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on Small Business Management |
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Issue of 2026–09–07
nineteen papers chosen by João Carlos Correia Leitão, Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Grakolet Gourene (Economic Commission for Africa); Zuzana Brixiova Schwidrowski (Economic Commission for Africa); Jiri Balcar (VSB - Technical University of Ostrava); Lenka Johnson Filipova (VSB - Technical University of Ostrava) |
| Abstract: | Family-owned firms account for majority of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Arab countries, but evidence on the impact of this ownership type on access to credit in the region is scarce. Yet the issue is key for understanding barriers to the emergence of dynamic private sector and growth acceleration. To reduce this knowledge gap, our paper examines links between family ownership and credit constraints faced by SMEs in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia, utilizing the World Bank Enterprise Surveys. We find that while family-owned firms have a higher need for credit than nonfamily-owned firms, they are more likely to be discouraged from applying for it. Due to this self-selection out of credit markets, they are more credit constrained than nonfamily firms, even though their credit application rejection rates are lower. Stronger firm governance, including presence of formal business strategies and improved managerial practices, can encourage family-owned SMEs to apply for credit more often and ease their access to finance. |
| Keywords: | Family-owned SMEs, access to bank credit, firm governance, Arab Countries |
| JEL: | D22 G21 G32 |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rza:ersawp:9 |
| By: | Galiano, Angelo Maurizio; Dell'Erba, Giuseppe; Costantiello, Alberto; Leogrande, Angelo |
| Abstract: | Europe measures the innovative performance of its regions largely by counting patents, and allocates public resources accordingly. This paper asks what regional patenting actually reflects, drawing on Regional Innovation Scoreboard data for 245 European regions observed annually between 2016 and 2023. Three candidate drivers are considered: the research effort of firms, the intensity of formal collaboration between the research base and industry, and the propensity to protect intangible assets through trademarks. Business research effort emerges as the dominant correlate throughout, science–industry collaboration as a weaker but consistent one, and trademark activity as a positive one, suggesting that firms which protect brands are not forgoing patents but exercising a single appropriation capability across several instruments. Two findings carry implications beyond measurement. Regional innovative capacity proves remarkably immobile: differences between regions account for roughly 95 per cent of the variation in the data, and differences within a region over the eight years for the remainder, so the short-run movements on which policy evaluation typically relies carry very little information, and the returns to innovation investment should be sought over horizons far longer than a programming cycle. And when the 245 regions are grouped into four innovation profiles rather than treated as a single population, the relationship that holds on average holds almost nowhere in particular: it is strong among leading and lagging regions, statistically absent in the largest group, and displaced by brand-led appropriation in a fourth group of 27 regions whose innovation is real but largely non-technological. Uniform innovation policy prescriptions and uniform managerial benchmarks are correspondingly difficult to justify. |
| Date: | 2026–08–15 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:jhr8t_v1 |
| By: | Maczulskij, Terhi |
| Abstract: | Abstract This study examines the effects of the 2004 European Union enlargement on firm productivity and innovation in Finland. Using linked employer–employee and firm-level data, the analysis exploits increased access to workers from the ten new EU member states (EU10). To address the endogenous geographic distribution of immigrants, I construct an instrumental variable based on historically predetermined migration patterns. The results show that increased EU10 employment raises firm labor productivity, the probability of having a granted patent, and STEM employment, while effects on other innovation outcomes are more limited. The responses also differ across sectors. In manufacturing, EU10 employment increases process innovation but reduces STEM employment, whereas in services it increases labor productivity and the probability of having granted patents. Overall, the findings suggest that immigration-induced labor-supply changes can improve firm performance and affect selected dimensions of innovation, with the effects varying across sectors and innovation margins. |
| Keywords: | EU enlargement, Firms, Immigration, Innovation, Instrumental variables, Productivity |
| JEL: | D22 F22 O30 |
| Date: | 2026–08–27 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rif:wpaper:145 |
