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on Small Business Management |
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Issue of 2020‒06‒22
twenty-one papers chosen by João Carlos Correia Leitão Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Atta-Owusu, Kwadwo; Fitjar, Rune Dahl; Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés |
| Abstract: | Research and innovation policy aims to boost research output and university-industry collaboration (UIC) at least in part to allow firms access to leading scientific knowledge. As part of their mission, universities are expected to contribute to innovation in their regions. However, the relationship between research output and UIC is unclear: research-intensive universities can produce frontier research, which is attractive to firms, but may also suffer from a gap between the research produced and the needs of local firms, as well as mission overload. This may hinder local firms' ability to cooperate with universities altogether or force them to look beyond the region for other suitable universities to interact with. This paper investigates the relationship between the research output of local universities and firms' participation in UICs across different geographical scales. It uses Community Innovation Survey (CIS) data for Norwegian firms and Scopus data on Norwegian universities' research output across various disciplines. The results demonstrate that local university research intensity and quality are negatively associated with firm participation in UICs at the local level. Firm characteristics, in particular the firm's general strategy towards cooperation and its geography, turn out to be much more important than university characteristics in explaining UICs. Notably, firms' cooperation with other external partners at the same scale is a strong predictor of UICs. |
| Keywords: | firms; Norway; Research; Universities; university-industry collaboration |
| JEL: | O31 O32 O33 |
| Date: | 2020–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:14565&r=all |
| By: | Ferrando, Annalisa; Rossi, Stefania P. S.; Bonanno, Graziella |
| Abstract: | This paper aims at investigating the relationship between firms’ profit efficiency, access to finance and innovation activities. We enrich our understanding on firms’ performance by adopting the stochastic frontier approach (SFA), which allows us to estimate profit functions and to obtain efficiency scores for a large sample of European firms. We pioneer the use of a novel dataset that merges survey-based data derived from the ECB Survey on access to finance for enterprises (SAFE) with balance sheet information. Our evidence documents that credit constrained firms display an incentive to improve their efficiency in order to increase profitability. Among firms that have embarked in product innovation, those in the industry and high-tech sectors see their effort translated in higher profit efficiency. From a policy perspective, our results could help to better understand the link between innovation, financial constraints and efficiency, which goes beyond the idea that easier access to finance is the panacea to get higher profit efficiency. JEL Classification: D22, D24, L23, O31, C33 |
| Keywords: | access to finance, innovation, stochastic frontier approach, survey data |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20202419&r=all |
| By: | James H. Love; Stephen Roper; Priit Vahter |
| Abstract: | Abandoned and failed innovations can be regarded as a part of the natural process of experimentation by firms, which can lead to important lessons being learned. Although the literature suggests some benefit from failure or abandoned innovation activities, prior studies using relatively large firm-level datasets to test the nature of this link are often unable to deal explicitly with the time dimension of learning. We contribute to the literature by showing the dynamic and causal nature of the linkage between abandoned innovation and subsequent innovation outcomes at firms. We demonstrate based on balanced panel data of Spanish manufacturing firms from 2008-2016 that innovation failure not only leads to more successful innovation, but that there is an explicit time dimension to this. We demonstrate that firms which have experienced ‘failure’ (as evidenced by abandoned innovation activities) in the past will have stronger positive effects of recent abandoned innovation activities on innovation output. This is a strong test of the ‘learning-from-failure’ hypothesis. In addition, we find evidence that in addition to enabling cumulative learning processes, abandoning innovation may also act as a dynamic corrective mechanism preventing firms carrying weaker innovation portfolios through from one period to the next. |
| Keywords: | innovation failure, abandoning innovation activities, learning effects, innovation performance |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtk:febawb:124&r=all |
| By: | Riccardo Gianluigi Serio; Maria Michela Dickson; Diego Giuliani; Giuseppe Espa |
