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on Small Business Management |
| By: | Alvarez, Lourdes; Broncano, Marlon |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the impact of factoring—implemented through electronic negotiable invoices—on the growth and performance of firms in Peru between 2015 and 2023. Using administrative panel data and a quasi-experimental design based on the difference-indifferences (DiD) method, the analysis compares firms that adopted this financial instrument with those that did not. The findings reveal that factoring adoption significantly increased firm survival rates. In the short term, it also enhanced access to credit, although this effect gradually diminished over time. The results on sales and employment show a heterogeneous pattern: while some firms experienced initial adverse effects, those that consistently utilized factoring reported sustained improvements. These findings contribute to the understanding of alternative financing mechanisms in developing economies and their role in fostering firm resilience and long-term development. The paper provides empirical evidence to inform financial policy and support instruments for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Peru. |
| Keywords: | factoring; electronic invoices; access to credit; firm survival; SME development |
| JEL: | G2 G3 |
| Date: | 2025–10–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:129106 |
| By: | Wulong Gu; Josip Lesica |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the role of firm size in the widening labour productivity gap between Canada and the United States since 2000. Canada’s business-sector labour productivity level declined from 83% of the U.S. level in 2002 to 73% in 2019. The gap is partly explained by Canada’s higher share of small firms and their greater productivity disadvantage relative to large firms. In 2019, these two factors accounted for 60% of the 27-percentage-point productivity gap, with the remainder 40% attributable to the generally lower productivity of Canadian firms. From 2002 to 2019, both small and large Canadian firms experienced slower productivity growth than their U.S. counterparts. Large firms contributed more to the widening of the Canada–U.S. labour productivity level gap for the period from 2002 to 2019 because of significantly slower labour productivity growth among Canada’s large firms. Shift-share analysis shows that the relative weak performance of large firms accounted for 0.45 percentage points of the 0.71-point Canada–U.S. productivity growth gap, while small firms accounted for 0.16 points. The remaining 0.14 percentage points of the Canada–U.S. labour productivity growth gap were attributable to the negative effect of hours shifting toward small firms with lower labour productivity levels in Canada. The findings highlight the need to boost productivity across firm sizes. Improving small firms’ access to markets, financing, innovation and managerial capacity and enabling large firms to catch up to global productivity frontiers will be critical to narrowing the Canada–U.S. productivity gap. |
| Keywords: | role of firm size, labour productivity gap |
| JEL: | J23 M21 |
| Date: | 2025–12–22 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:stc:stcp8e:202501200002e |
| By: | Vera Barinova (Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy); Margarita Gvozdeva (RANEPA) |
| Abstract: | The development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the tourism sector |
| Keywords: | Russian economy, small businesses, tourism, hospotality industry, medium-sized enterprises, sanctions |
| JEL: | C53 E37 I18 I19 L21 L52 L84 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gai:ppaper:ppaper-2026-1619 |
| By: | Krieger, Bastian; Prüfer, Malte; Strecke, Linus |
| Abstract: | Public procurement is widely regarded as an important instrument to foster innovation. We examine how additional award criteria beyond price relate to firms' realized innovation performance by combining representative firm-level data from the German Innovation Survey with official tender-level data from Tenders Electronic Daily and estimating two-way fixed effects models. The results suggest that winning price-based tenders is associated with lower product and service innovation and higher turnover from established products and services, while criteria-based procurement shows an inverse U-shaped relationship between the average length of criteria lists in won tenders and firms' innovation outcomes. Overall, the findings indicate that the innovation effects of public procurement depend not only on whether additional award criteria are used, but also on how extensively they are applied. |
| Keywords: | Public procurement, Firm innovation, Demand side |
| JEL: | O31 O32 O38 H57 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:341408 |
| By: | Kuosmanen, Natalia; Kuosmanen, Timo; Maczulskij, Terhi |
| Abstract: | Abstract A substantial share of firm entry and exit observed in register-based data reflects mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs, and other forms of corporate restructuring, instead of genuinely new firms or firm closures. This distinction is important for productivity decompositions, which typically interpret market entry and exit as manifestations of the Schumpeterian creative destruction. Using linked register-based data on Finnish manufacturing firms and employees for the period 2010–2022, we identify restructuring events through clustered worker flows, and incorporate this classification into a structural productivity decomposition framework. The results show that firms involved in restructuring events exhibit significantly higher productivity levels than genuinely entering or exiting firms. Nevertheless, the contribution of restructuring-related entry and exit to aggregate productivity growth remains modest, whereas genuine creative destruction by newly established firms and closing down make a larger positive contribution to productivity growth. Firms undertaking acquisitions exhibit a temporary decline in labor productivity around the time of acquisition, followed by a gradual recovery. These findings highlight the need to distinguish restructuring events from genuine market entry and exit when analyzing productivity dynamics. |
| Keywords: | Labor productivity, Mergers and acquisitions, Corporate restructuring, Worker flows, Productivity decomposition |
| JEL: | D24 L25 L60 O47 |
| Date: | 2026–06–18 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rif:wpaper:142 |
| By: | Baumann, Ursel; Cullen, Zöe; Faia, Ester; Ferrando, Annalisa; Perez-Truglia, Ricardo; Rariga, Judith |