| By: | Rachid Achbah (COACTIS - COnception de l'ACTIon en Situation - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne - UJM EPE - Université Jean Monnet (EPSCPE), UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne - UJM EPE - Université Jean Monnet (EPSCPE), IAE ST-E - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises de Saint Etienne - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne - UJM EPE - Université Jean Monnet (EPSCPE)); Sylvie Rouchon (IAE ST-E - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises de Saint Etienne - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne - UJM EPE - Université Jean Monnet (EPSCPE)) |
| Abstract: | This research aims to enhance the understanding of retrenchment decisions among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through an institutional lens, focusing on both employee and asset retrenchment strategies.We empirically analyze retrenchment decisions among French firms from 2005 to 2014. Our findings underscore the significant influence of financial distress, business climate, and the mimicking behavior of industry-leading firms. These factors shape firms' retrenchment strategies, with a notable emphasis on employee retrenchment, which is impacted mainly by social legitimacy and the need to align with industry norms. In contrast, asset retrenchment is influenced primarily by operational efficiency considerations, with less emphasis on social perception. These results provide a deeper understanding of institutional dynamics, revealing how institutional pressures impact different retrenchment decisions. |
| Keywords: | Employee retrenchment Asset retrenchment Institutional dynamics Mimicry |
| Date: | 2026–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05702830 |
| By: | Promesse Kavulirene (UNIGOM - Université de Goma); Edson Niyonsaba (HEC-Kin - Haute Ecole de Kinshasa) |
| Abstract: | In a crisis context, SME resilience is a major challenge for entrepreneurs and public authorities. However, few studies analyze the differentiated resilience trajectories of African SMEs in a post-pandemic context. This article examines the reconfiguration of Congolese SME performance trajectories after COVID-19, based on innovation dynamics and pre-crisis performance legacies. A survey of 300 SMEs in the city of Goma enabled the construction of innovation and performance indices before and after the crisis, and the identification of three post-crisis trajectories: limited adaptation (AL), adaptive catch-up (RA), and constrained leadership (LC). The results of the OLS models show that procedural and organizational innovations significantly improve organizational and social performance, while the effects on business performance remain limited. The multinomial logit model estimates partially confirm the hypothesis that innovation dynamics positively influence performance trajectories: process innovation significantly increases the probability of belonging to the RA trajectory (OR = 174.369; p<0.01), and organizational innovation also has a positive effect (OR = 38.361; p<0.1), while business innovation reduces this probability (OR = 0.032; p<0.05). Furthermore, performance inheritance steers SMEs more towards a constrained leadership trajectory (OR = 1127.753; p<0.01), reflecting a path-dependence effect. The study thus highlights a persistent adaptation trap and underscores that post-crisis resilience relies primarily on the internal reconfiguration of organizational capabilities. |
| Abstract: | Dans un contexte de crise, la résilience des PME constitue un enjeu majeur pour les entrepreneurs et les pouvoirs publics. Toutefois, peu d'études analysent les trajectoires différenciées de résilience des PME africaines en contexte post-pandémique. Cet article examine la recomposition des trajectoires de performance des PME congolaises après la Covid-19 à partir des dynamiques d'innovation et de l'héritage de performance pré-crise. Une enquête menée auprès de 300 PME de la ville de Goma a permis de construire des indices d'innovation et de performance avant et après la crise, puis d'identifier trois trajectoires post-crise : Adaptation Limitée (AL), Rattrapage Adaptatif (RA) et Leader Contraint (LC). Les résultats des modèles MCO montrent que les innovations procédurales et organisationnelles améliorent significativement les performances organisationnelles et sociales, tandis que les effets sur la performance commerciale demeurent limités. Les estimations du modèle logit multinomial confirment partiellement l'hypothèse selon laquelle les dynamiques d'innovation influencent positivement les trajectoires de performance : l'innovation de procédé accroît fortement la probabilité d'appartenir à la trajectoire RA (OR = 174, 369 ; p<0, 01) et l'innovation organisationnelle exerce également un effet positif (OR = 38, 361 ; p<0, 1), alors que l'innovation commerciale réduit cette probabilité (OR = 0, 032 ; p<0, 05). Par ailleurs, l'héritage de performance oriente davantage les PME vers une trajectoire de leadership contraint (OR = 1127, 753 ; p<0, 01), traduisant un effet de dépendance au sentier. L'étude met ainsi en évidence une trappe d'adaptation persistante et souligne que la résilience post-crise repose principalement sur la reconfiguration interne des capacités organisationnelles. |
| Keywords: | SMEs, innovation, performance, Resilience trajectory, COVID-19, trajectoires de résilience, PME |
| Date: | 2026–06–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05670859 |
