WorldWideScience

Sample records for energy firm keeping

  1. Energy price uncertainty, energy intensity and firm investment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoon, Kyung Hwan; Ratti, Ronald A.

    2011-01-01

    This paper examines the effect of energy price uncertainty on firm-level investment. An error correction model of capital stock adjustment is estimated with data on U.S. manufacturing firms. Higher energy price uncertainty is found to make firms more cautious by reducing the responsiveness of investment to sales growth. The result is robust to consideration of energy intensity by industry. The effect is greater for high growth firms. It must be emphasized that the direct effect of uncertainty is not estimated. Conditional variance of energy price is obtained from a GARCH model. Findings suggest that stability in energy prices would be conducive to greater stability in firm-level investment. (author)

  2. 10 CFR 904.6 - Charge for capacity and firm energy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Charge for capacity and firm energy. 904.6 Section 904.6... CANYON PROJECT Power Marketing § 904.6 Charge for capacity and firm energy. The charge for Capacity and Firm Energy from the Project shall be composed of two separate charges; a charge to provide for the...

  3. Energy efficiency determinants: An empirical analysis of Spanish innovative firms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Costa-Campi, María Teresa; García-Quevedo, José; Segarra, Agustí

    2015-01-01

    This paper examines the extent to which innovative Spanish firms pursue improvements in energy efficiency (EE) as an objective of innovation. The increase in energy consumption and its impact on greenhouse gas emissions justifies the greater attention being paid to energy efficiency and especially to industrial EE. The ability of manufacturing companies to innovate and improve their EE has a substantial influence on attaining objectives regarding climate change mitigation. Despite the effort to design more efficient energy policies, the EE determinants in manufacturing firms have been little studied in the empirical literature. From an exhaustive sample of Spanish manufacturing firms and using a logit model, we examine the energy efficiency determinants for those firms that have innovated. To carry out the econometric analysis, we use panel data from the Community Innovation Survey for the period 2008–2011. Our empirical results underline the role of size among the characteristics of firms that facilitate energy efficiency innovation. Regarding company behaviour, firms that consider the reduction of environmental impacts to be an important objective of innovation and that have introduced organisational innovations are more likely to innovate with the objective of increasing energy efficiency. -- Highlights: •Drivers of innovation in energy efficiency at firm-level are examined. •Tangible investments have a greater influence on energy efficiency than R&D. •Environmental and energy efficiency innovation objectives are complementary. •Organisational innovation favors energy efficiency innovation. •Public policies should be implemented to improve firms’ energy efficiency

  4. Second-best energy policies for heterogeneous firms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Verhoef, E.T.; Nijkamp, P.

    1999-01-01

    This paper investigates second-best issues in the regulation of external costs of energy use by heterogeneous firms. The efficiency of regulatory energy policies depends in general on the policy incentives given for both output reduction and input substitution. The resulting endogeneity of firms' supply functions appears to lead to complicated policy rules. In contrast to earlier efforts, the analysis considers an arbitrarily large number of non-identical price-taking firms in a joint market; a large variety of possible production functions, including varying levels of economies of scale and possibilities for input substitution; and elasticities of market demand which may vary from completely elastic to completely inelastic. Two second-best instruments are considered, namely output taxes and energy-efficiency standards, and are compared to the benchmark of first-best energy taxes. The underlying market factors determining the relative efficiency of these second-best instruments, when used optimally, are identified

  5. Investment, firm value, and risk for a system operator balancing energy grids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dockner, Engelbert J.; Kucsera, Dénes; Rammerstorfer, Margarethe

    2013-01-01

    With the liberalization of energy markets integrated energy companies have separated into entities that specialize in production and/or transmission of energy. Transmission of energy requires balancing the grid to guarantee system security, which is performed by the (independent) system operator (SO). When the SO faces stochastic demand, grid balancing has sizeable consequences on current and future profits, and hence, on firm value and firm risk. We explore these value and risk consequences with and without an investment option to expand transmission capacity. We show that firm value consists of the value of the transmission capacity in place plus the value of a short put and a short call option that are the result of the SO's balancing actions. Firm risk without investment option is non-linear and determined by the short option positions. It is decreasing with increasing energy demand. The existence of an option to expand transmission capacity increases firm value and firm risk. - Highlights: ► Grid balancing under stochastic demand affect current and future revenues, and firm value and firm risk. ► Balancing firm value consists of the value of the transmission capacity plus the value of a short strangle. ► Firm risk without investment option is determined by the short strangle and decreasing with increasing energy demand. ► The existence of an expansion option implies that transmission capacity increases firm value and firm risk

  6. Energy efficiency and exporting: Evidence from firm-level data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roy, Jayjit; Yasar, Mahmut

    2015-01-01

    While exporting firms and non-exporters have been compared across several dimensions, empirical comparisons on the basis of environmental performance are relatively few. Moreover, analyzing the environmental implications of firm-level exports is not trivial due to non-random selection into exporting. In this light, we examine the impact of exporting on firms' energy efficiency by resorting to an instrumental variables strategy based on a differencing approach (Pitt and Rosenzweig, 1990). Utilizing data from Indonesia, we find (i) exporting to reduce the use of fuels (relative to electricity) and (ii) concerns over endogeneity of exporting status to be relevant. - Highlights: • We examine the impact of exporting on firms' energy efficiency. • We employ cost share equations, firm-level data from Indonesia, and an instrumental variables strategy. • Exporting is found to reduce the use of fuels (relative to electricity).

  7. How Third-Party CSR Evaluation Matters: Keeping Up with Rivals in CSR Performance Ratings of Korean Firms, 2011–2015

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eunjung Hyun

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Does corporate social responsibility (CSR evaluation by third-party entities (i.e., external agencies, including civic organizations affect the CSR performance of firms? This article explores the question of whether and how third-party CSR ratings change the subsequent CSR behavior and hence performance of rated firms. Combining insights from the research on ratings/rankings and a behavioral theory of firms, we hypothesize that firms with large negative CSR rating gaps—i.e., CSR ratings below the industry average—are more prone to improving their subsequent CSR behavior, and hence performance ratings, than those with small negative gaps, because of the desire to avoid being viewed as CSR laggards relative to their industry rivals. As a result, efforts are directed at enhancing CSR performance. Empirical support for this conjecture is found through random effect regression analyses of publicly listed firms in Korea that were rated by the KEJI (Korean Economic Justice Institute during 2011–2015 with respect to multiple dimensions of CSR. Further results show that the positive effect of negative CSR rating gaps on subsequent CSR ratings appears only in the firms without well-established reputations, suggesting the possibility that firms with weak reputations have stronger incentives to keep up with other industry incumbents in CSR performance ratings than their counterparts.

  8. Energy Saving by Firms. Decision-Making, Barriers and Policies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    De Groot, H.L.F.; Verhoef, E.T.; Nijkamp, P. [Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Netherlands)

    1999-04-01

    Promoting investments in energy saving technologies is an important means for achieving environmental goals. Unfortunately, the empirical evidence on success conditions of policies is scarce. Based on a survey among Dutch firms, this paper sets out to identify the factors that determine the investment behaviour of firms, their attitude towards various types of energy policy, and their responsiveness to changes in environmental policy in the Netherlands. On the basis of discrete choice models, this paper aims to investigate empirically whether (and how) these strategic features vary over firm characteristics and over sectors. 15 refs.

  9. Energy saving by firms. Decision-making, barriers and policies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    De Groot, H.L.F.; Verhoef, E.T.; Nijkamp, P. [Department of Spatial Economics and Tinbergen Institute, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam (Netherlands)

    2001-11-01

    Promoting investments in energy-saving technologies is an important means for achieving environmental goals. Empirical evidence on success conditions of associated policies, however, is scarce. Based on a survey among Dutch firms, this paper sets out to identify the factors that determine the investment behaviour of firms, their attitude towards various types of energy policy, and their responsiveness to changes in environmental policy in the Netherlands. On the basis of discrete choice models, this paper aims to investigate empirically, whether (and how) these strategic features vary over firm characteristics and over sectors.

  10. Energy saving by firms. Decision-making, barriers and policies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    De Groot, H.L.F.; Verhoef, E.T.; Nijkamp, P.

    2001-01-01

    Promoting investments in energy-saving technologies is an important means for achieving environmental goals. Empirical evidence on success conditions of associated policies, however, is scarce. Based on a survey among Dutch firms, this paper sets out to identify the factors that determine the investment behaviour of firms, their attitude towards various types of energy policy, and their responsiveness to changes in environmental policy in the Netherlands. On the basis of discrete choice models, this paper aims to investigate empirically, whether (and how) these strategic features vary over firm characteristics and over sectors

  11. Energy-saving technology choices by Dutch glasshouse firms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pietola, K.; Oude Lansink, A.G.J.M.

    2006-01-01

    This paper estimates a sequence of energy-saving technology choices by Dutch glasshouse firms. The model allows for time-constant, firm-specific effects and serial correlation of errors and it is estimated on panel data over the period 1991¿1995. The unobserved error sequences are simulated in the

  12. Structural Break, Stock Prices of Clean Energy Firms and Carbon Market

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yubao; Cai, Junyu

    2018-03-01

    This paper uses EU ETS carbon future price and Germany/UK clean energy firms stock indices to study the relationship between carbon market and clean energy market. By structural break test, it is found that the ‘non-stationary’ variables judged by classical unit root test do own unit roots and need taking first difference. After analysis of VAR and Granger causality test, no causal relationships are found between the two markets. However, when Hsiao’s version of causality test is employed, carbon market is found to have power in explaining the movement of stock prices of clean energy firms, and stock prices of clean energy firms also affect the carbon market.

  13. Risks and financing decisions in the energy sector: An empirical investigation using firm-level data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rashid, Abdul

    2013-01-01

    Using a sample of 102 UK energy firms over the period 1981–2009, this paper empirically examines the effects of uncertainty on firms' leverage decisions. The results indicate that both firms-specific and macroeconomic uncertainty have negative, sizeable, and statistically significant impacts on the UK energy sector firms' target leverage. The results also indicate that the profitability of energy firms plays an important role in uncertainty–leverage relationship by changing the (total) effect of uncertainty on leverage. While more profitable firms appear to reduce their leverage by a relatively large amount in response to increased macroeconomic uncertainty, they are less likely to be affected by firm-specific uncertainty. These results suggest that stability in macroeconomic conditions and business activity is important to the stability of the capital structure of firms in the energy sector which would in turn be conducive to stability in their investments and production. - Highlights: • I examine the effect of uncertainty on the UK energy firms' leverage decisions. • Both firm-specific and macroeconomic uncertainty have negative effects on leverage. • Firm profitability plays an important role in uncertainty–leverage relationships. • The total effect of uncertainty on leverage varies with changes in profitability

  14. What is the energy policy-planning network and who dominates it?: A network and QCA analysis of leading energy firms and organizations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Crawford, Seth

    2012-01-01

    This study examines the structure of the energy industry and the energy policy-planning network (EPPN). I use cross-sectional director interlocks from 2002 to examine the social networks amongst a sample of the largest energy firms, between these firms and the EPPN, and to calculate relative network centrality measures for the firms. I then use qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) to isolate specific combinations of energy firm attributes that are associated with network position. I find that the energy industry has several key intra-firm interlocks that link dominant companies to each other and that the industry is well represented on the boards of EPPN organizations. Additionally, several dominant energy firms provide links between ultra-conservative and moderate policy development organizations. Finally, QCA models suggest that firms with many employees, high revenue, and who produce oil are most likely to hold prominent positions in the EPPN—though above average political campaign contributions offer an alternative path into the network. - Highlights: ► Identifies organizations in the Energy Policy-Planning Network (EPPN). ► Examines measures of network association between EPPN organizations and energy firms. ► Isolates key attributes of energy firms who are highly embedded within the EPPN. ► Large, oil producing firms hold key positions in the network. ► EPPN organizations act as a bridge between many firms, linking them indirectly.

  15. Energy efficiency barriers in commercial and industrial firms in Ukraine: An empirical analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hochman, Gal; Timilsina, Govinda R.

    2017-01-01

    Improvement in energy efficiency is one of the main options to reduce energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions. However, large-scale deployment of energy-efficient technologies is constrained by several factors. Employing a survey of 509 industrial and commercial firms throughout Ukraine and a generalized ordered logit model, we quantified the economic, behavioral, and institutional barriers that may impede the deployment of energy-efficient technologies. Our analysis shows that behavioral barriers resulted from lack of information, knowledge, and awareness are major impediments to the adoption of energy-efficient technologies in Ukraine, and that financial barriers may further impede investments in these technologies especially for small firms. This suggests that carefully targeted information provisions and energy audits will enhance Ukrainian firms' investments in energy-efficient technologies to save energy consumption, improve productivity, and reduce carbon emissions from the productive sectors. - Highlights: • Employing a survey of 509 industrial and commercial firms throughout Ukraine • A generalized ordered logit model is used in the analysis. • The paper quantifies the economic, behavioral, and institutional barriers to energy-efficient technologies. • Behavioral barriers are major impediments to the adoption of energy-efficient technologies. • Financial barriers may further impede investments in these technologies especially for small firms.

  16. Closing the Energy Efficiency Gap—A Systematic Review of Empirical Articles on Drivers to Energy Efficiency in Manufacturing Firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mette Talseth Solnørdal

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Research has identified an extensive potential for energy efficiency within the manufacturing sector, which is responsible for a substantial share of global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The purpose of this study is to enhance the knowledge of vital drivers for energy efficiency in this sector by providing a critical and systematic review of the empirical literature on drivers to energy efficiency in manufacturing firms at the firm level. The systematic literature review (SLR is based on peer-reviewed articles published between 1998 and 2016. The findings reveal that organizational and economic drivers are, from the firms’ perspective, the most prominent stimulus for energy efficiency and that they consider policy instruments and market drivers to be less important. Secondly, firm size has a positive effect on the firms’ energy efficiency, while the literature is inconclusive considering sectorial impact. Third, the studies are mainly conducted in the US and Western European countries, despite the fact that future increase in energy demand is expected outside these regions. These findings imply a potential mismatch between energy policy-makers’ and firm mangers’ understanding of which factors are most important for achieving increased energy efficiency in manufacturing firms. Energy policies should target the stimulation of management, competence, and organizational structure in addition to the provision of economic incentives. Further understanding about which and how internal resources, organizational capabilities, and management practices impact energy efficiency in manufacturing firms is needed. Future energy efficiency scholars should advance our theoretical understanding of the relationship between energy efficiency improvements in firms, the related change processes, and the drivers that affect these processes.

  17. Solar hybrid power plants: Solar energy contribution in reaching full dispatchability and firmness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Servert, Jorge F.; López, Diego; Cerrajero, Eduardo; Rocha, Alberto R.; Pereira, Daniel; Gonzalez, Lucía

    2016-05-01

    Renewable energies for electricity generation have always been considered as a risk for the electricity system due to its lack of dispatchability and firmness. Renewable energies penetration is constrained to strong grids or else its production must be limited to ensure grid stability, which is kept by the usage of hydropower energy or fossil-fueled power plants. CSP technology has an opportunity to arise not only as a dispatchable and firm technology, but also as an alternative that improves grid stability. To achieve that objective, solar hybrid configurations are being developed, being the most representative three different solutions: SAPG, ISCC and HYSOL. A reference scenario in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has been defined to compare these solutions, which have been modelled, simulated and evaluated in terms of dispatchability and firmness using ratios defined by the authors. The results show that: a) SAPG obtains the highest firmness KPI values, but no operation constraints have been considered for the coal boiler and the solar energy contribution is limited to 1.7%, b) ISCC provides dispatchable and firm electricity production but its solar energy contribution is limited to a 6.4%, and c) HYSOL presents the higher solar energy contribution of all the technologies considered: 66.0% while providing dispatchable and firm generation in similar conditions as SAPG and ISCC.

  18. Electric energy costs and firm productivity in the countries of the Pacific Alliance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Camacho, Anamaria

    This paper explores the relation between energy as an input of production and firm-level productivity for Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, all country members of the Pacific Alliance economic bloc. The empirical literature, has explored the impact of infrastructure on productivity; however there is limited analysis on the impact of particular infrastructure variables, such as energy, on productivity at the firm level in Latin America. Therefore, this study conducts a quantitative assessment of the responsiveness of productivity to energy cost and quality for Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. For this, the empirical strategy is to estimate a Cobb-Douglas production function using the World Bank's Enterprise Survey to obtain comparable measures of output and inputs of production. This approach provides estimates of input factor elasticities for all of the factors of production including energy. The results indicate that electric energy costs explain cross-country differences in firm level productivity. For the particular case of Colombia, the country exhibits the lowest capital and labor productivity of the PA, and firm output is highly responsive to changes in energy use. As a result, the evidence suggests that policies reducing electric energy costs are an efficient alternative to increase firm performance, particularly in the case of Colombia.

  19. Does Corruption Increase or Decrease Employment in Firms?

    OpenAIRE

    Beltrán, Arlette

    2015-01-01

    This article uses representative data for firms for Latin American firms and show that corruption decreases employment in firms. This result is robust to changes in specification and also consistent with the use of an instrumental variables approach. Corruption appears to negatively impact the growth and wealth in a country, not by introducing labour distortion in firms, but by keeping them small.

  20. The German energy audit program for firms. A cost-effective way to improve energy efficiency?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fleiter, T.; Eichhammer, W. [Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI, Breslauer Str. 48, 76139, Karlsruhe (Germany); Gruber, E. [Institute for Resource Efficiency and Energy Strategies IREES GmbH, Schoenfeldstr. 8, 76131, Karlsruhe (Germany); Worrell, E. [Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 2, 3584, Utrecht (Netherlands)

    2012-11-15

    In 2008, a program was established in Germany to provide grants for energy audits in small- and medium-sized enterprises. It aims to overcome barriers to energy efficiency, like the lack of information or a lack of capacity, and is intended to increase the adoption of energy efficiency measures. We evaluate the program's impact in terms of energy savings, CO2 mitigation, and cost-effectiveness. We find that firms adopt 1.7-2.9 energy efficiency measures, which they would not have adopted without the program. Taking a firm's perspective, the program shows a net present value ranging from -0.4 to 6 euro/MWh saved, which very likely implies a net benefit. For the government, each ton of CO2 mitigated costs between 1.8 and 4.1 euro. Each euro of public expenditure on audit grants led to 17-33 euro of private investment. The cost-effectiveness of the program for firms and the low share of public expenditure underline its value for the German energy efficiency policy mix and suggest that it should be expanded in Germany. Further, the good experiences with the program in Germany should encourage countries which have not yet established an audit program to do so.

  1. Energy saving by firms: decision making, barriers and policies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Groot, H.L.F.; Verhoef, E.T.; Nijkamp, P.

    2001-01-01

    Promoting investments in energy-saving technologies is an important means for achieving environmental goals. Empirical evidence on success conditions of associated policies, however, is scarce. Based on a survey among Dutch firms, this paper sets out to identify the factors that determine the

  2. The cross-section of returns, benchmark model parameters, and idiosyncratic volatility of nuclear energy firms after Fukushima Daiichi

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lopatta, Kerstin; Kaspereit, Thomas

    2014-01-01

    This study analyzes how the stock market returns, the factor loadings from the Carhart (1997) 4-factor model, and the idiosyncratic volatility of shares in energy firms have been affected by the Fukushima nuclear accident. Unlike existing studies, which provide evidence of a wealth transfer from nuclear to renewable energy firms for specific countries, we use an international sample and investigate whether changes in the regulatory environment and the firm-specific commitment to nuclear and renewable energies correlate with the capital market's reactions to the Fukushima Daiichi accident. Our findings suggest that the more a firm relies on nuclear power, the more its share price declined after the accident. A commitment to renewable energies does not prevent declines in share prices but significantly helps to reduce the increase in market beta that is associated with this event. Nuclear energy firms domiciled in countries with a higher number of regulatory interventions that were triggered by the catastrophe have lower abnormal returns than those that are domiciled elsewhere. However, as a cross-sectional analysis reveals, a stronger commitment to nuclear power is the main driver for negative stock market returns. Furthermore, nuclear energy firms domiciled in countries with stronger regulatory shifts away from nuclear energy experience significant increases in market beta and the book-to-market equity factor loading according to the Carhart (1997) 4-factor model. We conclude that capital market participants are able to differentiate between the affectedness of firms with respect to their product portfolio. Energy firms could prevent increases in market beta due to catastrophes such as the Fukushima Daiichi accident by shifting some of their energy production from nuclear to renewable or other sources. - Highlights: • Abnormal stock returns of nuclear energy firms around Fukushima Daiichi depend on the mix of their energy portfolio. • Higher commitment to

  3. Exuberance in China's renewable energy investment: Rationality, capital structure and implications with firm level evidence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Dayong; Cao, Hong; Zou, Peijiang

    2016-01-01

    The new century has witnessed phenomenal worldwide growth in renewable energy investments. China has been especially remarkable, surpassing both the US and the EU in 2013. Some recent facts, however, have raised the question of whether exuberant investment in China’s renewable energy sector is rational. This paper aims to contribute to the literature and to the debate in two ways. First, it tests the over-investment hypothesis based on the main stream finance methodology; second, it analyzes the role of capital structure in the performance of China's renewable energy firms. Empirical results show that overinvestment in the renewable energy sector exists. The problem is more significant in the biomass and wind sector. Capital structure is found to be more important to downstream firms, indicating that policy makers may provide support that enables these firms to finance their investments through corporate bonds, commercial credit, or long-terms debts. - Highlights: •We test the over-investment hypothesis of renewable energy firms in China. •The role of capital structure is also empirically investigated. •We find irrational investment and confirm the role of financing structure. •The results are sensitive to the main business sectors and industrial line.

  4. Regulatory taxation of large energy users reconsidered

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mannaerts, H.

    2002-01-01

    Energy policy in the Netherlands with respect to the basic industries has been restrained. National energy taxation is considered to be unsuitable for large energy users because of its international reallocation effects. However, alternative measures such as energy restrictions and marginal taxation induce low average and high marginal energy costs and consequently generate small displacement effects, together with large energy savings. A system of tradable permits not only has the advantage of low average and high marginal costs, but also keeps one firm from investing in relatively expensive energy-saving options while other firms refrain from exploiting their relatively cheap saving options

  5. Determination of the Cascade Reservoir Operation for Optimal Firm-Energy Using Genetic Algorithms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Azmeri

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available Indonesia today face a new paradigm in water management where aim to apply integrated water resources management has become unavoidable task in purpose of achieving greater level of effectiveness and efficiency. On of most interesting case study is the case of Citarum river, one of the most potential river for water supply in West Java, Indonesia. Alongside the river, Saguling, Cirata and Djuanda Reservoirs had been constructed in series/cascade. Saguling and Cirata reservoirs are particularly operated for hydroelectric power and Djuanda is multipurpose reservoir mainly operated for irrigation and contribute domestic water supply for Jakarta (capital city of Indonesia. Basically all reservoirs are relying on same resources, therefore this condition has considered addressing management and operational problem. Therefore, an approach toward new management and operation system are urgently required in order to achieve the effective and efficient output and to avoid conflicts of water used. This study aims to obtain energy production from Citarum Cascade Reservoir System using Genetic Algorithms optimization with the objective function to maximize firm-energy. Firm-energy is the minimum energy requirements must be available in a certain time period. Then, the result obtained by using the energy produced by GA is compared to the conventional searching technique of Non-Linier Programming (NLP. The GA derived operating curves reveal the higher energy and firm-energy than NLP model

  6. Firm-level determinants of energy and carbon intensity in China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cao, Jing; Karplus, Valerie J.

    2014-01-01

    In recent years, China's leaders have sought to coordinate official energy intensity reduction targets with new targets for carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) intensity reduction. The Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2006–2010) included for the first time a binding target for energy intensity, while a binding target for CO 2 intensity was included later in the Twelfth Five-Year Plan (2011–2015). Using panel data for a sample of industrial firms in China covering 2005 to 2009, we investigate the drivers of energy intensity reduction (measured in terms of direct primary energy use and electricity use) and associated CO 2 intensity reduction. Rising electricity prices were associated with decreases in electricity intensity and increases in primary energy intensity, consistent with a substitution effect. Overall, we find that energy intensity reduction by industrial firms during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan translated into more than proportional CO 2 intensity reduction because reducing coal use—in direct industrial use as well as in the power sector—was a dominant abatement strategy. If similar dynamics characterize the Twelfth Five-Year Plan (2011–2015), the national 17 percent CO 2 intensity reduction target may not be difficult to meet—and the 16 percent energy intensity reduction target may result in significantly greater CO 2 intensity reduction. - Highlights: • We describe China's Eleventh Five-Year Plan energy policies. • We examine the drivers of energy, electricity and carbon intensity reduction. • Higher electricity prices correlated with reductions in industrial electricity intensity. • Energy intensity reduction efforts were effective at reducing carbon intensity

  7. Determination of Duty Cycle for Energy Storage Systems in a Renewables (Solar) Firming Application

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schoenwald, David A. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Electric Power Systems Research Dept.; Ellison, James [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Electric Power Systems Research Dept.

    2016-04-01

    This report supplements the document, “Protocol for Uniformly Measuring and Expressing the Performance of Energy Storage Systems,” issued in a revised version in April 2016, which will include the renewables (solar) firming application for an energy storage system (ESS). This report provides the background and documentation associated with the determination of a duty cycle for an ESS operated in a renewables (solar) firming application for the purpose of measuring and expressing ESS performance in accordance with the ESS performance protocol.

  8. Understanding energy efficiency barriers in Ukraine: Insights from a survey of commercial and industrial firms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Timilsina, Govinda R.; Hochman, Gal; Fedets, Iryna

    2016-01-01

    Improvement of energy efficiency is an important element of energy policy for a sustainable supply of energy in Ukraine. However, the country is facing several challenges to the large-scale deployment of energy efficient technologies. We conducted a two-stage quota sample survey of 509 commercial and industrial firms of all regions of Ukraine to understand the barriers to energy efficiency improvements. Our study finds that more than two-thirds of the commercial and industrial firms in the country view improvement of energy efficiency very important to their business. However, due to several barriers they are unable to realize the improvements of energy efficiency. Among the 19 potential barriers investigated in the study, the survey results show that high upfront investment requirement, lack of government policies to support energy efficiency improvements, higher cost of capital, and lack of information and awareness are the most critical barriers to the improvement of energy efficiency in the industrial and commercial sectors in Ukraine. - Highlights: • Despite attractiveness, large scale deployment of energy efficiency is lacking. • Several barriers are responsible for slow implementation of energy efficiency. • Understanding the barriers from the field is crucial to design effective policies. • A survey of commercial and industrial firms reveals the key barriers. • Financial barriers are the main hurdles to adopt energy efficient technologies.

  9. 10 CFR 603.1230 - Commercial firm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Commercial firm. 603.1230 Section 603.1230 Energy... Used in this Part § 603.1230 Commercial firm. A for-profit firm or segment of a for-profit firm (e.g., a division or other business unit) that does a substantial portion of its business in the commercial...

  10. Barriers to Investment in Energy-Saving Technologies in Small Firms: The Energy-Efficiency Paradox Revisited

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Koetse, M.J.; de Groot, H.L.F.; Nijkamp, P.

    2008-01-01

    Despite the fact that energy-saving technologies are considered profitable using standard net-present-value calculations, their adoption rates have been low, particularly in small firms. This study reviews the theoretical and empirical literature that explains this phenomenon, generally known as the

  11. Differing perspectives of major oil firms on future energy developments: An illustrative framework

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chang Youngho; Yong Jiayun

    2007-01-01

    This study develops a framework to analyse the perspectives of major oil firms in terms of their perceptions of current energy developments and projections of future energy potentials, and illustrates their views on the possibility of a paradigm shift in fuel use. The three A's themes-availability of resource (AV), applicability of technology (AP) and acceptability by society (AC)-make up the analytical framework. Divergence in oil firms' behaviour and perspectives are captured by the 3-A triangle that illustrates how the four largest oil firms in the world balance their stakes among the three A's. ExxonMobil's position is markedly skewed towards the theme of AV, whilst BP has the most balanced approach among the four. Shell and Total both share a similarly shaped 3-A triangle with more stakes placed on the theme of AP. The results would imply that a paradigm shift in resource use or a full-scale transition to a backstop technology is unlikely in the coming decades

  12. The Impacts of Different Expansion Modes on Performance of Small Solar Energy Firms: Perspectives of Absorptive Capacity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hsing Hung Chen

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The characteristics of firm’s expansion by differentiated products and diversified products are quite different. However, the study employing absorptive capacity to examine the impacts of different modes of expansion on performance of small solar energy firms has never been discussed before. Then, a conceptual model to analyze the tension between strategies and corporate performance is proposed to filling the vacancy. After practical investigation, the results show that stronger organizational institutions help small solar energy firms expanded by differentiated products increase consistency between strategies and corporate performance; oppositely, stronger working attitudes with weak management controls help small solar energy firms expanded by diversified products reduce variance between strategies and corporate performance.

  13. Strategic Orientation in the Globalization of Software Firms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dedrick, Jason; Kraemer, Kenneth L.; Carmel, Erran; Dunkle, Debora

    In the search for profits, software firms are globalizing their development activities. Some firms achieve greater profits by becoming more efficient, whereas others do so by reaching new markets; some do both. This paper creates an a priori typology of strategies based on the extent to which firms are focused on operational improvement or market access, have a dual focus or are unfocused. We find that firms with these strategies differ in degree of internationalization, organization of offshoring and performance outcomes related to offshoring. Market-oriented firms receive a greater proportion of their total revenue from sales outside the U.S., showing a greater international orientation. They keep more of their offshore development in-house via captive operations. They also are most likely to report increased non-U.S. sales as a result of offshoring. On the other hand, operations-oriented firms have lower levels of international sales, are more likely to go offshore via outsourced software development, and achieve greater costs savings and labor force flexibility as a result of offshoring. Operations-oriented firms also face more obstacles in offshoring, perhaps because of their reliance on outsourcing. Dual focus firms generally achieve some of the best of both strategies, whereas unfocused firms achieve lower cost benefits.

  14. The adoption of energy efficiency enhancing technologies. Market Performance and Policy Strategies in Case of Heterogeneous Firms

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Verhoef, E.; Nijkamp, P. [Department of Spatial Economics, Free University Amsterdam, Amsterdam (Netherlands)

    1997-07-01

    The adoption of energy-efficiency enhancing technologies by heterogeneous firms is analyzed. The fact that energy use does not only cause external environmental costs through pollution, but also directly affects the profitability of the firm and hence its behaviour on input and output markets is taken for granted. It is demonstrated that the consideration of such market processes may have important implications for the efficiency of environmental policies concerned with energy use. The analysis focuses in particular on the efficiency of the market-led adoption and diffusion process under various policy regimes. It is shown that the promotion of energy-efficiency enhancing technologies might have unexpected effects in that it could lead to an increase in energy use, while the use of energy taxes might actually reduce the attractiveness of energy-saving technologies. 22 refs.

  15. Investment In Energy Efficiency: Do The Characteristics Of Firms Matter?

    OpenAIRE

    Stephen J. Decanio; William E. Watkins

    1998-01-01

    The literature on energy efficiency provides numerous examples of apparently profitable technologies that are not universally adopted. Yet according to the standard neoclassical theory of investment, profit-maximizing firms should undertake all investments with a positive net present value. The standard theory also holds that the discount rate for computing the present value of a project should be the return available on other projects in the same risk class, and therefore should not depend o...

  16. Alternatives to electricity for transmission and annual-scale firming - Storage for diverse, stranded, renewable energy resources: hydrogen and ammonia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Leighty, William

    2010-09-15

    The world's richest renewable energy resources 'of large geographic extent and high intensity' are stranded: far from end-users with inadequate or nonexistent gathering and transmission systems to deliver energy. Output of most renewables varies greatly, at time scales of seconds-seasons: energy capture assets operate at low capacity factor; energy delivery is not 'firm'. New electric transmission systems, or fractions thereof, dedicated to renewables, suffer the same low CF: substantial stranded capital assets, increasing the cost of delivered renewable-source energy. Electricity storage cannot affordably firm large renewables at annual scale. Gaseous hydrogen and anhydrous ammonia fuels can: attractive alternatives.

  17. Energy conservation in pig keeping companies. Ventilation; Energieeinsparung in der Schweinehaltung. Lueftung

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bonkoss, K.; Neiber, S.; Neser, S.

    2012-09-15

    One major approach in favour of energy saving opportunities in pig keeping companies is the ventilation. The consumption of electricity can be reduced significantly by means of a favourable design of the air flow, optimal configuration of the ventilation system as well as a modern control technology such as frequency regulation and EC technology. In the case of a new investment or replacement investment especially the specific energy consumption of the single components should be considered.

  18. Industrial environmental practices in Polish Firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kræmer, Trine Pipi

    , and environment. The five case firms all had a Communist past. The firms represent three different industrial sectors; i.e. textile, energy, and publishing and printing industries. Furthermore, the firms are both private and state owned as well as in the process of privatisation.......The study investigates how discursive developments in Poland interact with industrial environmental practices in five production firms. The analysis of the discursive development covers the period from the end of World War I to the turn of the century. The areas in focus are identity, industry...

  19. Strategic Renewal in Regulatory Environments. How inter- and intra-organisational institutional forces influence European incumbent energy firms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stienstra, M.