| Abstract: | How well does innovation diffuse across geographic boundaries? To shed light on this question, we present a large-scale field experiment involving 3, 300 firms across twelve European Union (EU) countries. We elicit firms' perceptions of the share of similar firms in their own country that had invested in AI, as well as the corresponding share among similar firms in the three largest EU economies. We randomly provide half of the sample with accurate information about both domestic and foreign AI investment. We show that firms substantially underestimate competitors' current AI investment, both domestically and abroad, and that they update their expectations about competitors' future adoption in response to the information treatment. The treatment also causes a statistically significant increase in firms' own expected AI investment rate (p-value |
| Keywords: | Innovation |
| JEL: | O33 D22 C93 L21 |
| Date: | 2026–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:21601 |
| By: | Alam, Afroza; Diegmann, André |
| Abstract: | This paper provides new causal evidence on how patent allowances affect firms and their employees based on quasi-random assignment of patent applications to examiners. Exploiting employer-employee records with newly linked German firm data and web-scraped patent documents, we show that patent-induced shocks reduce firm exit, improve productivity, and increase wages, with rent-sharing elasticities between 0.10 and 0.21. Wage gains are broadly observed across occupational tasks, with high heterogeneity: managers benefit disproportionately in publicly traded firms, whereas broader wage increases accrue to workers in non-traded firms. Our findings highlight the role of institutional features and firm organization in shaping how rents are shared. |
| Keywords: | firm performance, innovation, rent sharing, worker compensation |
| JEL: | D22 J31 O31 O34 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iwhdps:341391 |
| By: | Jenny Watt; Wulong Gu; Aled ab Iorwerth |
| Abstract: | Canada has experienced relatively low productivity growth in the construction sector over the last several decades. This study examines the evolution of labour productivity in residential construction by using firm-level data from the National Accounts Longitudinal Microdata File. The residential construction industry is dominated by small firms, with those employing fewer than 20 workers accounting for 66.1% of total employment in the industry in 2023. Labour productivity growth, measured as real gross output per worker, declined by a cumulative 37.3% from 2001 to 2023—an average decrease of 2.1% per year—in the residential construction industry. The decline occurred across all firm-size categories, with smaller firms experiencing the largest decrease. A decomposition shows that smaller firms with fewer than 20 employees accounted for the dominant share of the decline. From 2001 to 2023, the share of firms with fewer than 20 employees decreased, while the share of firms with 20 employees or more increased. This reallocation toward relatively larger firms made a small positive contribution (less than 5%) to aggregate labour productivity growth over the period, since the productivity advantage of larger firms in the residential construction industry is small. There is great variation between geographic areas—labour productivity in residential construction is falling in most parts of Canada, but some provinces and cities have managed to achieve positive growth. Finally, the study finds that the residential construction industry is characterized by high rates of firm entry and exit, which are typically associated with productivity improvements, though high exit rates may also point to a difficult business environment for residential construction firms |
| Keywords: | labour productivity, construction, subprovincial analysis |
| JEL: | J23 M21 |
| Date: | 2026–02–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:stc:stcp8e:202600200003e |
| By: | Alam, Afroza; Diegmann, André |
| Abstract: | This paper provides new causal evidence on how patent allowances affect firms and their employees based on quasi-random assignment of patent applications to examiners. Exploiting employer-employee records with newly linked German firm data and web-scraped patent documents, it shows that patent-induced shocks reduce firm exit, improve productivity, and increase wages, with rent-sharing elasticities between 0.10 and 0.21. Wage gains are broadly observed across occupational tasks, with substantial heterogeneity: managers benefit dispro portionately in publicly traded firms, whereas broader wage increases accrue to workers in non-traded firms. The findings highlight the role of institutional features and firm organiza tion in shaping how rents are shared. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, Firm Performance, Worker Compensation, Rent Sharing |
| JEL: | O31 O34 J31 D22 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:341411 |
| By: | Colonnelli, Emanuele; Cruz, Marcio; Pereira-López, Mariana; Porzio, Tommaso; Zhao, Chun |
| Abstract: | We build new data on startups in Africa to study which types of financing these firms demand, how financing is allocated in practice, and the implications for startup creation and the composition of the sector. We combine a continent-wide founder survey, an incentive-compatible experiment estimating financing preferences, and venture capital (VC) deal records matched to founders’ education and work histories. We find that startups strongly prefer equity over debt, but equity is supplied mainly by foreign investors and flows disproportionately to foreign-connected founders. About 80 percent of VC deals involve a foreign investor, and more than 60 percent of funded founders have studied or worked outside Africa. A simple accounting framework shows that this foreignness reflects three main forces: scarce local equity capital, a thin pool of local entrepreneurs able to access startup finance, and frictions limiting local entrepreneurs’ access to foreign investors. Together, these forces reduce startup creation and tilt the sector toward foreign investors and foreign-connected founders. |
| Date: | 2026–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:21579 |