| Abstract: | Many studies have analyzed empirically the determinants of survival for innovative startup companies using data about the characteristics of entrepreneurs and management or focusing on firm- and industry-specific variables. However, no attempts have been made so far to assess the role of the environmental sustainability of the production process. Based on data describing the characteristics of the Italian innovative startups in the period 2009-2018, this article studies the differences in survival between green and non-green companies. We show that, while controlling for other confounding factors, startups characterized by a green production process tend to survive longer than their counterparts. In particular, we estimate that a green innovative startup is more than twice as likely to survive than a non-green one. This evidence may support the idea that environment sustainability can help economic development. |
| Date: | 2020–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2005.12102&r=all |
| By: | Argente, David; Baslandze, Salomé; Hanley, Douglas; Moreira, Sara |
| Abstract: | We study the relationship between patents and actual product innovation in the market, and how this relationship varies with firms' market share. We use textual analysis to create a new data set that links patents to products of firms in the consumer goods sector. We find that patent filings are positively associated with subsequent product innovation by firms, but at least half of product innovation and growth comes from firms that never patent. We also find that market leaders use patents differently from followers. Market leaders have lower product innovation rates, though they rely on patents more. Patents of market leaders relate to higher future sales above and beyond their effect on product innovation, and these patents are associated with declining product introduction on the part of competitors, which is consistent with the notion that market leaders use their patents to limit competition. We then use a model to analyze the firms' patenting and product innovation decisions. We show that the private value of a patent is particularly high for large firms as patents protect large market shares of existing products. |
| Keywords: | creative destruction; growth; Innovation; patent value; patents; productivity |
| JEL: | O3 O4 |
| Date: | 2020–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:14692&r=all |
| By: | Maharaja Thandabhani (TIPS School of Management) |
| Abstract: | Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play a significant role in all economies and are key agents of employment, innovation and growth. Strategic communication is something different from normal communication as it involves with certain intelligent way of communicating the clients and counter parts. The implications of future of small industries, globalization, performance, perspectives and challenges would insist on prompt and prudent way of communicating and are to be confronted by women entrepreneurs. To crack the challenges and overcome the negative impacts of communication successfully, strategic communication becomes a vital part of business and entrepreneurs should familiarize such type of business communication for better decision-making in all functional areas of business. If information asymmetry exists, clients may respond by negatively leading to miscommunication or misinterpretation which will have bad effects on organization and business negotiations. The concept and source of communication should be adapted to have more clarity and transparency to make the receiver understand the information and message so as to make him/her respond appropriately. The consequence of inappropriate communication, or weak communication would exhaust the time and energy of the receiver leading to refusal of the clients or business partners. The fact is that most of the entrepreneurs from small and medium industries in India have not developed adequate expertise in strategic communication which may create setbacks in their business performances. This article analyses the profiles of the SME women entrepreneurs and their perception and expectation on strategic communication and their strategic communication components which are analyzed to derive the results. |
| Keywords: | strategic communication,women entrepreneurs,communication components,small medium enterprises |
| Date: | 2020–03–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02569369&r=all |
| By: | KIM YoungGak; INUI Tomohiko |
| Abstract: | In recent years, IT use by Japanese firms has shifted from accumulating IT assets on their own to purchasing IT services, such as cloud computing. In this paper, we focus on the impacts of the introduction of cloud computing and a Chief Information Officer (CIO) on firm performance. For this study, we match the microdata of the "ICT Workplace survey" and the "Basic Survey of Japanese Business Structure and Activities" by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), and analyze the effects of cloud computing and the presence of a CIO on the performance of firms, such as productivity, sales, number of employees, etc. The introduction of cloud computing increases firms' sales and productivity, and accelerates their FDI, even after controlling for the fixed effects of firms. Sales increase in the main business, but sales in side businesses increase even further. The number of patents held increases, however R&D expenditure does not increase accordingly. This paper also examines the effect of introducing a CIO, which is one of the personnel systems that Japanese firms have been slow to introduce. Although the introduction of CIOs increases sales, there is no significant impact on productivity because it also increases input volumes. Firms that have introduced CIOs have more sales in their main industries resulting in greater business concentration to the main business. Similarly to the benefits of cloud computing, CIO adoption does increase patent holdings, although it does not increase R&D spending. The results in this research suggest that the adoption of cloud computing services and the CIO position both contribute to higher productivity, faster sales growth, and more efficient innovation of firms. |