    2008-01-01

    How do incumbent firms strategically renew in regulatory environments? Assuming that regulation can both constrain and enable a firm's strategic renewal opportunities, we investigate how and to what extent incumbent firms undertake exploitative and explorative strategic renewal actions in order to remain competitive. Exploitative strategic renewal involves those actions that strengthen or optimise a firm's current resource deployments, whereas explorative strategic renewal relates to actions that generate new sources of value creation for the firm. Based on old institutional theory, new institutional theory, neo-institutional theory and institutional entrepreneurship literature, a multi-level framework that combines selection and adaptation arguments has been developed and applied to investigate strategic renewal behaviour of a sample of European energy incumbents. At industry level of analysis, results show how inter-organisational institutional forces significantly impact firms' choices of exploitative and explorative strategic renewal actions through regulative, normative and cognitive forces. At organisational unit level of analysis, we find that the extent of intra-organisational regulative forces is positively related to exploitative strategic renewal actions. In addition, entrepreneurial proclivity appears to be a catalyst of both exploitative and explorative strategic renewal actions. Finally, our results provide insights how environmental selection and firm level adaptation are interrelated in the context of regulation. The extent of inter-organisational regulative forces positively moderates the relationship between intra-organisational regulative forces and exploitative strategic renewal actions.

  20. Renewable Firming EnergyFarm Final Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stepien, Tom [Primus Power, Hayward, CA (United States); Collins, Mark [Primus Power, Hayward, CA (United States)

    2017-01-26

    flexible EnergyFarm®. 2. Accelerate adoption of renewable energy and enhance grid stability by firming the output of wind & solar farms. 3. Demonstrate improved grid asset utilization by storing energy during off-peak periods for dispatch during local load peaks. 4. Establish an advanced battery manufacturing industry in the U.S. 5. Reduce CO2 emissions from utilities. This report summarizes the key milestones, data, results and lessons learned from the project. The desired goals and benefits of the cooperative agreement with the DOE have all been achieved. The project has contributed to reducing power costs, accelerating adoption of renewable energy resources, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and establishing advanced battery manufacturing in the U.S. The Recovery Act funds provided thru the DOE have been leveraged multiple times by additional private equity investment. Primus Power continues to ship low cost, long life and long duration EnergyPod® flow battery systems to utilities, commercial/industrial, microgrid and data center customers. After the conclusion of this project, Primus Power has modified the EnergyPod® design to optimize around energy performance. Primus Power has moved to a prefabricated enclosure instead of multiple EnergyCells in a container. This lowers capital and maintenance costs and can optimize site design. Utilities are starting to adopt energy storage for a variety of functions. The market will grow as the technology is proven and profitable applications expand.

  1. Inter-firm and intra-firm efficiency measures

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Oude Lansink, A.G.J.M.; Silva, E.; Stefanou, S.

    2001-01-01

    Intra-firm efficiency involves computing a particular firm's efficiency degree over time relative to the firm-specific production frontier. Inter-firm efficiency reveals a particular firm's performance over time relative to the ``best practice frontier'' among the set of comparable firms. These

  2. Strategic Renewal in Regulatory Environments. How inter- and intra-organisational institutional forces influence European incumbent energy firms

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stienstra, M.

    2008-11-20

    How do incumbent firms strategically renew in regulatory environments? Assuming that regulation can both constrain and enable a firm's strategic renewal opportunities, we investigate how and to what extent incumbent firms undertake exploitative and explorative strategic renewal actions in order to remain competitive. Exploitative strategic renewal involves those actions that strengthen or optimise a firm's current resource deployments, whereas explorative strategic renewal relates to actions that generate new sources of value creation for the firm. Based on old institutional theory, new institutional theory, neo-institutional theory and institutional entrepreneurship literature, a multi-level framework that combines selection and adaptation arguments has been developed and applied to investigate strategic renewal behaviour of a sample of European energy incumbents. At industry level of analysis, results show how inter-organisational institutional forces significantly impact firms' choices of exploitative and explorative strategic renewal actions through regulative, normative and cognitive forces. At organisational unit level of analysis, we find that the extent of intra-organisational regulative forces is positively related to exploitative strategic renewal actions. In addition, entrepreneurial proclivity appears to be a catalyst of both exploitative and explorative strategic renewal actions. Finally, our results provide insights how environmental selection and firm level adaptation are interrelated in the context of regulation. The extent of inter-organisational regulative forces positively moderates the relationship between intra-organisational regulative forces and exploitative strategic renewal actions.

  3. Firm performance and the role of environmental management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lundgren, Tommy; Zhou, Wenchao

    2017-12-01

    This paper analyzes the interactions between three dimensions of firm performance - productivity, energy efficiency, and environmental performance - and especially sheds light on the role of environmental management. In this context, environmental management is investments to reduce environmental impact, which may also affect firm competitiveness, in terms of change in productivity, and spur more (or less) efficient use of energy. We apply data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique to calculate the Malmquist firm performance indexes, and a panel vector auto-regression (VAR) methodology is utilized to investigate the dynamic and causal relationship between the three dimensions of firm performance and environmental investment. Main results show that energy efficiency and environmental performance are integrated, and energy efficiency and productivity positively reinforce each other, signifying the cost saving property of more efficient use of energy. Hence, increasing energy efficiency, as advocated in many of today's energy policies, could capture multiple benefits. The results also show that improved environmental performance and environmental investments constrain next period productivity, a result that would be in contrast with the Porter hypothesis and strategic corporate social responsibility; both concepts conveying the notion that pro-environmental management can boost productivity and competitiveness. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Multi-Objective Reservoir Optimization Balancing Energy Generation and Firm Power

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fang-Fang Li

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available To maximize annual power generation and to improve firm power are important but competing goals for hydropower stations. The firm power output is decisive for the installed capacity in design, and represents the reliability of the power generation when the power plant is put into operation. To improve the firm power, the whole generation process needs to be as stable as possible, while the maximization of power generation requires a rapid rise of the water level at the beginning of the storage period. Taking the minimal power output as the firm power, both the total amount and the reliability of the hydropower generation are considered simultaneously in this study. A multi-objective model to improve the comprehensive benefits of hydropower stations are established, which is optimized by Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (NSGA-II. The Three Gorges Cascade Hydropower System (TGCHS is taken as the study case, and the Pareto Fronts in different search spaces are obtained. The results not only prove the effectiveness of the proposed method, but also provide operational references for the TGCHS, indicating that there is room of improvement for both the annual power generation and the firm power.

  5. Water-related planning and design at energy firms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abbey, D.; Lucero, F.

    1980-11-01

    Water related planning and design at energy firms are examined. By identifying production alternatives and specifying the cost of these alternatives under a variety of conditions, one gains insight into the future pattern of water use in the energy industry and the response of industry to water-related regulation. In Part II, the three principal decisions of industry that affect water allocation are reviewed: where to build plants, where to get water, and how much water to use. The cost of water use alternatives is reviewed. Part III presents empirical data to substantiate the inferences derived from engineering/economic analysis. The source of water, type of cooling system, and pattern of discharge for electric plants constructed during the 1970s or projected to come on line in this decade are reported. In the 1970s in the US, there was a trend away from once-through cooling toward use of evaporative cooling. Freshwater, as a source of supply, and discharge of effluent were standard practice. In the 1980s, almost all new capacity in the states and basins surveyed will use evaporative cooling. It is pointed out that a thorough understanding of industrial water use economics and water markets is a precursor to successful regulation

  6. New Firm Survival: Industry versus Firm Effects

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    D.B. Audretsch (David); P. Houweling (Patrick); A.R. Thurik (Roy)

    1997-01-01

    textabstractRecent studies show that the likelihood of survival differs significantly across firms. Both firm and industry characteristics are hypothesized to account for this heterogenity. Using a longitudinal database of manufacturing firms we investigate whether firm or industry characteristics

  7. Overeducation, wages and promotions within the firm

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hartog, J.

    2004-01-01

    We analyse data from personnel records of a large firm producing energy and telecommunication and test for the effect of deviations between required and attained education of workers. Required education is measured as hiring standards set by the firm. We find the usual effects of over- and

  8. Firm behavior, environmental externalities and public policy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Curtis, Earnest Markell, IV

    This dissertation consists of three essays which examine environmental policy, employer mandates and energy consumption. The essays explore how firms respond to government policies such as environmental regulation and employer mandates. Understanding how firms adjust to government policies is crucial to law makers attempting to design optimal policies that maximize net benefits to society. The first essay, titled Who Loses under Power Plant Cap-and-Trade Programs tests how a major cap-and-trade program, known as the NOx Budget Trading Program (NBP), affected labor markets in the region where it was implemented. The cap-and-trade program dramatically decreased levels of NOx emissions and added substantial costs to energy producers. Using a triple-differences approach that takes advantage of the geographic and time variation of the program as well as variation in industry energy-intensity levels, I examine how employment dynamics changed in manufacturing industries whose production process requires high levels of energy. After accounting for a variety of flexible state, county and industry trends, I find that employment in the manufacturing sector dropped by 1.7% as a result of the NBP. Young workers experienced the largest employment declines and earnings of newly hired workers fell after the regulation began. Employment declines are shown to have occurred primarily through decreased hiring rates rather than increased separation rates, thus mitigating the impact on incumbent workers. The second essay, titled Evaluating Workplace Mandates with Flows versus Stocks: An Application to California Paid Family Leave uses an underexploited data set to examine the impact of the California Paid Family Leave program on employment outcomes for young women. Most papers on mandated benefits examine labor outcomes by looking at earnings and employment levels of all workers. Examining these levels will be imprecise if the impacts of the program develop over time and firms are wary

  9. Capital market financing, firm growth, and firm size distribution

    OpenAIRE

    Didier Brandao,Tatiana; Levine,Ross Eric; Schmukler,Sergio L.

    2015-01-01

    How many and which firms issue equity and bonds in domestic and international markets, how do these firms grow relative to non-issuing firms, and how does firm performance vary along the firm size distribution? To evaluate these questions, a new data set is constructed by matching data on firm-level capital raising activity with balance sheet data for 45,527 listed firms in 51 countries. T...

  10. Do generation firms in restructured electricity markets have incentives to support social-welfare-improving transmission investments?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sauma, Enzo E.; Oren, Shmuel S.

    2009-01-01

    This paper examines the incentives that generation firms have in restructured electricity markets for supporting long-term transmission investments. In particular, we study whether generation firms, which arguably play a dominant role in the restructured electricity markets, have the incentives to fund or support incremental social-welfare-improving transmission investments. We examine this question in a two-node network and explore how such incentives are affected by the ownership of financial transmission rights (FTRs) by generation firms. In the analyzed two-node network, we show both (1) that the net exporter generation firm has the correct incentives to increase the transmission capacity incrementally up to a certain level and (2) that, although a policy that allocates FTRs to the net exporter generation firm can be desirable from a social point of view, such a policy would dilute the net-importer-generation-firm's incentives to support transmission expansion. Moreover, if all FTRs were allocated or auctioned off to the net exporter generation firm, then it is possible to increase both consumer surplus and social welfare while keeping the net exporter generation firm revenue neutral. (author)

  11. Environmental investment and firm performance: A network approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bostian, Moriah; Färe, Rolf; Grosskopf, Shawna; Lundgren, Tommy

    2016-01-01

    This study examines the role of investment in environmental production practices for both environmental performance and energy efficiency over time. We employ a network DEA approach that links successive production technologies through intertemporal investment decisions with a period by period estimation. This allows us to estimate energy efficiency and environmental performance separately, as well as productivity change and its associated decompositions into efficiency change and technology change. Incorporating a network model also allows us to account for both short-term environmental management practices and long-term environmental investments in each of our productivity measures. We apply this framework to a panel of detailed plant-level production data for Swedish manufacturing firms covering the years 2002–2008. - Highlights: • We use a network DEA model to account for intertemporal environmental investment decisionsin measures of firm productivity. • We apply our network technology model to a panel of firms in Sweden's pulp and paperindustry for the years 2002 - 2008. • We model environmental investments and expenditures separately from other productionoriented inputs. • We find evidence of positive relationships between energy efficiency, environmental performance, and firm productivity.

  12. Executive compensation and firm performance: Evidence from Indian firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehul Raithatha

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The study examines the relationship between executive compensation and firm performance among Indian firms. The evidence suggests that firm performance measured by accounting, as well as market-based measures, significantly affects executive compensation. We also test for the presence of persistence in executive compensation by employing the system-generalised methods of moments (GMM estimator. We find significant persistence in executive compensation among the sample firms. Further, we report the absence of pay–performance relationship among the smaller sample firms and business group affiliated firms. Thus, our findings cast doubts over the performance-based executive compensation practices of Indian business group affiliated firms.

  13. Optimal investment and location decisions of a firm in a flood risk area using Impulse Control Theory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grames, Johanna; Grass, Dieter; Kort, Peter; Prskawetz, Alexia

    2017-04-01

    Flooding events can affect businesses close to rivers, lakes or coasts. This paper provides a partial equilibrium model which helps to understand the optimal location choice for a firm in flood risk areas and its investment strategies. How often, when and how much are firms willing to invest in flood risk protection measures? We apply Impulse Control Theory to solve the model analytically and develop a continuation algorithm to solve the model numerically. Firms always invest in flood defense. The investment increases the higher the flood risk and the more firms also value the future, i.e. the more sustainable they plan. Investments in production capital follow a similar path. Hence, planning in a sustainable way leads to economic growth. Sociohydrological feedbacks are crucial for the location choice of the firm, whereas different economic situations have an impact on investment strategies. If flood defense is already present, e.g. built up by the government, firms move closer to the water and invest less in flood defense, which allows firms to accrue higher expected profits. Firms with a large initial production capital surprisingly try not to keep their market advantage, but rather reduce flood risk by reducing exposed production capital.

  14. Eco-Efficiency Actions and Firm Growth in European SMEs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elisenda Jové-Llopis

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This study investigates the effects of eco-efficiency actions on firm performance in terms of sales growth in an extensive sample of 11,336 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs located in 28 European countries. Our empirical results suggest that not all eco-strategies are positively related to better performance, at least not in the short term. We found that European companies using renewable energies, and recycling or designing products that are easier to maintain, repair, or reuse, perform better. Those that aim to reduce water or energy pollution, however, seemed to show a negative correlation to firm growth. Our results also indicate that high investment in eco-strategies improves firm growth, particularly in new members that joined the EU from 2004 onwards. Finally, we observed a U-shaped relationship between eco-strategies and firm growth, which indicates that a greater breadth of eco-strategies is associated with better firm performance. However, few European SMEs are able to either invest heavily or undertake multiple eco-strategies, thus leaving room for policy interventions.

  15. Reasons for not changing to activity-based costing: a survey of Irish firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martin Quinn

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Purpose – This paper aims to report on a survey of medium and large Irish firms to ascertain reasons for not changing to more advanced costing techniques, namely, activity-based costing (ABC. Developments in technology and recent poor economic conditions would suggest that the technique could be adopted more by firms, as they make increased efforts to keep costs under control. Design/methodology/approach – A survey instrument was used to gather data drawing from the top 1,000 Irish firms. From a useable population of 821 organisations, a response rate of 20.75 per cent was achieved. Findings – Findings show a rate of adoption of ABC of 18.7 per cent, which is lower than previous studies in an Irish context. The level of information technology in firms is not a key factor for non-adoption. Instead, the main reasoning for non-adoption revolve around stable existing costing methods, which firms expressed satisfaction with. Originality/value – This research suggests the adoption of ABC is not necessarily driven by external factors such as technology and economic shocks, at least in the context of Ireland. It also suggests that costing techniques may be deeply embedded within organisations and are less likely to be subject to change.

  16. Which Subsidy Mode Improves the Financial Performance of Renewable Energy Firms? A Panel Data Analysis of Wind and Solar Energy Companies between 2009 and 2014

    OpenAIRE

    Huiming Zhang; Yu Zheng; Dequn Zhou; Peifeng Zhu

    2015-01-01

    The effectiveness of subsidies in improving the performance of renewable energy firms has aroused significant research attention in recent years. As subsidy modes may affect corporate financial performance,we have chosen companies specializing in wind and solar energy in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets as samples.The relationships between the subsidy modes and financial performance of these two types of companies are investigated with a panel data model. Results of the total sample in...

  17. Do Peer Firms Affect Firm Corporate Social Responsibility?

    OpenAIRE

    Shenggang Yang; Heng Ye; Qi Zhu

    2017-01-01

    Peer-firm strategies are a critical factor for corporate finance, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the main trend for evaluating the behavior of firms. On the basis of the connection between peer strategy and CSR, this paper explores the CSR strategies employed by a sample of Chinese firms during the 2008–2015 period. Our two main empirical findings are as follows. First, the CSR strategies of firms have a positive effect on their CSR behavior. Second, when there is the CSR gap be...

  18. The long term challenges of energy management: keeping all options open

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moisan, F.

    2003-01-01

    Before the end of the 21. century, the global energy sector will need to face up to two challenges: climate warming due to greenhouse gas emissions and the increasing scarcity of traditional hydrocarbons. The likely scenarios expected by 2030 demonstrate that we are in the process of witnessing strong growth in the consumption of energy and in CO 2 emissions while at the same time climate experts warn us that we need to achieve a 75 % reduction of emissions in the industrialized nations by 2050. Several technological options may be envisaged in order to meet these challenges including a view generation nuclear power, renewable energy, the storage of carbon dioxide or managing energy consumption, and we need to keep all options open because none of these alone can solve all the problems. The time required for technologies to emerge following research and their penetration into the marketplace can often be several decades. The 2050 deadline is therefore not so at away and we need to stem and reverse the growth in demand from today onwards, something we should da without any misgivings when we consider the considerable uncertainties surrounding supply-side technologies. This profound transformation of our production and consumption methods also involves a change in our lifestyle and our behaviour: our efforts in the field of technological development must be accompanied by a commitment by all citizens to creating a more rational society where energy is concerned. (author)

  19. Estimating risk propagation between interacting firms on inter-firm complex network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goto, Hayato; Takayasu, Hideki; Takayasu, Misako

    2017-01-01

    We derive a stochastic function of risk propagation empirically from comprehensive data of chain-reaction bankruptcy events in Japan from 2006 to 2015 over 5,000 pairs of firms. The probability is formulated by firm interaction between the pair of firms; it is proportional to the product of α-th power of the size of the first bankrupt firm and β-th power of that of the chain-reaction bankrupt firm. We confirm that α is positive and β is negative throughout the observing period, meaning that the probability of cascading failure is higher between a larger first bankrupt firm and smaller trading firm. We additionally introduce a numerical model simulating the whole ecosystem of firms and show that the interaction kernel is a key factor to express complexities of spreading bankruptcy risks on real ecosystems.

  20. Estimating risk propagation between interacting firms on inter-firm complex network.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hayato Goto

    Full Text Available We derive a stochastic function of risk propagation empirically from comprehensive data of chain-reaction bankruptcy events in Japan from 2006 to 2015 over 5,000 pairs of firms. The probability is formulated by firm interaction between the pair of firms; it is proportional to the product of α-th power of the size of the first bankrupt firm and β-th power of that of the chain-reaction bankrupt firm. We confirm that α is positive and β is negative throughout the observing period, meaning that the probability of cascading failure is higher between a larger first bankrupt firm and smaller trading firm. We additionally introduce a numerical model simulating the whole ecosystem of firms and show that the interaction kernel is a key factor to express complexities of spreading bankruptcy risks on real ecosystems.

  1. Transformation of Manufacturing Firms to Servitisation Firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lin, Chih-Cheng; Ma, Zheng; Tanev, Stoyan

    2014-01-01

    It is crucial for the manufacturing SMEs to reconsider their business strategy in order to be able to launch customer-centric solutions. This ability is associated with a paradigm shift from a product-orientation to service-orientation. One of the major challenges to success in transforming...... a traditional manufacturing firm to service-oriented firms is the conspicuous lack of publications in this research stream. Applying a case study research approach, this study explores the transformation model for manufacturing SMEs to servitisation firms by adopting a network approach, and reveals...

  2. 10 CFR 603.615 - Financial management standards for-profit firms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Financial management standards for-profit firms. 603.615... § 603.615 Financial management standards for-profit firms. (a) To avoid causing needless changes in participants' financial management systems, an expenditure-based TIA will make for-profit participants that...

  3. Configuration of technology networks in the wind turbine industry. A comparative study of technology management models in European and Chinese lead firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Haakonsson, Stine Jessen; Kirkegaard, Julia Kirch

    2016-01-01

    strategies impact the networks established by the two types of lead firms. Building on the concept of governance developed by the global value chain literature, the article identifies two different types of networks: European lead firms internalise core technology components and keep strong captive......Through a comparative analysis of technology management at the component level by wind turbine manufacturers from Europe and China, this article compares strategies of internalisation of core technology components by European and Chinese lead firms and outlines how different internalisation...... or relational ties with key component suppliers, whereas Chinese lead firms modularise and externalise core technology components, hence adopting a more flexible approach to technology management. The latter model mirrors a strategy of overcoming technological barriers by tapping into knowledge through global...

  4. Female Directors and Firm Performance: Evidence from UK Listed Firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pananda Pasaribu

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The impact of female directors on firm performance has lacked consistency in the previously conducted empirical studies, which may be due to the endogeneity problem, or certain characteristics (i.e. governance, industry, competition. This study examines the relationship between female directors and firm performance by addressing those problems. This study analyses all non-financial UK listed firms during the period 2004-2012 and employs several econometric models. The regression results indicate that there is little evidence that female directors have a positive and strong relationship with firm performance. But, further analysis reports that the UK’s small listed firms experience a positive significant effect, because small firms do not suffer from the problem of over-monitoring and they have more flexibility in composing their boards of directors.

  5. Firm Culture and Leadership as Firm Performance Predictors : a Resource-Based Perspective

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wilderom, C.P.M.; van den Berg, P.

    2000-01-01

    In this study, we tested part of the resource-based view of the firm by examining two 'soft' resources, firm culture and top leadership, as predictors of 'hard' or bottom-line firm performance.Transformational top leadership was found to predict firm performance directly while the link between firm

  6. Firm Innovation and the Ratchet Effect Among Consumer Packaged Goods Firms

    OpenAIRE

    Christine Moorman; Simone Wies; Natalie Mizik; Fredrika J. Spencer

    2012-01-01

    We consider how public firms influence their stock market valuations by timing the introduction of innovative new products. Our focus is on innovation ratchet strategy --firms timing the introduction of innovations in order to demonstrate an improvement in the number of introductions over time. We document that public firms use an innovation ratchet strategy more often than do private firms and that the stock market rewards public firms for doing so. These rewards from the stock market, howev...

  7. US firms leave business lobby group

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gwynne, Peter

    2009-11-01

    Three US energy and hi-tech firms have left the US Chamber of Commerce - a powerful group that lobbies on behalf of business - because it has openly questioned the science behind climate change. The departing organizations protest that the chamber and another business lobbying group, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), could cripple advances in renewable energy by becoming representatives of fossil-fuel interests.

  8. Foreign Firms, Domestic Wages

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Malchow-Møller, Nikolaj; Markusen, James R.; Schjerning, Bertel

    to the firm?s productivity. Foreign-owned firms have, on average, higher productivity in equilibrium due to entry costs, which means that low-productivity foreign firms cannot enter. Foreign firms have higher wage growth and, with some exceptions, pay higher average wages, but not when compared to similarly...... large domestic firms. The empirical implications of the model are tested on matched employer-employee data from Denmark. Consistent with the theory, we find considerable evidence of higher wages and wage growth in large and/or foreign-owned firms. These effects survive controlling for individual...... characteristics, but, as expected, are reduced significantly when controlling for unobservable firm heterogeneity. Furthermore, acquired skills in foreign-owned and large firms appear to be transferable to both subsequent wage work and self-employment...

  9. Do family CEOs impact firm value? An empirical analysis of Indian family firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lakshmi Kalyanaraman

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available We study the association between family CEO and firm value on a sample of 288 family firms during the 6-year period, from 2009 to 2014. The sample is drawn from domestic private companies belonging to non-financial services sector included in the NSE CNX 500 index. We find that family CEO has no significant association with firm value, when the family is not the majority shareholder. Family shareholding has positive relationship with firm value, but does not moderate the relationship of family CEO with firm value. We show that family CEO and firm value are negatively related when the family does not hold majority equity stake in the family firm. While family shareholding has no significant relationship with firm value, it has a negative interaction effect on the relationship between family CEO and firm value. The research findings have important implications for family firms as well as the nonfamily investors in the family firms.

  10. Keeping warm? Self-reported housing and home energy efficiency factors impacting on older people heating homes in North Wales

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burholt, Vanessa; Windle, Gill

    2006-01-01

    This paper examines a representative sample (N=421) of older people (aged 70+) living in rural North Wales with regard to relationships between fuel poverty, feeling cold in one's home and a range of self-reported housing and home energy efficiency items. In the Welsh context, the combination of poor housing stock and low-level income is likely to increase the chance of older people experiencing fuel poverty, therefore the analyses are relevant to both energy and social policy. The paper hypothesises that: (i) People in 'fuel poor' homes are: low-income households; living in older houses; lacking home energy efficiency measures; (ii) not all people facing difficulties heating their home (i.e. wearing extra clothing to keep warm during cold spells) are identified as 'fuel poor', but there will be an association between taking extra measures to keep warm and low income; older houses and lacking home energy efficiency factors. The results partially support the hypotheses. An estimation is made of the expenditure required to counter the factors associated with fuel poverty and cold homes in the region. The paper concludes with implications for the UK Fuel Poverty Strategy

  11. Pengaruh Family Control, Firm Size, Firm Risk, Dan Firm Life Cycle Terhadap Profitabilitas Dan Nilai Perusahaan Sektor Industri Barang Konsumsi

    OpenAIRE

    Servin, Servin

    2014-01-01

    This study aims to examine the effect of family control, firm size, firm risk, and firm lifecycle towards profitability and firm's value. Sampels were taken from 27 consumer goodscompanies, listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange, ranging from 2010 – 2012. The hypotheseswere tested using multiple regression analysis. In this study, profitability was measured byROA (Return on Asset) and firm's value was measured by Tobin's q. The result were, familycontrol and life cycle stage-growth had negative i...

  12. Geothermal Program Review XIV: proceedings. Keeping Geothermal Energy Competitive in Foreign and Domestic Markets

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1996-01-01

    The U.S. Department of Energy`s Office of Geothermal Technologies conducted its annual Program Review XIV in Berkeley, April 8-10, 1996. The geothermal community came together for an in-depth review of the federally-sponsored geothermal research and development program. This year`s theme focused on ``Keeping Geothermal Energy Competitive in Foreign and Domestic Markets.`` This annual conference is designed to promote technology transfer by bringing together DOE-sponsored researchers; utility representatives; geothermal developers; equipment and service suppliers; representatives from local, state, and federal agencies; and others with an interest in geothermal energy. Program Review XIV consisted of eight sessions chaired by industry representatives. Introductory and overview remarks were presented during every session followed by detailed reports on specific DOE-funded research projects. The progress of R&D projects over the past year and plans for future activities were discussed. The government-industry partnership continues to strengthen -- its success, achievements over the past twenty years, and its future direction were highlighted throughout the conference. The comments received from the conference evaluation forms are published in this year`s proceedings. Individual papers have been processed for inclusion in the Energy Science and Technology Database.

  13. Division of Labor, Transaction Cost, Emergence of the Firm and Firm Size

    OpenAIRE

    Pak-Wai Liu; Xiaokai Yang

    1999-01-01

    In this paper a general equilibrium model is constructed to explain the emergence of firms and change in firm size by the tradeoff between economies of specialization and transaction cost. We show that firms emerge from the development of division of labor if the transaction efficiency for labor is smaller than that for intermediate goods. Given the emergence of firms, change in the average size of firms (average employment) will depend on the change in transaction efficiency for intermediate...

  14. Default Risk and Firm Value of Shipping & Logistics Firms in Korea

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hyun Jung Nam

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available As shipping and logistics industry is one of the core industries in Korea, the volume was ranked in the fifth highest in the world. However, shipping and logistics industry of Korea has suffered from default risk since Global Financial Crisis in 2008. This study examines the relationship between the default risk, as measured by the Altman K-Score, and firm value, as measured by the Return on Assets (ROA, of shipping and logistics firms in Korea and compares the impact of default risk on firm value between good financial health firms and poor financial health firms. As the trends of KScores over a ten-year periods, shipping and logistics firms in Korea register weak-to-moderate financial healthy rage. We find that Altman K-Score is significantly linked with firm value and also higher performing firms as measured by the ROA exhibit higher financial health as measured by KScore. Although nine years have been passed since Global Financial Crisis 2008, Korean shipping and logistics industry is still under the financial depression. This study proposes that systematic financial alert system of Korean shipping and logistics industry should be required to decrease default risk reflecting significance of Korean economy.

  15. Real Time Pricing and the Real Live Firm

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moezzi, Mithra; Goldman, Charles; Sezgen, Osman; Bharvirkar, Ranjit; Hopper, Nicole

    2004-05-26

    Energy economists have long argued the benefits of real time pricing (RTP) of electricity. Their basis for modeling customers response to short-term fluctuations in electricity prices are based on theories of rational firm behavior, where management strives to minimize operating costs and optimize profit, and labor, capital and energy are potential substitutes in the firm's production function. How well do private firms and public sector institutions operating conditions, knowledge structures, decision-making practices, and external relationships comport with these assumptions and how might this impact price response? We discuss these issues on the basis of interviews with 29 large (over 2 MW) industrial, commercial, and institutional customers in the Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation service territory that have faced day-ahead electricity market prices since 1998. We look at stories interviewees told about why and how they respond to RTP, why some customers report that they can't, and why even if they can, they don't. Some firms respond as theorized, and we describe their load curtailment strategies. About half of our interviewees reported that they were unable to either shift or forego electricity consumption even when prices are high ($0.50/kWh). Reasons customers gave for why they weren't price-responsive include implicit value placed on reliability, pricing structures, lack of flexibility in adjusting production inputs, just-in-time practices, perceived barriers to onsite generation, and insufficient time. We draw these observations into a framework that could help refine economic theory of dynamic pricing by providing real-world descriptions of how firms behave and why.

  16. Thermodynamics of firms' growth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zambrano, Eduardo; Hernando, Alberto; Hernando, Ricardo; Plastino, Angelo

    2015-01-01

    The distribution of firms' growth and firms' sizes is a topic under intense scrutiny. In this paper, we show that a thermodynamic model based on the maximum entropy principle, with dynamical prior information, can be constructed that adequately describes the dynamics and distribution of firms' growth. Our theoretical framework is tested against a comprehensive database of Spanish firms, which covers, to a very large extent, Spain's economic activity, with a total of 1 155 142 firms evolving along a full decade. We show that the empirical exponent of Pareto's law, a rule often observed in the rank distribution of large-size firms, is explained by the capacity of economic system for creating/destroying firms, and that can be used to measure the health of a capitalist-based economy. Indeed, our model predicts that when the exponent is larger than 1, creation of firms is favoured; when it is smaller than 1, destruction of firms is favoured instead; and when it equals 1 (matching Zipf's law), the system is in a full macroeconomic equilibrium, entailing ‘free’ creation and/or destruction of firms. For medium and smaller firm sizes, the dynamical regime changes, the whole distribution can no longer be fitted to a single simple analytical form and numerical prediction is required. Our model constitutes the basis for a full predictive framework regarding the economic evolution of an ensemble of firms. Such a structure can be potentially used to develop simulations and test hypothetical scenarios, such as economic crisis or the response to specific policy measures. PMID:26510828

  17. Procurement with specialized firms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boone, Jan; Schottmuller, C.

    2016-01-01

    We analyze optimal procurement mechanisms when firms are specialized. The procurement agency has incomplete information concerning the firms' cost functions and values high quality as well as low price. Lower type firms are cheaper (more expensive) than higher type firms when providing low (high)

  18. Founder Control, Ownership Structure and Firm Value: Evidence from Entrepreneurial Listed Firms in China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lijun Xia

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available In emerging markets, the deviation between the ultimate controlling shareholders' voting rights and their cash flow rights (hereafter “DVC” in the listed firms is quite prevalent. DVC could be introduced due to the ultimate controlling shareholders' opportunistic incentives, as well as by their incentives to improve firm efficiency. This study uses 229 listed firms ultimately controlled by individuals or families (hereafter “entrepreneurial firms” for 2004 in China, to investigate the effect of DVC on firm value and to determine whether it is different between founder and non-founder controlled firms. We find that DVC has a positive effect on firm value for founder controlled firms. This result implies that investors believe that their interests are better protected by founder controlled firms than by non-founder controlled firms.

  19. Firm Traits and Web Based Disclosures in Top Nigerian Firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bello Ayuba

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available The use of the internet as a medium of dissemination of information to stakeholders is increasingly gaining grounds. This study extends existing literature on web disclosures by investigating the characteristics that predict the extent of web-based disclosures. In this study, corporate websites of top Nigerian firms are used as sources of data, while a regression analysis is employed to examine the extent of prediction. Results indicate that the firm size and industry type are significant determinants of web disclosures. However, other firm traits such as ownership dispersion and financial performance do not significantly explain the extent of internet disclosures. The study recommends that a regulatory template for corporate web disclosures be put in place by government regardless of the size or industry classification of the firm. This is with a view to considerably reduce agency conflicts arising from information asymmetry in publicly listed firms in Nigeria.