| By: | Yusuf Emre Akgunduz (Central Bank of Turkiye); Ayse Karasoy (Central Bank of Turkiye); Gokce Karasoy Can (Corresponding author. Bank of England); Elif Ozcan Tok (Bank of England) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how pre-pandemic investments in digital technologies influenced firm performance during the Covid-19 crisis and subsequent recovery, using comprehensive administrative data from Türkiye. We construct a novel firm-level digitalisation index based on firm-to-firm trade transactions, capturing a broad spectrum of digital investments including software, hardware, consultancy, and data services. Employing coarsened exact matching and a difference-in-differences framework, we find that more digitalised firms outperformed their less digitalised pairs during the pandemic and post-pandemic years. Specifically, digitalised firms exhibited 3% higher total assets, 4% higher net sales, and 2% higher employment, with even greater gains in profitability (0.44 percentage points), return on assets (0.42 percentage points), and export share (0.16 percentage points). To investigate plausible mechanisms consistent with these effects, we examine whether more digitalised firms expanded their trade networks, experienced lower worker turnover, and achieved higher productivity during the pandemic. We find that these firms added 3% more partners and traded over 2% greater distances with reduced labour churn, and higher productivity. These findings underscore the role of digitalisation in enhancing firm resilience and adaptability in the face of economic shocks. |
| Keywords: | Digitalisation;Covid-19;coarsened exact matching;differences-indifferences;firm performance |
| JEL: | C55 D22 O33 |
| Date: | 2026–05–22 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boe:boeewp:023306 |
| By: | Michael Seewald (Universität Witten/Herdecke) |
| Abstract: | Economic innovation and transformation are future-oriented fields where financial risk-return and economic growth considerations permeate with visions of technological progress and cultural determinants of human behavior. This case study about the evolution of the entrepreneurial persona in the history of economic thought demonstrates how narrative research can contribute to understanding the growth dynamics of economic ecosystems. Rather than being indicators of flaws in otherwise rational economic processes, narrative twists and turns reflect the institutional and cultural preconditions of economic growth and innovation.Since the early days of industrialization, economic thought takes recourse to the institutional persona of the entrepreneur to explain dynamics of innovation and transformative growth. The descriptions of the entrepreneur in the works of Robert Cantillon, Joseph Schumpeter and Frank Knight show how the parameters of innovation, cristallized in the features of entrepreneurial activity, change along the trajectories of, and reflect, industrial and economic development. What these descriptions have in common are the fundamental features of innovative activity in otherwise steady economic ecosystems: the ability to embrace the uncertainty of a future venture through an informed view about future market demand; the stamina to impose change to incumbent structures and processes; and the acumen to mobilize ample financial funding to realize an innovative venture.The current debate around artificial intelligence and its potential to generate unprecedented future growth goes along with a messianic turn in the discourse about entrepreneurial activity. In the current debate about AI-led innovation, the entrepreneurial narrative, unchanged at its core, takes on a quasi-spiritual dimension. Entrepreneurs appear as saviour-like personae, able to break through a state of general stagnation and decline in order to enable not less than a new, technology-fuelled chapter for humanity. While the jury is out whether this scenario will unfold, the messianic turn of the entrepreneurial discourse shows that the instruments of mainstream economics do not seem to be suited to assess the growth dynamics of AI-led innovation. To assess this messianic turn of the entrepreneur and its bearings for future economic growth trajectories, a narrative turn in economic research appears warranted. |
| Date: | 2026–08–21 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05238679 |
| By: | Ruslana Datsenko (Bank of England); Martin B Holm (University of Oslo and CEPR) |
| Abstract: | Monetary policy is usually evaluated through aggregate output and inflation, with less attention to how it reallocates innovative investment across firms. Existing evidence shows that higher rates reduce innovation, but the firms driving this response remain unclear. Combining Norway’s research and development (R&D) survey with administrative data and narrative monetary shocks for 2001–18, we estimate heterogeneous firm responses. Contractionary policy reduces R&D most in high-growth firms with recent equity issuance, consistent with the asset-price channel of monetary transmission. Standard debt-based measures explain little heterogeneity. Monetary policy therefore has long-run real effects primarily by reducing R&D in high-growth innovative firms. |
| Keywords: | Monetary policy;innovation;productivity;research and development |
