objective: Although human aging is characterized by loss of fertility and progressive decline in physical abilities, later life is associated with better psychological health and well-being. Furthermore, there has been an unprecedented increase in average lifespan over the past century without corresponding extensions of fertile and healthy age spans. We propose a possible explanation for these paradoxical phenomena. Method- We reviewed the relevant literature on aging, well-being, and wisdom. Results-An increase in specific components of individual wisdom in later life may make up for the loss of fertility as well as declining physical health. However, current data on the relationship between aging and individual wisdom are not consistent, and do not explain increased longevity in the general population during the past century. We propose that greater societal wisdom (including compassion) may account for the notable increase in average lifespan over the last century. Data in older adults with serious mental illnesses are limited, but suggest that many of them too experience improved psychosocial functioning, although their longevity has not yet increased, suggesting persistent stigma against mental illness and inadequate societal compassion.Conclusions- Research should focus on the reasons for discrepant findings related to ageassociated changes in different components of individual wisdom; also, more work is needed on the construct of societal wisdom. Studies of wisdom and well-being are warranted in older people with serious mental illnesses, along with campaigns to enhance societal compassion for these disenfranchised individuals. Finally, effective interventions to enhance wisdom need to be developed and tested.) |
| Keywords: | Life-cycle happiness, subjective well-being, wisdom, psychiatry, U shape |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:191&r=bec |
| By: | Priit Vahter (University of Tartu, Estonia); James H. Love (Aston Business School); Stephen Roper (Warwick University Business School) |
| Abstract: | Traditionally, literature on open innovation has concentrated on analysis of larger firms. We explore whether and how the benefits of openness in innovation are different for small firms (less than 50 employees) compared to medium and large ones. Using panel data over a long time period (1994-2008) from Irish manufacturing plants, we find that small plants have on average significantly lower levels of openness, a pattern which has not changed significantly since the early 1990s. However, the effect of ‘breadth’ of openness (i.e. variety of innovation linkages) on innovation performance is stronger for small firms than for larger firms. For small firms (with 10-49 employees) external linkages account for around 40 per cent of innovative sales compared to around 25 per cent in larger firms. Small plants also reach the limits to benefitting from openness at lower levels of breadth of openness than larger firms. Our results suggest that small firms can gain significantly from adopting an open innovation strategy, but for such firms appropriate partner choice is a particularly important issue. |
| Keywords: | open innovation, SMEs, boundary-spanning linkages, learning effects, Ireland |
| JEL: | O31 O32 L25 |
| Date: | 2013–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:enr:rpaper:0012&r=bec |
| By: | Haoran He (School of Economics and Business Administration, Beijing Normal University, 19, XinJieKouWai Street, HaiDian District, Beijing 100875, P. R. China); Marie Claire Villeval (Université de Lyon, Lyon, F-69007, France ; CNRS, GATE Lyon St Etienne,F-69130 Ecully, France) |
| Abstract: | We compare inequality aversion in individuals and teams by means of both within- and between-subject experimental designs, and we investigate how teams aggregate individual preferences. We find that team decisions reveal less inequality aversion than individual initial proposals in team decision-making. However, teams are no more selfish than individuals who decide in isolation. Individuals express strategically more inequality aversion in their initial proposals in team decision-making because they anticipate the selfishness of other members. Members with median social preferences drive team decisions. Finally, we show that social image has little influence because guilt and envy are almost similar in anonymous and non-anonymous interactions. |
| Keywords: | Team, inequity aversion, preference aggregation, social image, experiment |
| JEL: | C91 C92 D03 D63 D72 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gat:wpaper:1417&r=bec |