  20. Firm size and taxes

    OpenAIRE

    Chongvilaivan, Aekapol; Jinjarak, Yothin

    2010-01-01

    The scale dependence in firm growth (smaller firms grow faster) is systematically reflected in the size distribution. This paper studies whether taxes affect the equilibrium firm size distribution in a cross-country context. The main finding is that the empirical association between firm growth and corporate tax (VAT) is positive (negative), with notable differences in the response of manufacturing firms and that of the others. We draw implications for recent debate on the impact of taxes and...

  1. Cyclicality and Firm Size in Private Firm Defaults

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Thais Lærkholm; Lando, David; Medhat, Mamdouh

    2017-01-01

    The Basel II/III and CRD IV Accords reduce capital charges on bank loans to smaller firms by assuming that the default probabilities of smaller firms are less sensitive to macroeconomic cycles. We test this assumption in a default intensity framework using a large sample of bank loans to private...

  2. Price regulation in the Spanish energy sectors: who benefits?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arocena, Pablo; Contin, Ignacio; Huerta, Emilio

    2002-01-01

    This paper analyses the distribution of benefits between firms and consumers due to the price regulation of the Spanish energy sectors (electricity, oil fuels and gas) during the decade 1987-1997. To that effect, we compare the actual evolution of energy prices with alternate benchmarks in order to assess the potential existence of a pro-industry or a pro-consumer bias in the pricing policies followed by the regulator. Our results show a pro-industry-biased regulatory context, where consumers benefited very little from price control. The successive price adjustments over time allowed the companies to keep all the productivity gains and cost reductions and to increase their profitability rates relative to those achieved in the manufacturing sector. (Author)

  3. Price regulation in the Spanish energy sectors: who benefits?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Arocena, Pablo; Contin, Ignacio; Huerta, Emilio [Departamento de Gestion de Empresas, Universidad Publica de Navarra, Campus de Arrosadia. 31006, Pamplona (Spain); [Canterbury Business School, University of Kent Canterbury (United Kingdom)

    2002-08-01

    This paper analyses the distribution of benefits between firms and consumers due to the price regulation of the Spanish energy sectors (electricity, oil fuels and gas) during the decade 1987-1997. To that effect, we compare the actual evolution of energy prices with alternate benchmarks in order to assess the potential existence of a pro-industry or a pro-consumer bias in the pricing policies followed by the regulator. Our results show a pro-industry-biased regulatory context, where consumers benefited very little from price control. The successive price adjustments over time allowed the companies to keep all the productivity gains and cost reductions and to increase their profitability rates relative to those achieved in the manufacturing sector. (Author)

  4. Female Directors and Firm Performance: Evidence from UK Listed Firms

    OpenAIRE

    Pasaribu, Pananda

    2017-01-01

    The impact of female directors on firm performance has lacked consistency in the previously conducted empirical studies, which may be due to the endogeneity problem, or certain characteristics (i.e. governance, industry, competition). This study examines the relationship between female directors and firm performance by addressing those problems. This study analyses all non-financial UK listed firms during the period 2004-2012 and employs several econometric models. The regression results indi...

  5. Leverage, Investment, and Firm Growth

    OpenAIRE

    Larry Lang; Eli Ofek; Rene M. Stulz

    1995-01-01

    We show that there is a negative relation between leverage and future growth at the firm level and, for diversified firms, at the segment level. Further, this negative relation between leverage and growth holds for firms with low Tobin's q, but not for high-q firms or firms in high-q industries. Therefore, leverage does not reduce growth for firms known to have good investment opportunities, but is negatively related to growth for firms whose growth opportunities are either not recognized by ...

  6. Performance of Patenting Firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Erik Strøjer; Smith, Valdemar; Nielsen, Anders Østergaard

    2000-01-01

    Most countries focus on industries with high technology and the governments grant subsidies to innovating firms. However, there has been remarkable few studies of the performance of innovative firms or industries. This study examines the performance of patent active firms compared to the non-patenting...... firms within the manufacturing sector in Denmark. Performance is measured both by growth in employment as well as in the return on equity and profit share in turnover. The results suggest that differences in performance of patenting and non-patenting firms are very small, which questions the political...

  7. When Intra-Firm and Inter-Firm Collaborations Co-Occur

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schleimer, Stephanie Christine; Sculman, Arthur D.

    2011-01-01

    There is evidence that intra-firm collaboration and inter-firm collaboration are important for new service development (NSD) and new product development (NPD) success. However, evidence of the contributions of each to innovative outcomes is inconsistent. This inconsistency is associated with the ...

  8. Environmental Management Practices and Firm Performance in a South African Mining Firm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gibson Nyirenda

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the impact of environmental management practices on the financial performance of a South African mining firm. The major aim of this paper is to investigate whether such practices have a close relationship with the mining firm’s financial performance (represented by return on equity [ROE]. The approach is a case study of a South African mining firm listed under the socially responsible index (SRI of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE. It uses Green-Steel sa (pseudonym used in place of the real name as a case study. Using multiple regression statistics, the return on equity of Green-Steel sa is regressed on three environmental management practices of Green- Steel (carbon reduction, energy efficiency, and water usage. The result shows there is no significant relationship between the variables and this lends credence to information gathered from Green-Steel environmental reports that Green-Steel’s environmental management practices are driven mostly by a desire to abide by regulations and also by a moral obligation to use environmental management practices to mitigate climate change impact.

  9. ARE SMALL-FIRM CLUSTERS EMERGENT PHENOMENA? EVIDENCE FROM ZIMBABWE’S SMALL FURNITURE- MANUFACTURING FIRMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Godfrey MUPONDA

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to explore the reasons behind the rapid growth and apparent dynamism of Zimbabwe’s small-firm industrial clusters. The hypothesis behind the study was that these small-firm clusters are emergent phenomena. The study analysed the capital utilisation techniques of small firms located in a large industrial cluster in order to determine the factors that lead to the collective efficiency of such firms. The study found that, in comparison with large, stock exchange-listed firms, the cluster environment enables the small firm to operate from a relatively small capital base and also to use its capital more efficiently in creating revenues and profits. The individual firm does not have to invest its capital in a large assets base as this is done by a specialised group of firms within the cluster. Thus, the cluster has the characteristics of an emergent phenomenon.

  10. A Firm-Specific Analysis of the Exchange-Rate Exposure of Dutch Firms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    A. de Jong (Abe); J. Ligterink; V. Macrae

    2002-01-01

    textabstractWe examine the relationship between exchange-rate changes and stock returns for a sample of Dutch firms over 1994-1998. We find that over 50% of the firms are significantly exposed to exchange-rate risk. Furthermore, all firms with significant exchange-rate exposure benefit from a

  11. Western values and the Russian energy weapon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Domingues, Bennett K.

    This thesis explores the competition between Russia and the West for the oil and gas resources of the Caspian Sea region, an area where far more is at stake than simply acquisition of new energy supplies. Ultimately, the "winner" of the competition for Caspian Sea energy resources will determine whether Russia will become the primary energy supplier for Europe in the future, or whether there will be alternative, non-Russian energy routes from East to West. The thesis uses a qualitative approach, drawing on scholarly books and articles, current affairs publications, energy firm websites, and other sources to compare the ethical aspects of the strategies used by Russia and the West, to determine whose strategy has been more successful, and to analyze what this means for the political, economic, and security future of Europe. As this thesis demonstrates, Russia recognizes the importance of energy as both an economic and foreign policy tool. To secure access to the resources of the Caspian Sea region, Russia has used bribery and strongman tactics to secure arrangements and contracts favorable to Russian interests. When a country does not capitulate to these tactics, Russia applies other measures to influence these countries' policies. This thesis draws on two recent examples, Ukraine and Georgia, to demonstrate how Russia has used its position as a supplier of energy resources to influence countries to adopt policies complementary to Russian interests, or to punish them for failing to do so. The effectiveness of these Russian tactics is an important precedent for the countries of the Caspian Sea region to keep in mind as they make decisions that will determine their economic and political future for decades to come. In contrast, the western strategy of promoting quality products and services, while ensuring safety and conducting business according to western ethical norms, has been less successful than western firms originally envisioned. Undoubtedly western firms have

  12. Essays on Family Firms

    OpenAIRE

    Zhou, Haoyong

    2012-01-01

    The dissertation examines corporate performance and capital structure of family firms, contributing to the limited empirical research on family firms. Family firms are prevalent in national economies all over the world. It is the prevalence that makes family firms receive increasing attentions from academia. The dissertation consists of an introduction and three chapters. Each chapter is an independent paper. The first chapter is a joint work with Professor Morten Bennedsen and...

  13. Sustainable Entrepreneurship in the Energy Sector: A Perspective from a Brazilian Power Utility Firm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcus Vinicius de Oliveira Brasil

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The key question in this article consists of identifying the conditions under which the social projects developed by the firm Alpha are really promoting the sustainable development in the state of Ceará, located in Northeast Brazil. The general goal is to discuss if the firm’s social projects are related to the sustainable corporate entrepreneurship (SCE. This paper intends to stimulate the scientific community to advance knowledge on entrepreneurial, innovation and sustainability. This case study focuses on four Alpha’s projects: Ecological Initiative, Efficient Exchange, Social Energy, and School of Efficient Paths. The thematic content’s analysis methodology was used in this article. The documental research served as primary data source and helped to better elucidate the studied object. The researcher obtained 12 questionnaires answered. It was found an agreement of respondents to the categories: values, transparency and governance, workforce, environment, suppliers, consumers and customers and community. For the theme government and society, the results showed a disagreement with the category and for the last theme, innovation, the respondents are indifferent. After lexical analysis of data the results confirm in accordance with state of art of literature the existence of triple bottom line in the social projects of Alpha, by the categories resulted (profit, planet, people from content’s analysis of open questions. Alpha is a strong example of social commitment with poverty and environment. In conclusion, the research confirms that the firm promotes sustainable entrepreneurship and innovativeness leading to sustainable development.

  14. Global Sourcing and Firm Selection

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kohler, Wilhelm; Smolka, Marcel

    2014-01-01

    We analyze the sourcing strategies of firms active in the Spanish manufacturing sector. We show that firms that select strategies of vertical integration and of foreign sourcing ex post tend to have been more productive, ex ante, than other firms.......We analyze the sourcing strategies of firms active in the Spanish manufacturing sector. We show that firms that select strategies of vertical integration and of foreign sourcing ex post tend to have been more productive, ex ante, than other firms....

  15. Whom do new firms hire?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dahl, Michael S.; Klepper, Steven

    2015-01-01

    Using the matched employer-employee data set for Denmark and information on the founders of new firms, we analyze the hiring choices of all new firms that entered from 2003 to 2010. We develop a theoretical model in which the quality of a firm’s employees determines its average cost, a firm......, and firm size influence the wages firms pay to their early hires. We find that beginning with the time of entry, larger firms consistently pay higher wages to their new hires. These are firms with greater survival prospects at the time of entry based on the pre-entry backgrounds of their founders...

  16. Do Private Firms Outperform SOE Firms after Going Public in China Given their Different Governance Characteristics?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shenghui Tong

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available This study examines the characteristics of board structure that affect Chinese public firm’s financial performance. Using a sample of 871 firms with 699 observations of previously private firms and 1,914 observations of previously state-owned enterprise (SOE firms, we investigate the differences in corporate governance between publicly listed firms that used to be pure private firms before going public and listed firms that used to be SOEs before their initial public offerings (IPOs. Our main finding is that previously private firms outperform previously SOE firms in China after IPOs. In the wake of becoming listed firms, previously SOE firms might be faced with difficulties adjusting to professional business practices to build and extend competitive advantages. In addition, favorable policies and assistance from the government to the SOE firms might have triggered complacency, especially in early years after getting listed. On the other hand, professional savvy and acumen, combined with efficiency and favorable business climate created by the government have probably led the previously private firms to improve their values stronger and faster.

  17. Firm-specific factors and financial performance of firms in the Czech Republic

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pathirawasam Chandrapala

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this study is to investigate the role of internal factors in generating financial performance of firms in the Czech Republic. The paper examines the impact of firm specific factors on company financial performance of 974 firms in the Czech Republic over the period 2005 to 2008, using data in the Albertina database. Pooled and panel cross-sectional time series techniques are used for the data analysis. Return on Assets (ROA is the dependent variable of the model and eight firm specific factors are introduced as the explanatory variables. Using Return on Assets as the dependent variable, it is established that the firm size, sales growth and capital turnover are having significant positive impact on financial performance of firms. At the same time, debt ratio and inventory reflect significant negative impact on financial performance of firms. Overall explanatory powers of the two models are low and further research is necessary to increase the statistical power of the model. The results from the present study may be very encouraging and useful for managers as well as investors to plan investment and operational activities to achieve profitability objectives more efficiently and effectively. The findings have important managerial implications.

  18. The Relationship between Offshoring Strategies and Firm Performance: Impact of innovation, absorptive capacity and firm size

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    M.W. Roza-van Vuren (Marja)

    2011-01-01

    textabstractHow do offshoring strategies impact firm performance? And how are innovation, absorptive capacity and firm size influencing this relationship? This research investigates how firms of varying size, well-established firms and growing firms may profit from relocating business activities to

  19. Firm-Specific Learning and the Nature of the Firm

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Knudsen, Thorbjørn

    2007-01-01

    that a conjoint research program, encompassing both transaction costs and capabilities, must be developed and tested empirically. Cet article discute les limites d'une explication de l'existence de la firme fondée exclusivement sur les coûts de transaction en indiquant quelques facteurs additionnels susceptibles...... d'intervenir. Un modèle heuristique simple montre que les effets d'apprentissage spécifiques à la firme peuvent surmonter les coûts de surveillance des employés et expliquer l'existence de la firme même en l'absence de coûts de transaction liés au mode d'organisation de marché. Une comparaison de l......'importance relative des explications fondées sur les coûts de transaction et celles fondées sur les compétences en ce qui concerne l'existence de la firme montre qu'il n'y a aucune raison a priori de supposer la suprématie d'un type d'explication à l'autre. Nous soutenons qu'un programme de recherche conjoint...

  20. Stakeholder Governance, Competition and Firm Value

    OpenAIRE

    Allen, Franklin; Carletti, Elena; Marquez, Robert

    2014-01-01

    In many countries, the legal system or social norms ensure that firms are stakeholder oriented. We analyze the advantages and disadvantages of stakeholder-oriented firms that are concerned with employees and suppliers compared to shareholder-oriented firms in a model of imperfect competition. Stakeholder firms are more (less) valuable than shareholder firms when marginal cost uncertainty is greater (less) than demand uncertainty. With globalization shareholder firms and stakeholder firms ofte...

  1. Firm Exit, Technological Progress and Trade

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schröder, Philipp; Sørensen, Allan

    The dynamics of export market exit and firm closure have found limited attention in the new heterogeneous-firms trade literature. In fact, several of the predictions on firm survival and exit stemming from this new class of models are at odds with the stylized facts. Empirically, higher productiv......The dynamics of export market exit and firm closure have found limited attention in the new heterogeneous-firms trade literature. In fact, several of the predictions on firm survival and exit stemming from this new class of models are at odds with the stylized facts. Empirically, higher...... productivity firms survive longer, most firm closures are young firms, higher productivity exporters are more likely to continue to export compared to less productive exporters and market exits as well as firm closures are typically preceded by periods of contracting market shares. The present paper shows...... liberalization on export market exit and firm closure....

  2. Corporate Governance Provisions, Family Involvement, and Firm Performance in Publicly Traded Family Firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Esra Memili

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available This study examines the moderation effects of corporate governance provisions on the link between family involvement (i.e., family ownership and family management in publicly-traded firms and firm performance by drawing upon agency theory, with a focus on principal-principal agency issues, and the extant family governance literature. We develop and test the hypotheses on 386 of the S&P 500 firms longitudinally. Findings support the hypotheses suggesting the moderation effects of the use of provisions (a protecting controlling owners in terms of their sustainability of controlling status, and (b protecting management legally on the inverted U-shaped relationship between family ownership and firm performance. We also found support for the moderation effects of provisions (c protecting controlling owners in terms of their voting rights, (d protecting noncontrolling owners, and (e protecting management monetarily on the inverted U-shaped relationship between family management and firm performance. By this, our study provides empirical support for the principal-principal agency perspective on the corporate governance in publicly-traded family firms. As such, it suggests new avenues of research for both the corporate governance literature, as well as for the theory of the family firm. Our study also offers insights to policy directed toward monitoring the actions of large shareholders such as family and enhancing the overall shareholder value in publicly-traded family firms.

  3. Firming Up Inequality

    OpenAIRE

    Jae Song; David J. Price; Fatih Guvenen; Nicholas Bloom; Till von Wachter

    2015-01-01

    Earnings inequality in the United States has increased rapidly over the last three decades, but little is known about the role of firms in this trend. For example, how much of the rise in earnings inequality can be attributed to rising dispersion between firms in the average wages they pay, and how much is due to rising wage dispersion among workers within firms? Similarly, how did rising inequality affect the wage earnings of different types of workers working for the same employer—men vs. w...

  4. A firm-specific exposure analyis of the exchange-rate exposure of Dutch firms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Jong, A.; Ligterink, J.; Macrae, V.

    2006-01-01

    We examine the relationship between exchange-rate changes and stock returns for a sample of Dutch firms over 1994-1998. We find that over 50 per cent of the firms are significantly exposed to exchange-rate risk. Furthermore, all firms with significant exchange-rate exposure benefit from a

  5. COEXISTENCE OF PRIVATE FIRMS AND OPEN SOURCE FIRMS UNDER SPILLOVERS AND CONSUMER BIAS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Murat YILMAZ

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Open source technologies have been an important divergence from the private produc- tion, and some markets have accommodated both open source firms and private firms. We explore the conditions under which such a coexistence of both type of firms can be seen. Through a simple and tractable game theoretical model, with spillovers on the open source production and positive consumer bias for the privately produced good, we analyze the conditions for which, in the equilibrium, a private firm and an open source firm share the market. We find that for large enough consumer bias, the two types cannot coexist, however when the consumer bias is relatively low and the spillover effect is not too strong, then we get a coexistence result.

  6. Energy in Europe: the case of electricity or 'how to be european?'

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lescoeur, B.; Verger, E.

    2007-01-01

    After a long period of benign neglect, concern has been re-aroused for questions related to energy. European Union has succeeded in opening its gas and electricity markets to free competition. This deregulation process began between 10 and 20 years ago. It was at a time of low electricity prices because Europe was facing a power overproduction due to the important investment made in this sector. Low price policy has made companies to re-organize themselves and the sector in order to stay profitable. Now we are entering a new period in which energy prices keep increasing following the strong energy demand. Europe needs to augment its production of electricity, and firms are now drafting strategies on a continental scale. A major piece of the energy puzzle is still missing: the yet to be designed European energy policy

  7. Effect of Work-Life Balance Practices on Firm Productivity: Evidence from Japanese firm-level panel data

    OpenAIRE

    YAMAMOTO Isamu; MATSUURA Toshiyuki

    2012-01-01

    This paper examines how firm practices that could contribute to worker attainment of work-life balance (WLB) affect the total factor productivity (TFP) of a firm, by using panel data of Japanese firms from the 1990s. We observed a positive correlation between the WLB practices and TFP among sampled firms. However, that correlation vanished when we controlled for unobserved firm heterogeneity, and we found no general causal relationship in which WLB practices increase firm TFP in the medium or...

  8. Organizational learning capability, firm innovativeness, and firm performance: A meta-analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schlägel, Christopher; Reichel, Lisa-Marie; Richter, Nicole Franziska

    In the last twenty years a growing number of empirical studies tested the association be-tween organizational learning capability (OLC) and various economic outcomes. While these studies have provided a better understanding of these relationships, the literature is characterized by the use...... different measures. Based on 53 studies (13,663 firms), we (a) provide a systematic overview of the most commonly used OLC measures, (b) use meta-analytic techniques to highlight the relevance of OLC for firm innovativeness (ruc = .39) and firm perfor-mance (ruc = .41), and (c) explore the unique and common...

  9. Firm Search for External Knowledge

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sofka, Wolfgang; Grimpe, Christoph

    2012-01-01

    ignored the institutional context that provides or denies access to external knowledge at the country level. Combining institutional and knowledge search theory, we suggest that the market orientation of the institutional environment and the magnitude of institutional change influence when firms begin......The innovation performance of modern firms is increasingly determined by their ability to search and absorb external knowledge. However, after a certain threshold firms "oversearch" their environment and innovation performance declines. In this paper, we argue that prior literature has largely...... to experience the negative performance effects of oversearch. Based on a comprehensive sample of almost 8,000 firms from ten European countries, we find that institutions matter considerably for firms' search activity. Higher market orientation of institutions increases the effectiveness of firms' search...

  10. The relationship between strategic type and firm capabilities in Chinese firms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Benedetto, Di A.C.; Song, X.M.

    2003-01-01

    Proposes that firms of different Miles and Snow strategic types will have different bundles of firm-level capabilities; that is, certain capabilities will be more important to certain strategic types. Specifically, proposes that prospectors have greater relative inside-out capabilities and

  11. Social security and firm performance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lee, Sangheon; Torm, Nina

    2017-01-01

    This article investigates how social security provision - a key determinant of formality - impacts on small and medium-sized firm performance in Viet Nam. Based on enterprise census data covering all registered firms from 2006 to 2011, the authors find that firms which increase their social...... security coverage by 10 per cent experience a revenue gain of 1.4-2.0 per cent per worker and a profit gain of up to 1.8 per cent, depending on the survival time of the firm. However, given the time lag between 'investment' (in social security contributions) and returns (enhanced firm performance...

  12. Decomposing Firm-level Sales Variation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Munch, Jakob Roland; Nguyen, Daniel Xuyen

    , and that for the median product it drives 31% of the sales variation. When we remove first-time exports from our sample, the median value increases to 40%, implying that firm-destination-specific effects are most important the first year. We conclude that while firm-specific productivity can account for some......We measure the contribution of firm-specific effects to overall sales variation within a destination and find it remarkably low. Our empirical decomposition is structurally motivated by a heterogeneity model of exporting involving destination-specific, firm-specific, and firm......-destination-specific latent effects with incidental truncation. We use a highly detailed dataset with exports by products and destinations for all Danish manufacturing fi…rms. We fi…nd the contribution of firm-specific heterogeneity to within-destination sales variation varies greatly across HS6 products...

  13. Family firm research – A review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qiang Cheng

    2014-09-01

    Part I of the article discusses the fundaments of family firms: the prevalence of and the agency conflicts within family firms. Part II summarizes the findings of recent U.S. family firm studies. It reviews the evidence on the family firm premium (how, which, and when family firms are associated with a valuation premium, the manifestation of the agency conflict between majority and minority shareholders in family firms, earnings quality and corporate disclosure, and the determinants of family ownership and control. Part III discusses the prevalence and characteristics of Chinese family firms and reviews the findings of related studies. The article concludes with some suggestions for future research.

  14. Connected Firms and Investor Myopia

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ginglinger, Edith; Hébert, Camille; Renneboog, Luc

    2017-01-01

    Conglomerates, multinational corporations and business groups are non-exclusive forms of complex firms. Often organized as corporate networks, complex firms control a myriad of firms connected through ownership links. We investigate whether parent-subsidiary links within corporate networks enhance

  15. Inference from concave stochastic frontiers and the covariance of firm efficiency measures across firms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dashti, Imad

    2003-01-01

    This paper uses a Bayesian stochastic frontier model to obtain confidence intervals on firm efficiency measures of electric utilities rather than the point estimates reported in most previous studies. Results reveal that the stochastic frontier model yields imprecise measures of firm efficiency. However, the application produces much more precise inference on pairwise efficiency comparisons of firms due to a sometimes strong positive covariance of efficiency measures across firms. In addition, we examine the sensitivity to functional form by repeating the analysis for Cobb-Douglas, translog and Fourier frontiers, with and without imposing monotonicity and concavity

  16. Gender Segregation Small Firms

    OpenAIRE

    Kenneth R Troske; William J Carrington

    1992-01-01

    This paper studies interfirm gender segregation in a unique sample of small employers. We focus on small firms because previous research on interfirm segregation has studied only large firms and because it is easier to link the demographic characteristics of employers and employees in small firms. This latter feature permits an assessment of the role of employer discrimination in creating gender segregation. Our first finding is that interfirm segregation is prevalent among small employers. I...

  17. How small firms contrast with large firms regarding perceptions, practices, and needs in the U.S

    Science.gov (United States)

    Urs Buehlmann; Matthew Bumgardner; Michael. Sperber

    2013-01-01

    As many larger secondary woodworking firms have moved production offshore and been adversely impacted by the recent housing downturn, smaller firms have become important to driving U.S. hardwood demand. This study compared and contrasted small and large firms on a number of factors to help determine the unique characteristics of small firms and to provide insights into...

  18. Status of Nuclear Activities of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Begum, Zakia [Planning and Development, Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission - BAEC, Paramanu Bhaban, E 12/A, Agargoan, 01207 Shere Banglanagar, Dhaka (Bangladesh)

    2008-07-01

    Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) is the national authority for acquisition, development and application of Nuclear Science and Technology and thus is playing the pioneering role for the development of the country's nuclear research programmes and thus helping to achieve the cherished goal of self-reliance through national efforts and international co-operation. Being firmly committed to the peaceful uses of Atomic Energy, programmes have been undertaken in Physical Sciences, Biological Sciences, Engineering and Nuclear Power Sector by Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission and some of the results have been transferred from laboratories to hospitals, agriculture, industries and environment for practical applications. In spite of some major constrains, presently BAEC's activities have increased many folds and keeping in view of the overall power crisis of the country efforts have also been given to establish Nuclear Power Plant in the country. (author)

  19. A sustainability assessment system for Chinese iron and steel firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Long, Yunguang; Pan, Jieyi; Farooq, Sami

    2016-01-01

    from financial and sustainability reports of four leading Chinese iron and steel firms. The proposed sustainable assessment system is envisaged to help Chinese iron and steel firms to objectively investigate their sustainability performance, provide clear and effective information to decision makers......The environmental impact of the Chinese iron and steel industry is huge due to its high consumption of ore, coal and energy, and water and air pollution. It is important not only for China but also for the rest of the world that the Chinese iron and steel industry becomes more sustainable....... A sustainable assessment indicator system is an important tool to support that development. Currently, however, a sustainable assessment system, specifically designed to match the characteristics of Chinese iron and steel firms, is not available. In this paper such a system is proposed and evaluated using data...

  20. Board diversity in family firms

    OpenAIRE

    Menozzi, Anna; Fraquelli, Giovanni; Novara, Jolanda de

    2015-01-01

    The paper deals with diversity as a key factor to improve the board of directors’ decision process in family firms. The empirical literature about board diversity points at the positive impact of diversity on board functioning and firm performance. The paper uses a statistical diversity index to capture the heterogeneity of board of directors and put it in relation with firm performance, as measured by firm profitability. The empirical analysis is based on a newly collected panel of 327 famil...

  1. Collaborative Communities of Firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    2011-01-01

    and developing strategic initiatives that aid the community as a whole. We discuss the facilitator role of the shared services provider, contrasting it with the coordinator role found in other multi-firm organizations, and we show how shared services providers function by describing three examples...... is an organizational model called the collaborative community of firms. This chapter addresses an important organizational role in a collaborative community, that of the shared services provider. The shared services provider acts as a facilitator in the community, helping member firms collaborate with one another...... of collaborative communities of firms from different sectors: the U.S.-based Blade.org and two Denmark-based communities, the Kalundborg Industrial Symbiosis and MG50. Implications for the theory and practice of organization design are discussed....

  2. 7 CFR 51.893 - Firm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Firm. 51.893 Section 51.893 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Standards for Grades of Table Grapes (European or Vinifera Type) 1 Definitions § 51.893 Firm. Firm means...

  3. Firm-Level Corruption in Vietnam

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rand, John; Tarp, Finn

    This paper uses a unique panel dataset on firm-level corruption. It contains quantitative information on bribe payments by a sample of formal and informal Vietnamese firms. We show that bribe incidence is highly associated with firm-level differences in (i) visibility, (ii) sunk costs, (iii...

  4. A firm's activity in social media and its relationship with corporate reputation, firm size and firm performance

    OpenAIRE

    Mäkinen, Hanna

    2015-01-01

    The significance of social media has increased greatly in the past few years, leading companies to increase their social media activity and also increase their interest in knowing whether it is genuinely worth being active on social media, including knowing the potential advantages. This study aims to examine the relationship between social media activity and three variables: reputation, firm size and firm performance. The study analyzes the relationships between the constru...

  5. Strategic Renewal in Regulatory Environments: How inter- and intra-organisational institutional forces influence European incumbent energy firms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    M. Stienstra (Marten)

    2008-01-01

    textabstractHow do incumbent firms strategically renew in regulatory environments? Assuming that regulation can both constrain and enable a firm’s strategic renewal opportunities, we investigate how and to what extent incumbent firms undertake exploitative and explorative strategic renewal actions

  6. Selection of workers and firm heterogeneity

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    G.W.J. Hendrikse (George)

    1992-01-01

    textabstractA model based on differences between workers regarding their preferences for wage and leisure drives the heterogeneity of firms result. The more industrious workers are driven to small firms due to free riding in large firms. An industry consisting of small and large firms turns out to

  7. Shared vision promotes family firm performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neff, John E

    2015-01-01

    A clear picture of the influential drivers of private family firm performance has proven to be an elusive target. The unique characteristics of private family owned firms necessitate a broader, non-financial approach to reveal firm performance drivers. This research study sought to specify and evaluate the themes that distinguish successful family firms from less successful family firms. In addition, this study explored the possibility that these themes collectively form an effective organizational culture that improves longer-term firm performance. At an organizational level of analysis, research findings identified four significant variables: Shared Vision (PNS), Role Clarity (RCL), Confidence in Management (CON), and Professional Networking (OLN) that positively impacted family firm financial performance. Shared Vision exhibited the strongest positive influence among the significant factors. In addition, Family Functionality (APGAR), the functional integrity of the family itself, exhibited a significant supporting role. Taken together, the variables collectively represent an effective family business culture (EFBC) that positively impacted the long-term financial sustainability of family owned firms. The index of effective family business culture also exhibited potential as a predictive non-financial model of family firm performance.

  8. Shared Vision promotes family firm performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John Edward Neff

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available A clear picture of the influential drivers of private family firm performance has proven to be an elusive target. The unique characteristics of private family owned firms necessitate a broader, non-financial approach to reveal firm performance drivers. This research study sought to specify and evaluate the themes that distinguish successful family firms from less successful family firms. In addition, this study explored the possibility that these themes collectively form an effective organizational culture that improves longer-term firm performance. At an organizational level of analysis, research findings identified four significant variables: Shared Vision (PNS, Role Clarity (RCL, Confidence in Management (CON, and Professional Networking (OLN that positively impacted family firm financial performance. Shared Vision exhibited the strongest positive influence among the significant factors. In addition, Family Functionality (APGAR, the functional integrity of the family itself exhibited a significant supporting role. Taken together, the variables collectively represent an effective family business culture (EFBC that positively impacted the long-term financial sustainability of family owned firms. The index of effective family business culture also exhibited potential as a predictive non-financial model of family firm performance.

  9. 7 CFR 51.1551 - Firm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Firm. 51.1551 Section 51.1551 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Standards for Grades of Potatoes 1 Definitions § 51.1551 Firm. Firm means that the potato is not shriveled...

  10. 7 CFR 51.696 - Firm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Firm. 51.696 Section 51.696 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... § 51.696 Firm. Firm as applied to common oranges, means that the fruit is not soft, or noticeably...

  11. 7 CFR 51.1353 - Firm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Firm. 51.1353 Section 51.1353 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Standards for Pears for Canning Definitions § 51.1353 Firm. Firm means that the pear is fairly solid and...

  12. 7 CFR 51.1006 - Firm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Firm. 51.1006 Section 51.1006 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Standards for Persian (Tahiti) Limes Definitions § 51.1006 Firm. Firm means that the fruit is not soft or...

  13. 7 CFR 51.1824 - Firm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Firm. 51.1824 Section 51.1824 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Standards for Grades of Florida Tangerines Definitions § 51.1824 Firm. Firm means that the flesh is not soft...

  14. 7 CFR 51.765 - Firm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Firm. 51.765 Section 51.765 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Standards for Grades of Florida Grapefruit Definitions § 51.765 Firm. Firm means that the fruit is not soft...

  15. 40 CFR 745.89 - Firm certification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 30 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Firm certification. 745.89 Section 745... § 745.89 Firm certification. (a) Initial certification. (1) Firms that perform renovations for compensation must apply to EPA for certification to perform renovations or dust sampling. To apply, a firm must...

  16. The impact of firm and industry characteristics on small firms' capital structure

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Degryse, H.A.; de Goeij, P. C.; Kappert, P.