| Date: | 2020–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:rdpsjp:20023&r=all |
| By: | Elena Carletti (Bocconi University and CEPR); Tommaso Oliviero (University of Naples Federico II and CSEF); Marco Pagano (University of Naples Federico II, CSEF and EIEF); Loriana Pelizzon (SAFE, Goethe University Frankfurt and Ca' Foscari University of Venice); Marti G. Subrahmanyam (Stern School of Business, New York University) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the drop in profits and the equity shortfall triggered by the COVID-19 shock and the subsequent lockdown, using a representative sample of 80,972 Italian firms. We find that a 3-month lockdown entails an aggregate yearly drop in profits of €170 billion, with an implied equity erosion of €117 billion for the whole sample, and €31 billion for firms that became distressed, i.e., ended up with negative book value after the shock. As a consequence of these losses, about 17% of the sample firms, whose employees account for 8.8% of total employment in the sample (about 800 thousand employees), become distressed. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are affected disproportionately, with 18.1% of small firms, and 14.3% of medium-sized ones becoming distressed, against 6.4% of large firms. The equity shortfall and the extent of distress are concentrated in the Manufacturing and Wholesale Trading sectors and in the North of Italy. Since many firms predicted to become distressed due to the shock had fragile balance sheets even prior to the COVID-19 shock, restoring their equity to their pre-crisis levels may not suffice to ensure their long-term solvency. |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eie:wpaper:2014&r=all |
| By: | Jacob, Nicholas; Mion, Giordano |
| Abstract: | Ever since Marshall (1890) agglomeration externalities have been viewed as the key factor explaining the existence of cities and their size. However, while the various micro foundations of agglomeration externalities stress the importance of Total Factor Productivity (TFP), the empirical evidence on agglomeration externalities rests on measures obtained using firm revenue or value-added as a measure of firm output: revenue-based TFP (TFP-R). This paper uses data on French manufacturing firms' revenue, quantity and prices to estimate TFP and TFP-R and decompose the latter into various elements. Our analysis suggests that the revenue productivity advantage of denser areas is mainly driven by higher prices charged rather than differences in TFP. At the same time, firms in denser areas are able to sell higher quantities, and generate higher revenues, despite higher prices. These and other results we document suggest that firms in denser areas are able to charge higher prices because they sell higher demand/quality products. Finally, while the correlation between firm revenue TFP and firm size is positive in each location, it is also systematically related to density: firms with higher (lower) TFP-R account for a larger (smaller) share of total revenue in denser areas. These patterns thus amplify in aggregate regional-level figures any firm-level differences in productivity across space. |
| Keywords: | Agglomeration externalities; demand; density; prices; Quality; Revenue-based TFP; Total factor productivity (TFP) |
| JEL: | D24 L11 R12 R15 |
| Date: | 2020–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:14644&r=all |
| By: | Bose, Udichibarna; Mallick, Sushanta; Tsoukas, Serafeim |
| Abstract: | Financial reforms have been found to be highly important in promoting aggregate productivity. Yet, the linkage between access to finance, firm-level productivity, and exporting performance has been overlooked in the literature. We fill this gap using a rich dataset of 11,612 Indian firms over the period 1988-2014 to study the impact of a unique financial policy intervention on firm performance. We document a significant effect of capital-account liberalization through the lens of an export-oriented policy initiative on firms’ productivity and consequently on their exporting activity. Finally, the beneficial effect of the policy change is more pronounced for financially vulnerable firms, as measured by high debt dependence and low levels of liquidity. |
| Keywords: | Productivity; Exporting; Financing; FX market liberalization |
| Date: | 2019–11–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esy:uefcwp:27830&r=all |
| By: | Hoàng, NGUYỄN Minh; Huyen, Nguyen Thanh Thanh; Pham, Thanh-Hang; Yen, Nguyen Thi Quynh; Vuong, Quan-Hoang |