| By: | Kiran, Ramia; Jadoon, Atif Khan; Ali, Amjad |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the influence of value-chain configuration on innovation dynamics within traditional bioeconomy sectors, with specific evidence drawn from the sugar industry in Pakistan. A quantitative research design was employed using questionnaire data collected from 197 respondents, including producers, processors, managers, technical experts, and knowledge intermediaries operating across the Pakistani sugar-industry value chain. The analysis was conducted using Jamovi and SPSS software through descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, reliability analysis, correlation analysis, regression analysis, mediation analysis, and moderation analysis. The findings reveal that value-chain configuration exerts a significant positive influence on innovation dynamics by strengthening coordination mechanisms, facilitating knowledge-sharing practices, and enhancing organisational learning capabilities. The study further demonstrates that absorptive capacity and collaboration-oriented knowledge requirements partially mediate the relationship between value-chain configuration and innovation dynamics. The results indicate that innovation within traditional bioeconomy sectors remains predominantly incremental, efficiency-oriented, and interaction-driven rather than strongly technology-driven. In addition, competition and cost pressures were found to negatively moderate the relationship between value-chain configuration and innovation dynamics, explaining that excessive market pressure can weaken the innovation benefits associated with coordinated governance structures. These findings highlight the importance of collaborative governance frameworks, institutional support mechanisms, and inter-organisational learning processes in promoting sustainability-oriented innovation within traditional bioeconomy industries in Pakistan. The study offers valuable implications for policymakers and industry stakeholders seeking to strengthen innovation performance through improved coordination, knowledge integration, and strategic value-chain governance. |
| Keywords: | Value-Chain Configuration, Innovation Dynamics, Bioeconomy, Absorptive Capacity |
| JEL: | D24 O31 Q57 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:129350 |
| By: | Naoyuki Yoshino (Keio University); Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary (Tokai University Research Institute for Environment and Sustainability); Shigehiro Shinozaki (Asian Development Bank) |
| Abstract: | As in many Asian economies, Malaysia’s micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) account for the vast majority of firms and large shares of economic output and employment. Their significant carbon footprint makes them pivotal for achieving carbon neutrality. In bank-dominated financial systems such as Malaysia’s, credit guarantees help facilitate lending to MSMEs. This paper proposes a way to both ease MSME access to finance and incentivize decarbonization and sustainability. It develops a risk-based and sustainability-adjusted credit guarantee pricing framework that integrates an MSME’s financial health, environmental footprint, and the macroeconomic conditions it faces. Using financial data from 2, 000 Malaysian MSMEs, principal component analysis is used to construct a financial health index, followed by K-means clustering to classify firms by risk. A countercyclical pricing model produces a firm‑level credit guarantee fee ranging from 1.08% for the healthiest firms during a recession to 2.58% for the riskiest firms during economic expansion. Firm-level sustainability survey data are used to build a composite performance score which reduces guarantee fees by an average of 0.13 percentage points, with a reduction up to 0.23 percentage points for top-performing firms. |
| Keywords: | optimal credit guarantee;sustainability;access to finance;SME finance;Malaysia |
| JEL: | D22 G20 L20 L50 |
| Date: | 2026–06–17 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbewp:022917 |
| By: | Ralf Martin; Maxwell Read; Arjun Shah; Anna Valero; Dennis Verhoeven |
| Abstract: | Spillovers from innovation can boost regional growth |
| Keywords: | Green Growth, UK Economy |
| Date: | 2026–06–19 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepcnp:734 |
| By: | Amina Chandad (ENCGT - Ecole Nationale de Commerce et de Gestion de Tanger - UAE - Abdelmalek Essaadi University [Tétouan] = Université Abdelmalek Essaadi [Tétouan]); Mohamed Amine Benchekroun (ENSIT - Ecole des Nouvelles Sciences d’ingenierie, Le Laboratoire Systemes, Controle et Decision (LSCD), Tanger, Morocco.); Mostafa Abakouy (ENCGT - Ecole Nationale de Commerce et de Gestion de Tanger - UAE - Abdelmalek Essaadi University [Tétouan] = Université Abdelmalek Essaadi [Tétouan]) |
| Abstract: | This study examines gender disparities in entrepreneurship within Morocco's emerging economy, investigating how organisational culture, work-life balance, physical infrastructure, and career development affect women entrepreneurs' success. Building on recent research in women's workplace well-being in industrial contexts, this study extends theoretical frameworks to the entrepreneurial ecosystem through a multi- criteria decision-making approach. A fuzzy TOPSIS methodology was employed to prioritise determinants across three dimensions: environmental factors, entrepreneurial capabilities, and individual characteristics. Data from 180 women entrepreneurs across four sectors (manufacturing 40%, technology 30%, services 20%, trade 10%) in Morocco's three major economic regions (Casablanca-Settat, Tangier-Tétouan-Al Hoceïma, Rabat-Salé-Kénitra) were analysed using linguistic weights and triangular fuzzy numbers. Results reveal that career development and empowerment (closeness coefficient: 0.847), followed by organisational culture adaptation (0.723), are the most critical factors influencing women entrepreneurs' success. Gender-sensitive support systems and inclusive leadership significantly moderate entrepreneurial outcomes. This study integrates gendered organisations theory with entrepreneurship research, offering systematic prioritisation of gender-specific barriers in Morocco's entrepreneurial landscape, with actionable implications for policymakers and support institutions. This study employs a Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) approach (Fuzzy TOPSIS), where the reported coefficients (e.g., 0.847; 0.723) represent ranking scores rather than statistical parameters. |
| Keywords: | women's well-being multi-criteria decision-making emerging economies entrepreneurial success gender equality. Classification JEL: O16 L26 J16 O15, women's well-being, multi-criteria decision-making, emerging economies, entrepreneurial success, gender equality. Classification JEL: O16, L26, J16, O15 |
| Date: | 2026–03–29 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05571544 |
| By: | Lepers, Robin; Krieger, Bastian; Pellens, Maikel; Prüfer, Malte |
| Abstract: | Policy makers increasingly recognize circular public procurement as a demand-pull instrument for stimulating the transition to a circular economy. However, empirical studies on circular public procurement have been hampered by a fundamental measurement challenge, as public procurement databases do not contain structured ways of identifying circular projects. This paper presents the first application of an LLM-based semantic similarity approach to identify circular procurement at scale. Adapting a bibliometric text-embedding approach from circular economy research, we show its application in comparing tender descriptions to a reference corpus of circular economy scientific abstracts, generating circularity scores for each award. We then apply the identified circular public procurement awards in an empirical study of firm-level adoption of circular economy innovation, matching the classified tenders to German data from the Community Innovation Survey. The results show that firms winning circular procurement are more likely to introduce circular economy innovation after three to five years, while no significant results are found at shorter or longer time horizons. Overall, this paper demonstrates the potential of using LLMs to identify circular public procurement and study its effectiveness in enabling the circular transition. |