    2012-01-01

    We study the impact of firm and industry characteristics on small firms’ capital structure, employing a proprietary database containing financial statements of Dutch small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from 2003 to 2005. The firm characteristics suggest that the capital structure decision is

  17. Leverage, Growth Opportunities and Firm Investment: The Case of Manufacturing Firms in China

    OpenAIRE

    Di Sheng; Shuyang Hou

    2014-01-01

    This paper examined the impact of financial leverage on investment decisions offirms using the panel data of publicly traded Chinese firms. We collected data for511 manufacturing companies during the period from 2005 to 2013 to do theresearch. The data shows that financial leverage is negatively correlated with afirm’s investment. Moreover, after we categorized the data into two types: 1)high-growth firms and 2) low-growth firms, it demonstrated that such negativecorrelation is significant fo...

  18. 7 CFR 51.634 - Firm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Firm. 51.634 Section 51.634 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing...) Definitions § 51.634 Firm. Firm means that the fruit is not soft, or noticeably wilted or flabby, and the skin...

  19. Experiences of Emerging Economy Firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Experiences of Emerging Economy Firms investigates the different elements of the experiences of emerging economy firms and sheds essential light on a large variety of aspects associated with their functioning in both home and host contexts. For example, firms must be able to overcome the liability...... of foreign and emerging issues when they expand their activities in various contexts, enter, exit, and re-enter overseas markets; they have to overcome institutional barriers, adapt the cultural challenges in foreign markets, undergo the impact of large multinational firms from developed economies...

  20. 7 CFR 51.1156 - Firm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Firm. 51.1156 Section 51.1156 Agriculture Regulations... Standards for Grades of Florida Oranges and Tangelos Definitions § 51.1156 Firm. Firm as applied to common... oranges of the Mandarin group (Satsumas, King, Mandarin), “firm” means that the fruit is not extremely...

  1. Firm Leverage and the Financial Crisis

    OpenAIRE

    Fatih Altunok; Arif Oduncu

    2014-01-01

    The firm growth dynamics is an important topic since the growth performance of firms is the main source of the economic growth in countries. Generally, crises produce a sharp decline in firms’ growth and this leads to a decline in both the level of employment and the income of households. This paper focuses on the role of firm leverage on the growth performance of the firm during the global financial crisis. We investigate whether the firms that experienced a large leverage increase before th...

  2. You Can Help Keep the Air Cleaner -- Every Day

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... car and avoid extended idling. Be sure your tires are properly inflated. Keep car, boat and other ... little higher in the summer and lower in winter. Participate in local energy conservation programs. Look for ...

  3. The Identity of Ownership on Firm Internationalization

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Strandskov, Jesper; Madsen, Tage Koed; Pedersen, Bent

    2016-01-01

    The paper develops an integrative ownership-internationalization model that explores the influences of various owner types (i.e. investor-owned firms, family-owned firms, employee-owned firms, cooperative–owned firms, and state-owned firms) on firm internationalization. Based on a comparative...... analysis of the various owner types, we discuss how each owner group’s main objectives, risk behavior and provision of resources influence their internationalization strategies and decisions (i.e. scale, scope and speed decisions)....

  4. The Role of Firm Ownership on Internationalization

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hobdari, Bersant; Gregoric, Aleksandra; Sinani, Evis

    2011-01-01

    This paper investigates how different types of owners influence the extent of firm internationalization, measured by the share of firm exports in total sales. The results of the analysis carried out using firm level data of Estonian and Slovenian firms, show that the firms under the control...... in internationalization process. Finally, high market share also leads to increased internationalization through exports as firms seek to expand in foreign markets after having dominated the domestic ones....

  5. Construction cost impacts related to manpower, material, and equipment factors in contractor firms perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Husin, Saiful; Abdullah, Riza, Medyan; Afifuddin, Mochammad

    2017-11-01

    Risk can be defined as consequences which possible happened inscrutably. Although an activity has planned as good as possible, but it keep contains uncertainty. Implementation of construction project was encountering various risk impacts from a number of risk factors. This study was intended to analyze the impacts of construction cost to for contractor firms as construction project executor related to the factors of manpower, material and equipment. The study was using data obtained from questionnaires distributed to 15 large qualification contractor firms. The period of study classified into conflict period (2000-2004), post tsunami disaster rehabilitation and reconstruction period (2005-2009), and post rehabilitation and reconstruction period (2010-present). The statistical analysis of severity index and variance used to analyze the data. The three risk factors reviewed generally affected the cost in a medium impact. The high impact occurred in minor variables, which are `increase in material prices', `theft of materials', and `the fuel scarcity'. In overall, the three risk factors and the observed period contributed significant impact on construction costs.

  6. Foreign Exchange Exposures of Korean Firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sungbin Cho

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available We measure foreign exchange exposures as sensitivity of firm's value to FX premium in the CAPM plus FX premium model, and try to find determinants of the exposures; using data of non-financial companies listed in the Korea Exchange from the year 2007 to 2008. Main findings are as follows. If Korean won depreciates, only a small number of firms is benefitted while majority of firms are harmed to the contrary of common knowledge. As a firm's export increases, the foreign exchange exposure increases up to a certain level and after that it declines. And, smaller firms of negative foreign exchange exposures are more sensitive to foreign exchange changes. These suggest heterogeneous effects of foreign exchange rates on industries and firms.

  7. Essays in economics: 1. Pre-committed government spending and partisan politics. 2. Investment in energy efficiency: Do the characteristics of firms matter? 3. Information processing and organizational structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watkins, William Edward, Jr.

    1. Spending commitments requiring future outlays are important for understanding partisan politics because they prevent a conservative government from scaling back spending programs. In a one-government-good model, a "stubborn liberal" policy maker can use precommitted spending to prevent a later conservative government from imposing spending cuts. In a model where parties differ about spending priorities, re-election uncertainty creates a bias towards higher government spending and higher taxes. 2. The literature on energy efficiency provides examples of profitable technologies that are not universally adopted. Theory indicates that firms should undertake all investments with a positive net present value, and that the discount rate for computing the present value of a project should be the return available on other projects in the same risk class, not on characteristics of the firm. This model is tested by examining whether firms' characteristics influence their decision to join the Environmental Protection Agency's Green Lights program. A discrete choice regression is estimated over a sample of participating and non-participating firms. Missing values in the data matrix are replaced with multiple imputations using the EM algorithm. The results show that: (1) substantial improvements in the power of hypothesis tests can be achieved through imputation of missing data, and (2) characteristics of firms do affect their decision to join Green Lights. 3. Standard theories of the firm stress profit maximization as the foundation for derivation of predictable behavior. Yet evidence continues to accumulate that firms do not act as required by the neoclassical framework. Instead of being represented by ever more elaborate maximization models, the firm can be modeled simply as a network of information-processing agents. The actions of the firm are then a function only of the network structure and the information-processing capabilities of the agents. This approach can be

  8. Heterogeneity in Firm Performance During Economic Crisis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergio Bruni

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available What happens to firms during periods of deep economic crisis? Did different types of firms perform differently under the economic crisis? With the aid of a rich database and focusing on the literature regarding the growth of firms, this paper investigates the relative profitability performance of Italian firms during the current economic crisis, exploring those factors, which help certain firms to do relatively better even in the slowdown period. Some preliminary results show that the Italian firms that are relatively young in age, with relatively better current liquidity and more focused on domestic market have performed better than other firms. Furthermore, firms operating in high-tech and in highly concentrated sectors have enjoyed a better performance in this period.

  9. THE EFFECT OF THE INTERNAL AUDIT AND FIRM PERFORMANCE: A PROPOSED RESEARCH FRAMEWORK

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ebrahim Mohammed Al-Matari

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This study attempts to propose a structure of the relationships between the internal audits characteristics (IAC; such as professional qualifications of the chief audit executive of the Internal Audit (IA, size, experience, and qualification; and firm performance. The presence of an internal audit department is significant as it is considered as the main element in employing accounting systems and this, in turn, assists in evaluating the department’s work. The internal audit is deemed as the core of business accounting as it is the section that keeps track of all businesses associated with the sector. The internal audit efficiency assists in developing the company’s work because the financial reports present the internal audit department’s quality. In addition, an internal audit is a crucial part of corporate governance structure in an organization and corporate governance (CG covers the activities of oversight conducted by the board of directors and audit committees to ensure credible financial reporting process (Public Oversight Board, 1994. Consistent with previous studies of the importance of internal audit, this study provides comprehensive oversights on the relationship between internal audit and firm performance. The past literature reveals there is a paucity of studies exploring the association between internal audit characteristics (IAC and firm performance whether conceptual or empirical. The main objective of this study is to fill up the gap in the literature and provide an opportunity for future research to deeply to investigate this relationship.

  10. Gibrat's Law and the Firm Size / Firm Growth Relationship in Italian Services

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    R. Piergiovanni; E. Santarelli (Enrico); L. Klomp (Luuk); A.R. Thurik (Roy)

    2002-01-01

    textabstractSeveral surveys on intra-industry dynamics have recently reached the conclusion from a large body of evidence that Gibrat's Law does not hold, i.e., the main finding is that firm growth decreases with firm size. However, almost all of these studies have been based on manufacturing. In

  11. Drivers of Discretionary Firm Donations in Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rodrigo Bandeira-de-Mello

    2008-10-01

    Full Text Available Discretionary firm donation is usually related to the stakeholder theory and corporate social performance. Although theoretical explanations for this social behavior are pervasive in related literature, empirical modeling remains underdeveloped. We developed an explanatory structural model of discretionary firm donation using firm and industry level indicators. Unlike previous research, we estimated the explanatory power of the construct we called stakeholder orientation. Our tentative model was tested on a Brazilian sample of 101 publicly traded donor firms, using data on firm donations to social projects and to political candidates in electoral campaigns. The main results suggest that discretionary donation seems to be a strategy for managing conflicting claims in highly stakeholder oriented firms; the characteristics of the firm are more important than industry effects in explaining firm donations; and large firms, showing slack resources, and with a less concentrated ownership structure tend to engage in discretionary donation more intensively.

  12. Foreign Entry and Heterogeneous Growth of Firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Deng, Paul Duo; Jefferson, Gary H.

    We adopt the framework of Schumpeterian creative destruction formalized by Aghion et al. (2009) to analyze the impact of foreign entry on the productivity growth of domestic firms. In the face of foreign entry, domestic firms exhibit heterogeneous patterns of growth depending on their technologic...... manufacturing. Our empirical results confirm that foreign entry indeed generates strong heterogeneous growth patterns among domestic firms.......We adopt the framework of Schumpeterian creative destruction formalized by Aghion et al. (2009) to analyze the impact of foreign entry on the productivity growth of domestic firms. In the face of foreign entry, domestic firms exhibit heterogeneous patterns of growth depending on their technological...... distance from foreign firms. Domestic firms with smaller technological distance from their foreign counterparts tend to experience faster productivity growth, while firms with larger technological distance tend to lag further behind. We test this hypothesis using a unique firm-level data of Chinese...

  13. Essays on Firm Behavior in Developing Economies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abeberese, Ama Baafra

    The performance of firms is central to growth in developing economies. A burgeoning literature within development economics seeks to understand the behavior of firms in developing countries and the constraints to their performance. This dissertation explores two types of constraints---infrastructure-related constraints and trade-related constraints---faced by manufacturing firms in developing countries. Despite the widely acknowledged importance of infrastructure for economic growth, there has been relatively little research on how infrastructure affects the decisions of firms. Electricity, in particular, is commonly cited by firms in developing countries as a major obstacle to their performance. In the first two chapters, I analyze the responses of firms to two types of electricity constraints, namely electricity prices and electricity shortages. Chapter 1 provides evidence on how electricity prices affect a firm's industry choice and productivity growth using data on Indian manufacturing firms. I construct an instrument for electricity price as the interaction between the price of coal paid by power utilities, which is arguably exogenous to firm characteristics, and the initial share of thermal generation in a state's total electricity generation capacity. I find that, in response to an exogenous increase in electricity price, firms reduce their electricity consumption and switch to industries with less electricity-intensive production processes. I also find that firm output, machine intensity and labor productivity decline with an increase in electricity price. In addition to these level effects, I show that firm output and productivity growth rates are negatively affected by high electricity prices. These results suggest that electricity constraints faced by firms may limit a country's growth by leading firms to operate in industries with fewer productivity-enhancing opportunities. Chapter 2 examines the impact of electricity shortages on firm investment. I

  14. Keeping Energy Savings in the LOOP

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Parrish, Kristen [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Mercado, Andrea [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

    2012-11-01

    Mesa Lane Partners (MLP) partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop and implement solutions to a build a new, low-energy mixed-use building that consumes at least 50% less energy than requirements set by Energy Standard 90.1-2007 of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and the Illuminating Engineering Society of America (IESNA), as part of DOE’s Commercial Building Partnerships (CBP)3 Program. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) provided technical expertise in support of this DOE program. The privately developed 46,000-square-foot LOOP project, which is intended to provide affordable off-campus student housing in an underserved community next to University of California at Santa Barbara, will contain more than 7,000 square feet of retail space, a roof deck, an event space, a gym, and 48 apartments. The project developer, MLP, is aiming to exceed CBP requirement, targeting energy consumption that is at least 65% less than that required by the standard. If the LOOP meets this goal, it is expected to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification. To meet this goal, the project design incorporates a variety of energy efficiency measures (EEMs) that address the needs of the multiple use types that the project will house.

  15. Do Treasure Islands Create Firm Value?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lai, Tat-kei; Ng, Travis

    They do! Otherwise, their use would not have been so prevalent among firms. How much firm value they create, however, is still an open question. Exploiting a political event in the U.K. that suddenly raised the cost of using tax havens, we find that there was a 0.87% reduction in cumulative...... abnormal return (CAR) among the sampled firms, corresponding to about £532 million in market capitalization. The firms of stronger corporate governance registered a stronger reduction in CAR. A simple linear extrapolation suggests that the firm value contributed by tax havens can be as much as £31 billion....

  16. A resource based view to small firms' sustainable competitive advantages: A case of Iranian small firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali Reza Babakhan

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available During the last decades, the importance of small firms as one of the main economical parts in each country has been proved. Considering to the resources limitation in one hand, and the competitive global market in the other hand, it is very important that firms can obtain sustainable competitive advantages (SCAs to compete with other rivals. This paper, at the first step, tries to explore the potentially SCAs of Qom's small firms by using of Structural Equation Model (SEM. Then, the real current situation of firms in using these competitive advantages has been examined. The results tell that except firms' location, other potentially SCAs do not have acceptable condition.

  17. Do Work-Life Balance Policies Increase a Firm's Total Factor Productivity?: Evidence from panel data of Japanese firms (Japanese)

    OpenAIRE

    YAMAMOTO Isamu; MATSUURA Toshiyuki

    2011-01-01

    This paper examines how firms' policies for workers' work-life balance (WLB) affect total factor productivity (TFP) in the long run, by using panel data of Japanese firms from the 1990s. Although we observed a positive correlation between firms' WLB policies and their TFP, once controlling for unobserved firm heterogeneity, we found no causal relationship where WLB policies increase a firm's TFP in the long run. Under the following conditions, however, WLB policies would likely improve a firm...

  18. Agility in a small software firm

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schmidt, Thomas; Mathiassen, Lars

    2009-01-01

    Small software firms are vulnerable to environmental uncertainty. While agile methods and other technologies offer suggestions to this challenge, we know little about how these firms combine project and firm level capabilities to effectively respond to changes. On this backdrop, we examine a small...... Danish software firm, TeachTech Inc., through the lens of Haeckel's sense-and-respond approach. Our analysis suggests that: the firm has appropriate sense-and-respond cycles, but improving process modularity and human resource flexibility, could increase its ability to respond faster and more effectively......; the firm focuses on specific business goals, but these are not clearly explicated and expressed as empowering governing values enabling a quick and coordinated response; complex and demanding challenges are related to dynamically reassigning commitments and the supporting mechanisms are insufficient...

  19. Foreign Firms, Domestic Wages

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Malchow-Møller, Nikolaj; Markusen, James R.; Schjerning, Bertel

    Many papers have documented a wage premium in foreign-owned and large firms. However, there is very little formal theory in the literature and empirical analyses are typically not based on hypotheses which are rigorously derived from theory. This paper contributes to the theory-empirics gap...... by developing a model that allows for two "pure" explanations for the wage premium. The first is a heterogenous-worker explanation along the lines of Yeaple (2005), where firms that select more scaleintensive technologies select ex-ante more productive workers. In this case, the wage premium is a pure selection...... phenomenon. The second explanation builds on the heterogeneous-firm model of Melitz (2003) combined with on-the-job learning as in Markusen (2001). Productivity differences between firms are internalized by ex-ante homogeneous workers, so the wage premium is a pure learning phenomenon due to ex-post higher...

  20. Foreign Firms, Domestic Wages

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Malchow-Møller, Nikolaj; Schjerning, Bertel; R. Markusen, James

    2013-01-01

    Three types of theories have been used to explain the wage premium in foreign firms: the theories of heterogeneous workers, heterogeneous learning, and heterogeneous firms. We set up a model that explicitly encompasses two of these theories, and that can illustrate the third. This unifying...

  1. Location of New Firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Backman, Mikaela; Karlsson, Charlie

    2017-01-01

    characteristics, such as the commuting experience. Our results show that commuting influences the firm location choice. The probability of establishing a firm in the work municipality increases if the entrepreneur is a commuter, holding constant the type of region and unobservable and observable individual...

  2. How do Economic Crises Impact Firm Boundaries?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Foss, Kirsten

    2010-01-01

    How economic crises impact the boundaries of firms has been offered virtually no attention in the literature on the theory of the firm. I review the best-known theories of the firm and identify the variables that matter for the explanation of firm boundaries. I then examine how an economic crisis...... may impact these variables and change efficient firm boundaries. The various theories of the firm have difficulties explaining how firms efficiently adapt their boundaries to such prominent characteristics of economic crisis as declining demand and increased costs of external finance. However, all...... these theories stress uncertainty as an antecedent of firm organization, and as uncertainty is also an important characteristic of an economic crisis I examine how uncertainty is allowed to play out in the various theories in order to identify what predictions we can derive from the theory regarding changes...

  3. Bundling and mergers in energy markets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Granier, Laurent; Podesta, Marion

    2010-01-01

    Does bundling trigger mergers in energy industries? We observe mergers between firms belonging to various energy markets, for instance between gas and electricity providers. These mergers enable firms to bundle. We consider two horizontally differentiated markets. In this framework, we show that bundling strategies in energy markets create incentives to form multi-market firms in order to supply bi-energy packages. Moreover, we find that this type of merger is detrimental to social welfare. (author)

  4. Innovative knowledge sharing, supply chain integration and firm performance of Australian manufacturing firms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Singh, Prakash J.; Power, Damien

    2014-01-01

    A number of reports show that innovation in Australian manufacturing firms is declining. We propose that better knowledge sharing practices can assist these firms to become more innovative. In this paper, we examine this proposition by empirically testing the relationship between knowledge sharing

  5. Does Labor Diversity Affect Firm Performance?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pytlikova, Mariola; Pozzoli, Dario; Parrotta, Pierpaolo

    /education significantly enhances firm performance as measured by firm TFP. Conversely, diversity in demographics and ethnicity brings mixed results – both dimensions of workforce diversity have either no or negative effects on firm TFP. Hence, it seems as if the negative effects, coming from communication and integration...... costs connected to a more demographically and culturally diverse workforce, counteract the positive effects of diversity on firm TFP, coming from creativity and knowledge spillovers. However, we find that ethnic diversity is valuable for firms operating in industries characterized by above-average trade...... openness, giving support to the hypothesis that an ethnically diverse workforce provides information and access to global markets....

  6. From Knowledge to Firm Performance: An Empirical analysis of Intellectual Capital Impact in Polish and Dutch Listed Firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Koen Verduijn

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: Empirical results about the direct relation of knowledge leading to financial performance at a firm is dispersed. This study aims to examine the impact intellectual capital (IC has on firm performance in Polish and Dutch listed firms.Methodology: Quantitative data is collected based on audited annual reports from the top 20 companies listed at the Warsaw Stock Exchange and Amsterdam Stock Exchange between 2007 and 2011. IC is measured using the VAIC methodology with its individual elements of HCE, SCE, and CEE. Direct relations between ICE, HCE, and SCE and five measures of firm performance are statistically analysed.Results: The results suggest that there is a direct positive relationship between ICE and firm performance of Polish and Dutch listed firms, particularly with ROA, ROE, EP, and to a lesser extent with ATO. Firms listed in Poland provide a stronger positive ICE relation to ROA and ROE where firms listed in the Netherlands provide a stronger positive ICE relation to EP. Regarding individual elements, HCE relates highly positive to ROA, ROE, and EP where SCE finds only partial negative relation with ATO.Implications: Nurturing IC and in particular HC confirms the importance of firm knowledge and employees with right training and other support. Additionally, further clarification regarding SC is required.Originality: This paper presents the first study of the IC relationship with firm performance in Poland as well in the Netherlands. Additionally, the comparison between firms of both countries establishes a novelty in IC research.

  7. Procurement with Specialized Firms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boone, J.; Schottmuller, C.

    2011-01-01

    This paper analyzes optimal procurement mechanisms in a setting where the procurement agency has incomplete information concerning the firms’ cost functions and cares about quality as well as price. Low type firms are cheaper than high type firms in providing low quality but more expensive when

  8. Firms, crowds, and innovation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Felin, Teppo; Lakhani, Karim R; Tushman, Michael L

    2017-05-01

    The purpose of this article is to suggest a (preliminary) taxonomy and research agenda for the topic of "firms, crowds, and innovation" and to provide an introduction to the associated special issue. We specifically discuss how various crowd-related phenomena and practices-for example, crowdsourcing, crowdfunding, user innovation, and peer production-relate to theories of the firm, with particular attention on "sociality" in firms and markets. We first briefly review extant theories of the firm and then discuss three theoretical aspects of sociality related to crowds in the context of strategy, organizations, and innovation: (1) the functions of sociality (sociality as extension of rationality, sociality as sensing and signaling, sociality as matching and identity), (2) the forms of sociality (independent/aggregate and interacting/emergent forms of sociality), and (3) the failures of sociality (misattribution and misapplication). We conclude with an outline of future research directions and introduce the special issue papers and essays.

  9. Technological Capability and Firm Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fernanda Maciel Reichert

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available This research aims to investigate the relationship between investments in technological capability and economic performance in Brazilian firms. Based on economic development theory and on developed countries history, it is assumed that this relationship is positive. Through key indicators, 133 Brazilian firms have been analyzed. Given the economic circumstances of an emerging economy, which the majority of businesses are primarily based on low and medium-low-technology industries, it is not possible to affirm the existence of a positive relation between technological capability and firm performance. There are other elements that allow firms to achieve such results. Firms of lower technological intensity industries performed above average in the economic performance indicators, adversely, they invested below average in technological capability. These findings do not diminish the merit of firms’ and country’s success. They in fact confirm a historical tradition of a country that concentrates its efforts on basic industries.

  10. An Aspirational Community Theory of the Firm

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Li, Xin

    propose an aspirational community theory of the firm (ACT) as a candidate theory by conceptualizing the firm as an aspirational community, the core of which is a group of like-minded people sharing similar or same aspiration/vision. To explain the existence of the firm, we make a distinction between......All of the three major theories of the firm, i.e., the transaction cost theory, knowledge-based theory and the entrepreneurship theory, offer some insightful analyses of the nature of the firm. However, they all have limitations and weaknesses in answering the fundamental question of the existence...... of the firm. In addition, they are all partial due to their particular focus on the multifaceted phenomenon of the firm. We argue that it is necessary and sufficient to develop a comprehensive yet integrative theory of the firm that combines the three competing yet complementary logics. Toward this end, we...

  11. Supervision in Firms

    OpenAIRE

    Vafaï , Kouroche

    2012-01-01

    URL des Documents de travail : http://centredeconomiesorbonne.univ-paris1.fr/bandeau-haut/documents-de-travail/; Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 2012.84 - ISSN : 1955-611X; To control, evaluate, and motivate their agents, firms employ supervisors. As shown by empirical investigations, biased evaluation by supervisors linked to collusion is a persistent feature of firms. This paper studies how deceptive supervision affects agency relationships. We consider a three-leve...

  12. LEGO firm devices for atomic industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Makarov, P.V.; Egunova, E.M.

    2007-01-01

    Analytical problems of atomic industry enterprises are considered. Possibilities of LECO firm devices for following analysis kinds: 1) ore materials under ore processing; 2) chemical composition analysis and properties of metals and oxides under implementation of production manufacturing for nuclear industry; 3) spectral analysis; 4) structure analysis and properties of metallic materials - are shown. All above-listed analysis methods are applying at quality control operation. Examples of LECO device application at different nuclear energy enterprises of Russia, Kazakhstan, and other CIS and Baltic countries are cited

  13. Merger incentives and the failing firm defense

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bouckaert, J.M.C.; Kort, P.M.

    2014-01-01

    The merger incentives between profitable firms differ fundamentally from the incentives of a profitable firm to merge with a failing firm. We investigate these incentives under different modes of price competition and Cournot behavior. Our main finding is that firms strictly prefer exit of the

  14. Firm Based Trade Models and Turkish Economy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nilüfer ARGIN

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Among all international trade models, only The Firm Based Trade Models explains firm’s action and behavior in the world trade. The Firm Based Trade Models focuses on the trade behavior of individual firms that actually make intra industry trade. Firm Based Trade Models can explain globalization process truly. These approaches include multinational cooperation, supply chain and outsourcing also. Our paper aims to explain and analyze Turkish export with Firm Based Trade Models’ context. We use UNCTAD data on exports by SITC Rev 3 categorization to explain total export and 255 products and calculate intensive-extensive margins of Turkish firms.

  15. Strategic Adjustment Capacity, Sustained Competitive Advantage, and Firm Performance: An Evolutionary Perspective on Bird Flocking and Firm Competition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shou Chen

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Imitating the positioning rules in the bird flocking system, the strategic adjustment capacity is decomposed into three aspects, which are the organizational learning capacity from the top firms, the extent to which firms maintain or rely on the best operational capacity vector in history, and the ability to overcome the disadvantage while maintaining the advantage of the operational capacity vector from the previous years, respectively. Financial vectors are constructed to represent the results of corporate strategic adjustment and listed firms in the China A stock are chosen as the samples. As empirical analysis reveals, there is a positive correlation between the organizational learning capacity from the top firms and the firm performance and a U-shaped relation between the learning capability from the previous best operational capacity vector and the firm performance. However, no significant correlation between the inertia control ability of the current operational capacity vector of the firms and their performance improvement can be observed. This study verifies that the issue of corporate competitiveness and performance can be investigated by utilizing the principles of competition in nature. Moreover, a firm can obtain a sustainable competitive advantage by improving its ability to learn from top firms in the industry.

  16. Strong Firms Lobby, Weak Firms Bribe

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bennedsen, Morten; Feldmann, Sven E.; Lassen, David Dreyer

    that are larger, older, exporting, government-owned, are widely held and/or have fewer competitors, have more political influence, perceive corruption to be less of a problem and pay bribes less often; (c) influence increases sales and government subsidies and in general makes the firm have a more positive view...

  17. Stakeholder capitalism, corporate governance and firm value

    OpenAIRE

    Allen, Franklin; Carletti, Elena; Marquez, Robert

    2007-01-01

    In countries such as Germany, the legal system is such that firms are necessarily stakeholder oriented. In others like Japan social convention achieves a similar effect. We analyze the advantages and disadvantages of stakeholder-oriented firms that are concerned with employees and suppliers compared to pure shareholder-oriented firms. We show that in a context of imperfect competition stakeholder firms have higher prices and lower output than shareholder-oriented firms. Surprisingly, we also ...

  18. Diversified boundaries of the firm

    OpenAIRE

    Kimura, Koichiro

    2012-01-01

    We analyze diversification of boundaries of local firms in developing countries under the economic globalization. The globalization has an aspect of homogenization of the world economy, but also has another aspect of diversification through international economic activities. Focusing on boundary-level of the firm, this article shows that the diversification from a comparison with boundaries of foreign firms in developed countries is brought by a disadvantage of technology deficit and a home a...

  19. Market-Oriented Product Innovation in Small Firms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verhees, F.J.H.M.

    2005-01-01

    Description: This thesis deals with product-innovation in small firms. It aims at a better understanding of the determinants of product innovation in small firms, particularly those determinants that are related to the market orientation of small firms. The focus of the study is on small firms that

  20. Correlation between Sales of Foreign Affiliates and Productivity of Multinational Firms: Evidence from Korean Firm-Level Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jung Hur

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Using firm-level panel data for Korean multinational enterprises (MNEs, we make a distinction between being the only affiliate of a parent firm and being one of the multiple affiliates of a parent firm. In particular, we attempt to find a correlation between the sales of foreign affiliates and the productivity of multinational firms. Our main empirical results in this paper suggest that productive Korean MNEs would enlarge the number of affiliates in the host country.

  1. Swedish Listed Family Firms and Entrepreneurial Spirit

    OpenAIRE

    Bjuggren, Per-Olof; Palmberg, Johanna

    2008-01-01

    This paper investigates the entrepreneurial spirit in Swedish listed family firms. We associate family firms with entrepreneurship in the sense that there is an identifiable person that takes the uninsurable risk in the sense of Knight. This paper analysis two questions: Do entrepreneurial family firms have a higher rate of growth and do they invest in a more profit maximizing fashion than other listed firms? The analysis shows that entrepreneurial family firms in general are smaller in terms...

  2. The challenge to keep nuclear fusion alive as a future energy source

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    D'haeseleer, W.D.

    1999-01-01

    Few people are preoccupied with the energy issue. Indeed, inflation-corrected energy prices (in euros) are currently lower than before the first oil crisis of 1973; the annual growth rate of primary-energy use in the industrialized world has diminished considerably compared to before 1970, and oil and gas production is characterized by increased exploration activity and a wider geographical spread. Nevertheless, there is a real energy issue. If the greenhouse effect turns out to be real, then mankind should at least slow down the consumption of fossil fuels. Given the fact that world energy consumption (especially by the developing countries) will rise in the future, and that nuclear fission power has become unpopular in the western world, the idea reigning in some circles to cope with this situation by total reliance on energy savings and renewable energy sources comes close to wishful thinking. A realistic analysis makes it clear that there will be a need for large workhorses for electricity generation to keep the overall electricity grid sufficiently robust. From a global and long-term perspective, the logical conclusion is the following: because mankind cannot count on the continued use of fossil fuels (due to the finiteness of the resources combined with the possible climate change effects), our generation has the responsibility to develop alternative energy sources for the distant future. Many parallel lines of research and development therefore need be pursued; because of the uncertainties with other alternative sources, it would be irresponsible to kill some of these development lines. This holds for renewable sources, the nuclear fission breeder, and for nuclear fusion. A major hurdle for the survival of long term energy research and development is the liberalization of the electricity market. Because of the revolutionary changes taking place, utilities concentrate on cost cutting and short-term survival. In addition, they are no longer supposed to take

  3. 7 CFR 51.1831 - Fairly firm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Fairly firm. 51.1831 Section 51.1831 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Standards for Grades of Florida Tangerines Definitions § 51.1831 Fairly firm. Fairly firm means that the...

  4. 24 CFR 200.47 - Firm commitments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Firm commitments. 200.47 Section 200.47 Housing and Urban Development Regulations Relating to Housing and Urban Development (Continued... Eligibility Requirements for Existing Projects Commitment Applications § 200.47 Firm commitments. A valid firm...

  5. 7 CFR 51.774 - Fairly firm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Fairly firm. 51.774 Section 51.774 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Standards for Grades of Florida Grapefruit Definitions § 51.774 Fairly firm. Fairly firm means that the...

  6. 7 CFR 51.2843 - Fairly firm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Fairly firm. 51.2843 Section 51.2843 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Fairly firm. Fairly firm means that the onion may yield slightly to moderate pressure but is not...

  7. 7 CFR 51.3204 - Fairly firm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Fairly firm. 51.3204 Section 51.3204 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Standards for Grades of Bermuda-Granex-Grano Type Onions Definitions § 51.3204 Fairly firm. Fairly firm...

  8. 7 CFR 51.1167 - Fairly firm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Fairly firm. 51.1167 Section 51.1167 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Standards for Grades of Florida Oranges and Tangelos Definitions § 51.1167 Fairly firm. Fairly firm as...

  9. Entrepreneurship and the Economics of the Firm

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Foss, Nicolai Juul

    The study of entrepreneurship and the study of economic organizing lack contact. In fact, the modern theory of the firm virtually ignores entrepreneurship, while the literature on entrepreneurship often sees little value in the economic theory of the firm. In contrast, we argue in this chapter...... that entrepreneurship theory and the theory of the firm can be usefully integrated, and that doing so would improve both bodies of theory. Adding the entrepreneur to the theory of the firm provides a dynamic view that the overly static analysis of firm organizing cannot support. Moreover, adding the firm to the study...... of the entrepreneur provides important clues to how we can understand entrepreneurship....