| Abstract: | Financing issues play essential roles in the survival and development of entrepreneurial firms. The current study, employing the bibliometric analysis of 6,903 articles from 1970 to 2019, extracted from Web of Science database, aims to provide an overview of the discipline’s landscape and major scientific domains to facilitate scientific development within the field. Entrepreneurial finance is a young and growing field with exponential growth in the number of publications (with 19.54% per year) and rising collaboration tendency among authors. Journal of Business Venturing is the most prestigious journal, while Sustainability is noteworthy for its rapid contribution to the field. We also note a sign of Western ideological homogeneity from the collaboration networks and lists of top authors, institutions, and countries. Besides, using keyword co-occurrence analysis, seven major research domains are identified: “venture capital”, “crowdfunding”, “SMEs finance”, “social entrepreneurship finance”, “financial risk”, “microfinance”, and “human-social-financial capital”. Based on these findings, we raise the concern of lacking diversity in entrepreneurial finance research and provide several recommendations for future potential research directions. |
| Date: | 2020–05–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:qf62s&r=all |
| By: | Lenarčič, Črt; Masten, Igor |
| Abstract: | Harrod-Balassa-Samuelson phenomenon describes the relationship between productivity and price inflation within different sectors of a particular economy, where the sectoral productivity differential stands as one of the possible drivers of the (structural) price inflation. The Harrod-Balassa-Samuelson effect could therefore represent an additional inflation source of the economy. From an economic policy perspective it is important to address this issue, in order to contain inflation sufficiently low with adequate policy measures. Using a dynamic panel data model the Harrod-Balassa-Samuelson hypothesis is tested and confirmed by applying a strict distinction between the sectoral price inflation and the average labour productivity growth data from the 1990-2017 period for 28 European countries. Additionally, we provide inflation simulations based on the results that confirm the existence of the Harrod-Balassa-Samuelson effect. |
| Keywords: | Harrod-Balassa-Samuelson effect, productivity, inflation, dynamic panel data model |
| JEL: | C12 C23 E31 |
| Date: | 2020–05–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:100647&r=all |
| By: | Miguel García-Posada (Banco de España); Álvaro Menéndez (Banco de España); Maristela Mulino (Banco de España) |
| Abstract: | We investigate which firm characteristics are associated with investment in tangible and intangible fixed assets, paying special attention to the case of R&D, and which funding sources are used for each type of investment. Regarding firm characteristics, we find that younger and more profitable firms tend to invest more in all asset types. In the case of size, larger firms invest more in R&D and intangibles but less in tangible fixed assets. In addition, there is a concave relationship between leverage and investment. Regarding funding sources, we find that cash flow is the most important source of funding for intangibles and R&D, whereas financial debt is the most important funding source for tangible fixed assets. Stock issues are used to fund R&D and, especially, tangible fixed assets. Firms use cash holdings to smooth investment in R&D. |
| Keywords: | investment, tangible fixed assets, R&D, intangibles |
| JEL: | G31 G32 O32 |
| Date: | 2020–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:opaper:2004&r=all |
| By: | Bade, Franz-Josef; Alm, Bastian; Weins, Sebastian |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the employment impact of investment subsidies in Germany. With 45 billion Euro for about 100,000 firms since the German reunification, these capital grants are the central element of regional policy for strengthening employment in economically weaker regions. The effects of investment grants are analysed by comparing the employment growth of assisted firms with their counterfactual outcome. The hypothetical growth without grant is estimated with panel data from 1999 to 2009 for each German firm in the social security records which are linked with the official records of investment grants. The control group are selected out of total non-assisted firms by combining covariate and propensity score matching methods. The employment effect is determined by cross-section estimators. The assisted firms show a significantly stronger employment growth than their control group. This result is quite robust. Even if the control group is restricted to those non-assisted firms which have had a similar employment growth before the year of allowance, the differences in the growth after the allowance persist. Further heterogeneity tests do not reveal significant hidden influences. All subgroups analysed show nearly the same growth difference between assisted and non-assisted firms. |
| JEL: | B41 C14 C21 C81 H71 R00 R11 R28 R58 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:218843&r=all |
| By: | Beiker, Sven A. (Stanford U); Burgelman, Robert A. (Stanford U) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the automation and sharing aspects of the competitive dynamics of the emerging automated mobility industry. It applies strategic management, technological innovation and forecasting frameworks to examine how the different categories of industry entrants position themselves and interact with one another, and their differential chances for success. Related to the different types of entrants it considers various criteria of success, including expected market share of vehicle sales versus miles serviced, and the number of systems, technology solutions, or licenses sold. Whether firms enter the automated mobility industry with a lateral move from an adjacent industry or as startups without preexisting experience turns out to be an important strategic distinction for predicting success. The rate at which the industry is shifting also plays an important role because it defines how much time incumbents have to adapt to change and how much time new entrants have before their investments must begin to generate positive cash flows. Our analysis suggests that tech companies, ADAS suppliers, and startups with a welldefined focus are most likely to succeed. The paper ends with highlighting important strategic issues for further discussion with automotive industry researchers, industry analysts, and leading practitioners. |
