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on Small Business Management |
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Issue of 2025–07–21
twenty-one papers chosen by João Carlos Correia Leitão, Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Niklas Garnadt; Lena Füner; Konrad Stahl; Joacim Tag; Konrad O. Stahl |
| Abstract: | Identifying high growth startups ex-ante and fostering their success is an important policy challenge. Using Swedish registry data, we show that previous labor market earnings of entrepreneurs is a simple observable that is strongly correlated with entrepreneurship success. Entrepreneurs from the top decile of income from dependent employment are four times more likely to succeed than those from the lowest decile. Their firms are larger and more productive from the outset, and this effect intensifies over time. This correlation is virtually unaffected by variations in the entrepreneurs' personal traits. It does also not vary across the business cycle. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship, high-growth startups, labor income, unemployment |
| JEL: | L26 J24 M13 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11978 |
| By: | Fouad Annaki (USMBA - Université Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah [Fès]); Abdellah Nouib; Saadeddine Igamane (USMBA - Université Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah [Fès]) |
| Abstract: | What explains the differences in entrepreneurial success among individuals? In an effort to answer this question, numerous initiatives have sought to identify and evaluate the factors shaping such success. These initiatives have primarily focused either on the entrepreneur, examining personal traits, human capital, motivation, and social skills, or on external factors such as support structures, environmental context, and social capital. In this regard, entrepreneurship research has highlighted that entrepreneurs' social skills influence the development of their social capital and, subsequently, their entrepreneurial success. The objective of our study is to contribute to the existing literature on social skills and social capital in the field of entrepreneurship by examining the role of entrepreneurs' social skills and social capital in their entrepreneurial success. To achieve this, we conducted a qualitative survey among a sample of ten entrepreneurs from the FèsMeknès region. This investigation allowed us to reassess the most relevant categories of socio-relational abilities that play a key role in leveraging favorable social capital and, consequently, increase the chances of entrepreneurial success. |
| Abstract: | Qu'est-ce qui explique les différences de réussite entrepreneuriale entre les individus ? Dans le but de répondre à cette question, de nombreuses initiatives ont cherché à identifier et évaluer les facteurs qui façonnent cette réussite. Ces initiatives se sont principalement concentrées soit sur l'entrepreneur lui-même, en scrutant ses traits de personnalité, son capital humain, sa motivation et ses compétences sociales, soit sur des facteurs externes tels que les structures de soutien, le contexte environnemental et le capital social. Dans cette optique, la recherche en entrepreneuriat a révélé que les compétences sociales des entrepreneurs exercent une influence sur le développement de leur capital social et leur réussite entrepreneuriale subséquente. L'objectif de notre étude est de contribuer à la littérature existante sur les compétences sociales et le capital social dans le domaine de l'entrepreneuriat en examinant le rôle des compétences sociales et du capital social de l'entrepreneur dans sa réussite entrepreneuriale. Pour ce faire, nous avons mené une enquête qualitative auprès d'un échantillon de dix entrepreneurs de la région de Fès-Meknès. Cette enquête nous a permis de réévaluer les catégories les plus pertinentes d'aptitudes socio-relationnelles qui jouent un rôle clé dans l'exploitation d'un capital social favorable et augmentent ainsi les chances de réussite entrepreneuriale. |
| Keywords: | Capital social, Compétences sociales, Réussite entrepreneuriale, Entrepreneurs, Facteurs individuels et contextuels, Régions Fès-Meknès |
| Date: | 2025–05–31 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05094233 |
| By: | Filippo Belloc; Antonino Lofaro |
| Abstract: | We investigate how government subsidies influence the productivity of new firms, by leveraging data on more than 30, 000 government subsidy initiatives and about 1.2 million manufacturing firms distributed worldwide in the years 2012- 2019. First, using a DiD framework with multiple time periods, we document that sectors exposed to subsidies experience a statistically significant increase in new firm entry rates. We then examine the firm-level data through a series of augmented 3-way FE DiD models. Our findings reveal that subsidies have significant effects on the productivity of new firms. On average, subsidies lead to the entry of new firms with 5.53% lower productivity compared to those entering untreated markets. The productivity gap of new firms in subsidized markets persists in the years after entry. We also apply a text recognition method to analyze the effects of specific subsidy attributes. We find that unconditional tax breaks and loans are mostly responsible for the negative effects of subsidies, while subsidies promoting firm internationalization and investments by small firms may lead to the establishment of more productive firms. Subsidies aimed at supporting the adoption of green and automation technologies do not always reduce the productivity of new firms. |