  10. Which Subsidy Mode Improves the Financial Performance of Renewable Energy Firms? A Panel Data Analysis of Wind and Solar Energy Companies between 2009 and 2014

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huiming Zhang

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The effectiveness of subsidies in improving the performance of renewable energy firms has aroused significant research attention in recent years. As subsidy modes may affect corporate financial performance,we have chosen companies specializing in wind and solar energy in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets as samples.The relationships between the subsidy modes and financial performance of these two types of companies are investigated with a panel data model. Results of the total sample indicate that both indirect and non-innovative subsidy have significant effects on the financial performance of renewable energy companies. The regressive coefficient of the former,however, is a negative value, which illustrates that taxation, bonus, and other market-based mechanisms impair corporate profitability. Moreover, the influence of innovative subsidy is weak, which means that the subsidy used for research and development, technical demonstration, and other innovations of renewable energy enterprises have failed to effectively enhance corporate financial performance. In terms of sub-industries, the direct subsidy for wind energy companies has achieved a significant effect. Incomparison, the indirect subsidy and innovative subsidy acquired by solar energy companies have notably reduced corporate profitability. Thissuggests an urgent reform of subsidy policy for this industry is needed. The government should consider differences in the effects subsidies have for wind and solar energy companies when improving subsidy policy. In addition, market-based subsidy mechanisms should be perfected, and the structure of innovative subsidies should be ameliorated.

  11. The market for firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Davis, Jerome Dean; Keiding, Hans

    2010-01-01

    and as a consequence a higher sales value of the firm. Buyers take this signaling into consideration, but irrespective of their countermoves, the equilib- rium result may be a lowering of ex ante product prices, and an ex post market overvaluation of the firm. This model is utilized to suggest possible explanations...

  12. 7 CFR 51.705 - Fairly firm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Fairly firm. 51.705 Section 51.705 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... § 51.705 Fairly firm. Fairly firm as applied to common oranges, means that the fruit may be slightly...

  13. 7 CFR 51.1012 - Fairly firm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Fairly firm. 51.1012 Section 51.1012 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Standards for Persian (Tahiti) Limes Definitions § 51.1012 Fairly firm. Fairly firm means that the fruit is...

  14. The Dividend Policy of German Firms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Andres, C.; Betzer, A.; Goergen, M.; Renneboog, L.D.R.

    2008-01-01

    Abstract: German firms pay out a lower proportion of their cash flows, but a higher proportion of their published profits than UK and US firms. We estimate partial adjustment models and report two major findings. First, German firms base their dividend decisions on cash flows rather than published

  15. The Dividend Policy of German Firms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Andres, C.; Betzer, A.; Goergen, M.; Renneboog, L.D.R.

    2008-01-01

    German firms pay out a lower proportion of their cash flows, but a higher proportion of their published profits than UK and US firms. We estimate partial adjustment models and report two major findings. First, German firms base their dividend decisions on cash flows rather than published earnings as

  16. The financing of innovative firms

    OpenAIRE

    Hall, Bronwyn H.

    2009-01-01

    To what extent are new and/or innovative firms fundamentally different from established firms, and therefore require a different form of financing? The theoretical background for this proposition is presented, and the empirical evidence on its importance is reviewed. Owing to the intangible nature of their investment, asymmetric-information and moral-hazard, these firms are more likely to be financed by equity than debt and behave in some cases as though they are cash-constrained, especially ...

  17. The innovative behaviour of tourism firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sundbo, Jon; Orfila-Sintes, Francina; Sørensen, Flemming

    2007-01-01

    Tourism firms operate in a competitive sector where innovating is often a condition for survival. This article presents a theoretical framework for understanding tourist firms’ innovative behaviour and innovation systems in tourism. The innovativeness of tourism firms and its determinants...... systems. The article suggests that large size, professionalism, but also entrepreneurship among small tourism firms are important determinants of innovation. Varied innovation networks are another determinant as are supportive innovation systems. These determinants favour Spanish firms, which are more...... are investigated by analysing quantitative as well as qualitative data comparing Spain and Denmark. A taxonomy of tourism firms is suggested and the firms’ characteristics which influence their innovativeness are presented. Additionally, the role of innovation networks is discussed, as is the role of innovation...

  18. The theory of the firm. Vol. 3

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    as an information processor. In addition, the collection features perspectives from business strategy and business history as well as methodological and doctrinal historical perspectives. Including over 60 classic papers, these volumes collect together contributions on the theory of the firm, beginning with Ronald......Firms have for a long time been part of the explanatory set-up of economics. However, it is only recently that economists have felt the need for an economic theory addressing: why firms are different; why firms exist; what determines their boundaries relative to "the market"; and what determines...... their internal organization. This collection documents the rise of the modern theory of the firm during the last two to three decades. It reprints classic writings from a diversity of perspectives, including not only contractual theories of the firm, but also knowledge-based theories and theories of the firm...

  19. Views of CEOs on Firm Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dario Berginc

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Researching the managerial perspective of performance can contribute to a better understanding of firm performance, and offer a valuable contribution to research on objective performance measurement. The aim of this article is to examine how managers evaluate firm performance and which factors, in their opinion, have the biggest influence on performance. We particularly wanted to investigate the influence of top management and owners on firm performance. We conducted a qualitative study among the CEOs of some of the most successful Slovenian firms. The results show that CEOs connect positive performance with long-term growth and satisfying the needs of key stakeholders (employees, customers and owners, but short-term positive financial performance represents the basic foundation. The second most important factor is a united top management, capable of generating new ideas and acting as a role model to employees. This can lead to a higher degree of engagement by employees and a better understanding of the firm's goals. Owners can contribute to a positive firm performance with their active, strategic and long-term orientation, and with their ability to set clear goals and to trust top management in the long run. Another important factor that influences firm performance is the ownership structure. In the opinion of CEOs, dominant and private ownership has a more positive impact on firm performance than dispersed and state ownership. The present research findings provide several examples of good and bad practice, and highlight opportunities for further research, from an in-depth study of individual factors of firm performance to the search for a more comprehensive model of performance factors, based on a larger sample of CEOs and other managers.

  20. An empirical examination of the influence of industry and firm drivers on the rate of internationalization by firms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elango, B.

    A gradual shift in U.S. firms' 'center of gravity' toward international markets is taking place. This study seeks to explain which drivers are related to this push toward international markets by U.S. firms. In addressing internationalization, previous research has not focused on various drivers that influence the rate of internationalization. Drivers refer to forces, both within and outside the firm, that impact (both positively and negatively) a firm's extent of internationalization. The role of these drivers on the rate of internationalization, though acknowledged in the literature, is yet to be validated through empirical research. This research seeks to narrow the gap in the literature by testing the various relationships among industry drivers, firm drivers, and the rate of internationalization. The objectives of this study are: (A) To develop a conceptual framework that takes into account various forces that influence the internationalization strategy of a firm; (B) To examine empirically (a) the influence of industry drivers on the rate of internationalization pursued by firms; and, (b) the influence of firm drivers on the rate of internationalization by firms. The sample for this study consists of 158 large U.S.- based multinational firms drawn from seven different industries. Data for the study is gathered from a variety of sources including the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis; COMPUSTAT; and WORLDSCOPE databases. Set-wise regression models were used for data analysis. This study found that global market growth rate, domestic market growth rate, relative size of domestic market to international market, employee productivity, administrative investments, as well as new plant and equipment influences the international strategy of firms. This study explains about 24 percent of the variance of the rate of internationalization. This research finding is contributory to our existing understanding of internationalization in many ways

  1. 7 CFR 51.643 - Fairly firm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Fairly firm. 51.643 Section 51.643 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing...) Definitions § 51.643 Fairly firm. Fairly firm means that the fruit may be slightly soft, but not bruised, and...

  2. Strategic Renewal in Regulatory Environments: How inter- and intra-organisational institutional forces influence European incumbent energy firms

    OpenAIRE

    Stienstra, Marten

    2008-01-01

    textabstractHow do incumbent firms strategically renew in regulatory environments? Assuming that regulation can both constrain and enable a firm’s strategic renewal opportunities, we investigate how and to what extent incumbent firms undertake exploitative and explorative strategic renewal actions in order to remain competitive. Exploitative strategic renewal involves those actions that strengthen or optimise a firm’s current resource deployments, whereas explorative strategic renewal relates...

  3. Does Labour Diversity affect Firm Productivity?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Parrotta, Pierpaolo; Pozzoli, Dario; Pytlikova, Mariola

    Using a matched employer-employee dataset, we analyze how workforce diversity in cultural background, education and demographic characteristics affects productivity of firms in Denmark. Implementing a structural estimation of the firms' production function (Ackerberg et al., 2006) we find...... diverse workforce, seem to outweigh the positive effects coming from creativity and knowledge spillovers....... that labor diversity in education significantly enhances a firm's value added. Conversely, diversity in ethnicity and demographics induces negative effects on firm productivity. Hence, the negative effects, coming from communication and integration costs connected to a more culturally and demographically...

  4. Commercialization of Innovations and Firm Performance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Erik Strøjer; Smith, Valdemar

    The decision on investment in R&D is very important and highly risky for firms' performance and survival in their business. This paper focuses on the commercialization of firms' investment in innovation and how these decisions affect their performance. The study uses a large innovation survey...... of Danish firms holding information on their R&D investment as well as their expenses on marketing which gives knowledge of the commercialization of their innovations. The results suggest a highly significant commercialization of innovation, which means that firms' follows a strategy of investment both...

  5. 21 CFR 7.46 - Firm-initiated recall.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Firm-initiated recall. 7.46 Section 7.46 Food and....46 Firm-initiated recall. (a) A firm may decide of its own volition and under any circumstances to remove or correct a distributed product. A firm that does so because it believes the product to be...

  6. Web traffic and firm performance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Farooq, Omar; Aguenaou, Samir

    2013-01-01

    Does the traffic generated by websites of firms signal anything to stock market participants? Does higher web-traffic translate into availability of more information and therefore lower agency problems? And if answers to above questions are in affirmative, does higher web-traffic traffic translate...... into better firm performance? This paper aims to answer these questions by documenting a positive relationship between the extent of web-traffic and firm performance in the MENA region during the 2010. We argue that higher web-traffic lowers the agency problems in firms by disseminating more information...... to stock market participants. Consequently, lower agency problems translate into better performance. Furthermore, we also show that agency reducing role of web-traffic is more pronounced in regimes where information environment is already bad. For example, our results show stronger impact of web...

  7. Commercialization of Innovations and Firm Performance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Erik Strøjer; Smith, Valdemar

    The decision on investment in R&D is very important and highly risky for firms' performance and survival in their business. This paper focuses on the commercialization of firms' investment in innovation and how these decisions affect their performance. The study uses a large innovation survey...... of Danish firms holding information on their R&D investment as well as their expenses on marketing which gives knowledge of the commercialization of their innovations. The results suggest a highly significant commercialization of innovation, which means that firms' follows a strategy of investment both...... in innovation and marketing making R&D and marketing complements in their investment decision. However, there is only week evidence for the hypothesis that commercialization of innovations also creates more value for the firms in the short run....

  8. Determinants of CEO Turnover in Publicand Private Firms in Denmark - CEO and Firm Characteristics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sponholtz, Carina

    In this study we are the first to draw on longitudinal matched employer-employee data to study CEO turnover. Using this data we contribute tothe existing literature by examining the e¤ect of previously unstudied in-dividual characteristics on CEO turnover. Additionally, we are able toexamine CEO...... turnover. Finally, the inverse relationshipbetween firm performance and CEO turnover only exists in LLL firms(larger limited liability firms, both publicly and privately held), whereagency costs are assumed and found to be highest.In this study we are the first to draw on longitudinal matched employer-employee...... turnover across a variety of firm types that di¤er with re-spect to the corporate governance issues they face. Our simple methodol-ogy to define CEO turnover results in turnover rates similar to those foundpreviously. Our results indicate that CEO characteristics are an important factor in explaining CEO...

  9. Performance of Patenting Firms in Danish Manufacturing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Erik Strøjer; Smith, Valdemar; Nielsen, Anders Østergaard

    2000-01-01

    Most countries focus on industries with high technology and the governments grant subsidies to innovating firms. However, there has been remarkable few studies of the performance of innovative firms or industries. This study examines the performance of patent active firms compared to the non-patenting...... firms within the manufacturing sector in Denmark. Performance is measured both by growth in employment as well as in the return on equity and profit share in turnover. The results suggest that differences in performance of patenting and non-patenting firms are very small, which questions the political...

  10. Are Family Firms Better Performers during Financial Crisis?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhou, Haoyong

    (Italy) during the period 2006-2010, I give empirical evidences examining the performance of family firms vis-à-vis non-family firms during the current financial crisis. I find that broadly defined family firms, comprising 35 percent of the sample, do not outperform non-family firms during the crisis...... that in the financial crisis, founder firms bear the least agency cost and Tobin’s Q is not a good measure of corporate performance.......Despite extensive researches on efficiency of family firms in normal or good economic times, we know rather little about whether family firms are superior performers in recession times. Using a dataset covering firms from S&P 500 (US), FTE100 (UK), DAX 30 (Germany), CAC 40 (France) and FTSE MIB 40...

  11. Strategies To Keep Secret Through Sophie Kinsella’s Novel “Can You Keep A Secret”

    OpenAIRE

    Sihombing, Mariaty A.

    2015-01-01

    The paper entitled “Strategies to Keep Secret Through Sophie Kinsella’a novel : Can You Keep a Secret is about Emma Corrigan who like every girl in the world. She has a few little secrets. Can You Keep a Secret is the fifth novel that written by Sophie Kinsella and get best seller. The writer discusses about the strategies to keep secret. The strategies are Trust, Silence, and Cooperation. The writer interested in analyzing this novel, because it’s contain some informantions about keeping a s...

  12. Do Less Regulated Markets Attract Lower Quality Firms?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsson, Ulf

    2013-01-01

    The paper examines whether the moderately regulated London AIM market is at a disadvantage in attracting high quality firms. The results show that firms listed on AIM are of the same quality level as firms listed in the US and in Continental Europe, albeit smaller in size. Furthermore, the delist......The paper examines whether the moderately regulated London AIM market is at a disadvantage in attracting high quality firms. The results show that firms listed on AIM are of the same quality level as firms listed in the US and in Continental Europe, albeit smaller in size. Furthermore...... equivalent to firms listing in more regulated markets...

  13. Toward an Integrative Theory of the Firm

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Li, Xin

    understand the nature and behaviors of the firm, we need a comprehensive yet integrative theory. Toward this end, this paper proposes a relationship-based theory of the firm (R’BT) which claims that it is the relationships between the entrepreneur and other individuals or firms that determine the existence......This paper argues that the existing four major theories of the firm, i.e., the transaction cost theory, resource-based view, the entrepreneurial theory, and the stakeholder theory, are all insightful yet partial because each of them has a particular focus on the phenomenon of the firm. To better...

  14. Women in Top Management and Firm Performance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Smith, Nina; Smith, Valdemar; Verner, Mette

    -observations for all Danish firms with more than 50 employees over the period 1994-2003, the analysis suggests that the proportion of women in top management jobs has from none to positive influence on firm performance. However, the results show that the strength of the effects of women in top management depends...... on how top CEOs are defined and on the method of estimation of the model. Next, the results point towards a positive influence on firm performance of the staff representation in the supervisory board of the firm but more women representing the shareholders in the supervisory board of the firm seems...

  15. Human Capital and Wages in Exporting Firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Munch, Jakob Roland; Skaksen, Jan Rose

    2006-01-01

    This paper studies the link between a firms education level, export performance and wages of its workers. We argue that firms may escape intence competition in international markets by using high skilled workers to differentiate their products. This story is consistent with our empirical results....... Osing a very rich matched worker-firm longitudinal dataset we find that firms with high export intensities pay higher wages. However, an interaction term between export intensity and skill intensity has a positive impact on wages and it absorbs the direct effect of the export intensity. That is, we find...... an export wage premium, but it accrues to workers in firms with high skill intensities.Keywords: Exports, Wages, Human Capital, Rent Sharing, Matched Worker-Firm DataJEL Classification: J30, F10, I20...

  16. Competitive Advantage of Interconnected Firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nell, Phillip Christopher; Andersson, Ulf

    We model the complex interplay between firm-level variables, notably capabilities and performance, and relationship-level variables: relationship-specific assets and network context. We test how the network context of individual exchange relationships as well as firm-level capabilities jointly af...

  17. Bank Relationship and Firm Profitability

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Degryse, H.A.; Ongena, S.

    2000-01-01

    This paper examines how bank relationships affect firm performance. An empirical implication of recent theoretical models is that firms maintaining multiple bank relationships are less profitable than their single-bank peers. We investigate this empirical implication using a data set containing

  18. Corporate governance attributes, firm characteristics and the level of corporate disclosure: Evidence from the Indian listed firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sunil Nandi

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This study investigates the association between firm characteristics, corporate governance attributes and the level of corporate disclosure of listed firms in India. The research paper has been based on a sample of 60 firms listed in the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE / National Stock Exchange (NSE during the study period from 2000-01 to 2009-10. The study has used the Standard & Poor (2008 model for measuring the level of corporate disclosure. To examine the association between explanatory variables and the level of corporate disclosure, multiple regression model has been used. The results suggest a positive relationship between board size, ratio of audit committee members to total board members, family control, CEO duality, firm size, profitability, liquidity and the extent of corporate disclosure. However, the degree of corporate disclosure is negatively related to board composition, leverage and age of the firm.

  19. INFLUENCE OF FIRM SIZE ON ITS BUSINESS SUCCESS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maja Pervan

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available A firm may use different methods and diverse (nonfinancial analysis/indicators in order to evaluate its business success. However, one of the most widely applied methods refers to financial analyses that use profitability ratios as the key measures of firm’s overall efficiency and performance. In this research we focused our attention on firm size and evaluated its influence on firm profitability. Other than by the size of a firm, a firm performance is affected by a variety of internal and external variables. Therefore, apart from mere investigating the relationship between firm size and performance, we also explored the impact of some other variables crucial in determining firm profitability. The analysis was conducted for the 2002-2010 period and the results revealed that firm size has a significant positive (although weak influence on firm profitability. Additionally, results showed that assets turnover and debt ratio also statistically significantly influence firms’ performance while current ratio didn’t prove to be an important explanatory variable of firms’ profitability.

  20. Does internationalization foster firm performance?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van den Berg, Marcel

    2014-01-01

    The research in this dissertation concerns the impact of internationalization of business activities on several dimensions of firm performance. We show that the productivity ranking by trade status of Dutch manufacturing firms in increasing order of productivity is: non-traders, importers, exporters

  1. Human Capital and Wages in Exporting Firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Munch, Jakob Roland; Skaksen, Jan Rose

    This paper studies the link between a firms education level, export performance and wages of its workers. We argue that firms may escape intense competition in international markets by using high skilled workers to differentiate their products. This story is consistent with our empirical results....... Using a very rich matched worker-firm longitudinal dataset we find that firms with high export intensities pay higher wages. However, an interaction term between export intensity and skill intensity has a positive impact on wages and it absorbs the direct effect of the export intensity. That is, we find...... an export wage premium, but it accrues to workers in firms with high skill intensities...

  2. Political uncertainty and firm risk in China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Danglun Luo

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The political uncertainty surrounded by the turnover of government officials has a major impact on local economies and local firms. This paper investigates the relationship between the turnover of prefecture-city officials and the inherent risk faced by local firms in China. Using data from 1999 to 2012, we find that prefecture-city official turnovers significantly increased firm risk. Our results show that the political risk was mitigated when new prefecture-city officials were well connected with their provincial leaders. In addition, the impact of political uncertainty was more pronounced for regulated firms and firms residing in provinces with low market openness.

  3. Does Firm Innovation Affect Corporate Social Responsibility?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    R. Shen (Rui); Y. Tang (Yi); Y. Zhang (Ying)

    2016-01-01

    textabstractThis study examines the relationship between firm innovation and CSR. Stakeholders’ concern over transaction-specific investments exacerbates when firms engage heavily in innovation activities. To secure stakeholders’ support, firms adopt CSR effectively as an ex ante signal of

  4. Growth of New Firms: Which Factors Influence Post-Entry Performance? An Empirical Analysis Based on Swiss Firm Data

    OpenAIRE

    David Marmet

    2004-01-01

    The aim of this study is to shed light on the factors which determine the post-entry performance of new firms. It is often argued that new firms are the driving force of structural changes and sometimes they are even characterized as an “engine” of economic growth. Nevertheless, the empirical evidence is mixed. Taking into account the high exit rate of new firms, a specific founding cohort does not contribute substantially to new jobs. In this paper, we analyse the contribution of new firms c...

  5. Do international acquisitions by emerging-economy firms create shareholder value? The case of Indian firms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gubbi, Sathyajit R.; Aulakh, Preet S.; Ray, Sougata; Sarkar, M. B.; Chittoor, Raveendra

    While overseas acquisitions by emerging-economy firms are gaining increased attention from the business press, our understanding of whether and why this inorganic mode of international expansion creates value to acquirer firms is limited. We argue that international acquisitions facilitate

  6. Modern Competitive Strategy Firm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    František Bartes

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with problems of an ever increasing number of cases of successful application of old combat strategies in business practice. Nevertheless, the author refuses the so called “direct conflict“ of firms, when it is really fought for victory on the market. His approach is based on the philosophy of “victory without fight“, in other words – of achieving the aim without direct conflict with the rival firm.In the end he comes to the conclusion that combat philosophies are more and more often incorporated into classical approach of strategic firm control and become the integral part of philosophy of management. At the close happens to opinion that the one from basic factors absolutely necessary to creation such strategy at company, is necessary present so-called „creative intelligence“.

  7. Impact after three years of the Swedish energy audit program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Backlund, Sandra; Thollander, Patrik

    2015-01-01

    The Swedish energy audit program is a publicly financed program, mainly targeting small and medium-sized firms to help them finance energy audits. By examining suggested and implemented energy efficiency measures from the energy audits conducted in 241 firms in the program, the aim of this paper is to examine the energy efficiency implementation gap and the cost efficiency of the program. The audits show that the firms' average annual energy efficiency improvement potential is between 860 and 1270 MWh/year which corresponds to a total energy efficiency improvement potential of between 6980 and 11,130 MWh/firm. The implementation rate of the suggested energy efficiency improvement measures in the SEAP is 53%. The program has resulted in investments in energy efficiency improvements between €74,100and €113,000/firm. - Highlights: • Auditors find an energy efficiency improvement potential of 460–660 MWh/year/firm. • The implementation rate of the suggested measures is 53%. • The total cost per MWh lie between €87 and €114/MWh. • Public costs in the SEAP are €0.7–€1.3/MWh

  8. Competition Law and the Bounded Rationality of Firms

    OpenAIRE

    Bhattacharya, Shilpi

    2016-01-01

    Firm rationality plays a role in several aspects of competition law. Yet, the conception of the firm as a rational, profit maximizing entity has been disputed in different disciplines. This literature shows that neoclassical economic assumptions on which competition law is based can fall short of explaining the full range of observed firm behaviour. Accordingly, an alternative conception of the firm as boundedly rational can impact the understanding of firm conduct in competition law. Be...

  9. Characterization of the Relationship Between Firms and Universities and Innovation Performance: The Case of Colombian Firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fredy Gomez

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Within the National Innovation System, universities play a key role as the main source of knowledge that supports national productivity and as a system that seeks to improve the competitiveness of firms competitiveness and to find answers concerning market needs in today’s fast-changing and globalized economy. Innovation, as a source of competitiveness, is normally supported by a firm’s technological capabilities: internal R&D, external collaborative agreements, and relationships with universities. This study uses a cluster analysis to identify three clusters that represent respectively those firms that interact closely with universities for technology development (which include R&D projects and technological learning activities, those firms that interact with universities for technological learning only, and those that do not have any kind of relationship with universities. We also analyze the innovation performance of each cluster. Data here come from the Second Colombian Innovation Survey, which was applied in 2005 to a sample of 6,222 firms. Among the main results, this study shows a higher innovation performance for those firms with relevant linkages for technology learning activities.

  10. Process Ambidexterity for Entrepreneurial Firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sonia D. Bot

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Technology-based entrepreneurial firms must effectively support both mainstream exploitation and new-stream exploration in order to remain competitive for the long term. The processes that support exploitation and exploration initiatives are different in terms of logistics, payoff horizons, and capabilities. Few firms are able to strike a balance between the two, where mainstream exploitation usually trumps new-stream exploration. The ultimate goal is for the firm to operate effectively in a repeatable, scalable, and systematic manner, rather than relying on good luck and hoping either to come up with the next innovation or for the product to function according to its requirements. This article builds on the author’s years of experience in building businesses and transforming medium and large-sized, entrepreneurial technology firms, leading large-scale breakthrough and sustained performance improvements by using and evolving Lean Six Sigma methodologies, and reviews of technology innovation management and entrepreneurship literature. This article provides a process-based perspective to understanding and addressing the issues on balancing mainstream exploitation and new-stream exploration in medium and large-sized entrepreneurial firms and extending it to startups. The resulting capability is known as process ambidexterity and requires disciplined, agile, and lean business management.

  11. 78 FR 70987 - Proxy Advisory Firm Roundtable

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-11-27

    ... Firm Roundtable AGENCY: Securities and Exchange Commission. ACTION: Notice of roundtable discussion... advisory firms. The panel will be asked to discuss topics including the current state of proxy advisory firm use by investment advisers and institutional investors and potential changes that have been...

  12. International taxation and multinational firm location decisions

    OpenAIRE

    Barrios Cobos, Salvador; Huizinga, Harry; Laeven, Luc; Nicodème, Gaëtan J.A.

    2008-01-01

    Using a large international firm-level data set, we estimate separate effects of host and parent country taxation on the location decisions of multinational firms. Both types of taxation are estimated to have a negative impact on the location of new foreign subsidiaries. In fact, the impact of parent country taxation is estimated to be relatively large, possibly reflecting its international discriminatory nature. For the cross-section of multinational firms, we find that parent firms tend to ...

  13. Endogenous Markups, Firm Productivity and International Trade:

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bellone, Flora; Musso, Patrick; Nesta, Lionel

    ) markups are positively related to firm productivity; 3) markups are negatively related to import penetration; 4) markups are positively related to firm export intensity and markups are higher on the export market than on the domestic ones in the presence of trade barriers and/or if competitors...... on the export market are less efficient than competitors on the domestic market. We estimate micro-level price cost margins (PCMs) using firm-level data extending the techniques developed by Hall (1986, 1988) and extended by Domowitz et al. (1988) and Roeger (1995) for the French manufacturing industry from......In this paper, we test key micro-level theoretical predictions ofMelitz and Ottaviano (MO) (2008), a model of international trade with heterogenous firms and endogenous mark-ups. At the firm-level, the MO model predicts that: 1) firm markups are negatively related to domestic market size; 2...

  14. Value Creation Logics and Internationalization of Service Firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ørberg Jensen, Peter D.; Petersen, Bent

    2014-01-01

    While mainstream theories in international business and management are founded either explicitly or implicitly on studies of manufacturing firms, prior attempts to develop theory on the internationalization of service firms are sparse and have yet to establish solid and comprehensive frameworks...... on a thorough understanding of the fundamental nature of these firms. We put forward ten propositions concerning the pace of internationalization in service firms and the dominant foreign operation modes. The use of value creation logics can be a useful complement to the conventional approaches to the study...... of service firms’ internationalization. However, the fact that most firms encompass more than one value creation logic complicates the use of firm databases and industry statistics. The study presents a novel theoretical approach and a set of propositions on service firm internationalization founded...

  15. Value Creation Logics and Internationalization of Service Firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ørberg Jensen, Peter D.; Petersen, Bent

    2014-01-01

    be based on a thorough understanding of the fundamental nature of these firms. Design/methodology/approach - Theoretical study. Findings - We put forward propositions concerning the pace of internationalization and the default foreign operation modes in service firms. Research limitations...... implications - We suggest that managers in service firms should consider primarily the nature of the value creation logic(s) in their firms when deciding and designing an internationalization strategy. Originality/value - The study presents a novel theoretical approach and a set of propositions on service firm....../implications - The use of value creation logics can be a useful complement to the conventional approaches to the study of service firms’ internationalization. However, the fact that most firms encompass more than one value creation logic complicates the use of firm databases and industry statistics. Practical...

  16. Financial Constrains for Innovative Firms: The Role of Size, Industry and ICT Uses as Determinants of Firms' Financial Structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castillo-Merino, David; Vilaseca-Requena, Jordi; Plana-Erta, Dolors

    This paper uses a large and original data set of Catalan firms in all the economic branches to analyse the effects of size, industry and degree of ICT uses on financial constraints for innovative firms. We have conducted a micro econometric analysis following Henry et al. (1999) investment model to empirically contrast the relationship between firms' investment spread over time and their financial structure, and we have used von Kalckreuth (2004) methodology, based on an original survey with data on financial issues. Our results show that it exits a positive and significant relationship between investment shift and financial structure, emerging financial constraints for more innovative firms. Furthermore, these constraints are higher for micro companies and firms within the knowledge-advanced services' industry. Finally, we have also found that advanced ICT uses by more innovative firms allow them to reduce constraints of access to sources of finance.

  17. 13 CFR 315.6 - Firm eligibility for Adjustment Assistance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Firm eligibility for Adjustment..., DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE FOR FIRMS General Provisions § 315.6 Firm eligibility for Adjustment Assistance. (a) Firms participate in the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Firms program in...

  18. 24 CFR 891.818 - Firm commitment application.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Firm commitment application. 891.818 Section 891.818 Housing and Urban Development Regulations Relating to Housing and Urban... Persons with Disabilities § 891.818 Firm commitment application. The sponsor will submit the firm...

  19. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND FIRM VALUE IN EMERGING MARKETS AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF ADR ISSUING EMERGING MARKET FIRMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aysun Ficici

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This study explores the value implications of good corporate governance for a sample of 54 ADR issuing emerging market firms (EMFs from 9 countries primarily located in the regions of Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America and the and employs recently constructed company composite corporate governance metric along with some alternative corporate governance measures associated with the origin of the issuing firm. Although the ADR literature primarily focuses on the impact of subscription to US disclosure requirements we contend that company and country specific corporate governance standards play a significant role in the risk reduction and ensuing value capture.  The fundamental inquiry in this study has the following foci: The primary focus is on the impact of corporate governance structures on firm performance as to whether adherence to standards creates market value for ADR issuing EMFs.  Do good corporate governance practices affect the value of EMFs? The secondary focus is concerned with whether the impact of corruption level and legal system in a firm’s home country affect the corporate structures of EMFs thus affecting the market value of firms.  In this study, we utilize Tobin’s q as the measure of firm performance/market value.  Our findings suggest that there is a significant correlation between corporate governance structures of ADR issuing EMFs and their market values and/or performances.  The results also indicate that the level of corruption and legal structures in home countries of EMFs strongly impact the corporate governance structures of these firms and sequentially affect their market values. Therefore, this research further contributes to the scholarly findings and suppositions that corporate structures of firms do create consequences on firm value.

  20. The Internationalisation of Service Firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Blagoeva, Denitsa Hazarbassanova

    The question the thesis aims at resolving is: How do the value creation logics of firms impact their internationalisation? The overall aim of this PhD project is to explore and test an approach to understanding the internationalisation of service firms, based not on opposing them to manufacturing...

  1. Dividend Policy of German Firms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Goergen, M.; Renneboog, L.D.R.; Correia Da Silva, L.

    2004-01-01

    German firms pay out a lower proportion of their cash flows than UK and US firms.However, on a published profits basis, the pattern is reversed.Company law provisions and accounting policies account for these conflicting results.A partial adjustment model is used to estimate the implicit target

  2. How Firms Make Boundary Decisions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dobrajska, Magdalena; Billinger, Stephan; Becker, Markus

    2014-01-01

    We report findings from an analysis of 234 firm boundary decisions that a manufacturing firm has made during a 10 year period. Extensive interviews with all major decision makers located both at the headquarters and subsidiaries allow us to examine (a) who was involved in each boundary decision...

  3. 48 CFR 1852.216-78 - Firm fixed price.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 true Firm fixed price. 1852.216... 1852.216-78 Firm fixed price. As prescribed in 1816.202-70, insert the following clause: Firm Fixed Price (DEC 1988) The total firm fixed price of this contract is $[Insert the appropriate amount]. (End...

  4. Technological Innovation Capabilities and Firm Performance

    OpenAIRE

    Richard C.M. Yam; William Lo; Esther P.Y. Tang; Antonio; K.W. Lau

    2010-01-01

    Technological innovation capability (TIC) is defined as a comprehensive set of characteristics of a firm that facilities and supports its technological innovation strategies. An audit to evaluate the TICs of a firm may trigger improvement in its future practices. Such an audit can be used by the firm for self assessment or third-party independent assessment to identify problems of its capability status. This paper attempts to develop such an auditing framework that can...

  5. Leverage, monetary policy, and firm investment

    OpenAIRE

    Charles X. Hu

    1999-01-01

    In this paper, I investigate whether the effects of monetary policy on firm investment can be transmitted through leverage. I find that monetary contractions reduce the growth of investment more for highly leveraged firms than for less leveraged firms. The results suggest that the board credit channel for monetary policy exists, and that it can operate through leverage, as adverse monetary shocks aggravate real debt burdens and raise the effective costs of investment.

  6. Sources of Investment Finance in Firms in Slovakia

    OpenAIRE

    Mikócziová Jana

    2010-01-01

    Based on results of the EBRD-World Bank “Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey” (BEEPS), the paper provides an explanation of why firms in Slovakia finance the most of their new investments with retained earnings, followed by bank debt, trade credit and external equity, as well as why small firms tend to use more retained earnings and less bank debt than medium and large firms. The financing patterns of firms in Slovakia are compared to the average financing patterns of firms...