| JEL: | E52 O31 |
| Date: | 2026–06–26 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boe:boeewp:023314 |
| By: | Awotade, Joshua Adeyemi; Osemeke, Monday |
| Abstract: | This study analyses how monetary entrepreneurship, multi-stakeholder governance and institutionalisation shape the inclusive-growth outcomes of digital complementary currencies in Nigeria. Adopting an interpretivist approach and a qualitative multiple-case design, the study compares three settings: the state-driven eNaira, fintech-driven platforms and community-driven financial institutions. Data were obtained from semi-structured interviews and documents and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The findings demonstrate that monetary entrepreneurship is a multi-actor and co-produced endeavour involving state, market and community actors operating within a particular institutional context. Multi-stakeholder governance mediates system design, coordination and adoption, while institutionalisation influences legitimacy, sustainability and long-term impact. The study concludes that inclusive growth is an ecosystem outcome arising from the interaction of innovation, governance and institutional development, rather than from technological innovation alone. It recommends coordinated governance and institutional alignment in using digital financial systems to support financial inclusion and inclusive development. |
| Date: | 2026–08–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:x6tzn_v1 |
| By: | Ina Ganguli; Jeffrey Lin; Vitaly Meursault; Nicholas F. Reynolds |
| Abstract: | Over nearly two centuries, US inventions have become increasingly dissimilar: not just fewer head-to-head collisions between inventors, but growing distance between neighboring inventions. We document this secular decline in similarity using validated neural language models applied to the full text of claims in over 11 million US patents (1836–2023), corroborated by a 98% decline in patent interference rates, a measure of independent simultaneous invention. Measuring this correctly requires validation, since different representations of the same patent text can yield opposite conclusions about whether inventions are converging or spreading out. Our validation framework, the first systematic comparison for patent text, selects among these representations. We develop a spatial competition model in which inventors choose locations in idea space. The model explains spreading out and connects it to several independently documented patterns — rising R&D investment per inventor, increasing patent values, weakening knowledge spillovers, and declining research productivity. The mechanism is spatial; as inventors spread out to capture new territory, inventions become more valuable but also more costly for others to absorb. In doing so, the model turns spillover intensity, innovation step size, and research productivity from fixed primitives into outcomes of inventor positioning. A calibrated decomposition attributes roughly 40% of the long-run decline in US research productivity to these spatial forces, alongside traditional explanations such as fishing out and the burden of knowledge. Where inventors stand relative to each other in idea space matters as much for growth as how many of them there are. |
| JEL: | C55 O31 O41 O47 |
| Date: | 2026–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35499 |
| By: | Cesar Velazquez (Department of Economics, Universidad Iberoamericana Ciudad de Mexico); Isidro Soloaga (Department of Economics, Universidad Iberoamericana Ciudad de Mexico); Monserrat Zuñiga Loreto (Department of Economics, Universidad Iberoamericana Ciudad de Mexico) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the relationship between neighborhood crime and firm employment in Mexico City. Using a balanced panel of 2, 354 Basic Geostatistical Areas (AGEBs) for 2017--2022, we estimate Spatial Durbin Models with AGEB fixed effects, lagged and winsorized crime variables, and differential trends by dominant firm-size stratum, decomposing total effects into direct and indirect components. At the aggregate level, robberies are negatively associated with employment in the AGEBs where they occur, alongside positive spillovers toward neighboring areas. This aggregate pattern conceals substantial heterogeneity: large firms (101 or more employees) are the only stratum with a negative and significant direct effect, whereas small firms (0--10 employees) show a positive direct effect, consistent with structural immobility and the local reallocation of displaced demand. Medium-sized firms show negative but imprecisely estimated effects. A dynamic specification preserves these signs but is weakly identified once persistence is absorbed. Crime appears to reallocate employment across the firm-size distribution and across space rather than uniformly contracting local labor demand. |
| JEL: | C33 J23 K42 R12 |
| Date: | 2026–09–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smx:wpaper:2026012 |