| Keywords: | Government subsidies; Firm entry; Diff-in-diff methods Jel Classification:C20, H20, L52 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usi:wpaper:927 |
| By: | Hasna, Z.; Hatton, H.; Jaumotte, F.; Kim, J.; Mohaddes, K.; Pienknagura, S. |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how climate policies affect low-carbon innovation (as measured by patents) and assesses the link between such innovation and economic activity. Climate policies, including international cooperation, spur both specific and overall innovation, with regulations, emissions-trading systems, and expenditure measures such as R&D subsidies and feed-in tariffs being particularly impactful. In turn, low-carbon innovation raises economic activity as much as other types of innovation and past technological revolutions. However, the mechanisms are different: low-carbon innovation increases capital accumulation, while other types of innovation increase total factor productivity (TFP). |
| Keywords: | Low-Carbon Innovation, Growth, Climate Policies, Climate Change, Porter Hypothesis |
| JEL: | F64 H23 O33 O44 Q55 Q56 Q58 |
| Date: | 2025–06–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:2544 |
| By: | S. Shuyang You; L. Wang (Audencia Business School); K. Zheng Zhou; L. Liangding Jia |
| Abstract: | While geography-related factors are critical to determining the functioning of networks, prior studies have overlooked how they may shape the impact of structural holes on firm innovation. Building on structural hole theory and the industrial cluster literature, we propose that structural holes negatively influence firm innovation in industrial clusters. Such negative impact can be attributed to broker firms' social and political embeddedness in these clusters, and is thus moderated by social factors (i.e., local information density and intra-cluster partner ratio) and political factors (i.e., local government coordination and political connection importance). Our predictions receive support from a matched sample of on-site survey and secondary data from 221 firms in industrial clusters in China. This study contributes to structural hole theory by incorporating geographic factors and offers important implications for policymakers aiming to promote firm innovation. |
| Keywords: | Structural holes, Innovation, Industrial clusters, Social embeddedness, Political embeddedness |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05133753 |
| By: | Zeina Hasna; Henry Hatton; Florence Jaumotte; Jaden Kim; Kamiar Mohaddes; Samuel Pienknagura |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how climate policies affect low-carbon innovation (as measured by patents) and assesses the link between such innovation and economic activity. Climate policies, including international cooperation, spur both specific and overall innovation, with regulations, emissions-trading systems, and expenditure measures such as R&D subsidies and feed-in tariffs being particularly impactful. In turn, low-carbon innovation raises economic activity as much as other types of innovation and past technological revolutions. However, the mechanisms are different: low-carbon innovation increases capital accumulation, while other types of innovation increase total factor productivity (TFP). |
| Keywords: | low-carbon innovation, growth, climate policies, climate change, Porter Hypothesis |
| JEL: | F64 H23 O33 O44 Q55 Q56 Q58 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:camaaa:2025-39 |
| By: | Kyle R. Myers; Lauren Lanahan; Evan Johnson |
| Abstract: | Small businesses have long supplied a disproportionate share of major innovations in the United States. We review a centerpiece policy on this topic: the US Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. We trace its legislative history and summarize program evaluations over the past four decades. Using newly matched data on SBIR awards and venture capital investments into small businesses, we show that, despite often being compared to venture-backed businesses, SBIR-backed businesses pursue very different strategies. We use simple economic theories to motivate the SBIR program as a vehicle for the government to invest in small-scale, well-defined, but risky technologies that have large externalities, and we highlight a number of case studies consistent with this framework. Because the motivating friction lies at the level of ideas, our perspective encourages future evaluations to determine how the SBIR program influences not just who does the inventing, but what gets invented. Looking forward we discuss how rising industrial concentration and the diffusion of artificial intelligence may reshape the program’s comparative advantage in the innovation policy toolkit. |
| JEL: | O30 O32 O38 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33945 |
| By: | Magdalena Gadek; Joanna Kott; Marek Kott; Jagoda Mrzygłocka-Chojnacka; Katarzyna Walecka-Jankowska; Anna Kowalska-Pyzalska |