  7. Corruption and firm behavior

    OpenAIRE

    Sandra Sequeira; Simeon Djankov

    2013-01-01

    This paper investigates how corruption affects firrm behavior. Firms can engage in two types of corruption when seeking a public service: cost-reducing "collusive" corruption and cost increasing "coercive" corruption. Using an original and unusually rich dataset on bribe payments at ports matched to firrm-level data, we observe how firms respond to each type of corruption by adjusting their shipping and sourcing strategies. "Collusive" corruption is associated with higher usage of the corrupt...

  8. Firms, Technology and Trade

    OpenAIRE

    Caldera Sanchez, Aida

    2010-01-01

    This doctoral dissertation studies the effect of economic integration on the performance of firms. The ongoing process of global economic integration has been characterized by dismantling of trade barriers and openness to foreign direct investments (FDI). These changes have not only brought opportunities to firms in terms of market access and the possibility to learn about foreign technologies brought in by foreign counterparts. The new economic environment has also posed new challenges throu...

  9. Top management and the adoption of energy efficiency practices: Evidence from small and medium-sized manufacturing firms in the US

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blass, Vered; Corbett, Charles J.; Delmas, Magali A.; Muthulingam, Suresh

    2014-01-01

    Barriers to energy efficiency have been extensively discussed in the energy literature, but little is known about positive drivers. This paper investigates the role of top managers and more specifically of top operations managers on the adoption of energy-efficiency practices, based on 5779 energy efficiency recommendations made to 752 small and medium-sized manufacturing firms under the US Department of Energy's IACs (Industrial Assessment Centers) Program, through which teams of students and faculty from engineering schools provide free energy assessments. Top operations managers possess knowledge of production processes, for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods. We find that their involvement significantly increases the adoption of energy-efficiency initiatives, while involvement of general top managers without an operational role has little or no effect. Involvement of top operations managers increases the percentage of recommended energy savings that are implemented by 13.4% on average and increases the probability of adoption of more disruptive individual recommendations related to process and equipment change from 31% to 44%. Our findings imply that, in order to advance energy efficiency in SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises), it may be advisable to target managers who are sufficiently senior but still in a clearly operationally-focused position. - Highlights: • We examine how top managers influence the adoption of energy-efficiency practices. • Top operations managers implement 13.4% more of recommended savings. • Involvement of top managers without an operational role has little or no effect. • Top operations managers enhance adoption of recommendations that are disruptive

  10. Financing patterns around the world: Are small firms different?.

    OpenAIRE

    Beck, T.H.L.; Demirgüc-Kunt, A.; Maksimovic, V.

    2008-01-01

    Using a firm-level survey database covering 48 countries, we investigate how financial and institutional development affects financing of large and small firms. Our database is not limited to large firms but includes small and medium-size firms and data on a broad spectrum of financing sources, including leasing, supplier, development, and informal finance. Small firms and firms in countries with poor institutions use less external finance, especially bank finance. Protection of property righ...

  11. The Influence of Ownership on Firm Internationalization: A Synthesis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Strandskov, Jesper; Madsen, Tage Koed; Petersen, Bent

    2018-01-01

    The paper develops an integrative ownership-internationalization model that explores the influences of various owner types (i.e. investor-owned firms, family-owned firms, employee-owned firms, cooperative–owned firms, and state-owned firms) on firm internationalization. Based on a comparative...... analysis of the various owner types, we discuss how each owner group’s main objectives, risk behavior and provision of resources influence their internationalization strategies and decisions (i.e. scale, scope and speed decisions)....

  12. Effect of firm variables on patent price

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shyam Sreekumaran Nair

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available In this study, using singleton patent auction price data from Ocean Tomo, LLC, we analyse the effect of firm variables on patent price. Patents owned by small firms attract higher price than patents owned by large firms, if they engage in multi-country filings. The patents owned by small firms get cited more than the patents owned by large firms. The patents owned by individual inventors attract a higher price than the patents owned by organisations when multi-country filings are not included. We believe that the lack of resources is preventing individual inventors from engaging in multi-country filings and maximising the revenue from their invention. A larger representative data should be used to replicate the results before generalising it.

  13. Choice of Ownership Structure and Firm Performance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jones, Derek C; Kalmi, Panu; Mygind, Niels

    2003-01-01

    In this paper we use rich panel data for a representative sample of Estonian enterprises to analysediverse issues related to the determinants of ownership structures and ownership changes afterprivatisation. A key focus is to determine whether ownership changes are related to economicefficiency....... While employee owned firms are found to be much more prone than other firms toswitch ownership categories, often `employee owned' firms remain `insider-owned' as ownershippasses from current employees to managers and former employees. Logit analyses of thedeterminants of ownership structures...... and ownership changes provides mixed support for severalhypotheses. As predicted: (i) wealth and resource constraints play a crucial role in thedetermination of ownership, with foreigners buying firms with the highest equity levels andinsiders buying firms with the lowest equity valuations; (ii) risk aversion...

  14. Firm-level volatility and exports

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vannoorenberghe, G.C.L.

    2012-01-01

    This paper shows that the share of exports in the total sales of a firm has a positive and substantial impact on the volatility of its sales. Decomposing the volatility of sales of exporters between their domestic and export markets, I show using an identification strategy based on a firm-specific

  15. Cash Holdings and Leverage of German Listed Firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rapp, Marc Steffen; Killi, Andreas Maximilian

    2016-01-01

    We examine cash holdings and leverage levels of German listed (non-financial and non-utility) firms. We document a secular increase in cash ratios over the last twenty years (1992–2011), reducing the net debt book leverage ratio for the average sample firm close to zero. Using prediction models...... firms are associated with measures of uncertainty faced by firms. Our results suggest that German firms have increased (reduced) their cash (net debt leverage) levels over time in order to adopt more precautionary financial policies....

  16. An Empirical Study on the Behavior of Monthly Stock Prices of Fortune 500 Firms and S&P Smaller Firms: Evidence and Implications

    OpenAIRE

    Young H. Kim; Edward L. Davis; Charles T. Moses

    2014-01-01

    This paper revisits a random walk hypothesis by investigating the behavior of monthly stock prices of 461 Fortune 500 firms over 45 years and 599 S&P smaller firms over 10 years. The Box-Jenkins ARIMA models are applied to time series analysis and stock market forecasting to find the monthly stock price behavior. The research findings show that 309 (67.03%) Fortune 500 firms and 449 (74.96%) S&P smaller firms follow a random walk. The monthly stock prices of Fortune 500 firms and S&P firms ...

  17. Green Shipping Practices of Shipping Firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Young-Tae Chang

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available The primary objective of this study is to provide an empirical research using structural equation modeling to identify the factors that motivate shipping firms to adopt green shipping practices (GSP. Furthermore, it also examines if adopting GSP can enhance the shipping firms’ environmental and productivity performance. The findings show that shipping firms are motivated to adopt GSP mostly by industrial norms set by institutionalized associations. They are also motivated by customers’ demand for environmental friendliness and their own strategy to make good image. Unlike our expectation, government regulations and international environmental laws are not significant in influencing shipping firms to adopt GSP. Moreover, adoption of green shipping practices can improve the environmental and productivity performance of the shipping firms.

  18. Within- and Cross-Firm Mobility and Earnings Growth

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Frederiksen, Anders; Halliday, Timothy; Koch, Alexander Karl

    It is widely accepted that promotions within firms and mobility across firms lead to significant earnings progression. Existing research generally examined cross-firm mobility separately from hierarchical advancement. Yet, as our descriptive evidence from Danish panel data shows, how the two type...... growth of promotions (either within or across firms) and subsequent mobility at a higher hierarchy level....

  19. Drivers for liquidation and transfer in small firms : Theory of Planned Behavior and firm conditions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    H. Leory; Lex van Teeffelen

    2009-01-01

    Recently Leroy et al. (2008) tested if the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) predicts exit behavior of entrepreneurs: liquidation or transfer. He added the purchasers view to the TPB: firm viability and intangible assets. We retested Leroy et al. hypotheses on a more refined dataset of 136 firms in

  20. The Firm as a Competent Team

    OpenAIRE

    Eliasson, Gunnar

    1988-01-01

    Results from empirical studies of firm behavior are synthesized into, a theory of the firm as a competent team. I demonstrate the existence of a tacit organizational competence exercising a leverage on the productivities of all other factors through selecting and allocating competent people, thus earning a monopoly rent in the capital market. The competence identified can only be fairly compensated through sharing in firm value growth in the equity market, exhibiting undervaluation of prime a...

  1. Core Knowledge Employee Creativity and Firm Performance: The Moderating Role of Riskiness Orientation, Firm Size, and Realized Absorptive Capacity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gong, Yaping; Zhou, Jing; Chang, Song

    2013-01-01

    In this study, we examine when creativity is positively or negatively related to firm performance. Building on the creation-implementation tension theorized in the literature and the attention capacity perspective, we argue that the relationship between creativity and firm performance is contingent on riskiness orientation, firm size, and realized…

  2. Operating Efficiency Evaluation of China Listed Automotive Firms: 2012–2016

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huichen Jiang

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available As one of the important pillar industries in China, the automotive industry (i.e., the traditional vehicle and the new energy vehicle (NEV sub-industries plays a significant role in the national economy and social development. In this paper, by using the fixed assets, intangible assets, the operating expenses, and the number of employee as inputs and the operating income as output, we conduct efficiency evaluations based on data envelopment analysis (DEA and Malmquist models, and measure the efficiency of listed automotive firms with the panel data of 77 listed A-share firms spanning from 2012 to 2016, statically and dynamically. The results show that the five-year average Malmquist indices of all the listed firms slightly decreased due to the decline of the technical change and the improvement of the efficiency change. We subdivide the automotive industry into the traditional vehicle and NEV industries, and find that the NEV industry performed better than the traditional one. We combine the industry development and efficiency evaluation, and believe that the NEV will be a new driving force of the economy.

  3. The Verdoorn law, firm strategy and firm performance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hartigh, den E.; Langerak, F.; Zegveld, M.A.; Geenhuizen, van M.; Trzmielak, D.M.; Gibson, D.V.; Urbaniak, M.

    2009-01-01

    In many markets and firms, positive feedback effects play an important role. Positive feedback effects mean that there is a tendency for that which is ahead to get further ahead, and for that which loses advantage to lose further advantage (Arthur, 1996). Such positive feedback effects result from

  4. Foreign Currency Borrowing by Small Firms

    OpenAIRE

    Martin Brown; Steven Ongena; Pinar Yesin

    2009-01-01

    We examine the firm- and country-level determinants of the currency denomination of small business loans. We first model the choice of loan currency in a framework which features a trade-off between lower cost of debt and the risk of firm-level distress costs, and also incorporates the impact of information asymmetry between banks and firms. When foreign currency funds come at a lower interest rate, all foreign currency earners as well as those local currency earners with high revenues and lo...

  5. Energy productivity growth in the Dutch Greenhouse Industry

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Oude Lansink, A.G.J.M.; Ondersteijn, C.J.M.

    2006-01-01

    Profitability of Dutch greenhouse firms is largely dependent on energy costs, and policy makers focus on reducing the use of energy by these firms. This article uses Russell measures of TE to develop indicators of energy productivity growth. Results show that energy productivity grew by 2.8%

  6. Employee participation in decision-making in architectural firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adedapo Oluwatayo

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available In this study, the participation of employee architects in decision-making in architectural firms is investigated. This is with a view to identifying the organisational contexts that enhance employee participation in decision making. The impact of such participation on the performances of the firms was also assessed. This study was carried out through a questionnaire survey of employers of architects in Nigeria. In agreement with findings of previous studies, participation of the employees of the architectural firms in the study in decision making is low. Employee participation in decision making in the firms was dependent on the staffing strategy and proportion of junior staff in many cases. The positive impact of employee participation in decision making on firm performance varied with the nature of the decision. This study concludes that there is need for employers in architectural firms to identify the categories of decision that employees should be involved in and to modify their firm contexts to encourage participation where desired.

  7. What results when firms implement practices: the differential relationship between specific practices, firm financial performance, customer service, and quality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gibson, Cristina B; Porath, Christine L; Benson, George S; Lawler, Edward E

    2007-11-01

    Previous research on organizational practices is replete with contradictory evidence regarding their effects. Here, the authors argue that these contradictory findings may have occurred because researchers have often examined complex practice combinations and have failed to investigate a broad variety of firm-level outcomes. Thus, past research may obscure important differential effects of specific practices on specific firm-level outcomes. Extending this research, the authors develop hypotheses about the effects of practices that (a) enable information sharing, (b) set boundaries, and (c) enable teams on 3 different firm-level outcomes: financial performance, customer service, and quality. Relationships are tested in a sample of observations from over 200 Fortune 1000 firms. Results indicate that information-sharing practices were positively related to financial performance 1 year following implementation of the practices, boundary-setting practices were positively related to firm-level customer service, and team-enabling practices were related to firm-level quality. No single set of practices predicted all 3 firm-level outcomes, indicating practice-specific effects. These findings help resolve the theoretical tension in the literature regarding the effects of organizational practices and offer guidance as to how to best target practices to increase specific work-related outcomes. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed. (c) 2007 APA

  8. Innovation and risk-averse firms: Options on carbon allowances as a hedging tool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Szolgayová, Jana; Golub, Alexander; Fuss, Sabine

    2014-01-01

    In a regulated world where government seeks to decarbonize the energy sector, firms face both indirect and direct costs of emitting CO 2 . This study seeks to take the perspective of the firm, which needs to maximize profits implying minimization of (carbon) cost as well. In this study, the firm can compose the cost-optimal portfolio of (a) investing into carbon-saving technology, which is currently expensive, (b) investing into carbon-saving technology R and D and adopt this technology at a later point, (c) buying allowances per ton of emitted CO 2 in a carbon market (alternatively this could be formulated as a tax), and (d) buying offsets traded in the same market, which are based on reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+). Uncertainties in the cost of carbon coming from a lack of commitment in policy-making leading to fluctuations in markets and uncertainty in the payoff of R and D activities could provide disincentives to incur large up-front sunk cost and raise the economic value of being flexible. We apply a real options approach with stochastic carbon-saving technology costs and stochastic CO 2 costs. Assuming that firms are risk-averse, they will not only value flexibility, but also risk reductions from diversification over the different (carbon mitigation) options. - Highlights: • We study the compliance problem of a private firm under both regulatory and technological uncertainty in an optimal control setting. • When firms are risk-averse, forest-backed offset options will be part of the compliance portfolio. • R and D creates valuable options on new technology

  9. Female Employment and Firm Performance: An empirical analysis using firm panel data (Japanese)

    OpenAIRE

    YAMAMOTO Isamu

    2014-01-01

    This paper overviews the situation of female employment in listed Japanese companies using firm-level panel data after the 2000s, and demonstrates whether those companies utilizing female employment earn higher profits. The estimation results of fixed effect models show that a higher female proportion among regular employees significantly raises a company's profit rates, as measured by the return on assets. Particularly, it is shown that those firms with a female proportion of 30% to 40%, as ...

  10. How do firms implement impairment tests of goodwill?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Plenborg, Thomas; Vriborg Petersen, Christian

    Adopting a survey approach, our study examines how firms implement impairment test of goodwill. We focus on how firms define and measure the recoverable amount of CGU. The survey includes 58 completed questionnaires representing 73% of the firms on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange that recognise goo...... be of interest to a number of parties including firms, financial advisors, auditors, standard setters and users of financial statements....

  11. Finding the "Right Staff" in Small Firms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barrett, Rowena; Neeson, Robyn; Billington, Leo

    2007-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore what owners of small firms are looking for from new employees. The aim is to pursue this in light of the debate around formality and informality of small firm HRM, exploring the extent to which the small firms studied had formalized HRM practices. Design/methodology/approach: The data reported here…

  12. Collaborative Communities of Firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bøllingtoft, Anne; Müller, Sabine; Ulhøi, John Parm

    2011-01-01

    and developing strategic initiatives that aid the community as a whole. We discuss the facilitator role of the shared services provider, contrasting it with the coordinator role found in other multi-firm organizations, and we show how shared services providers function by describing three examples...... of collaborative communities of firms from different sectors: the U.S.-based Blade.org and two Denmark-based communities, the Kalundborg Industrial Symbiosis and MG50. Implications for the theory and practice of organization design are discussed....

  13. Sources of Investment Finance in Firms in Slovakia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mikócziová Jana

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Based on results of the EBRD-World Bank “Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey” (BEEPS, the paper provides an explanation of why firms in Slovakia finance the most of their new investments with retained earnings, followed by bank debt, trade credit and external equity, as well as why small firms tend to use more retained earnings and less bank debt than medium and large firms. The financing patterns of firms in Slovakia are compared to the average financing patterns of firms in selected OECD-countries. Furthermore, measures to stimulate corporate investments and their financing are proposed.

  14. International working capital practices of Ghanaian firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Abor

    2005-12-01

    Full Text Available International working capital management is important to firms frequently operating in the international market. This article investigates the international working capital practices of top Ghanaian firms involved in international trade. The objective of the study is to ascertain the extent to which Ghanaian firms use international working capital management vehicles. The article focuses on two main areas of international working capital management; international cash management and international sales and accounts receivables management. The results of this study reveal low level of use of international working capital vehicles among Ghanaian firms. Recommendations are made in this regard.

  15. Does Innovating Customer Relationship Management Improve Firm Performance?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Geersbro, Jens; Ritter, Thomas

    Based on an empirical study of more than 400 B2B firms, this paper investigates the role of innovating a firm’s customer relationship management capability on firm performance. There is a lot of evidence for the positive impact of customer relationship management capability on firm performance....... This paper advances this stream of literature by analyzing whether or not investments into developing a firm’s customer relationship capability increase firm performance. The findings illustrate that although relationship management innovation (defined as new (to the firm) processes, systems and tools...... for relationship management) has a positive correlation with firm performance, the impact is fully mediated by the firms’ relationship management capability. The paper also identifies internal and external drivers of customer relationship management innovation. Not surprisingly customer and competitor dynamics...

  16. Multicultural markets and acculturation: Implications for service firms

    OpenAIRE

    Poulis, Konstantinos; Yamin, Mo; Poulis, Efthimios

    2013-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose is to construct an analytical framework that encapsulates implications for the marketing offering of service firms as a result of observed intra-national ethnic diversity in these firms' markets of operation. Design/methodology/approach: This is a conceptual approach which promotes the idea that acculturation matters for service firms operating in multicultural markets and adopts relevant propositions related to service firms' strategy in such markets. Findings: Integrati...

  17. Microcap pharmaceutical firms: linking drug pipelines to market value.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beach, Robert

    2012-01-01

    This article examines predictors of the future market value of microcap pharmaceutical companies. This is problematic since the large majority of these firms seldom report positive net income. Their value comes from the potential of a liquidity event such as occurs when a key drug is approved by the FDA. The typical scenario is one in which the company is either acquired by a larger pharmaceutical firm or enters into a joint venture with another pharmaceutical firm. Binary logistic regression is used to determine the impact of the firm's drug treatment pipeline and its investment in research and development on the firm's market cap. Using annual financial data from 2007 through 2010, this study finds that the status of the firm's drug treatment pipeline and its research and development expenses are significant predictors of the firm's future stock value relative to other microcap pharmaceutical firms.

  18. Audit firm rotation, audit firm tenure and earnings conservatism

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kramer, S.T.; Georgakopoulos, G.; Sotiropoulos, I.; Vasileiou, K.Z.

    2011-01-01

    This study aims to contribute to the debate around the possibility of mandating audit firm rotation. Specifically, it examines conservatism as an attribute of earnings quality, which has not attracted particular attention in the auditor rotation research. Applying regression analyses on a sample,

  19. Taxing the Financially Integrated Multinational Firm

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Johannesen, Niels

    partly fall on investment and thus workers in the former country. This tax exporting mechanism introduces a scope for corporate taxes, which is not present in standard models of international taxation. Accounting for the internal capital markets of multinational firms thus represents a way to resolve......This paper develops a theoretical model of corporate taxation in the presence of financially integrated multinational firms. Under the assumption that multinational firms at least partly use internal loans to finance foreign investment, we find that the optimal corporate tax rate is positive from...... the perspective of a small, open economy. This finding contrasts the standard result that the optimal source based capital tax is zero. Intuitively, to the extent that multinational firms finance investment in country i with loans from affiliates in country j, the burden of corporate taxes in the latter country...

  20. Keeping Noise Down on the Farm

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Do > Keeping Noise Down on the Farm Keeping Noise Down on the Farm SHARE Some people may ... risks permanent hearing damage. Take steps to reduce noise from machinery. Keep machinery running smoothly by replacing ...

  1. Keeping a Journal: A Path to Uncovering Identity (and Keeping Your Sanity)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooper, Joanne E.

    2013-01-01

    A journal can help keep a person more organized, clarify their identity, and help them grapple with them own sense of belonging in the often bewildering world of academe. In this article, the author discusses: (1) the benefits and uses of keeping a journal; (2) Techniques for writing in a journal; and (3) Drawbacks of journal writing.

  2. Adopting Advertising and Communication Innovations in Small Firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fabricia Durieux Zucco

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The adoption of innovation for market penetration of small firms tends to consider the effectiveness of communication channels. In this study we investigate the adoption of communication and advertising innovations, the use of virtual social networks, in a sample of 227 small firms in the Brazilian countryside. We analyse how distinct communication objectives of a firm influence the choice of using virtual social networks to build links between firms and customers.  We also look at the role of paid advertising in virtual social networks. Main results show a trend of such firms to engage in virtual social networks when they are targeting at stronger brand image and when building deeper links through brand information with their public. Firms also tend to use advertising in virtual social networks when intending to raise brand recall from their brand portfolio.

  3. Consumer Networks and Firm Reputation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Huck, Steffen; Lünser, Gabriele K.; Tyran, Jean-Robert

    Arguing that consumers are the carriers of firms' reputations, we examine the role of consumer networks for trust in markets that suffer from moral hazard. When consumers are embedded in a network, they can exchange information with their neighbours about their private experiences with different ...... sellers. We find that such information exchange fosters firms' incentives for reputation building and, thus, enhances trust and efficiency in markets. This efficiency-enhancing effect is already achieved with a rather low level of network density......Arguing that consumers are the carriers of firms' reputations, we examine the role of consumer networks for trust in markets that suffer from moral hazard. When consumers are embedded in a network, they can exchange information with their neighbours about their private experiences with different...

  4. The Variance Composition of Firm Growth Rates

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luiz Artur Ledur Brito

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available Firms exhibit a wide variability in growth rates. This can be seen as another manifestation of the fact that firms are different from one another in several respects. This study investigated this variability using the variance components technique previously used to decompose the variance of financial performance. The main source of variation in growth rates, responsible for more than 40% of total variance, corresponds to individual, idiosyncratic firm aspects and not to industry, country, or macroeconomic conditions prevailing in specific years. Firm growth, similar to financial performance, is mostly unique to specific firms and not an industry or country related phenomenon. This finding also justifies using growth as an alternative outcome of superior firm resources and as a complementary dimension of competitive advantage. This also links this research with the resource-based view of strategy. Country was the second source of variation with around 10% of total variance. The analysis was done using the Compustat Global database with 80,320 observations, comprising 13,221 companies in 47 countries, covering the years of 1994 to 2002. It also compared the variance structure of growth to the variance structure of financial performance in the same sample.

  5. International Trade and Macroeconomic Dynamics with Heteroegenous Firms

    OpenAIRE

    Ghironi, Fabio; Melitz, Marc J

    2004-01-01

    We develop a stochastic, general equilibrium, two-country model of trade and macroeconomic dynamics. Productivity differs across individual, monopolistically competitive firms in each country. Firms face a sunk entry cost in the domestic market and both fixed and per-unit export costs. Only relatively more productive firms export. Exogenous shocks to aggregate productivity and entry or trade costs induce firms to enter and exit both their domestic and export markets, thus altering the composi...

  6. Efficient Climate Policy with Internationally Mobile Firms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maestad, O.

    2001-01-01

    A major concern in the design of an incomplete climate agreement is that firms that use fossil fuels intensively may respond to emission regulations by relocating their plants from cooperating to non-cooperating countries. This paper analyses how the cooperating countries might deal with the issue of firm delocation through emission taxes, trade provisions and a localisation subsidy to mobile firms. It is shown that firms should not be induced to stay in the cooperating countries by lowering emission taxes below the Pigouvian tax rate. Incentives to stay should be given partly through trade provisions and partly through a localisation subsidy. A second best solution without localisation subsidies is also discussed. In that case, the efficient emission tax is lower than the Pigouvian tax rate. Finally, the paper discusses the implications of the first best and the second best policy regimes for the pattern of firm localisation. 19 refs

  7. Efficiency of European Dairy Processing Firms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Soboh, R.A.M.E.; Oude Lansink, A.G.J.M.; Dijk, van G.

    2014-01-01

    This paper compares the technical efficiency and production frontier of dairy processing cooperativesand investor owned firms in six major dairy producing European countries. Two parametric produc-tion frontiers are estimated, i.e. for cooperatives and investor owned firms separately, which are

  8. Psychic Distance, Innovation, and Firm Performance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Azar, Goudarz; Drogendijk, Rian

    2014-01-01

    Previous research suggests that internationalization improves a firm's ability to innovate, but the effect of internationalizing into specific target markets or destinations on the innovation ability of firms has not been fully investigated. This study examined whether the psychic distance between

  9. The Impact of Workplace Conditions on Firm Performance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    I.S. Buhai (Sebastian); E. Cottini (Elena); N. Westergaard-Nielsen

    2008-01-01

    textabstractThis paper estimates the impact of work environment health and safety practice on firm performance, and examines which firm-characteristic factors are associated with good work conditions. We use Danish longitudinal register matched employer-employee data, merged with firm business

  10. Financing patterns around the world : Are small firms different?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Beck, T.H.L.; Demirgüc-Kunt, A.; Maksimovic, V.

    2008-01-01

    Using a firm-level survey database covering 48 countries, we investigate how financial and institutional development affects financing of large and small firms. Our database is not limited to large firms, but includes small and medium firms and data on a broad spectrum of financing sources,

  11. Debt and Taxes: Evidence from bank-financed unlisted firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bartholdy, Jan; Mateus, Cesário

    This paper analyzes the capital structure decision of non-listed bank-financed firms using a rich and unique new data set of Portuguese firms. These firms are rarely studied in capital structure contexts and differ from large listed firms in terms of agency and asymmetric information problems...

  12. China's energy saving potential from the perspective of energy efficiency advantages of foreign-invested enterprises

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jiang, Xuemei; Zhu, Kunfu; Green, Christopher

    2015-01-01

    The paper investigates the energy saving potential associated with firm ownership-related differences in energy efficiency such as those between domestically and foreign-owned firms. Because of a gap in official statistics this topic has barely been touched upon in the scholarly literature. This paper employs a new energy input–output table that distinguishes firm ownership (Chinese owned enterprises, COEs; and foreign-invested enterprises, FIEs) and trade mode (export processing and normal goods production) to analyze the energy efficiency advantage of FIEs in China in 2007. The results show that the total energy intensities of COEs in the industrial sector are generally 5%–35% higher than that of FIEs across industry groups. At an aggregate level, China could save up to 20.3% of its energy use, if industrial COEs could duplicate the energy use efficiency and production technology of FIEs. This gain would require major technology upgrades among COEs. - Highlights: • A new input–output table distinguishing firm ownership and trade mode is employed. • The foreign-invested enterprises are 5%–35% energy efficient than Chinese enterprises in 2007. • China could save 20.3% of energy use if industrial COEs could duplicate the technologies of FIEs

  13. FOOD ENTREPRENEUR SUSTAINABLE ORIENTATION AND FIRM PRACTICES

    OpenAIRE

    Mark A. Gagnon; Pamela A. Heinrichs

    2016-01-01

    This exploratory research examines the relationship between food entrepreneur sustainable orientation, mindset and firm sustainable practices in a mixed methods format. In particular we seek to address if entrepreneur behavior and firm practices are congruent with founding entrepreneur espoused support of sustainability. Our survey findings with thirty specialty food entrepreneurs suggest tenuous empirical support for the relationship of entrepreneur sustainable orientation, mindset and firm ...

  14. THE INFLUENCE OF FIRMS STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS ON THE DEGREE OF AGGLOMERATION ECONOMIES ENJOYED AMONGST FIRMS IN THE LAGOS REGION, NIGERIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    FAGBOHUNKA Adejompo

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Agglomeration economies is a potent tool in socio-economic revamping, rejuvenation and sustenance of regions, this is as a result of the impulse it transmitted through the multiplier effect it is capable of generated. Therefore, this paper underscores the influence of firms structural characteristics on the degree of agglomeration economies enjoyed amongst firms, using the Lagos region as a case study. The first stage in the collection of primary data involves the reconnaissance survey, thereafter one hundred and three questionnaire were administered in twelve industrial estates; one questionnaire in each of the firm. The paper reveals the following structural characteristics as germane to industrial enterprise; age of firms, areal plant size (m², capacity utilization (in percentage, and Labour size and firms investment. The paper has also found out those agglomeration economies enjoyed ranges from transportation, labour, power supply, to joint water supply. The Roy’s Largest Root test employed to test for the significance of the canonical correlations at 0.05 significant levels shows the calculated F-value 3.5247 and the tabulated F-value 2.90. This suggests that the degree of agglomeration economies enjoyed by firms is significantly explained by the size and structural characteristics of the firms. The paper therefore recommends more and active government participation in the industrial scene, given the necessary support for the expansion of firm’s structural characteristics which will lead to increase agglomeration economies enjoyed by these firms.

  15. The Relationship Between Intellectual Capital and Firm Value: A Study in Istanbul Stock Exchange

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Selim CENGİZ

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available The main purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between intellectual capital and firm value. The study is significant in that it makes intellectual capital, which is of vital importance in ensuring firms’ sustainability, more apparent and it provides a chance to make comparisons with other studies. The companies operating in energy sector in Borsa Istanbul (abbreviated as BIST, former Istanbul Stock Exchange during the period of 2009-2011, are taken into the scope of analysis. Within this scope, the findings obtained by using “Calculated Intangible Value Management” are compared with firms’ market value/book value practices in order to determine the relationship between intellectual capital and firm value. The findings reveal that energy companies operating in Turkey do not consider their intellectual capital assets important and tangible assets are the main factors affecting business performance.

  16. Market Imperfections and Firm-Sponsored Training

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Picchio, M.; van Ours, J.C.

    2010-01-01

    Recent human capital theories predict that labor market frictions and product market competition influence firm-sponsored training. Using matched worker-firm data from Dutch manufacturing, our paper empirically assesses the validity of these predictions. We find that a decrease in labor market

  17. The failing firm defence: merger policy and entry

    OpenAIRE

    Mason, Robin; Weeds, Helen

    2003-01-01

    This Paper considers the 'failing firm defence'. Under this principle, found in most antitrust jurisdictions, a merger that would otherwise be blocked due to its adverse effect on competition is permitted when the firm to be acquired is a failing firm, and an alternative, less detrimental merger is unavailable. Competition authorities have shown considerable reluctance to accept the failing firm defence, and it has been successfully used in just a handful of cases. The Paper considers the def...

  18. THE CHALLENGE OF GLOBALIZATION FOR LARGE CHINESE FIRMS

    OpenAIRE

    Peter Nolan; Jin Zhang

    2002-01-01

    As China joins the World Trade Organization, the author questions whether China’s large firms will be able to compete on the global level playing field. Over the past two decades, Chinese large enterprises have undertaken extensive evolutionary change but, at the same time, the world’s leading firms have undergone a revolutionary transformation. Based on analysis of firms with the aerospace, oil and petrochemical industry, the authors conclude that China’s leading firms face critical challeng...

  19. Financing Constraints and Firm Growth in Emerging Europe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leitner Sandra M.

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available The paper aims to shed light on the effects of different types of financing constraints on firm sales and employment growth in Emerging Europe before and after the onset of the financial crisis. It analyzes the group of emerging NMS-10 economies (plus Turkey and the group of economically and financially lagging Western Balkan countries. The paper demonstrates that financing constraints significantly obstruct firm growth, particularly in the Western Balkan countries, which calls for policy intervention to ensure swifter job-rich growth and catching-up with the rest of Europe. It also emphasizes that particular firm characteristics are essential for growth in Emerging Europe and demonstrates that exporting only and innovating are recipes for faster firm growth, while importing only and a high foreign ownership share seriously retard firm growth. Finally, it stresses the importance of the particular institutional environment for firms to thrive.

  20. New workplace practices and firm performance in manufacturing:

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pozzoli, Dario; Cristini, Annalisa

    Using data from the 2004 Workplace Employee Relations Survey on British establishments and two surveys on manufacturing firms located in the North of Italy, we look at the diffusion of new workplace practices in the two countries and at their impact on the firm's performance. We find that the Ita......Using data from the 2004 Workplace Employee Relations Survey on British establishments and two surveys on manufacturing firms located in the North of Italy, we look at the diffusion of new workplace practices in the two countries and at their impact on the firm's performance. We find...... that the Italian and British samples differ more in terms of composition of the set practices than in terms of overall incidence, but the statistical associations between some of the practices and the firm's performance are robust across countries. The counterfactual analysis shows that could the Italian firms...