| Keywords: | Circular economy, Innovation, Circular public procurement |
| JEL: | H57 O38 Q55 Q58 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:341409 |
| By: | Jacob Patrick Belinga Bessala (Université de Douala) |
| Abstract: | Abstract Purpose – This study examines the relationship between digital orientation, digital capability, digital innovation, and organisational performance among 146 IT SMEs in Cameroon. It extends Khin and Ho's (2018) model by introducing digital organisational culture as a moderator and develops the institutional absorption thesis to explain why resource–innovation conversion mechanisms operate differently in African digital ecosystems characterised by institutional voids, infrastructural scarcity, and founder-centric governance. Design/methodology/approach – Cross-sectional survey data were analysed using PLS-SEM with bootstrapping. CMV was assessed through Harman's test and the full collinearity VIF approach (Kock, 2015). CFA was conducted for the culture scale. Post-hoc model comparison tested culture as direct antecedent, mediator, and moderator. Findings – Digital orientation (β = 0.309) and digital capability (β = 0.389) are positively associated with digital innovation. Digital innovation mediates both antecedents' association with performance. Culture does not moderate but operates as a direct antecedent, theorised through founder-embedded culture in micro-enterprises. Originality/value – Three contributions: the institutional absorption thesis explaining context-specific mechanisms (capability primacy, infrastructure attenuation, founder-culture fusion); formal demonstration that culture functions as antecedent rather than moderator; first methodologically rigorous empirical test of the orientation–capability–innovation–performance chain in Sub-Saharan Africa. Keywords Digital innovation, Digital orientation, Digital capability, Digital organisational culture, SMEs, Cameroon, PLS-SEM, Institutional voids |
| Abstract: | Déclaration de divulgation : L'auteur n'a pas connaissance de quelconque financement qui pourrait affecter l'objectivité de cette étude. |
| Keywords: | Digital orientation, Digital capability, Digital organisational culture, SMEs, Cameroon, PLS-SEM, Institutional voids Practitioner, African Scientific Journal, Digital innovation, Digital innovation Digital orientation Digital capability Digital organisational culture SMEs Cameroon PLS-SEM Institutional voids Practitioner |
| Date: | 2026–04–23 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05600155 |
| By: | Tamilina, Larysa; Akaliyski, Plamen |
| Abstract: | Innovation constitutes a key driver of long-term economic and societal prosperity, motivating extensive research on its underlying determinants. Although culture is acknowledged as being of utmost importance, it has predominantly been examined in isolation from institutional contexts. This study explores how individualist and collectivist cultures contribute to cross-national differences in innovation performance, and how these cultural effects interact with formal institutions. Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis is used on data from 80 countries to identify multiple configurations of cultural and institutional conditions associated with high and low innovation output. Our empirical findings show that individualism and robust formal institutions independently function as necessary and sufficient conditions for high innovation performance; nevertheless, their simultaneous presence is essential for maximizing innovation output. In contrast, the absence of individualism alone emerges as sufficient to severely constrain innovation. We use these asymmetric results to propose a novel typology of national innovation regimes. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, individualism-collectivism, formal institutions, national culture, fsQCA. |
| JEL: | C10 O3 |
| Date: | 2026–01–15 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:129486 |
| By: | Jiang Li; Huju Liu |
| Abstract: | Artificial intelligence (AI) is widely recognized as a transformative technology with the potential to reshape business operations and drive productivity growth. In Canada, AI adoption among businesses has accelerated in recent years. According to Statistics Canada (Bryan et al., 2025), 12.2% of Canadian firms used AI to produce goods or deliver services in 2025—doubling the share from the previous year—and an additional 14.5% planned to adopt AI within the next 12 months. The enthusiasm surrounding AI is not unwarranted, given its projected impact on productivity. Estimates suggest that AI could lead to a rise of 0.5% to 0.7% in total factor productivity over a decade (Acemoglu, 2024) and an increase of up to 1.5 percentage points in annual labour productivity growth over a 10-year period in the United States (Goldman Sachs, 2023). For Canada, potential gains include an increase of 0.4 to 1.1 percentage points in annual labour productivity growth over the next decade (Filippucci et al., 2025). |
| Keywords: | artificial intelligence, adoption and productivity, firms |
| JEL: | J23 M21 |
| Date: | 2026–04–22 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:stc:stcp8e:202600400002e |
| By: | Enriques, Luca; Nigro, Casimiro A.; Tröger, Tobias |
| Abstract: | European debates on competitiveness increasingly treat corporate law as a lever to help innovative firms scale. The European Commission's Proposal for a new "28th regime" seeks to introduce an optional, EU-wide corporate legal form designed, inter alia, to facilitate the cross-border scaling of innovative firms. A central instrument of the Proposal is the use of model articles of association to be adopted through future implementing acts. This Article argues that, while standardised articles may ease incorporation and lower drafting costs for ordinary unlisted firms, they fall short for VC-backed companies-the very cases that motivated the initiative. Building on prior work on venture capital contracting under mandatory corporate law, we identify four shortcomings. First, the architecture is incomplete: the Proposal omits a model shareholder agreement, even though effective VC contracting depends on the interaction between articles of association and shareholder arrangements. Second, the drafting process is overly generalist and unlikely to yield genuinely VC-specific templates. Third, the Proposal's fairness-oriented logic risks producing terms that clash with the asymmetric, statecontingent structures typical of VC deals. Fourth, the legal protection offered by the template is limited, focusing on formation-stage effects while leaving subsequent judicial intervention unconstrained. We propose four adjustments: introduce a model shareholders' agreement; create a dedicated VC drafting track; abandon fairness as the organising principle for VC templates; and provide a robust safe harbour covering both ex ante design and ex post enforcement. |