| Abstract: | The aim of the article was to deepen the understanding of the implementation of ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) principles within the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) sector in Poland, taking into account the impact of company size on the level of knowledge about ESG issues, the motives for undertaking related actions, as well as the state of ESG implementation and reporting. The study was conducted using a quantitative method (CAWI) on a sample of 533 enterprises. The results indicate that both the level of ESG knowledge and the scope of implemented actions increase with the size of the company. The main motivators for enterprises are regulatory requirements and market and client pressure, which are particularly evident among medium-sized enterprises. The analysis also identified significant implementation barriers, such as limited resources and the lack of coherent reporting standards. The article highlights the necessity of enhancing educational and financial support for micro and small enterprises, as well as the need for appropriate regulatory adjustments to encourage SMEs to actively participate in the transition towards sustainable development. |
| Keywords: | ESG; CAWI; SME; Sustainable Development; Poland |
| JEL: | Q01 Q58 M14 M21 O35 D22 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ahh:wpaper:worms2504 |
| By: | Wesley M. Cohen; Matthew J. Higgins; William D. Miles; Yoko Shibuya |
| Abstract: | Using detailed product- and invention-level data from the pharmaceutical industry, we demonstrate that firms with particularly high-selling “blockbuster” products concentrate their development efforts on new products that both target the same customer segments and are more likely to be technically similar to existing blockbuster products. This behavior, driven by an expectation of the stickiness of demand for existing product offerings, limits firms' incentives to invest in entirely new products targeting different customer segments. Our findings offer insights into how blockbuster products shape firms' customer segment and innovation choices, with implications for understanding the dynamics of technological change in R&D-intensive industries. |
| JEL: | O3 O31 O33 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33957 |
| By: | José Luis Peydró; Hernán Rincón-Castro; Miguel Sarmiento-Paipilla; Alejandro Granados |
| Abstract: | We study the financial and real effects of a wealth tax reform in Colombia that included a large share of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as new taxpayers. The tax was introduced in response to a severe weather shock that affected several regions of the country. We use a unique administrative dataset consisting of business loans from the credit registry, matched with balance sheet data and tax reports from both banks and non-financial firms. We identify a concentration of firms around the new tax threshold confirming anticipation of the tax by some affected firms. The new taxpayer firms exhibit tighter credit conditions compared to non-taxpayers firms. Those firms that anticipated the tax and those with ex-ante higher leverage show even tighter credit conditions. The reallocation of credit is higher among banks with high tax contributions. The tax reform also affected the allocation of trade credit among new taxpayers. Affected firms exhibit substantial negative real effects on investment, productivity, and employment. Our results indicate that taxing the wealth of SMEs affects their capital structure and real activity. *****RESUMEN: Estudiamos los efectos financieros y reales de una reforma del impuesto al patrimonio en Colombia que incluyó a una gran proporción de pequeñas y medianas empresas (PYME) como nuevos contribuyentes. El impuesto se introdujo en respuesta a un grave fenómeno climático que afectó a varias regiones del país. Utilizamos un conjunto único de datos administrativos que consiste en préstamos, emparejados con información de sus estados financieros y tributaria, tanto de los bancos como de las empresas. Identificamos una concentración de empresas en torno al nuevo umbral impositivo, lo que confirma la anticipación del impuesto por parte de algunas de las empresas afectadas por el impuesto. Las nuevas empresas contribuyentes presentan condiciones crediticias más restrictivas en comparación con las empresas no contribuyentes. Las empresas que anticiparon el impuesto y aquellas con un mayor apalancamiento ex ante muestran condiciones crediticias aún más restrictivas. La reasignación del crédito es mayor entre los bancos con altas contribuciones fiscales. La reforma tributaria también afectó la asignación del crédito comercial entre las nuevas empresas contribuyentes. Las empresas afectadas por el nuevo impuesto revelan efectos reales negativos sustanciales sobre la inversión, la productividad y el empleo. Nuestros resultados indican que gravar el patrimonio de las PYME afecta su estructura de capital y su actividad real. |
| Keywords: | Wealth taxes, firms’ capital structure, bank credit, trade credit, real effects, impuesto al patrimonio, estructura de capital de las empresas, crédito bancario, crédito comercial, efectos reales |
| JEL: | G21 G28 F34 E32 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdr:borrec:1316 |
| By: | Ms. Zeina Hasna; Henry Hatton; Ms. Florence Jaumotte; Jaden Kim; Mr. Kamiar Mohaddes; Samuel Pienknagura |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how climate policies affect low-carbon innovation (as measured by patents) and assesses the link between such innovation and economic activity. Climate policies, including international cooperation, spur both specific and overall innovation, with regulations, emissions-trading systems, and expenditure measures such as R&D subsidies and feed-in tariffs being particularly impactful. In turn, low-carbon innovation raises economic activity as much as other types of innovation and past technological revolutions. However, the mechanisms are different: low-carbon innovation increases capital accumulation, while other types of innovation increase total factor productivity (TFP). |