  1. Tariffs and Firm-Level Heterogeneous Fixed Export Costs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schröder, Philipp J.H.; Jørgensen, Jan Guldager

    2006-01-01

    This paper presents a two country intra-industry trade model with bilateral ad valorem tariffs and fixed export costs that are heterogeneous across firms. In this model not all firms will choose to export. We examine the effects of reciprocal changes in the tariff and the fixed export barrier...... on the number of firms, firm profits, tariff revenue and consumer welfare. We show that both types of trade barriers reduce (increase) the number of exporting (pure domestic) firms. However, the sum of available home and foreign varieties may actually increase for small tariffs. Firm profits fall for both...... the tariff and the fixed export barrier. Tariff revenue falls for an increase in fixed exporting costs whereas we have a Laffer curve effect for the tariff. Finally, we establish that welfare falls with fixed export costs and large tariffs but increases for small tariffs, i.e. there exist a welfare...

  2. Global Sourcing, Technology, and Factor Intensity: Firm-level Relationships

    OpenAIRE

    TOMIURA Eiichi

    2007-01-01

    This paper empirically examines how technology and capital intensity are related with the firm's global sourcing decision. Firm-level data are derived from a survey covering all manufacturing industries in Japan without any firm-size threshold. Firms are disaggregated by their make-or-buy decision (in-house or outsourcing) and by their choice of sourcing location (offshore or domestic). Capital-intensive or R&D-intensive firms tend to source in-house from their FDI affiliates rather than outs...

  3. Human Capital-Intensive Firms and Symbolic Value Creation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cezanne Cécile

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to study the process of symbolic value creation of human capital-intensive firms. Human capital is a critical resource for firms’ activities. Nevertheless, this dimension is often obscured by industrial economists. In the light of critical resource theory, we analyze how taking into account the inalienable and inimitable nature of specific human capital entails a reconsideration of the role and boundaries of the firm. We show that the firm seeks to coordinate the specialization of its key partners within the frame of its economic boundaries to ensure the long-term optimization of its potential of value. Therefore, the value of the firm depends on all the resources that the firm coordinates. Then we focus on the way HCIF can create different values. We suggest that the firm builds its competitive advantage on different forms of values, in particular the symbolic value incorporated in human capital. Finally, on the basis of these considerations, we identify the wealth included in the critical resources of the firm and to bring to light the process of symbolic value creation associated with it. We suggest that the firm is the value creating entity and the customer both recognizes and derives the value created from whatever it is that the firm provides. We propose a definition of this value and a schema of its creation process based on management works attempts. We conclude by proposing paths of research that could fruitfully be explored to further develop this new subject.

  4. Tariff regulation with energy efficiency goals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abrardi, Laura; Cambini, Carlo

    2015-01-01

    We study the optimal tariff structure that could induce a regulated utility to promote energy efficiency by its customers given that it is privately informed about the effectiveness of its effort on demand reduction. The regulator should optimally offer a menu of incentive compatible two-part tariffs. If the firm's energy efficiency activities have a high impact on demand reduction, the consumer should pay a high fixed fee but a low per unit price, approximating the tariff structure to a decoupling policy, which strengthens the firm's incentives to pursue energy conservation. Instead, if the firm's effort to adopt energy efficiency actions is scarcely effective, the tariff is characterized by a low fixed fee but a high price per unit of energy consumed, thus shifting the incentives for energy conservation on consumers. The optimal tariff structure also depends on the cost of the consumer's effort (in case the consumer can also adopt energy efficiency measures) and on the degree of substitutability between the consumer's and the firm's efforts. - Highlights: • We study the optimal tariff structure that induces an utility to adopt energy efficiency activities. • The regulator optimally offer a menu of incentive compatible two-part tariffs. • If energy efficiency activities have a high effectiveness, decoupling emerges as a solution. • If the energy efficiency actions are less effective, the tariff has a higher per unit price and lower fixed fee. • The optimal tariff structure also depends on the degree of substitutability between the consumer's and the firm's efforts

  5. CASH HOLDING, GOOD CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND FIRM VALUE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Prana Wahyu Nisasmara

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This research aims to understand the influence of profitability, capital structure, cash holding, and GCG (Good Corporate Governance on firm value.  The samples of this study were the property sector and real estate companies listed on Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX in the period of 2008-2013. The data used from the annual report company. The methods of data analysis were multiple regression models and analyzed using IBM SPSS software. The results of this study are profitability has no influence on firm value, capital structure has positive influence on firm value, cash holding has no influence on firm value and GCG a has a positive influence on firm value.

  6. Possible routes to improve adaptive management of firms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stuiver, M.; Westerink, J.

    2016-01-01

    This study explores possible routes to improve the adaptive management of firms and proposes to view firms as social-ecological systems. We conceptualise three possible ways in which firms can frame their relation with the natural environment. The first is impact related: strategies for assessing

  7. Entrepreneurial strategic groups: how clustering helps nascent firms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Amezcua, A.S.; Ratinho, Tiago

    2012-01-01

    Our study examines how strategic groups consisting of nascent ventures outperform other firms. An entrepreneurial strategic group is defined as firms that pursue a similar founding strategy, belong to the same industry, and compete in the same geography. We show that firms belonging to an

  8. 32 CFR 37.1250 - Commercial firm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 32 National Defense 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Commercial firm. 37.1250 Section 37.1250... REGULATIONS TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT AGREEMENTS Definitions of Terms Used in This Part § 37.1250 Commercial firm... does a substantial portion of its business in the commercial marketplace. ...

  9. Knowledge Sharing in Knowledge-Intensive Firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gupta, Akshey; Michailova, Snejina

    2004-01-01

    This paper is a study of the knowledge-sharing difficulties experienced by three departments in a knowledge-intensive firm. The case organization is a global consulting firm that has been on the forefront of knowledge management and has won several knowledge management related international accla...

  10. Firm age, business cycles and aggregate labor market dynamics

    OpenAIRE

    Sedláček, P.

    2011-01-01

    Job creation and destruction rates fall with a firm's age, young businesses have higher exit rates, conditional on survival they grow faster and given their employment shares they create relatively more jobs than older firms. In fact, recent studies show that the well established negative relationship between a firm's size and its growth rate vanishes once its age is taken into account. I extend these findings by showing that, compared to old firms, employment growth in young firms is more vo...

  11. Firm-value effects of CSR disclosure and CSR performance

    OpenAIRE

    Gutsche, Robert; Schulz, Jan-Frederic; Gratwohl, Michael

    2017-01-01

    We examine in this paper the effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure and CSR performance on firm value for S&P 500 firms from 2011 to 2014. We find that CSR disclosure is positively associated with firm value and that the effect of CSR disclosure on firm value is larger than the effect of CSR performance. On average, the overall firm value increase for one index point of Bloomberg's environmental, social, and governance (ESG) Disclosure Score is $260 million, whereas the i...

  12. The effect of corporate culture on firm performance: Evidence from China

    OpenAIRE

    Hailin Zhao; Haimeng Teng; Qiang Wu

    2018-01-01

    This study examines whether corporate culture promotion affects firm performance in China in terms of firm market value, firm financial performance and innovation output. We find consistent evidence that corporate culture promotion is negatively related to firm market value, positively related to innovation output and not significantly related to firm financial performance. In addition, the negative effect of corporate culture promotion on firm market value is driven by small firms and firms ...

  13. Do Treasure Islands Create Firm Value?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Choy, Siu Kai; Lai, Tat-kei

    On October 11, 2011, a non-governmental organization called ActionAid published a report condemning the FTSE 100 firms for holding an unusually large number of subsidiaries in tax havens. Urging the government to take appropriate actions, the report raised the firms’ costs of holding tax haven...... subsidiaries. After this event, there was a 0.9% drop in cumulative abnormal returns among the non-financial firms (corresponding to about £9 billion in market capitalization), more so for better-governed firms and those with larger shares of subsidiaries in tax havens. We find some evidence that government...

  14. An empirical study of Malaysian firms' capital structure

    OpenAIRE

    Zain, Sharifah Raihan Syed Mohd

    2003-01-01

    Merged with duplicate record 10026.1/821 on 27.03.2017 by CS (TIS) It is sometimes purported that one of the factors affecting a firm's value is its capital structure. The event of the 1997 Asian financial crisis was expected to affect the firms' gearing level as the firms' earnings deteriorated and the capital market collapsed. The main objective of this research is to examine empirically the determinants of the capital structure of Malaysian firms. The main additional aim is ...

  15. Knowledge management in the firm

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Palle; Nielsen, Peter

    2011-01-01

    to innovation and illustrates how combinations of these might benefit firm performance. It also stresses the preconditions of employee involvement and participation to knowledge management and not least the importance of interaction with environmental resources. To improve performance firms should be aware......Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to set focus on, and discuss the concept of knowledge, and show how the interrelations between knowledge and other concepts, such as learning, have become a decisive element in managing human resources and firm performance. Design....../methodology/approach – The dimensions of knowledge management are identified and related to learning, organizational configurations, human resources management and institutional environments in order to identify and percent the most important approaches to knowledge management and the development over time. Findings – Creating...

  16. 39 CFR 281.1 - Notification of firm mailers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 39 Postal Service 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Notification of firm mailers. 281.1 Section 281.1 Postal Service UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION FIRM MAILINGS DAMAGED OR DESTROYED THROUGH TRANSPORTATION ACCIDENTS OR CATASTROPHES § 281.1 Notification of firm mailers. Whenever...

  17. Determinants of firms' investment behaviour : a multilevel approach

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Farla, K.

    2013-01-01

    This paper investigates micro and macro determinants of firms' investment behaviour using firm data from 101 developing and emerging economies. A substantial number of firms in our sample does not invest in fixed capital or invests little relative to sales revenue. Using a multilevel probit model we

  18. Strategic Resources and Family Firm Performance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Matser, I.A.

    2013-01-01

    Most companies in the Netherlands can be labeled as family firms (according to the GEEF definition (Mandle, 2008; Flören et al., 2010). The family firm can be regarded as an open system model comprising three overlapping, interacting, and interdependent subsystems: owners, family, and managers

  19. Source of finance, growth and firm size: Evidence from China

    OpenAIRE

    Du, Jun; Girma, Sourafel

    2009-01-01

    Using a comprehensive firm-level dataset spanning the period 1998-2005, this paper provides a thorough investigation of the relationship between firm size, total factor productivity growth and financial structure in China, controlling for the endogeneity of the latter. Generally, it finds financing source matters for firms of different size, and the extent to which financing source matters for firm growth is greater for small firms than big firms. Self-raised finance appears to be most effect...

  20. Determinants of innovation in energy intensive industry and implications for energy policy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Song, ChiUng; Oh, Wankeun

    2015-01-01

    Abstracts: The Korean government adopted “green growth” in 2008 as an environmentally friendly growth strategy. The energy efficiency of Korea, however, is still relatively low due to the large portion of energy intensive industry (EII) in its manufacturing sector. To improve energy efficiency in Korea, from an EII perspective a new approach has to be taken because restructuring entire industries would take too much time and be too costly. This study aims to emphasize the importance of innovation and analyze the effects of R&D on product and process innovations in EII in Korea. The Probit model is adopted to estimate the effects of eight determinants in the Korea Innovation Survey 2008 data. The results of this study demonstrate that one of the most important determinants, the R&D personnel ratio, has a strong positive effect on both product and process innovation, while another determinant, R&D intensity, only has a strong and positive effect on process innovation in EII. Because of the resulting innovation, energy policies should be enacted to enhance energy efficiency. Thus, the Korean government should keep providing incentives for firms in EII to invest more financial and human resources in their R&D activities. -- Highlights: •We analyze determinants on two innovations in energy intensive industry (EII). •The R&D personnel ratio is effective in product innovation in EII. •Both R&D intensity and R&D personnel are effective in process innovation in EII. •In less EII, R&D variables have positive effects on product and process innovations. •The Korean government should strongly support R&D to improve energy efficiency

  1. Gendering dynamic capabilities in micro firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yevgen Bogodistov

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Gender issues are well-researched in the general management literature, particular in studies on new ventures. Unfortunately, gender issues have been largely ignored in the dynamic capabilities litera­ture. We address this gap by analyzing the effects of gender diversity on dynamic capabilities among micro firms. We consider the gender of managers and personnel in 124 Ukrainian tourism micro firms. We examine how a manager’s gender affects the firm’s sensing capacities and investigate how it moderates team gender diversity’s impact on sensing capacities. We also investigate how person­nel composition impacts seizing and reconfiguration capacities. We find that female managers have several shortcomings concerning a firm’s sensing capacity but that personnel gender diversity increa­ses this capacity. Team gender diversity has positive effects on a firm’s seizing and reconfiguration abilities. Our study advances research on gender diversity and its impact on firm capabilities and illustrates its relevance for staffing practices in micro firms.

  2. Job Creation by Firms in Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ibsen, Rikke Falkner; Westergård-Nielsen, Niels

    -offs and mergers. The analysis will make it possible to differentiate between net and gross creation of jobs because we can follow each single individual in and out of jobs. We have for Denmark found that size on its own does not have a big impact, but young firms are much more likely to contribute to a positive...... growth. For the U.S. it has been found that the growth in jobs comes from small businesses. A closer analysis though shows that the main factor here is the firm age. Thus, it is found that young firms net create the most jobs, but they are also responsible for the most job destructions.......In this paper we will look at job creation and destruction in firms. We will answer the question if it is the large companies that create jobs, while the smaller companies are contributing much less. Or is it the young companies that create jobs? And who destroys the most jobs? In the crisis...

  3. The structure of a market containing boundedly rational firms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ibrahim, Adyda; Zura, Nerda; Saaban, Azizan

    2017-11-01

    The structure of a market is determined by the number of active firms in it. Over time, this number is affected by the exit of existing firms, called incumbents, and entries of new firms, called entrant. In this paper, we considered a market governed by the Cobb-Douglas utility function such that the demand function is isoelastic. Each firm is assumed to produce a single homogenous product under a constant unit cost. Furthermore, firms are assumed to be boundedly rational in adjusting their outputs at each period. A firm is considered to exit the market if its output is negative. In this paper, the market is assumed to have zero barrier-to-entry. Therefore, the exiting firm can reenter the market if its output is positive again, and new firms can enter the market easily. Based on these assumptions and rules, a mathematical model was developed and numerical simulations were run using Matlab. By setting certain values for the parameters in the model, initial numerical simulations showed that in the long run, the number of firms that manages to survive the market varies between zero to 30. This initial result is consistent with the idea that a zero barrier-to-entry may produce a perfectly competitive market.

  4. Dual structures for the sole-proprietorship firm

    OpenAIRE

    Chambers, Robert G.; Quiggin, John

    2003-01-01

    This paper presents a dual representation of firm-level and market-level equilibrium behavior for a sole proprietorship economy with competitive and frictionless financial markets and stochastic production opportunities in a two-period setting. The dual equilibrium model is used to state conditions for the firms' production choices to be independent of their risk preferences in equilibrium. These conditions entail Pareto optimality, but do not require either that the firm's consumption choice...

  5. Peculiarities Of Financial Management In Family Firms

    OpenAIRE

    Martin R. W. Hiebl

    2012-01-01

    The majority of firms in market-oriented countries are family-owned. Despite their significant economic importance for these countries, research focusing on family firms is a rather young field within business research, having intensified starting only in the late 1980s. Research regarding the peculiarities of financial management in family firms is especially scarce. Hence, this paper seeks to synthesize existing research and to theoretically analyze the finance and accounting practices and ...

  6. Working Capital Management and Firm Listing Status

    OpenAIRE

    Seraina Anagnostopoulou

    2012-01-01

    This study comparatively examines the determinants of working capital management for listed vs. unlisted firms, and assesses the impact of this policy on profitability by focusing on the cash conversion cycle, a commonly used measure of working capital management. By using a large UK public and private firm sample, it is found that private firms have significantly lower cash conversion cycles than their public counterparts, and that traditional determinants of the cycle significantly differ b...

  7. How does firm performance influence market orientation?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Hans Eibe; Stieglitz, Nils

    This paper contributes by investigating how firm performance influences its market orientation. We draw on the aspiration-level model from the behavioral theory of the firm to develop testable propositions that substantiate and extend prior market orientation research. Specifically, we address how...... performance influences firms' market-oriented search behavior (responsive or proactive) and the allocation of attention (customer and competitor orientation) as well as the formation of aspiration levels. Research and managerial implications are discussed....

  8. Firm Size Distribution in Fortune Global 500

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Qinghua; Chen, Liujun; Liu, Kai

    By analyzing the data of Fortune Global 500 firms from 1996 to 2008, we found that their ranks and revenues always obey the same distribution, which implies that worldwide firm structure has been stable for a long time. The fitting results show that simple Zipf distribution is not an ideal model for global firms, while SCL, FSS have better fitting goodness, and lognormal fitting is the best. And then, we proposed a simple explanation.

  9. Organizational change in family firms

    OpenAIRE

    HENDRIKX, Karolien; VOORDECKERS, Wim; LAMBRECHTS, Frank

    2009-01-01

    Many organizational change efforts don’t live up to their expectations, with inefficiencies in the interaction process between organizational actors as one of the main potential reasons for this failure. Therefore, this paper will focus on the impact of interaction processes on change within the specific organizational context of family firms. Family firms are particularly interesting for organizational change research since they have several unique characteristics that may facilitate or hind...

  10. The impact of workplace conditions on firm performance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Buhai, Ioan Sebastian; Cottini, Elena; Westergård-Nielsen, Niels Chr.

    This paper estimates the impact of work environment health and safety practice on firm performance, and examines which firm-characteristic factors are associated with good work conditions. We use Danish longitudinal register matched employer-employee data, merged with firm business accounts...... and detailed cross-sectional survey data on workplace conditions. This enables us to address typical econometric problems such as omitted variables bias or endogeneity in estimating i) standard production functions augmented with work environment indicators and aggregate employee characteristics and ii) firm...... mean wage regressions on the same explanatory variables. Our findings suggest that improvement in some of the physical dimensions of the work health and safety environment (speci.cally, "internal climate" and "repetitive and strenuous activity") strongly impacts the firm productivity, whereas "internal...

  11. Environmental policy and the energy efficiency of vertically differentiated consumer products

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brzeskot, Magdalena; Haupt, Alexander

    2013-01-01

    We analyse optimal environmental policies in a market that is vertically differentiated in terms of the energy efficiency of products. Considering energy taxes, subsidies to firms for investment in more eco-friendly products, and product standards, we are particularly interested in how distributional goals in addition to environmental goals shape the choice of policy instruments. We find that an industry-friendly government levies an energy tax to supplement a lax product standard, but shies away from subsidies to firms. By contrast, a consumer-friendly government relies heavily on a strict product standard and additionally implements a moderate subsidy to firms, but avoids energy taxes. - Highlights: ► We analyse how distributional goals shape environmental policy. ► Firms invest in the energy efficiency of their products and compete in prices. ► An industry-friendly government implements an energy tax and a lax product standard. ► A consumer-friendly government chooses a subsidy to firms instead of an energy tax. ► A consumer-friendly government implements a strict energy efficiency standard

  12. In Search of Legal Foundation for Indonesian Family Firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yetty Komalasari Dewi

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available One of the factors that affect Indonesia's economic growth is the existence of business firms. It cannot be ignored that most business firms in Indonesia is family owned firms, and which are considered to constitute as the backbone of the economic development.  Family firms represent the most enduring business model in the world. The continuing success of family firms through the generations relies on ensuring the next generation. However, the issue of family firms is rarely discussed in particular from the perspective of corporate law. In fact, from legal perspectives, there is some issues deal with this type of firms, amongst other, the lack of an overall definition of the term “family business”. It is because family businesses and small medium enterprises (SMEs are widely understood synonymously in spite of the fact that they exist in every size class. Other issue is the questions of its legal basis or legal framework in terms of its corporate governance. Many Indonesian business players lack the basic understanding of corporation’s law. It is partly because these obligations are incompatible with the values and cultures in Indonesia where “kinship principle” is deeply rooted. This article aims to describe the characteristics and the legal frameworks for the family firms in Indonesia. It also recommends the government to take progressive measure by providing clear regulations on the family firms in Indonesia. This will reinforce family firms contribution in economic development of Indonesia in the future. 

  13. 37 CFR 10.35 - Firm names and letterheads.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 37 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Firm names and letterheads... Office Code of Professional Responsibility § 10.35 Firm names and letterheads. (a) A practitioner shall not use a firm name, letterhead, or other professional designation that violates § 10.31. A trade name...

  14. Modelling firm heterogeneity with spatial 'trends'

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sarmiento, C. [North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND (United States). Dept. of Agricultural Business & Applied Economics

    2004-04-15

    The hypothesis underlying this article is that firm heterogeneity can be captured by spatial characteristics of the firm (similar to the inclusion of a time trend in time series models). The hypothesis is examined in the context of modelling electric generation by coal powered plants in the presence of firm heterogeneity.

  15. Insurance and Information : Firms as a Commitment Device

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bovenberg, A.L.; Teulings, C.N.

    2002-01-01

    We explore the role of firms in insuring risk-averse workers.As a device that allows workers to commit to the delivery of their output, the firm arises endogenously as an alternative to the spot market if workers are suciently risk averse and the firm can base incentive payments on good

  16. Wage inequality in workers’ cooperatives and conventional firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nathalie Magne

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The author evaluates the effects of democratic worker participation on the income distribution within firms. Wage inequality in French workers’ cooperatives (called SCOPs versus traditional firms is measured using the 2001-2012 panel DADS dataset which includes all French firms. The author finds significantly lower inequality in SCOPs, in line with the previous empirical literature. Going into more detail, it appears that inequality is reduced at the top of the distribution and specifically regarding qualification-based inequalities; the gender gap and the advantage of senior workers are not lower in SCOPs. These findings contribute to the literature on Labor-Managed Firms, as well as to the broader debate on rising wage inequality in developed countries.The author evaluates the effects of democratic worker participation on the income distribution within firms. Wage inequality in French workers’ cooperatives (called SCOPs versus traditional firms is measured using the 2001-2012 panel DADS dataset which includes all French firms. The author finds significantly lower inequality in SCOPs, in line with the previous empirical literature. Going into more detail, it appears that inequality is reduced at the top of the distribution and specifically regarding qualification-based inequalities; the gender gap and the advantage of senior workers are not lower in SCOPs. These findings contribute to the literature on Labor-Managed Firms, as well as to the broader debate on rising wage inequality in developed countries.

  17. International taxation and multinational firm decisions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Barrios, S.; Huizinga, H.P.; Laeven, L.; Nicodeme, G.

    2012-01-01

    Using a large international firm-level data set, we examine the separate effects of host and additional parent country taxation on the location decisions of multinational firms. Both types of taxation are estimated to have a negative impact on the location of new foreign subsidiaries. The impact of

  18. Identifying High Growth Firms in India

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Aggarwal, Aradhna; Sato, Takahiro

    Over the past two decades, considerable interest has grown in high growth firms (HGFs). However, the concept of HGFs still remains controversial. One of the most controversial issues is size and age of these firms. The present study argues that the current literature on HGFs may offer little help...

  19. A new approach to firm evaluation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    E.M. Vermeulen (Erik); J. Spronk (Jaap); D. van der Wijst (Nico)

    1993-01-01

    textabstractIn this paper, a method is developed to evaluate firms on the basis of the risks they face. In accordance with the multi-factor method, risk is represented as a vector of sensitivities to unexpected changes of risk factors. Subsequently, the sensitivities themselves are related to firm

  20. New workplace practices and firm performance:

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cristini, Annalisa; Pozzoli, Dario

    Using data from the 2004 Workplace Employee Relations Survey on British establishments and two surveys on manufacturing firms located in the North of Italy, we look at the diffusion of new workplace practices in the two countries and at their impact on the firm's value added. We find...

  1. The Cultivation of New Technology-Based Firms and Roles of Venture Capital Firms in Japan

    OpenAIRE

    Kirihata, Tetsuya

    2007-01-01

    In this paper, I analyze post-investment activities of venture capital firms (VCFs) based on a questionnaire survey and discuss the issues and challenges of post-investment activities of VCFs with new technology based firms (NTBFs) in Japan. The questionnaire survey reveals that business supports desired by NTBFs can be classified into four groups."business strategies adjustment and motivation", "business advice and networking", "finance and crisis management", and "recruitment assistance". T...

  2. The websites adoption in the Spanish agrifood firms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    López-Becerra, E.I.; Arcas-Lario, Francisco Alcon N.

    2016-01-01

    Currently, the use of websites in the firms of the Spanish agrifood sector has not become widespread despite the possible benefits to be derived from their adequate integration and management within the firms. Among these advantages, the increase in the quality of the services offered and the improvement in the relations with their stakeholders should be highlighted. In this context, the objective of the present work is to determine to what extent websites are used by firms in the agrifood sector of Spain, analysing the background which explains why they are adopted and the consequences of introducing them. To do so, a theoretical framework is posed which allows these factors to be identified, and an empirical study is carried out with Spanish agrifood firms. The results of the work indicate that the adoption of websites will be favoured when the directors of the firm are higher qualified, the firm is bigger in size, the firm’s function is distribution, and when the relative advantage and technology compatibility is perceived, among others. Technology adoption consequences analysis suggests that the benefits of adoption are related with improving the relationships with suppliers, customers, owning partners and, in general, the quality of the services offered by the firm.

  3. The websites adoption in the Spanish agrifood firms

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    López-Becerra, E.I.; Arcas-Lario, Francisco Alcon N.

    2016-07-01

    Currently, the use of websites in the firms of the Spanish agrifood sector has not become widespread despite the possible benefits to be derived from their adequate integration and management within the firms. Among these advantages, the increase in the quality of the services offered and the improvement in the relations with their stakeholders should be highlighted. In this context, the objective of the present work is to determine to what extent websites are used by firms in the agrifood sector of Spain, analysing the background which explains why they are adopted and the consequences of introducing them. To do so, a theoretical framework is posed which allows these factors to be identified, and an empirical study is carried out with Spanish agrifood firms. The results of the work indicate that the adoption of websites will be favoured when the directors of the firm are higher qualified, the firm is bigger in size, the firm’s function is distribution, and when the relative advantage and technology compatibility is perceived, among others. Technology adoption consequences analysis suggests that the benefits of adoption are related with improving the relationships with suppliers, customers, owning partners and, in general, the quality of the services offered by the firm.

  4. The Corporate Governance of Privately Controlled Brazilian Firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Érica C. R. Gorga

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available We provide an overview of the corporate governance practices of Brazilian public companies, based primarily on an extensive 2005 survey of 116 companies. We focus on the 88 responding Brazilian private firms which are not majority owned by the state or a foreign company. We identify areas where Brazilian corporate governance is relatively strong and weak. Board independence is an area of weakness: The boards of most Brazilian private firms are comprised entirely or almost entirely of insiders or representatives of the controlling family or group. Many firms have zero independent directors. At the same time, minority shareholders have legal rights to representation on the boards of many firms, and this representation is reasonably common. Financial disclosure lags behind world standards. Only a minority of firms provide a statement of cash flows or consolidated financial statements. However, many provide English language financial statements, and an English language version of their website. Audit committees are uncommon, but many Brazilian firms use an alternate approach to ensuring financial statement accuracy – establishing a fiscal board. A minority of firms provide takeout rights to minority shareholders on a sale of control. Controlling shareholders often use shareholders agreements to ensure control.

  5. Agglomeration Premium and Trading Activity of Firms

    OpenAIRE

    Gabor Bekes; Peter Harasztosi

    2010-01-01

    Firms may benefit from proximity to each other due to the existence of several externalities. The productivity premia of firms located in agglomerated regions an be attributed to savings and gains from external economies. However, the capacity to absorb information may depend on activities of the firm, such as involvement in international trade. Importers, exporters and two-way traders are likely to employ a different bundle of resources and be organised differently so that they would appreci...

  6. Internationalisation of Firms in Developing Countries

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kuada, John

    process with export and proceed in a path-dependent manner towards the location of production activities abroad. The present apper challenges this perspective, arguing that internationalisation of firms may be initiated through either or both upstream and downstream activities. It therefore proposes...... an integrated conceptual model for internationalisation, encompassing both upstream and downstream activities. Building on this understanding, the paper suggests that firms in general and developing county-based firms in particular, may adopt one or a combination of four routes of internationalisation: upstream...... only, downstream only, sequential upstream-downstream, and or concurrent upstream-downstream routes. The implication of these perspectives for policy, strategy and research are discussed....

  7. Changes of firm size distribution: The case of Korea

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Sang Hoon; Jiang, Zhuhua; Cheong, Chongcheul; Yoon, Seong-Min

    2011-01-01

    In this paper, the distribution and inequality of firm sizes is evaluated for the Korean firms listed on the stock markets. Using the amount of sales, total assets, capital, and the number of employees, respectively, as a proxy for firm sizes, we find that the upper tail of the Korean firm size distribution can be described by power-law distributions rather than lognormal distributions. Then, we estimate the Zipf parameters of the firm sizes and assess the changes in the magnitude of the exponents. The results show that the calculated Zipf exponents over time increased prior to the financial crisis, but decreased after the crisis. This pattern implies that the degree of inequality in Korean firm sizes had severely deepened prior to the crisis, but lessened after the crisis. Overall, the distribution of Korean firm sizes changes over time, and Zipf’s law is not universal but does hold as a special case.

  8. The effects of human resource practices on firm growth

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vlachos, I.

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Although the connection between firm growth and labour is well documented in economics literature, only recently the link between human resources (HR and firm growth has attracted the interest of researchers. This study aims to assess the extent, if any, to which, specific HR practices may contribute to firm growth. We review a rich literature on the links between firm performance and the following HR practices: (1 job security (2 selective hiring, (3 self-managed teams (4 compensation policy, (5 extensive training, and (6 information sharing. We surveyed HR managers and recorded their perceptions about the links between HR practices and firm growth. Results demonstrated that compensation policy was the strongest predictor of sales growth. Results provide overall support for all HR practices except of job security. Eventually, selecting, training, and rewarding employees as well as giving them the power to decide for the benefit of their firm, contribute significantly to firm growth.

  9. Understanding the role and value of marketing communications by a regulated, monopoly firm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guzek, Frederick J.

    2003-10-01

    Expenditures on advertising and other marketing efforts have been found to generate profits for the firm and savings for the consumer in competitive industries. However, prior research has not addressed the use of these practices by price-regulated monopolies such as electric utility companies. Surprisingly, many utilities spend substanstially on advertising and sales despite having a captive customer base. Moreover, a unique feature within electric utilities is that much utility advertising involves demarketing, with a view to lessen strain on the system and to help avoid situations demanding high-cost energy. In this context, I ask the following questions: Is spending on marketing by monopoly firms justified? Does the consumer pay a higher price for electricity because of marketing or do shareholders pay for it? Do such activities provide a net welfare benefit? Finally, do measurable differences in marketing expenditures exist along the continuum from heavily regulated to nearly competitive markets? I analyze data from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and from the National Regulatory Research Institute. I find a significant positive relationship between advertising and net income, supporting the notion that advertising expenditures benefit the utility firm. I do not, however, find a significant relationship between marketing effort and consumer price, suggesting that consumers may not be bearing the expense of such practices. I also investigate the manner in which advertising improves net earnings. Speciifically, I find that advertising is negatively related to indirect expenses in this industry. Surprisingly, advertising is also negatively related to electricity consumption. Overall, the results suggest that advertising creates value by reducing indirect expenses without raising prices. These finds thus support the premise of a net welfare gain. Finally, I also find that progress toward deregulation and the level of advertising expenditures are

  10. Firms' innovation benefiting from networking and institutional support

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schøtt, Thomas; Jensen, Kent Wickstrøm

    2016-01-01

    Firms' networking for innovation is embedded in institutions of society, where national policies are increasingly designed to provide institutional support for firms' networking and thereby benefit innovation. But, globally, what are the quantitative and qualitative effects of institutional support...... for networking and, in turn, for innovation? 68 countries with 18,880 firms were surveyed in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, enabling generalization to the firms in the countries around the world. Two-level modeling shows that firms' networking benefits both process and product innovation. Institutional...... support does not significantly affect quantity of networking, but greatly enhances quality of networking in the sense that support for networking in a country enhances the benefits of networking for both process and product innovation. Contrasting low and high support for networking leads to estimating...

  11. The incorporation gene of tomato fruit firmness (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zdravković Jasmina

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Tomato fruit firmness is a polygenetic trait and depends on firmness components pericarp thickness, firmness of epidermis and firmness of flash. The accumulation of favourable traits ratio for each component (towards the increase of expression the fruit firmness can be increased. This paper deals with aspects of increasing fruit firmness by increasing firmness of epidermis and thickness of pericarp. By using genotypes with rin (ripening inhibitor gene, we were able to accomplish great firmness of fruits, especially firmness of flash. The expression of these traits cause the asynchronization of maturing process so the fruits do not over mature or soften. Genetic effects have been evaluated by researching the average values of fruit firmness in six diallel parent lines (D-150, S-49, S-35, H-52, Kg-z and SP-109 and progeny (P1, P2, F1, F2, BC1 and BC2 by applying additive dominant model with three and six parameters (Mather and Jinks, 1982. Mean values of fruit firmness for parents and progeny were significantly different. Firmness of fruits is a trait influenced first of all by additive gene since they were found in all researched combinations. Epystatic gene effect was important in inheriting process for all three two-gene interactions. The stabile duplicate type of epystsase was found, which in this case reduces the unfavourable effects of dominant genes of parents with soft fruits. .