| Keywords: | 28th Regime, Entrepreneurship, EU Company Law, EU Inc., Innovation, Private Ordering, Startups, Venture Capital |
| JEL: | G38 K22 L26 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:safewp:341394 |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the Small Credit Fund (Fondo Piccolo Credito), a regional financial instrument introduced by the Lazio Region (Italy) to address credit market gaps faced by micro and small enterprises. Using administrative data for 2017–2023 and a difference in differences approach, the evaluation finds strong financial additionality: subsidised loans increased long term debt without crowding out other financing. The programme improved firm survival and supported higher investment, particularly among smaller and more financially constrained firms. Short term declines in profitability and credit ratings highlight temporary trade offs during the investment and repayment phase. The paper concludes with recommendations to refine programme design, targeting and monitoring, with lessons for similar instruments across OECD countries. |
| Keywords: | credit constraints, Italy, Lazio, policy evaluation, regional development, Small business finance |
| JEL: | G21 G28 H81 L26 O16 |
| Date: | 2026–06–15 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:cfeaaa:2026/08-en |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | Micro and small enterprises (MSEs) often face persistent difficulties in accessing external finance, particularly small scale, long term loans. In many regions, including Lazio, private banks are reluctant to supply this segment of the market because the fixed administrative costs of small loans are high relative to expected returns. As a result, even creditworthy firms with viable investment projects may encounter credit rationing and higher borrowing costs. Over time, this can lead to adverse selection, where riskier firms have stronger incentives to ask for credit, further reinforcing the lenders’ reluctancy to serve the market.The Small Credit Fund (Fondo Piccolo Credito, FPC) was introduced to address this market failure by providing zero interest loans to micro and small firms that fall below standard banking thresholds but are not inherently risky. The key policy issue is whether such public financial instruments genuinely relax binding credit constraints and support firm development, or whether they merely substitute for private finance and expose beneficiaries to new financial risks without delivering sustained economic benefits. |
| Date: | 2026–06–15 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:cfeaaa:2026/11-en |
| By: | Dan Cao; Henry Hyatt; Toshihiko Mukoyama; Erick Sager |
| Abstract: | Since the 1990s, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has reported much more rapid growth in U.S. private sector employer establishments than has the Census Bureau– the gap reached roughly 1.6 million by 2023. Using linked BLS-Census microdata, we document two main drivers. First, a large and growing number of employers providing services to the elderly and persons with disabilities are in scope for the BLS frame but not the Census Bureau’s. Second, many firms appear with substantially more establishments in the BLS frame. These discrepancies substantially affect the measured establishment size distribution and quantitative policy analysis. |
| Keywords: | establishments, multi-unit firms, concentration |
| JEL: | E24 J21 L11 O31 |
| Date: | 2026–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:26-36 |
| By: | Maryem Ezbiri; Lotfi Lotfi Benazzou (UIT - Université Ibn Tofaïl) |
| Abstract: | Résumé : Dans un environnement économique marqué par l'incertitude, la concurrence accrue et la transformation numérique, la question de la gestion des risques opérationnels devient cruciale pour la pérennité des entreprises marocaines. Les très petites, petites et moyennes entreprises (TPME), qui constituent le pilier de l'économie nationale, sont particulièrement vulnérables aux perturbations financières, technologiques et organisationnelles. Notre étude s'inscrit dans cette dynamique en cherchant à comprendre dans quelle mesure la gestion des risques opérationnels influence la performance financière des TPME marocaines. La problématique repose sur la nécessité d'évaluer l'efficacité des pratiques de gouvernance, de gestion de trésorerie, de maîtrise des processus, de capital humain et de cybersécurité, dans un contexte où la formalisation de la gestion du risque demeure encore limitée. Sur le plan méthodologique, la recherche adopte une approche quantitative, fondée sur un raisonnement hypothético-déductif et une perspective épistémologique positiviste. Les données ont été recueillies par un questionnaire structuré et analysées à l'aide de la modélisation par équations structurelles (PLS-SEM) à travers le logiciel SmartPLS. L'échantillon initial comprenait 147 entreprises contactées, dont 117 réponses valides ont été exploitées. Les résultats empiriques mettent en évidence une contribution notable des dimensions stratégique, financière, opérationnelle et technologique du risque dans l'explication de la performance, avec un pouvoir explicatif global satisfaisant du modèle. Ils révèlent également que la gouvernance et la gestion de trésorerie constituent les leviers les plus influents, tandis que la dimension humaine demeure faiblement intégrée dans les pratiques de gestion. L'étude conclut à la nécessité de renforcer la culture du risque, de structurer les processus internes et d'intégrer les technologies de gestion sécurisée pour consolider la performance et la résilience des TPME marocaines. Mots clés : Gestion des risques opérationnels, Performance financière, TPME marocaines Classification JEL : M10, G32, L25, C30. Type du papier : Recherche empirique Abstract : In an economic environment marked by uncertainty, increased competition, and digital transformation, the issue of operational risk management is becoming crucial for the sustainability of Moroccan businesses. Very small, small, and medium-sized enterprises (VSMEs), which form the backbone of the national economy, are particularly vulnerable to financial, technological, and organizational disruptions. Our study addresses this dynamic by seeking to understand the extent to which operational risk management influences the financial performance of Moroccan VSMEs. The research question hinges on the need to assess the effectiveness of governance practices, cash management, process control, human capital, and cybersecurity, in a context where the formalization of risk management remains limited. Methodologically, this study adopts a quantitative approach based on hypothetical-deductive reasoning and a positivist epistemological perspective. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) via the SmartPLS software. The initial sample comprised 147 contacted companies, of which 117 valid responses were analyzed. The empirical results highlight a significant contribution of the strategic, financial, operational, and technological dimensions of risk in explaining performance, with the model demonstrating satisfactory overall explanatory power. They also reveal that governance and cash management are the most influential levers, while the human dimension remains poorly integrated into management practices. The study concludes that there is a need to strengthen risk culture, structure internal processes, and integrate secure management technologies to consolidate the performance and resilience of Moroccan micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Keywords: Operational risk management, Financial performance, Moroccan SMEs JEL Classification: M10, G32, L25, C30. Paper Type: Empirical Research |
| Keywords: | L25, C30. Type du papier : Recherche empirique Operational risk management, Financial performance, Moroccan SMEs JEL Classification : M10, C30, G32, TPME marocaines Classification JEL : M10, Performance financière, Gestion des risques opérationnels, Gestion des risques opérationnels Performance financière TPME marocaines Classification JEL : M10 G32 L25 C30. Type du papier : Recherche empirique Operational risk management Financial performance Moroccan SMEs JEL Classification : M10 G32 L25 C30 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05575367 |
| By: | Bhargavee Das (Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER)); Maria Khan |
| Abstract: | The policy brief explores the innovation and market-shaping characteristics of India's DPI-H i.e., the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), alongside recent trends in the health -tech market, with a focus on segments central to the country’s flagship digital health mission. Drawing on perspectives from health-tech entrepreneurs and the broader ABDM ecosystem, the brief highlights the synergies between ABDM and health-tech startups, captures emerging opportunities and challenges, and provides recommendations to strengthen India’s DPI-H, with a focus on accelerating broad-based adoption and sustaining stakeholder participation across the healthcare ecosystem. |
| Keywords: | Digital Public Infrastructure, Digital Health, ABDM, Health tech, startups, Economics of DPI, IPCIDE, icrier |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdc:ppaper:ipcide-11 |
| By: | Hajime TADOKORO; Yuji HONJO |
| Abstract: | This study explores why Japan has produced relatively few unicorns compared with other advanced and emerging economies, despite strong entrepreneurial potential and abundant savings. It argues that the underdevelopment of Japan’s private equity markets constitutes a key structural bottleneck. We examine institutional causes and policy directions aimed at strengthening private equity markets and supporting high-growth firms. Drawing on experiences from the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, China, and the Republic of Korea, we conduct a comparative institutional analysis of core mechanisms for market-based equity financing: small public offerings, equity crowdfunding (ECF), and private placements, as well as secondary trading. Our analysis identifies structural regulatory constraints that raise entry barriers for issuers and limit investor participation in Japan. Based on these findings, we identify institutional issues that are currently lacking, including simplified disclosure frameworks, higher and tiered thresholds for small public offerings, flexible regimes for ECF, modernized rules for private placements and secondary trading, and the expansion of the scope of qualified investors, as well as digitized capital-raising processes. These measures would lower entry barriers, broaden investment opportunities, and improve risk capital allocation, while maintaining market-based investor protection. By fostering vibrant private equity markets, Japan can mobilize idle capital, stimulate entrepreneurship, and enhance competitiveness, thereby supporting innovation-driven economic growth and increasing the likelihood of more unicorns emerging. This study underscores the central role of institutional design in shaping entrepreneurial finance and offers policy-relevant insights for economies seeking to transition toward innovation-driven growth supported by vibrant private equity markets. |
| Date: | 2026–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:26051 |
| By: | Asmae Ez-Zaidi (National School of Business and Management – ENCG Settat, Hassan The First University, Settat, Morocco.); Youssef Ghandari (National School of Business and Management – ENCG Settat, Hassan The First University, Settat, Morocco.) |
| Abstract: | With the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI), organizations are racing to leverage its benefits, prompting research into the factors influencing its adoption. This article explores the determinants of AI adoption in audit firms using an integrated model combining the TOE framework, Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory, and institutional theory. It aims to identify both drivers and barriers shaping decisions to implement AI, considering technological, organizational, and environmental contexts. Technologically, DOI highlights factors such as complexity, compatibility, and relative advantage. Organizationally, the TOE framework emphasizes firm size, management support, and readiness. Externally, institutional theory explains pressures from competition, regulation, and professional expectations. By integrating these perspectives, the study provides a comprehensive understanding of AI adoption in audit firms and establishes a strong conceptual basis for future empirical research. |
| Keywords: | artificial intelligence, audit firm, DOI theory, institutional theory, TOE framework |
| Date: | 2026–04–23 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05602185 |
| By: | Khalid Banani Banani (CEDOC Droit & Economie CIRPEC / LEAM / Département d'économie et de gestion Faculté des sciences juridiques, économiques et sociales, Souissi-Rabat); Mounir Tajoui (CEDOC Droit & Economie CIRPEC / LEAM / Département d'économie et de gestion Faculté des sciences juridiques, économiques et sociales, Souissi-Rabat); Saïd Toufik (CEDOC Droit & Economie CIRPEC / LEAM / Département d'économie et de gestion Faculté des sciences juridiques, économiques et sociales, Souissi-Rabat) |