| By: | Benjamin Crampton (Bank of England); Rupert-Hu Gilman (Bank of England); Rebecca Mari (Bank of England) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the exposure of UK firms to flood risk and the impact that past floods have had on corporate outcomes. Through the use of a novel data set that combines highly granular business premise information with flood maps and financial records, we first identify the specific regions, sectors and characteristics of firms where flood risk is most concentrated. Firm-level exposure is significantly influenced by sorting dynamics, with larger premises being more at risk. Second, we demonstrate that flood impacts are highly damaging to firms: they significantly increase the likelihood of business termination for small and medium-sized firms; for surviving firms, there are large negative impacts to revenue, employment, and total assets, with large firms and those in natural resource-related sectors being most affected. |
| Keywords: | Floods;climate change;physical risk |
| JEL: | Q54 R12 E23 |
| Date: | 2026–06–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boe:boeewp:023309 |
| By: | Shakti Shree Manivannan; Brinda Viswanathan (Professor at Madras School of Economics, Chennai.) |
| Abstract: | Self-employment dominates and continues to increase its share in India’s employment landscape whether agricultural or non-agricultural. A large part of it is necessity-driven and undertaken for survival, as opposed to entrepreneurial self-employment driven by innovation and opportunity. By incorporating gender-specific effects, this study uncovers sources of disparities in gross value-added (GVA) based on gender of the proprietor, using data from India’s Unincorporated Non-Agricultural Enterprises (UNAEs) survey for 2023-24. Cross-tabulations reveal a pronounced gender gap in firm performance: female-led UNAEs are disproportionately concentrated in the lowest GVA quartile. Lower-GVA firms have less educated proprietors and operate from household premises as own account workers; features that typically characterise female proprietors. Quantile regression analysis of the log transformed GVA shows that, controlling for other covariates, compared to urban men, urban women close in by the top quartile, while rural women close the gap by nearly one-half between the 25th and 75th percentiles. The median regression model, allowing for proprietor- and firm-level factors to differ across male-and female-led enterprises, further shows that female proprietors diverge from male proprietors primarily in hiring patterns, business location, and industry choice, while education and social background have relatively uniform effects across genders. This relatively underexplored analysis of UNAEs also highlights that data limitations permit only a minimal assessment on the role of gender composition of hired workers. Length: 44 pages |
| Keywords: | Unincorporated non-agricultural enterprises, Gross Value Added, Gendered Performance, Quantile Regression Classification-JEL: : J16, L26, O17 |
| Date: | 2026–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mad:wpaper:2026-310 |
| By: | Ha Minh Nguyen |
| Abstract: | How do demographic trends shape the adoption of AI and automation technologies? This paper provides the first large-scale cross-country firm-level test of the demographic–automation hypothesis using World Bank Enterprise Surveys data covering 89, 380 firms across 144 countries from 2022 to 2025. I classify adopters by applying a large language model to firms’ open-ended process innovation descriptions, identifying 1, 656 AI and automation adopters (1.9 percent of the sample). A ten-percentage-point increase in the old-age dependency ratio raises process adoption probability by approximately 0.6 percentage points, after accounting for countries’ income levels, digital infrastructure, firm size and sector, and broad regional and time differences. The result is robust across specifications and supported by an instrumental variable strategy based on predetermined demographic cohort structure. Heterogeneity analysis shows the effect concentrates in manufacturing, large firms, and developing economies for the broad adoption measure; restricting to firms with explicit references to AI reverses the sector pattern, with services firms significantly more likely to adopt than manufacturing firms, pointing to distinct sectoral profiles for software-based AI and hardware-based automation. Aging also predicts firms’ development of AI-enabled products across both manufacturing and services. The results indicate that demographic aging shapes AI and automation adoption through both process and product innovation channels: firms substitute technology for increasingly scarce and costly labor in production, and separately develop AI-enabled products for labor-constrained customers. |
| Keywords: | Aging; automation; artificial intelligence; firm-level; technology adoption; labor-saving technology; World Bank Enterprise Surveys; demographics; labor substitution |
| Date: | 2026–08–21 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2026/176 |
| By: | Bergeaud, Antonin; Aghion, Philippe; Gigout-Magiorani, Timothée; Lequien, Matthieu; Melitz, Marc J |
| Abstract: | We examine the effect of entry by French firms into a new export market on the dynamics of their patents’ citations received from that destination. Applying a difference-in-differences identification strategy with a staggered treatment design, we show that: (i) entering a new foreign market has a significant impact on the long-run flow of citations; (ii) the impact is mostly driven by the extensive margin; (iii) inventors in destination countries patent mostly in products that do not directly compete with those of the exporting firm; (iv) the spillover intensity decreases with the technological distance between the exporting firm and the destination. |