| Keywords: | Low-Carbon Innovation; Growth; Climate policies; Climate change; Porter Hypothesis |
| Date: | 2025–06–27 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2025/130 |
| By: | Xin Song (Universidad Anáhuac México); Carole Bonanni (ESC [Rennes] - ESC Rennes School of Business) |
| Abstract: | Artificial Intelligence (AI) has revolutionized interactive marketing, creating dynamic and personalized customer experiences. To the best of our knowledge, no studies have ventured into how firms in the luxury sector can leverage AI marketing activities to innovate their business model and boost the development of future digital marketing to enhance the luxury shopping experience (LSE). Building on the existing LSE literature and adopting a business model innovation (BMI) lens, we conducted an experimental study to identify how AI-powered try-on technology (ATT) can contribute to LSEs and create customer value proxied by customer satisfaction. In addition, we determined the specific dimensions of the LSE that are most affected by AI marketing efforts. Furthermore, our findings explored the role of AI in driving BMI and the interrelationship between enhanced customer satisfaction and BMI. This research contributes to understanding the crucial role of AI in shaping the future of interactive marketing in the luxury context. |
| Keywords: | artificial intelligence, business model innovation, customer satisfaction, Shopping Experience, Luxury |
| Date: | 2024–11–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05081129 |
| By: | Jeremy Pearce; Liangjie Wu |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the relationship between market concentration and aggregate productivity when firm-level demand emerges from past marketing investments. Granular firms may invest in demand both to complement their productivity and to amplify market power—this second force can create persistent mismatch between customer capital and productivity. The importance of this mismatch depends on the relative persistence of productivity and demand. Empirically, we find that demand is more persistent than productivity, implying a sizable role for mismatch. This leads to sluggish demand-side adjustment in the face of productivity shocks in the quantified model. Policies targeting static markup distortions—such as production subsidies—can exacerbate excessive marketing and thus are subject to a tradeoff between static gains and dynamic losses. |
| Keywords: | firm dynamics; productivity; demand; customer capital; market concentration; competition; innovation |
| JEL: | O31 O32 O34 O41 D22 D43 |
| Date: | 2025–07–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednsr:101336 |
| By: | Pascal Nguyen (MRM - Montpellier Research in Management - UPVD - Université de Perpignan Via Domitia - UM - Université de Montpellier); Nahid Rahman (Australian National Institute of Management and Commerce); Ruoyun Zhao (UTS - University of Technology Sydney) |
| Abstract: | Perception of social irresponsibility from negative media coverage may affect a firm's payout in two opposite ways. Firms may lower dividends in anticipation of greater financial constraints or pay higher dividends to signal that potential damage to their reputation and future cash flows is expected to be limited. Using data from RepRisk for a sample of US firms, we find compelling evidence supporting the second outcome, i.e., firms perceived as socially irresponsible pay higher dividends. This result remains valid for different payout measures and after controlling for endogeneity using instrumental variables, entropy balancing, and a difference-indifferences approach. Furthermore, the relationship is stronger for high-growth firms, consistent with their greater needs for external finance. The signaling motive is further supported by the stronger valuation effect of dividends for firms perceived as socially irresponsible, as well as the subsequent decrease in the perception of their irresponsibility and higher sales growth. Overall, the results suggest that firms use dividend policy to mitigate the potential damage due to the perception of their social irresponsibility. |
| Keywords: | Corporate social irresponsibility, CSI Public perception, Dividend signaling, Valuation effect, Media coverage, Stakeholders |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05075880 |
| By: | Philippe Jean-Baptiste (LEST - Laboratoire d'Economie et de Sociologie du Travail - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | This research aims to analyze how generative artificial intelligence (AI) transforms the roles and competencies of middle managers. By employing activity theory (Engeström, 1987) and examining Top-Down and Bottom-Up organizational dynamics, it explores the tensions and opportunities created by the adoption of AI. The methodology is based on semi-structured interviews conducted in three types of organizations (large enterprise, mid-sized company, and SME), complemented by a qualitative data analysis. The findings reveal that generative AI, beyond being technological tools, emerge as strategic resources redefining managerial practices. Middle managers play a pivotal role in balancing bottom-up innovation with governance requirements while developing technical, human, and conceptual skills. This study provides a conceptual framework to understand these organizational transformations and offers practical recommendations to support managers in navigating this technological transition. |