| Keywords: | Productivité totale des facteurs, Innovation, Bien-être (IDH), Croissance économique, Chômage, VECM |
| Date: | 2026–05–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05613379 |
| By: | Anthony Savagar; Yannis Galanakis |
| Abstract: | We introduce a novel real-time dataset, Companies House Real-Time (CHRT), that captures daily firm creation and dissolution activity for the full population of UK-registered companies. CHRT provides a timely measure of business formation, becoming available months before official business demography statistics. We show that incorporation activity leads taxable business births and contains forward-looking information about employment and output growth. Consistent with this, a structural vector autoregression (SVAR) indicates that positive shocks to firm entry generate persistent increases in employment and output. |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2606.01307 |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | Veneto is one of Europe’s manufacturing powerhouses, generating 9.5% of Italy’s GDP. While labour productivity growth has been slower than in peer regions since 2005, the region has maintained international competitiveness, supported by contained labour costs and high employment rates. The analysis highlights opportunities to raise productivity by further developing high value added activities, including by strengthening links between manufacturing and services and by expanding private business investment. There is scope for improving skills matching, notably in STEM fields, leveraging the strong enrolment of local students in those subjects. Veneto’s labour market is also gradually adapting to the green transition, with around 30% of recent job postings involving green tasks |
| Keywords: | drivers of productivity, international comparison, labour market policies, manufacturing servitisation, skills, SMEs, subnational productivity |
| JEL: | D24 J21 J24 L11 O3 O47 R11 |
| Date: | 2026–06–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:cfeaaa:2026/10-en |
| By: | Valeria Cirillo; Donato Cutolo; Dario Guarascio; Martin Kenney; Jacopo Tramontano |
| Abstract: | As the platform economy continues to reshape the way we live, work, and consume, firms across industries are increasingly dependent upon platforms to engage with customers. Although prior research highlights how these firms develop strategic responses to cope with risks and vulnerabilities stemming from platform power, it tends to overlook how such uncertainty may affect their internal organizational structures. In this study, we examine how reliance on digital platforms influences firms' employment practices. Drawing on a comprehensive dataset from the Digital Platform Survey (DPS), administered by Italy's National Institute for Public Policy Analysis (INAPP) to over 20, 000 hotels and restaurants, we find that platform participation has a positive correlation with the use of non-standard employment relationships (NSERs). Specifically, holding everything else constant, companies that rely on platforms for customer acquisition exhibit roughly 5% higher share of NSERs compared to those that do not. Multiple tests indicate that this effect varies according to structural characteristics, competitive strategies, and contextual factors that expose firms to differing levels of dependence on platforms, findings that support our conjecture of reliance on NSERs being a coping mechanism for platform-induced uncertainty. Our study advances the literature on how firms respond to the risks of platform-based intermediation and contributes to ongoing debates about the labor implications of digital transformation. As platform intermediation intensifies across sectors, these insights have important academic and policy implications. |
| Keywords: | digital platforms, labor, platform dependence, employment relationships, industrial organization, industrial economics, cross-sectional large-N survey, power, domination, resistance |
| JEL: | L22 O23 D22 D80 J21 J23 J82 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ter:wpaper:00186 |
| By: | Hutschenreiter, Dennis; Liu, Qianshuo |
| Abstract: | This paper examines whether common institutional ownership is associated with CEO connectedness across firms. We document that higher common ownership between two same-industry firms predicts a greater likelihood that a newly appointed CEO has preexisting social ties to the incumbent CEO of the peer firm. To address endogeneity, we use mergers among institutional investors in a stacked difference-in-differences design. In a hiring-firm-peer panel that carries connection status forward from the most recent appointment, exposure to a merger-induced common blockholder approximately doubles the probability that the pair is observed in a connected-CEO state. In a broader firm-pair panel, it increases the probability of CEO connections by 48.7%. We further document that gaining CEO connections through another firm's CEO appointment is associated with improvements in peer firms' returns on assets and Tobin's Q, in both OLS and IV specifications. Peer firms that gain such a connection also experience positive abnormal returns around other firms' CEO hiring announcements, corresponding to an average increase of $112.5 million in shareholder value. These performance patterns suggest that CEO connections may be valuable from a portfolio-level perspective. Consistent with this interpretation, the association between common ownership and CEO connections is concentrated among product-similar and organizationally complex firms and strengthens after the 2008-2009 financial crisis, when connections appear more valuable. Our findings point to CEO connection as a potential governance channel through which common institutional ownership is linked to firm outcomes, complementing prior work on executive compensation, shareholder voting, and board interlocks. |
| Keywords: | CEO connections, CEO selection, common ownership, corporate governance, firm performance |
| JEL: | G23 G32 G34 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iwhdps:341627 |
| By: | Bertolotti, Fabio; Lanteri, Andrea; Yoon, Hyeonsik |