| Date: | 2024–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:19260 |
| By: | Asma El Foutat (UH2C - Université Hassan II de Casablanca = University of Hassan II Casablanca = جامعة الحسن الثاني (ar), BIGOFE - Laboratoire Business Intelligence, Gouvernance des Organisations, Finance et Politiques Economiques - Faculté des sciences juridiques économiques et sociales Ain Chock Université HASSAN II – Maroc); Mounir Boumhamdi (UH2C - Université Hassan II de Casablanca = University of Hassan II Casablanca = جامعة الحسن الثاني (ar), BIGOFE - Laboratoire Business Intelligence, Gouvernance des Organisations, Finance et Politiques Economiques - Faculté des sciences juridiques économiques et sociales Ain Chock Université HASSAN II – Maroc) |
| Abstract: | In a context marked by persistent gender inequalities and the growing importance of innovation as a driver of productivity, understanding the interactions between innovation, gender, and labor productivity is becoming a central issue for emerging economies. This article presents a systematic review of the literature on the relationships between innovation, gender, and labor productivity in Morocco, with the aim of assessing the mechanisms through which these dimensions interact within firms and the labor market. Despite the abundance of studies devoted separately to innovation, gender, or productivity, the Moroccan and MENA literature remains fragmented and still offers few analyses that simultaneously integrate these three dimensions. The methodology adopted is based on the PRISMA 2020 protocol, drawing on a literature review conducted between January and March 2026 in the Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar databases. Of the 186 documents initially identified, 26 studies were ultimately selected after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The results show that women remain structurally underrepresented in innovation- and productivityintensive sectors due to constraints related to access to financing, sectoral segregation, and socioinstitutional barriers. Although innovation is generally associated with improved productivity, its effects remain unevenly distributed across gender structures. Furthermore, the literature remains fragmented and insufficiently integrated from an analytical perspective. The research concludes that the implementation of gender-inclusive innovation policies constitutes a strategic lever for strengthening labor productivity and promoting inclusive growth in Morocco, subject to further empirical approaches and causal analyses |
| Abstract: | Dans un contexte marqué par des inégalités persistantes de genre et par l'importance croissante de l'innovation comme moteur de la productivité, la compréhension des interactions entre innovation, genre et productivité du travail devient un enjeu central pour les économies émergentes. Cet article propose une revue systématique de la littérature sur les relations entre innovation, genre et productivité du travail au Maroc, afin d'évaluer les mécanismes par lesquels ces dimensions interagissent au sein des entreprises et du marché du travail. Malgré l'abondance des travaux consacrés séparément à l'innovation, au genre ou à la productivité, la littérature marocaine et MENA demeure fragmentée et offre encore peu d'analyses intégrant simultanément ces trois dimensions. La méthodologie adoptée repose sur le protocole PRISMA 2020, à partir d'une recherche documentaire menée entre janvier et mars 2026 dans les bases Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect et Google Scholar. Sur 186 documents initialement identifiés, 26 études ont finalement été retenues après application des critères d'inclusion et d'exclusion. Les résultats montrent que les femmes restent structurellement sous-représentées dans les secteurs à forte intensité d'innovation et de productivité, en raison de contraintes liées à l'accès au financement, à la ségrégation sectorielle et aux barrières socio-institutionnelles. Bien que l'innovation soit généralement associée à une amélioration de la productivité, ses effets demeurent inégalement distribués selon les structures de genre. La littérature reste par ailleurs fragmentée et insuffisamment intégrée sur le plan analytique. La recherche conclut que la mise en place de politiques d'innovation inclusives en matière de genre constitue un levier stratégique pour renforcer la productivité du travail et promouvoir une croissance inclusive au Maroc, sous réserve d'un approfondissement des approches empiriques et des analyses causales |
| Keywords: | performance, PME, productivité du travail, innovation, Genre |
| Date: | 2026–06–23 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05670163 |
| By: | Hassane Bengha (UIT - Université Ibn Tofaïl); Kenza El Kadiri (UIT - Université Ibn Tofaïl) |