| Date: | 2020–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:stabus:3866&r=all |
| By: | Gamal Atallah (Department of Economics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON); Claudia De Fuentes (Department of Management, Sobey School of Business, Saint Mary’s University); Christine A. Panasian (Department of Finance, Information Systems and Management Science, Sobey School of Business, Saint Mary’s University) |
| Abstract: | Using a large sample of North American firms, from 1999 to 2016, we investigate the effect of corporate governance structures, specifically ownership, board characteristics, and executive compensation contracts on innovation intensity and output. We consider both R&D expenditures and patents as innovation proxies and evaluate consequences of the economic downturns of 2000 and 2008. We find that R&D investment increases with ownership by institutional blockholders and with the number of institutional owners, confirming the key role institutions play in innovation activities of firms. We observe higher R&D levels for firms with more independent boards, more females board members and more outside directorships held by directors. We report that firms with CEO/chair of the board duality have lower R&D intensity, as do firms with higher ownership by directors and with a higher mean board age. Innovation is negatively related to CEO salary levels, but positively related to the ratio of incentives to total compensation, confirming that incentives contribute to aligning shareholders and management interests, which leads to better long-term decisions. However, those incentives reduce the number of patents. We do not find any systematic changes in R&D for the 2000 recession, however there is an increase for the 2008 financial crisis. |
| Keywords: | Corporate Governance, Corporate Finance and Governance, Innovation, R&D investment, Canada, United States. |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ott:wpaper:2001e&r=all |
| By: | Nkiendem Felix (Université de Dschang); Douanla Jean (Université de Dschang); Innocent Essomme; Nchitu Asah (Université de Yaoundé II); Roland Gahmuti (Université de Yaoundé II) |
| Abstract: | The rise in managerial pay over the past decades has sparked an intense debate about the nature of pay setting process. Many theoretical and empirical findings have portrayed direct and opposing relations between managerial compensation and firm performance within enterprises in general and financial institutions in particular.Here, managerial compensation retained as endogenous variable is captured using base salary and bonuses while firm performance as exogenous variable is measured using return on equity (ROE) and firm size while board size, is capturedthrough ownership and tenure served as control variables. We used questionnaires administered to managers of the respective institutions alongside with their pay slips and report of financial statement. STATA 12.0 was used to carry out our statistical test and regression analysis. Our sample survey consisted of 10 microfinance establishmentsin Cameroon for the period of 2007-2012. The results obtained depicted a negative significant relationship between pay and ROE regarding micro-finance establishments. Firm size on its part portrayed a positive influence on managers' compensation in micro-finance establishments. We recommend that decision-making in microfinance establishments should be driving incentives to cap managerial compensation with firm performance. |
| Abstract: | L'augmentation des rémunérations des cadres au cours des dernières décennies a suscité un débat intense sur la nature du processus de fixation des rémunérations. De nombreux résultats théoriques et empiriques ont mis en évidence des relations directes et opposées entre la rémunération des cadres et la politique de rémunération des entreprises. Dans ce cas, la rémunération des dirigeants conservée en tant que rémunération de base est la variable endogène qui est cerner à l'aide du salaire de base et des primes, tandis que la performance de l'entreprise en tant que variable exogène est mesurée à l'aide du rendement sur les capitaux propres (ROE) et la taille de l'entreprise, tandis que la taille du conseil d'administration est prise en compte par la propriété et la durée du mandat qui servent de variables de contrôle. Nous avons utilisé des questionnaires administrés aux gestionnaires des institutions respectives, en même temps que leurs fiches de paie et leur rapport d'état financier. STATA 12.0 a été utilisé pour effectuer notre test statistique et notre analyse de régression. Notre enquête par sondage comprenait 10 questionnaires sur la microfinance au Cameroun pour la période 2007-2012. Les résultats obtenus font apparaître une relation négative significative entre la rémunération et les Resultats concernant les établissements de micro-finance. La taille de l'entreprise, quant à elle, a eu une influence positive sur la rémunération des dirigeants en les établissements de micro-finance. Nous recommandons que la prise de décision dans les établissements de microfinance soit un facteur d'incitation au plafonnement de la rémunération des cadres avec des performances fermes. |