| Abstract: | We analyze optimal subsidies for the replacement of durable assets in a model with heterogeneous producers, endogenous capital-embodied innovation, and environmental externalities that depend on capital vintages. We characterize the constrained-efficient allocation assuming a planner chooses capital replacement subject to the equilibrium evolution of innovation. Optimal subsidies equal the sum of two terms: (i) the difference in present discounted value of damages associated with old vs. new capital and (ii) the social value of innovation induced by capital replacement, net of the associated markup distortion. We generalize this formula to the case of new technologies, such as electric vehicles. We calibrate the model using empirical evidence on several types of capital, including aircraft and vehicles, and simulate the optimal transition. Initially, optimal subsidies are steeply increasing in the age of the replaced asset. In the long run, they are determined by the trade-off between innovation and markups. |
| Keywords: | Optimal policy; Environmental externalities; Innovation |
| JEL: | O44 O33 Q55 E22 |
| Date: | 2026–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:21578 |
| By: | Lhoussaine Lmouden (LAREFMO, FSJES-Agadur, UIZ - Laboratoire de Recherche en Entreprenariat, Finance et Management des Organisations, Faculté des sciences juridiques, économiques et sociales, Université Ibn Zohr-Agadir, Maroc); Abdelkader El Moutaoukil |
| Abstract: | Abstract This paper examines the structural determinants of the territorial competitiveness of the Souss-Massa region within the institutional framework of advanced regionalization in Morocco. To this end, we adopted a rigorous empirical approach based on the systematic exploitation of official secondary data (notably from the High Commission for Planning, the Regional Tourism Observatory, and reports from the Regional Council). The study constructs a Synthetic Index of Territorial Competitiveness (SITC). This index is built around four interdependent pillars: economic performance measured by regional GDP and sectoral productivity; human capital understood through education levels and the alignment between employment and skills; physical infrastructure including transport networks and digital equipment; and institutional governance assessed by the quality of public services and coordination among stakeholders. The quantitative results reveal a generally robust level of competitiveness, with a normalized score of 0.64 out of 1. This performance is primarily driven by a strong agro-industrial and tourism specialization, two historically structuring sectors for the regional economy. However, the multidimensional analysis highlights persistent intra-regional disparities, particularly between the Souss Valley and mountainous areas, as well as a critical deficit in qualified human capital, especially in the fields of engineering and territorial management. These factors hinder the structural transition toward a higher value-added territorial economy. Our research concludes on the imperative of strengthening territorial governance through a more agile and collaborative approach, involving local authorities, universities, and businesses, combined with strategic economic diversification toward bio-resources and digital services. This would improve the resilience of the regional development model in the face of contemporary climate, social, and economic challenges. Keywords: Territorial competitiveness; Souss-Massa; Synthetic index; Regional development; Morocco; Territorial governance. |
| Abstract: | Ce papier examine les déterminants structurels de la compétitivité territoriale de la région Souss-Massa dans le cadre institutionnel de la régionalisation avancée au Maroc. Nous avons adopté pour cela une approche empirique rigoureuse fondée sur l'exploitation systématique de données secondaires officielles (notamment du Haut-Commissariat au Plan, de l'Observatoire régional du tourisme et des rapports du Conseil régional), l'étude réalisée construit un Indice Synthétique de Compétitivité Territoriale (ISCT). Cet indice s'articule autour de quatre piliers interdépendants : la performance économique mesurée par le PIB régional et la productivité sectorielle, le capital humain appréhendé à travers les niveaux de formation et l'adéquation emploi-compétences, les infrastructures matérielles incluant les réseaux de transport et les équipements numériques, ainsi que la gouvernance institutionnelle évaluée par la qualité des services publics et la coordination entre acteurs. Ainsi, les résultats quantitatifs obtenus révèlent une compétitivité globalement robuste, avec un score normalisé de 0, 64 sur 1, performance principalement portée par une forte spécialisation agro-industrielle et touristique, deux secteurs historiquement structurants pour l'économie régionale. Toutefois, l'analyse multidimensionnelle réalisée met en évidence des disparités intra-régionales persistantes, notamment entre la vallée du Souss et les zones montagneuses, ainsi qu'un déficit critique en capital humain qualifié, particulièrement dans les métiers de l'ingénierie et du management territorial. Ces facteurs freinent la transition structurelle vers une économie territoriale à plus forte valeur ajoutée. Notre recherche conclut sur l'impératif d'un renforcement de la gouvernance territoriale par une approche plus agile et collaborative, associant collectivités, universités et entreprises, conjugué à une diversification économique stratégique en direction des bio-ressources et des services numériques, afin d'améliorer la résilience du modèle de développement régional face aux défis climatiques, sociaux et économiques contemporains. Mots clés : Compétitivité territoriale ; Souss-Massa ; Indice synthétique ; Développement régional ; Maroc ; Gouvernance territoriale. |
| Keywords: | Souss-Massa, Synthetic index, Regional development, Morocco, Territorial governance, African Scientific Journal, Territorial competitiveness, Territorial competitiveness Souss-Massa Synthetic index Regional development Morocco Territorial governance, Indice synthétique, Maroc, Gouvernance territoriale, Développement régional, Compétitivité territoriale |
| Date: | 2026–05–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05615714 |
| By: | Krieger, Bastian; Kroll, Henning; Schubert, Torben; Strecke, Linus; Garcia Chavez, Cecilia |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates whether the local economic effects of niche university actors depend on regional context. Focusing on private university campuses in Germany, it exploits their staggered foundation between 1990 and 2020 and estimates their effects using a conditional staggered difference-in-differences design at the postal code level. Campus foundations raise local economic activity, but only gradually, with effects becoming statistically significant after about ten years. The effects are strongest in rural and intermediate regions, while urban regions show no significant effects. This pattern supports the argument that niche universities have greater potential to become significant actors in institutionally thinner rural regions. |
| Keywords: | Regional Growth, Private Universities, Place-Based Leadership, Urban-Rural |
| JEL: | O12 O18 O38 O47 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:341410 |