| Abstract: | Cette recherche vise à analyser comment les intelligences artificielles génératives (IAG) transforment les rôles et compétences des managers intermédiaires. En mobilisant la théorie de l'activité (Engeström, 1987) et en étudiant les dynamiques organisationnelles Top-Down et Bottom-Up, elle explore les tensions et opportunités créées par l'adoption des IAG. La méthodologie repose sur des entretiens semi-directifs menés dans trois types d'organisations (grande entreprise, ETI et PME), complétés par une analyse qualitative des données. Les résultats révèlent que les IAG, au-delà d'être des outils technologiques, deviennent des ressources stratégiques, redéfinissant les pratiques managériales. Les managers intermédiaires jouent un rôle clé en conciliant innovation ascendante et exigences de gouvernance, tout en développant des compétences techniques, humaines et conceptuelles. Cette étude propose un cadre conceptuel pour comprendre ces transformations organisationnelles et offre des recommandations pratiques pour accompagner les managers dans cette transition technologique. |
| Keywords: | Middle managers, Activity theory, Organizational transformation, technological innovation, Generative Artificial Intelligence, Intelligence artificielle générative (IAG), Managers intermédiaires, Théorie de l'activité, Transformation organisationnelle, Innovation technologique |
| Date: | 2025–06–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05100924 |
| By: | Zhen Ni (European Commission - JRC); Testa Giuseppina; Compano Ramon (European Commission - JRC) |
| Abstract: | "Using deal-level micro data from the Dealroom database, we construct a dynamic co-investment syndication network to examine the influence of cultural proximity and geospatial proximity between investors and start-ups, as well as the network position of global VC firms on investment decisions in European-based start-ups. By applying a linear probability regression model with high-dimensional fixed effects over the period 2015-2022, we confirm that both cultural and spatial proximity significantly facilitate VC investment. Moreover, our analysis reveals that a prominent network position â characterized by how well-connected (degree centrality) and how influential (Katz centrality) within the co-investment networkâ substantially enhances VC investments on account of the facilitated sharing of information, contacts, and resources among investors. Furthermore, our findings reveal that small-world networks, characterized by high clustering coefficients, facilitate investments in distant start-ups, helping to overcome spatial constraintsâan aspect largely overlooked in the literature. Small-world syndication networks foster trust among members, complementing each other through differentiation and specialization in industrial knowledge and local markets, potentially altering risk-averse behaviour and enabling investments that transcend geographical boundaries." |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:wpaper:202502 |
| By: | Wohlschlegel, Julian; Jussupow, Ekaterina; Pumplun, Luisa; Dittrich, Janek |
| Abstract: | The work of knowledge brokers comprises the transfer, translation, and transformation of knowledge between individuals who are unlikely to interact efficiently because of knowledge boundaries. In an extension of this theory, algorithmic brokers are defined as individuals performing these practices with artificial intelligence (AI) output to enable a community to leverage this output in their work. However, with the introduction of large language models (LLMs), we argue this brokerage role is shifting and that LLMs have the potential to broker knowledge between humans. We conducted a case study with domain experts in a Research and Development (R&D) department of a large multinational science and technology company who regularly use a recently developed domain-specific R&D-LLM. Our preliminary findings show that the R&D-LLM is reshaping interactions between human experts through three knowledge brokerage practices of varying complexity, assisting in simple knowledge recall, enabling the approach to experts and being a simulated counterpart. |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dar:wpaper:155585 |
| By: | Jan Bena (Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia); Andrew Ellul (Indiana University, CSEF, CEPR and ECGI.); Marco Pagano (University of Naples Federico II, CSEF and EIEF.); Valentina Rutigliano (Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia) |
| Abstract: | Entrepreneurs with more diversified portfolios of private firms provide more insurance against labor income risk: in a sample of over 524, 000 Canadian firms and 858, 000 owners, firms owned by such entrepreneurs offer more stable jobs and earnings to employees. In firms whose owners’ portfolios are one standard deviation more diversified, the passthrough rates of foreign sales shocks to layoffs and labor earnings are 13% and 41% lower, respectively. These entrepreneurs reduce their own compensation and increase firm leverage to fund labor income insurance. Enhanced insurance is associated with better retention of valuable human capital and fewer costly terminations, potentially improving firm performance. |