| Keywords: | Performance,ROE and Firm Size,Managerial Compensation |
| Date: | 2018–07–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02558799&r=all |
| By: | Filippo Pusterla (KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich, Switzerland); Thomas Bolli (KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich, Switzerland) |
| Abstract: | This paper extends and refnes the concept of ICT-driven skills-biased technological change by disentangling the effects of information technologies (IT) and communication technologies (CT). Guided by the theory that IT and CT differently affect firms' production processes, we investigate the complementarities between these two distinct technologies and workers' levels of education in affecting firms' productivity. Exploiting within-firm variation between 2005-2017, we find that the use of IT-measured as use of business management tools - is particularly beneficial for workers with a tertiary vocational education. In contrast, CT - measured as workers' use of the intranet - is especially complementary to workers with a tertiary academic education. While consistent with the ICT-driven skills-biased technological change hypothesis, our results offer evidence on the necessity for differentiating between the effects of IT and CT on firm productivity when differently educated workers use these technologies. |
| Keywords: | skills-biased technological change, information technologies, communication technologies |
| JEL: | J24 O33 |
| Date: | 2019–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kof:wpskof:19-468&r=all |
| By: | Herzer, Dierk |
| Abstract: | Several studies have examined the long-run effects of public and private R&D on TFP with mixed results. A common feature of these studies is the use of stocks of public and private R&D capital, constructed under the implicit assumption that the prices of GDP, public R&D, and private R&D move identically. Thus, the results of these studies may be biased to the extent that this assumption is violated. The main contribution of this note is to avoid this bias by using numbers of public and private sector researchers to measure R&D activity in the public and private sector. Contrary to previous studies, it is found—using numbers of researchers in the public and private sector—that there is strong evidence of a significant positive long-run effect of both public and private R&D on TFP and of a greater effect of public R&D than private R&D. Consistent with the mixed evidence reported in the literature, it is also found that the use of public and private R&D stocks produces mixed results regarding the long-run effects of public and private R&D on TFP. |
| Keywords: | public R&D, private R&D, total factor productivity, panel cointegration |
| JEL: | O11 O30 O47 |
| Date: | 2020–05–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:100757&r=all |
| By: | Udichibarna Bose; Sushanta Mallick; Serafeim Tsoukas |
| Abstract: | The literature shows that rigid capital control policies adversely influence international trade, leading to external financial reforms in terms of greater cross-border access to financing, which can stimulate aggregate productivity. However, the literature overlooks the relationships among access to external financing, firm-level productivity, and exporting performance. We fill this gap by using a rich dataset of 11,612 Indian firms over the period 1988–2014 and study how a unique financial policy intervention affects firm performance. We establish a significant effect of capital-account liberalization through an export-oriented policy initiative on firms’ productivity and, consequently, on their exporting activity. Finally, we find that the benefits of the policy reform are more pronounced for financially vulnerable firms characterized by either high debt or low liquidity. |
| Keywords: | Productivity; Exporting; Foreign Financing; FX market liberalization |
| JEL: | F4 F1 G1 |
| Date: | 2020–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gla:glaewp:2020_12&r=all |
| By: | Amore, Mario Daniele; Pelucco, Valerio; Quarato, Fabio |
| Abstract: | Prompted by the shakeup of Covid-19 on financial markets, scholars have begun to explore the corporate traits that can make firms more resilient to a pandemic. In this paper, we test how the involvement of families in ownership and governance positions influences the financial performance of Italian listed firms during the spread of Covid-19. Our results indicate that firms with controlling family shareholders fared significantly better than other firms in the pandemic period. This effect is particularly pronounced among firms in which a family is both the controlling shareholder and holds the CEO position. Collectively, our results expand existing knowledge on the determinants of organizational resilience in the wake of adverse events. |
| Keywords: | CEOs; COVID-19; Family Business; Financial Performance |
| JEL: | D10 G34 |
| Date: | 2020–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:14759&r=all |