| Abstract: | Business creation represents a major strategic challenge for Morocco's economic development. Yet, despite public policy efforts, the entrepreneurial intention of higher education graduates remains structurally low and primarily driven by necessity rather than opportunity (GEM Morocco, 2024). This article examines the role of institutional quality as an underestimated determinant of entrepreneurial intention. In terms of methodological approach, this work adopts a conceptual and theoretical design of a hypothetico-deductive nature: drawing on a review of the empirical literature on entrepreneurship and institutions in emerging and Moroccan economies, it builds an integrative framework combining the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991), institutional theory (North, 1990) and self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000). Four institutional dimensions are identified, namely regulatory quality, rule of law, control of corruption and socio-cultural norms, each exerting a specific effect on the formation of intention. The main conclusion of this work is the proposal of an original conceptual model, the Institutional Model of Entrepreneurial Intention (IMEI), which theorizes the mechanisms by which these institutional dimensions influence the three antecedents of intention identified by Ajzen, namely attitude towards entrepreneurship, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control, and from which five research hypotheses are derived. This model will be the subject of a subsequent empirical validation, of a positivist stance and quantitative methodology (structural equation modeling), on a sample of 350 Moroccan university graduates from three regions with contrasting institutional profiles. This work helps fill a gap in the Moroccan entrepreneurship literature by explicitly integrating the institutional dimension as an explanatory variable of intention rather than of the act of creation. |
| Abstract: | Résumé. La création d'entreprise constitue un enjeu stratégique majeur pour le développement économique du Maroc. Pourtant, malgré les efforts des politiques publiques, l'intention entrepreneuriale des diplômés du supérieur demeure structurellement faible et principalement motivée par la nécessité plutôt que par l'opportunité (GEM Morocco, 2024). Cet article interroge le rôle de la qualité institutionnelle comme déterminant sous-estimé de l'intention entrepreneuriale. Sur le plan de l'approche méthodologique, ce travail relève d'une démarche conceptuelle et théorique, de nature hypothético-déductive : à partir d'une revue de la littérature empirique sur l'entrepreneuriat et les institutions dans les économies émergentes et au Maroc, il construit un cadre intégratif croisant la théorie du comportement planifié (Ajzen, 1991), la théorie institutionnelle (North, 1990) et la théorie de l'autodétermination (Deci et Ryan, 2000). Quatre dimensions institutionnelles sont identifiées, à savoir la qualité réglementaire, l'État de droit, le contrôle de la corruption et les normes socioculturelles, chacune exerçant un effet spécifique sur la formation de l'intention. La principale conclusion de ce travail est la proposition d'un modèle conceptuel original, le modèle Institutionnel de l'Intention Entrepreneuriale (MIIE), qui théorise les mécanismes par lesquels ces dimensions institutionnelles influencent les trois antécédents de l'intention identifiés par Ajzen, à savoir l'attitude envers l'entrepreneuriat, les normes subjectives et le contrôle comportemental perçu, et dont sont dérivées cinq hypothèses de recherche. Ce modèle fera l'objet d'une validation empirique ultérieure, de posture positiviste et de méthodologie quantitative (modélisation par équations structurelles), auprès d'un échantillon de 350 diplômés universitaires marocains issus de trois régions aux profils institutionnels contrastés. Ce travail contribue à combler un déficit de la littérature marocaine sur l'entrepreneuriat en intégrant explicitement la dimension institutionnelle comme variable explicative de l'intention plutôt que de l'acte de création. Mots-clés : Intention entrepreneuriale ; Qualité institutionnelle ; Théorie du comportement planifié ; Maroc ; Economies émergentes ; modèle conceptuel. Abstract. Business creation represents a major strategic challenge for Morocco's economic development. Yet, despite public policy efforts, the entrepreneurial intention of higher education graduates remains structurally low and primarily driven by necessity rather than opportunity (GEM Morocco, 2024). This article examines the role of institutional quality as an underestimated determinant of entrepreneurial intention. In terms of methodological approach, this work adopts a conceptual and theoretical design of a hypothetico-deductive nature: drawing on a review of the empirical literature on entrepreneurship and institutions in emerging and Moroccan economies, it builds an integrative framework combining the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991), institutional theory (North, 1990) and self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000). Four institutional dimensions are identified, namely regulatory quality, rule of law, control of corruption and socio-cultural norms, each exerting a specific effect on the formation of intention. The main conclusion of this work is the proposal of an original conceptual model, the Institutional Model of Entrepreneurial Intention (IMEI), which theorizes