| Keywords: | labor income risk; portfolio diversification; firm shocks. |
| JEL: | G32 J30 J63 L20 |
| Date: | 2025–06–20 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:754 |
| By: | Sofia Lamperti (INPG - Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble, CERAG - Centre d'études et de recherches appliquées à la gestion - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes); Jean-Marie Courrent (Labex Entreprendre - UM - Université de Montpellier, MRM - Montpellier Research in Management - UM1 - Université Montpellier 1 - UPVM - Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 - UM2 - Université Montpellier 2 - Sciences et Techniques - UPVD - Université de Perpignan Via Domitia - Groupe Sup de Co Montpellier (GSCM) - Montpellier Business School); Sylvie Sammut (MRM - Montpellier Research in Management - UM1 - Université Montpellier 1 - UPVM - Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 - UM2 - Université Montpellier 2 - Sciences et Techniques - UPVD - Université de Perpignan Via Domitia - Groupe Sup de Co Montpellier (GSCM) - Montpellier Business School) |
| Abstract: | A growing number of business incubation programs are showing interest in supporting sustainable entrepreneurship in response to pressing social and environmental challenges. However, while the need for a sustainability orientation is widely acknowledged, it remains unclear how and to what extent business incubators are translating this interest into concrete actions. The risk that the focus of business incubators on sustainability may remain largely symbolic-expressing a commitment without meaningful change-rather than substantive, with a real impact on their structures and programs, exists. Drawing on the distinction in institutional theory between symbolic and substantive actions, this study presents a comparative case analysis of three French business incubators to explore how they operationalize their missions to foster sustainable new ventures. The findings provide both research and practical insights on understanding and implementing sustainability orientation within business support structures. |
| Keywords: | Business incubators Sustainability orientation Institutional theory Sustainable entrepreneurship Case study methodology |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05101546 |
| By: | Ilyasse Ech-Chafi (UH2C - Université Hassan II de Casablanca = University of Hassan II Casablanca = جامعة الحسن الثاني (ar)); El Hassane Ait Ali |
| Abstract: | SMEs are essential to the economy, particularly in emerging countries like Morocco. Their managers face many obstacles that impact their health. These difficulties include managing various tasks, maintaining competitiveness, and lacking financing and bureaucracy. Our study analyzes the stress factors affecting the health of Moroccan SME managers and their impact on business performance. We propose solutions based on previous studies to mitigate these risks and ensure the long-term viability of companies. Our methodological approach is based on in-depth analysis of academic articles from recognized databases such as Scopus and Google Scholar. We identify the main stressors and suggest effective measures to improve executives' well-being and strengthen the resilience of their companies. Our findings reveal that these executives are under significant stress due to work overload, multiple responsibilities and financial pressures. To remedy this, we offer personalized support, stress management training, and occupational health seminars. This study aims to improve the quality of life of SME managers and optimize the performance of their companies. |
| Keywords: | Managers, Stress factors, Morocco, Health, SMEs, Well-being |
| Date: | 2025–05–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05062947 |
| By: | Guillaume Poujade (CITERES - Cités, Territoires, Environnement et Sociétés - UT - Université de Tours - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Jean-Charles Billaut (LIFAT - Laboratoire d'Informatique Fondamentale et Appliquée de Tours - UT - Université de Tours - INSA CVL - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées - Centre Val de Loire - INSA - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées, LAAS-ROC - Équipe Recherche Opérationnelle, Optimisation Combinatoire et Contraintes - LAAS - Laboratoire d'analyse et d'architecture des systèmes - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - UT - Université de Toulouse - INSA Toulouse - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées - Toulouse - INSA - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées - UT - Université de Toulouse - UT2J - Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès - UT - Université de Toulouse - UT3 - Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier - UT - Université de Toulouse - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Toulouse INP - Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) - UT - Université de Toulouse); Denis Martouzet (CITERES - Cités, Territoires, Environnement et Sociétés - UT - Université de Tours - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Jean-François Raze (LEDi - Laboratoire d'Economie de Dijon [Dijon] - UBE - Université Bourgogne Europe) |
| Keywords: | Innovation, Réseaux, Interdiction, Eléments critiques |
| Date: | 2025–02–26 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05133427 |