the mechanisms by which these institutional dimensions influence the three antecedents of intention identified by Ajzen, namely attitude towards entrepreneurship, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control, and from which five research hypotheses are derived. This model will be the subject of a subsequent empirical validation, of a positivist stance and quantitative methodology (structural equation modeling), on a sample of 350 Moroccan university graduates from three regions with contrasting institutional profiles. This work helps fill a gap in the Moroccan entrepreneurship literature by explicitly integrating the institutional dimension as an explanatory variable of intention rather than of the act of creation. Keywords: Entrepreneurial intention; Institutional quality; Theory of planned behavior; Morocco; Emerging economies; Conceptual model. |
| Keywords: | African Scientific Journal, Intention entrepreneuriale ; Qualité institutionnelle ; Théorie du comportement planifié ; Maroc ; Economies émergentes ; modèle conceptuel |
| Date: | 2026–06–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05676696 |
| By: | Reyes Ortega, Santiago; Freeman, Kianna Rachael; Hernando Kaminsky, Pablo Daniel; Huber, Jeremias Luca; Mauro, Paolo |
| Abstract: | Venture capital is widely viewed as financing knowledge-intensive, R&D-driven startups, but owing to data constraints, this view has been based largely on high-income economies. By taking a global perspective, this paper documents that what venture capital finances differs systematically across economies, varying with institutional and business conditions rather than following a single model. Using a new cross-country dataset that harmonizes firm-level venture capital records with equity issuance data for more than 150 economies, the data shows that VC markets differ across countries not only in scale but in kind. Outside high-income countries, rather than being concentrated in knowledge intangibles, venture capital tilts–at both the sector and firm levels–toward organizational intangibles such as distribution, logistics, and payments. Highlighting the unique features of venture capital, this pattern is absent from public equity markets, where sectoral composition is far more similar across income levels. An accounting decomposition separates venture capital depth into the rate at which firms enter the market and the funding each entrant attracts, and entry accounts for the largest cross-country gaps. Moreover, the business environment is associated with VC primarily through entry, linked both to the size of the market and to the composition of what venture capital finances, the latter through entry into knowledge-intensive sectors in particular. |
| Date: | 2026–08–31 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:11438 |
| By: | Hennings, Christian Hermann |
| Abstract: | Venture capital (VC) plays a central role in financing entrepreneurial ventures. Despite its importance, the relationship between risk and return remains difficult to explain by standard financial theory. Standard asset pricing theory conceptualizes risk as an ex-ante, observable characteristic that is compensated by expected returns through a stable, separable relationship. However, in VC markets illiquidity, staged financing, information asymmetries, and highly skewed payoff distributions violate these assumptions. Risk and return are jointly determined by financing dynamics, investor heterogeneity, and market conditions, so that realized returns reflect a combination of technological, financing, timing, and macroeconomic risks. This dissertation advances the argument that the risk-return relationship in VC is not a stable trade-off but varies systematically with financing conditions and investor composition. The seven empirical chapters collectively examine how staged financing, capital supply dynamics, and regional and organizational heterogeneity across investor types influence observed performance patterns. The findings show that risk and return in VC are shaped by market conditions, investor structure, and regional environments. Expansionary periods increase venture survival and delay the realization of downside risk. In contrast, contractionary periods reduce capital supply and accelerate selection. Consequently, identical underlying venture risk may result in different observed performance outcomes, depending on the prevailing market regime, the type of investor providing capital, and the institutional and financial depth of the regional ecosystem. Differences in investor resources, organizational form, and regional institutional frameworks systematically affect funding continuity, exit timing, and the distribution of realized returns. Overall, this dissertation contributes a unified framework that integrates insights from asset pricing, entrepreneurial finance, behavioral finance, and macro finance. It demonstrates that deviations from classical risk-return logic in VC arise systematically from the interaction of staged financing, investor heterogeneity, and regime-dependent capital supply, implying that observed performance patterns reflect structural market dynamics rather than stable risk premia. |
| Date: | 2026–08–27 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dar:wpaper:161940 |