  12. 48 CFR 1019.202-70-7 - Mentor firms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Mentor firms. 1019.202-70... SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS Policies 1019.202-70-7 Mentor firms. A mentor firm may be either... developmental assistance to enhance the capabilities of protégés to perform as subcontractors. Mentors will be...

  13. The weighted average cost of capital over the lifecycle of the firm: Is the overinvestment problem of mature firms intensified by a higher WACC?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlos S. Garcia

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Firm lifecycle theory predicts that the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC will tend to fall over the lifecycle of the firm (Mueller, 2003, p. 80-81. However, given that previous research finds that corporate governance deteriorates as firms get older (Mueller and Yun, 1998; Saravia, 2014 there is good reason to suspect that the opposite could be the case, that is, that the WACC is higher for older firms. Since our literature review indicates that no direct tests to clarify this question have been carried out up till now, this paper aims to fill the gap by testing this prediction empirically. Our findings support the proposition that the WACC of younger firms is higher than that of mature firms. Thus, we find that the mature firm overinvestment problem is not intensified by a higher cost of capital, on the contrary, our results suggest that mature firms manage to invest in negative net present value projects even though they have access to cheaper capital. This finding sheds new light on the magnitude of the corporate governance problems found in mature firms.

  14. Do Firms Go Public to Raise Capital?

    OpenAIRE

    Woojin Kim; Michael Weisbach

    2005-01-01

    This paper considers the question of whether raising capital is an important reason why firms go public. Using a sample of 16,958 initial public offerings from 38 countries between 1990 and 2003, we consider differences between firms that sell new, primary shares to the public, and existing secondary shares that previously belonged to insiders. Our results suggest that the sale of primary shares is correlated with a number of factors associated with the firm's demand for capital. In particula...

  15. The Dispersion of Employees' Wage Increases and Firm Performance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grund, Christian; Westergård-Nielsen, Niels Chr.

    does not induce any monetary incentives. Evidence from unique Danish linked employer employee data shows that large dispersion of wage growth within firms is generally connected with low firm performance. The results are mainly driven by white collar rather than blue collar workers.......In this contribution, we examine the interrelation between intra-firm wage increases and firm performance. Previous studies have focused on the dispersion of wages in order to examine for the empirical dominance of positive monetary incentives effects compared to adverse effects due to fairness...... considerations. We argue that the dispersion of wage increases rather than wage levels is a crucial measure for monetary incentives in firms. The larger the dispersion of wage increases the higher the amount of monetary incentives in firms. In contrast, huge wage inequality without any promotion possibilities...

  16. Apple hypanthium firmness: New insights from comparative proteomics

    KAUST Repository

    Marondedze, Claudius

    2012-06-26

    Fruit firmness constitutes an important textural property and is one of the key parameters for estimating ripening and shelf life, which has a major impact on commercialization. In order to decipher the mechanisms related to firmness of apples (Malus × domestica Borkh.), two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) was used to compare the total proteome of high and low firmness phenotypes from apple hypanthia of a \\'Golden Delicious\\' × \\'Dietrich\\' population. A total of 36 differentially regulated protein spots were positively identified by matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) and then validated against the Malus expressed sequence tags (EST) database. The findings of this study indicated a lower expression of ethylene biosynthesis related proteins in the high firmness phenotype, which could be linked to the slowing down of the ripening and softening processes. The reduced accumulation of proteins involved in ethylene biosynthesis juxtaposed to the upregulation of a transposase and a GTP-binding protein in the high firmness phenotype. The results also showed higher expression of cytoskeleton proteins in the high firmness phenotype compared to the low firmness phenotype, which play a role in maintaining cell structure and possibly fruit integrity. Finally, a number of proteins involved in detoxification and defense were expressed in fruit hypanthium. This proteomic study provides a contribution towards a better understanding of regulatory networks involved in fruit hypanthium firmness and/or softening, which could be instrumental in the development of improved fruit quality. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

  17. Entrepreneurship and the Economic Theory of the Firm

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Foss, Nicolai Juul; Klein, Peter G.

    Although they have developed very much in isolation from each other, we argue the theory ofentrepreneurship and the economic theory of the firm are closely related, and each has much tolearn from the other. In particular, the notion of entrepreneurship as judgment associated withFrank Knight...... and some Austrian school economists aligns naturally with the theory of the firm.In this perspective, the entrepreneur needs a firm, that is, a set of alienable assets he controls, tocarry out his function. We further show how this notion of judgment adds to the key themes inthe modern theory of the firm...

  18. Four Essays on Technology Licensing and Firm Innovation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Moreira, Solon

    &D strategies. On the supply side, the existing literature has been focused on understanding how technology licensing can be used by firms as a mechanism to recover investments in innovative activities and to foster learning opportunities. On the demand side, it has been shown that licensing is an important...... source that firms can tap into to feed their internal needs for innovative knowledge. While several studies have examined technology licensing through the lens of the licensor, research on how firms rely on licensing contracts to acquire knowledge and improve their innovation performance still leaves......Licensing contracts represent one of the most widely used mechanisms to exchange technologies and transfer know-how between firms. Due to the opportunities that licensing creates for firms operating on both sides of the markets for technology, it has increasingly become an integral part of firms’ R...

  19. Markups and Firm-Level Export Status

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    De Loecker, Jan; Warzynski, Frederic

    We derive an estimating equation to estimate markups using the insight of Hall (1986) and the control function approach of Olley and Pakes (1996). We rely on our method to explore the relationship between markups and export behavior using plant-level data. We find significantly higher markups when...... we control for unobserved productivity shocks. Furthermore, we find significant higher markups for exporting firms and present new evidence on markup-export status dynamics. More specifically, we find that firms' markups significantly increase (decrease) after entering (exiting) export markets. We...... see these results as a first step in opening up the productivity-export black box, and provide a potential explanation for the big measured productivity premia for firms entering export markets....

  20. Transparency report delay and disclosure by Croatian audit firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marko Čular

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to investigate transparency report (TR disclosure and determinants of TR delay, using Croatian listed companies and audit firms who audited Croatian listed companies in 2015. TR disclosure is measured using the TR index whereas the TR delay is measured as the number of days between the financial year-end and the publication date of the TR by an audit firms. We first analyzed the position and difference between audit firm indicators and types of audit firm using the following: number of certified auditors, number of employees, average net salary, total revenue, net profit, net working capital, total assets, total capital and financial ratio. Second, we used the TR index to determine the existence of TR elements and whether the audit firm made a disclosure. Finally, we used multiple regressions for modelling the TR delay as a function of the following variables: number of certified auditors, number of audits per year, return on assets and the TR index. Our results indicate that based on the TR index only 32% audit firms are transparent. Furthermore, the TR delay is shorter when audit firms have a greater number of certified auditors and a higher TR index, i.e. when audit firms incorporate more elements into the TR.

  1. International Diversification, Product Strategy, And Firm Value:Evidence From Korea

    OpenAIRE

    Donseung Choi; Eunho Cho

    2014-01-01

    Existing studies showed inconsistent results for the relationship between international diversification (ID) and firm value. Thus, we primarily examine whether each MNCs product strategy moderates the relationship between ID and firm value. The results show that MNCs product strategy moderates the relationship between ID and firm value as measured by Tobins Q. Specifically, a positive relationship exists between ID and firm value in the firm group pursuing a cost leadership strategy, whereas ...

  2. Designing the marketing-sales interface in B2B firms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Biemans, W.G.; Makovec Brencic, M.

    2007-01-01

    Purpose - This paper explores the marketing-sales interface in Dutch and Slovenian B2B firms. Design/methodology/approach - The study included 11 Dutch firms and ten Slovenian firms, with both samples as closely matched as possible. The firms were all manufacturers of physical products that operate

  3. 48 CFR 519.7006 - Mentor firms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Mentor firms. 519.7006... PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS GSA Mentor-Protégé Program 519.7006 Mentor firms. (a) Mentors must be... plan as required by FAR 19.7 - Small business mentors are exempted; or (2) A small business prime...

  4. How should a theory of the firm incorporate advertising?

    OpenAIRE

    Lah, Marko

    2015-01-01

    This article discusses the role of advertising expenses within the economic theory of the firm. In marketing and advertising textbooks advertising expenses are, from the perspective of the economic theory of the firm, viewed too narrowly. In contrast, standard economics textbooks start with the unrealistic perfect competition firm where advertising is not needed, while for the imperfect competition firm they extend the profit maximisation motive and concentrate on the optimisation of advertis...

  5. Firm size distribution and mobility of the top 500 firms in China, the United States and the world

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Jinzhong; Xu, Qi; Chen, Qinghua; Wang, Yougui

    2013-07-01

    This paper considers the macroscopic and microscopic statistical features of the top 500 firms in China, the United States and the world, denoted as China 500 (CH500), Fortune 500 (US500) and Fortune Global 500 (FG500). From a macroscopic perspective, the firm size distribution of each category, when measured by revenue, is steadily distributed over the observed period, even during periods of financial crises. As is evidenced by the Gini coefficient, divergences between firm scales are most significant for the CH500. From a microscopic perspective, the underlying micro-dynamics are volatile and often turbulent due to the exit and entry of firms as well as shifts in their revenues and ranks. Such fluctuations, or mobility, are visualized in rank/revenue/share clocks. We also propose a revenue/rank/share mobility index that is a quantitative measurement of mobility. Among these, we find that the share mobility acts as an effective indicator of economic status; where there is a share mobility spike, there is an ailing economy. The share mobility indexes indicate that the 2008 Financial Crisis had little impact on the Chinese economy, while it triggered violent changes in the top 500 firms in the United States and the world.

  6. 48 CFR 16.403-1 - Fixed-price incentive (firm target) contracts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... (firm target) contracts. 16.403-1 Section 16.403-1 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL... Fixed-price incentive (firm target) contracts. (a) Description. A fixed-price incentive (firm target... incentive (firm target) contract is appropriate when the parties can negotiate at the outset a firm target...

  7. Forecasting Aggregate Productivity using Information from Firm-level Data

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bartelsman, E.J.; Wolf, Z.

    2014-01-01

    In this paper, we explore whether information from firm-level data can improve forecasts of aggregate productivity growth. We generate firm-level productivity measures and aggregate them into time-series components that capture within-firm productivity and the productivity contribution of

  8. Where Gibrat meets Zipf: Scale and scope of French firms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bee, Marco; Riccaboni, Massimo; Schiavo, Stefano

    2017-09-01

    The proper characterization of the size distribution and growth of firms represents an important issue in economics and business. We use the Maximum Entropy approach to assess the plausibility of the assumption that firm size follows Lognormal or Pareto distributions, which underlies most recent works on the subject. A comprehensive dataset covering the universe of French firms allows us to draw two major conclusions. First, the Pareto hypothesis for the whole distribution should be rejected. Second, by discriminating across firms based on the number of products sold and markets served, we find that, within the class of multi-product companies active in multiple markets, the distribution converges to a Zipf's law. Conversely, Lognormal distribution is a good benchmark for small single-product firms. The size distribution of firms largely depends on firms' diversification patterns.

  9. Multiple Blockholder Structures and Family Firm Performance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fattoum-Guedri, Asma; Guedri, Zied; Delmar, Frédéric

    2018-01-01

    This study examines how multiple blockholder structures affect family firm performance. Building on arguments from both principal–principal agency and familiness perspectives, we suggest that asymmetrical distribution of voting power among family and nonfamily blockholders hurts firm performance....

  10. Proactiveness in entrepreneurial software firms: the executives' voice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jean-Pierre Boissin

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available This article approaches proactiveness in firms, considered to be one of the dimensions of the entrepreneurial orientation. Its goal is to introduce the results of an exploratory and qualitative study, which aimed to characterize the proactiveness in entrepreneurial software firms. The theory resumes the concepts of entrepreneurial firms, entrepreneurial orientation and proactiveness. The data gathering was accomplished through deeper interviews with executives from 13 software firms that stand out in terms of entrepreneurship in Rio Grande do Sul state. The results of the study demonstrate that firms are proactive and show a characterization regarding this behavior, starting from the conceptual base adopted in the present study. Among the proactiveness elements in the researched organizations, the onesrelated to environment monitoring and opportunities quest are highlighted. The study also consoliding a components’ set of proactiveness based on the theory and organizational practice reported by executives.

  11. Corporate Governance, Cash Holdings, and Firm Value: Evidence from Japan

    OpenAIRE

    Qi Luo; Toyohiko Hachiya

    2005-01-01

    This paper presents evidence on cash holdings for Japanese firms listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, focusing on the impact of corporate governance factors in cash holdings and the implication of cash holdings to firm value. We find that insider ownership and bank relations of firms play a significant role in determining cash holdings. Our results indicate that foreign stockholders select profitable firms to invest, and these firms have higher levels of cash. We document evidence that cash ho...

  12. Banking Firm, Equity and Value at Risk

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Udo Broll

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper focuses on the interaction between the solvency probability of a banking firm and the diversification potential of its asset portfolio when determining optimal equity capital. The purpose of this paper is to incorporate value at risk (VaR into the firm-theoretical model of a banking firm facing the risk of asset return. Given the necessity to achieve a confidence level for solvency, we demonstrate that diversification reduces the amount of equity. Notably, the VaR concept excludes a separation of equity policy and asset-liability management.

  13. Key factors driving corporate social responsibility of Vietnamese firms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kabir, Mohammed Rezaul; Thai Minh, H.

    2016-01-01

    We examine the impact of firm, corporate governance and managerial characteristics on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities of Vietnamese listed firms. Our results show that export-oriented firms engage in more CSR activities. As for corporate governance factors, we observe that

  14. BIG DATA RESOURCES, MARKETING CAPABILITIES, AND FIRM PERFORMANCE.

    OpenAIRE

    Suoniemi, Samppa; Meyer-Waarden, Lars; Munzel, Andreas

    2017-01-01

    RESEARCH QUESTION Big data may significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the firm's marketing capabilities. However, firms must overcome technological, skill-based and organisational challenges to become data-driven. Academic research has not empirically investigated how strategic big data resources, and to what extent, influence strategic marketing capabilities and, by extension, firm performance. The primary objective of this research is to remedy this crucial knowledge ...

  15. Carbon auctions, energy markets and market power: An experimental analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dormady, Noah C.

    2014-01-01

    This paper provides an experimental analysis of a simultaneous energy-emissions market under conditions of market power. The experimental design employs real-world institutional features; including stochastic demand, permit banking, inter-temporal (multi-round) dynamics, a tightening cap, and resale. The results suggest that dominant firms can utilize energy-emissions market linkages to simultaneously inflate the price of energy and suppress the price of emissions allowances. Whereas under prior market designs, regulators were concerned with dominant firms exercising their market power over the emissions market to exclude rivals and manipulate the permit market by hoarding permits; the results of this paper suggest that this strategy is less profitable to dominant firms in contemporary auction-based markets than strategic capacity withholding in the energy market and associated demand reduction in the emissions market. - Highlights: • Laboratory simulation of joint energy-emissions market. • Evaluates market power under collusion and real-world institutional features. • Dominant firms can exercise market power to inflate energy prices. • Dominant firms can exercise market power to suppress emissions prices. • Supply withholding is an implicit demand reduction in the emissions market

  16. Investigating the Effect of New Communication and Information Technologies on Organizational Structure and Firm Performance in Service Industry: a Survey of Consultant Engineering Firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ali akbar Farghangi

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to investigate the current and desired situation of information and communication technologies (ICT, organizational structure and firm performance in Consultant Engineering Firms. To do so, a descriptive-exploratory study was performed among 252 managers and experts of consultant engineering firms in Tehran. A cluster sampling approach was used bya self-administrated questionnaire. Reliability was confirmed by Cronbach’s coefficient. Using one sample t-test, paired sample t-test and regression analysis, results indicated that 1 current and desired situation of ICT, organizational structure and firm performance are acceptable, 2 there is significant difference between current and desired situation of ICT, organizational structure and firm performance, 3 ICT has a positive and significant effect on organizational structure and firm performance

  17. Reproducing the Firm : Routines, Networks, and Identity

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dolfsma, Wilfred; Chong-Simandjuntak, Liza; Geurts, Amber

    2017-01-01

    Firm survival or reproduction does not occur as a matter of course. Especially under circumstances in which uncertainty and equivocality prevail is firm reproduction potentially problematic. Uncertainty prevails when there is insufficient or inadequate information to assess a situation, equivocality

  18. Characterizing the technology firm : An exploratory study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Grinstein, A.; Goldman, Arieh

    Technology firms occupy a central position in modern economies. They drive economic growth, productivity gains and have created new industries and innovative products. Many will agree that technology firms are distinguished from others in their emphasis on technological activities. Since this

  19. Inter-firm networks : economic and sociological perspectives

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Westbrock, B.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/304836273

    2010-01-01

    Inter-firm collaborations have recently been recognized as a valuable mode for the organization of economic activity, next to markets and hierarchies. This recognition is supported by empirical evidence that strategic alliances between firms facilitate the generation and dissemination of

  20. The Clean Development Mechanism and Dynamic Capabilities of Implementing Firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Aggarwal, Aradhna

    and non-CDM firms as the control group for the pre- and post-CDM implementation periods. We control for unobserved fixed effects of firms and time periods and observed characteristics of firms and CDM projects. The analysis draws on the balance sheet data of 612 firms from India between 2001 and 2012 from...

  1. One firm to many: The Demise of the monopoly argument for energy providers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cale Case, J.; Ciolek, M.G.

    1992-01-01

    The traditional model of utility regulation begins with the notion of 'Natural' Monopoly. Under the 'Natural' monopoly argument, a sole supplier can most efficiently provide service in certain markets. Electricity and natural gas supply has traditionally been associated with natural monopoly. The traditional approach has led to a proliferation of single firm providers operating under laws and customs which restrict entry by other potential suppliers. In most of the world the result has been one state-owned provider. The actual history of the energy industry in U.S.A. does not support the notion of the pervasive efficiencies of a sole supplier. Most regulated industries experienced a sustained period of competition in their formative stage. In fact, the competitive forces stemming from the availability of multiple suppliers provided customers with cheaper and better service. Frequently, competition ended, due not to the winning of the market by a single provider who enjoyed overwhelming scale economies, but rather, competition ceased because industry leaders successfully petitioned for the protection of profits by government. The paper begins by considering the physical and organizational structure of the electric and gas industries. Next the early development of the industries is discussed with special emphasis on the competitive conditions which existed in the United States prior to the advent of regulation and the restrictions on entry which ended the competitive era. Contemporary rediscovery of the benefits of competitive supply in the industries is addressed in the next section. Finally, the paper examines the areas in which contemporary competitive initiatives have fallen short

  2. Do Income Smoothing Practices Explain the Lower Earnings-Price Ratio of Japanese Firms Compared to Those of the U.S. Firms?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Indra Wijaya Kusuma

    2005-01-01

    Another results show that controlling for income smoothing does not eliminate the differences in the earnings-price ratios of the Japanese and U.S. firms. It is appropriate to conclude that although income smoothing plays a role in explaining the variations of earnings-price ratios across Japanese firms, it is not the only factor that contributes to the differences in the earnings-price ratios of Japanese and U.S. firms.  Other factors may play a role which are either country-specific (such as inflationary expectations, tax regimes or firm-specific (such as quality of earnings, real returns as suggested by Brown (1989. The overall results are consistent across samples.

  3. Does R&D investment under corporate social responsibility increase firm performance?

    OpenAIRE

    Yu-Chun Lin

    2017-01-01

    Research and development (R&D) investment affects firms’ growth and reflects their investment energy. However, it is recorded as an expense in financial statements, according to generally accepted accounting principles (e.g., International Financial Statements Standards). This study examines whether firms’ R&D investment has a positive effect on their performance, when they engage in corporate social responsibility. The author focuses on firms that have earned corporate social responsibility ...

  4. Heterogeneous firms, mark-ups and income inequality

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tamminen, S.H.

    2014-01-01

    Firm heterogeneity affects not only the implications of trade policies for countries, but also income distributions within-countries since firms generate most of wage and capital income payments. Recently, both within-country wage- and capital income inequality have been rising in various countries.

  5. Board Characteristics and Firm Performance: Evidence from Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Athalia Ariati Hidayat

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This research examines the effect of board characteristics (comprising in different sized proportions: family commissioners, family directors, independent commissioners, ex-government officer commissioners, and board of commissioners size to firm performance. Using fixed-effects data panel regression, this research investigates 293 firms listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange during 2008-2012. Firm performance is proxied by market measure (Tobin’s Q and accounting measure (ROA. The findings of this research suggest that the proportion of family commissioners and family directors have positive impact only to Tobin’s Q value, while the proportion of independent directors can increase both Tobin’s Q and ROA. On the other hand, this research finds that the proportion of ex-government officers in the board gives no impact to firm performance. This research also finds that the board size has U-shaped non-linear relationship with firm performance as proxied by Tobin’s Q and ROA.

  6. Gender diversity of boardrooms and firm financial performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Perihan Iren

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available The impact of boardroom diversity on firm financial performance has attracted growing research interest in recent years. However, due to the lack of readily available datasets for other parts of the world, most of the evidence is based on the US data. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between gender diversity in the boardrooms and firm financial performance in a region, where it has never been studied before. Using a sample of 60 firms listed in Abu Dhabi and Dubai Stock Exchanges, first the impact of gender diverse boards on the accounting value of the firms is analyzed. Afterwards, stock price reactions to the announcement of the gender quotas on corporate boards in the UAE are examined. The results do not show a significant impact of female directors on the firm’s both accounting and market value. However, these results should be interpreted carefully since the presence of women in leading positions might affect different aspects of the firm practices

  7. Immigration and Firm Performance: a city-level approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mercedes Teruel Carrizosa

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available This article analyses the effect of immigration flows on the growthand efficiency of manufacturing firms in Spanish cities. While most studies werefocusing on the effect immigrants have on labour markets at an aggregate level,here, we argue that the impact of immigration on firm performance should not onlybe considered in terms of the labour market, but also in terms of how city’s amenitiescan affect the performance of firms. Implementing a panel data methodology,we show that the immigrants’ increasing pressure has a positive effect on labourproductivity and wages and a negative effect on the job evolution of these manufacturingfirms. In addition, both small and new firms are more sensitive to thepressures of immigrant inflow, while foreign market oriented firms report higherproductivity levels and a less marked impact of immigration than their counterparts.We also present a set of instruments to control for endogeneity. It allows us toconfirm the effect of local immigration flows on the performance of manufacturingfirms.

  8. Global Sourcing: Evidence from Spanish Firm-level Data

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kohler, Wilhelm; Smolka, Marcel

    2012-01-01

    We investigate the link between productivity of firms and their sourcing behavior. Following Antràs and Helpman (2004) we distinguish between domestic and foreign sourcing, as well as between outsourcing and vertical integration. A firm's choice is driven by a hold-up problem caused by lack of en...... of enforceable contracts. We use Spanish firm-level data to examine the productivity premia associated with the different sourcing strategies....

  9. Leadership and cultures of Lithuanian and Dutch construction firms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ozorovskaja, Renata; Voordijk, Johannes T.; Wilderom, Celeste P.M.

    2007-01-01

    This paper addresses both firm cultures and top leadership styles in construction firms in a West and an East-European country, the Netherlands and Lithuania. Human Resource managers filled in valid questionnaires during an interview on the premises of 16 construction firms in each country. The

  10. Sales-marketing interfaces within business-firms : Transitions and evolution

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Biemans, W.G.; Makovec Brencic, M.; Malshe, A.

    2012-01-01

    In these turbulent economic times sales-marketing interfaces in business firms are in the state of flux. Sales-marketing interface researchers have till date characterized marketing within business firms in terms of a marketing department rather than a marketing function thereby ignoring B2B firms

  11. Regulation and the Ownership Structure of European Listed Firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rapp, Marc Steffen; Trinchera, Oliver

    2017-01-01

    In this paper, we explore an extensive panel data set covering more than 4,000 listed firms in 16 European countries to study the effects of shareholder protection on ownership structure and firm performance. We document a negative firm-level correlation between shareholder protection and ownersh...

  12. 10 CFR 603.680 - Purchase of real property and equipment by for-profit firms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... INVESTMENT AGREEMENTS Award Terms Affecting Participants' Financial, Property, and Purchasing Systems Property § 603.680 Purchase of real property and equipment by for-profit firms. (a) With the two exceptions... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Purchase of real property and equipment by for-profit...

  13. The Impact of Technological and Non-Technological Innovations on Firm Growth

    OpenAIRE

    Ali-Yrkkö, Jyrki; Martikainen, Olli

    2008-01-01

    This study investigates the relationship between innovations and firm growth, based on the data of Finnish firms operating in the software industry. We find that in terms of turnover and employment, firms with only technological innovations do not grow more rapidly than other firms. However, firm growth is positively associated with the combination of technological and non-technological innovations.

  14. DEBT AND AGENCY CONFLICT IN INDONESIAN MANUFACTURING FIRMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hendra Wijaya

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Companies in Indonesia have shareholders who are not dispersed or in other words the ownership is only held by one majority shareholder. This study examined the effects of investment decision on the firm value and the debt moderation on the effects of investment decisions on firm value. Debt moderation was used to test the agency conflict of debt use on investment decision. The company samples in this research were 90 companies.This research was conducted by using panel data regression with moderation. This study found that investment decision had a positive effect on firm value and the use of higher debt could lower the positive effect of investment decision on firm value.

  15. Managerial Long-Term Responsibility in Family-Controlled Firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dietmar Sternad

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Evidence suggests that long-term orientation (LTO as a dominantstrategic logic contributes to the sustainable performance offamily-controlled firms (FCFS. Combining a review of the literatureon lto with stewardship theory and upper echelons theoryreasoning, this article presents a typology of managerial responsibilityand introduces the concept of long-term responsibility as amanagerial characteristic constituting a major driving force behindcreating lto. The antecedents of long-term responsibilityunder family firm-specific conditions (stemming from the familysystem, the governance system, and family-firm managers’ personalcharacteristics are also identified and presented in an integratedmodel. The paper contributes to a more comprehensiveunderstanding of intertemporal choice in fcfs and explains whythey tend to be more long-term oriented than other types of firms.

  16. Mergers and Acquisitions (M&AS by R&D Intensive Firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shantanu Dutta

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available In this study, we evaluate the impact of R&D intensity on acquiring firms’ abnormal returns by examining 925 Canadian completed deals between 1993 and 2002 that have information on R&D expenditures. While examining the returns to acquiring firm shareholders in the R&D intensive firms we evaluate two competing hypotheses: ‘growth potential hypothesis’ and ‘integration failure hypothesis’. According to the ‘growth potential hypothesis’, in light of the growth potential of the targets acquired by R&D intensive firms, investors are likely to react positively. ‘Integration failure hypothesis’ focuses on integration difficulties of a target by an R&D intensive firms and suggests that investor might be skeptical of such acquisitions and react negatively. Our results show that R&D intensity (i.e. R&D expenditure by sales has a positive and significant effect on cumulative abnormal returns of the acquiring firms around the announcement dates. This implies that market generally favors the M&A deals by R&D intensive firms. An analysis of the differentiating characteristics reveal that R&D firms have a significantly higher growth potential and undertake more stock financed deals compared to the non R&D firms. Further, our results show that there is no significant change in long-term operating performance subsequent to the M&A deals for both R&D firms and non R&D firms. In general, our results show support for ‘growth potential hypothesis’.

  17. A Tree Based Broadcast Scheme for (m, k)-firm Real-Time Stream in Wireless Sensor Networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, HoSung; Kim, Beom-Su; Kim, Kyong Hoon; Shah, Babar; Kim, Ki-Il

    2017-11-09

    Recently, various unicast routing protocols have been proposed to deliver measured data from the sensor node to the sink node within the predetermined deadline in wireless sensor networks. In parallel with their approaches, some applications demand the specific service, which is based on broadcast to all nodes within the deadline, the feasible real-time traffic model and improvements in energy efficiency. However, current protocols based on either flooding or one-to-one unicast cannot meet the above requirements entirely. Moreover, as far as the authors know, there is no study for the real-time broadcast protocol to support the application-specific traffic model in WSN yet. Based on the above analysis, in this paper, we propose a new ( m , k )-firm-based Real-time Broadcast Protocol (FRBP) by constructing a broadcast tree to satisfy the ( m , k )-firm, which is applicable to the real-time model in resource-constrained WSNs. The broadcast tree in FRBP is constructed by the distance-based priority scheme, whereas energy efficiency is improved by selecting as few as nodes on a tree possible. To overcome the unstable network environment, the recovery scheme invokes rapid partial tree reconstruction in order to designate another node as the parent on a tree according to the measured ( m , k )-firm real-time condition and local states monitoring. Finally, simulation results are given to demonstrate the superiority of FRBP compared to the existing schemes in terms of average deadline missing ratio, average throughput and energy consumption.

  18. Coevolution of Firm Capabilities and Industry Competition

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    M.W. Huygens (Marc); C.W.F. Baden-Fuller (Charles); F.A.J. van den Bosch (Frans); H.W. Volberda (Henk)

    2001-01-01

    textabstractThis paper proposes that rival firms not only search for new capabilities within their organization, but also for those that rest in their competitive environment. An integrated analysis of these search processes at both firm and industry levels of analysis shows how their interaction

  19. Agency Costs, Firm Value, and Corporate Investment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    M. Teixeira de Vasconcelos (Manuel)

    2012-01-01

    textabstractOften firms lack the necessary internal resources to pursue all profitable investment opportunities at their disposal. One of the most important roles of financial markets is to allocate resources from different economic agents to the firms that will better employ them, thereby enabling

  20. Firm clustering and innovation: Determinants and effects

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boekema, F.W.M.; Oerlemans, L.; Meeus, M.

    2001-01-01

    In this article we ask why innovator firms engage in innovation networks, and which factors explain the spatial dispersion of these networks. Benefits of the use of internal and external knowledge resources for innovative performance of firms were partially confirmed. Especially the utilisation of

  1. Firm clustering and innovation : determinants and effects

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Oerlemans, L.A.G.; Meeus, M.T.H.; Boekema, F.W.M.

    2001-01-01

    In this article we ask why innovator firms engage in innovation networks, and which factors explain the spatial dispersion of these networks. Benefits of the use of internal and external knowledge resources for innovative performance of firms were partially confirmed. Especially the utilisation of

  2. Endogenous network of firms and systemic risk

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Qianting; He, Jianmin; Li, Shouwei

    2018-02-01

    We construct an endogenous network characterized by commercial credit relationships connecting the upstream and downstream firms. Simulation results indicate that the endogenous network model displays a scale-free property which exists in real-world firm systems. In terms of the network structure, with the expansion of the scale of network nodes, the systemic risk increases significantly, while the heterogeneities of network nodes have no effect on systemic risk. As for firm micro-behaviors, including the selection range of trading partners, actual output, labor requirement, price of intermediate products and employee salaries, increase of all these parameters will lead to higher systemic risk.

  3. International Pricing Strategies for Born-Global Firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Neubert

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper aims to understand how born global firms develop their international pricing strategies, practices, and models. It aims to expand the study of international entrepreneurship and born global firms by including a broader and deeper range of pricing aspects than is normally found in the international entrepreneurship and pricing literature. The paper opted for a multiple case-study research design using different sources of evidence, including four in-depth interviews with CEOs of born global firms. The case-study firms were selected using a purposive selection method. The theoretical framework of Ingenbleek, Frambach & Verhallen is used. The results suggest that successful leaders act as ‘integrating forces’ on two levels: by applying a structured and disciplined price-setting process with regular reviews and by mediating between corporate financial goals and the local market reality. The results support the claim that policy makers should offer insights, training and financial support to give promising born global firms the possibility to select the most efficient international pricing models and strategies. The results are relevant for entrepreneurs to understand the importance of efficient price-modelling processes and the influence of the different price strategies and price models on financial results and sales revenues.

  4. The Multinational Firm

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Morgan, Glenn; Hull Kristensen, Peer; Whitley, Richard

    . These processes occur at a number of levels which are explored in different empirical settings. Firstly, at the level of governance, multinational firms may develop conflicts between investors from different national contexts, for example between the arms-length orientation of Anglo-Saxon institutional investors...

  5. A Comparative Analysis of the Entrepreneurial Orientation/Growth Relationship in Service Firms and Manufacturing Firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rigtering, J.P. Coen; Kraus, Sascha; Eggers, Fabian

    2014-01-01

    This article builds on the recently increasingly mentioned notion that entrepreneurship in the service sector is a worthwhile, but clearly underresearched topic. Using a sample of 1,612 small- and medium-size enterprises from the four German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, Switzerland......, and Liechtenstein, and using structural equation modeling, this article finds that service firms have a significantly higher entrepreneurial orientation (EO) than manufacturing firms – both on the overall level as well as for each of the three sub-categories proactiveness, innovativeness, and risk...

  6. Family firms, internationalization, and national competitiveness : Does family firm prevalence matter?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Carney, Michael; Duran, Patricio; van Essen, M.; Shapiro, Daniel

    We revisit the question of family firms (FFs) and their capacity for internationalization, and link it to the literature on national competitiveness. We draw widely on the FF competitive advantage and internationalization literature to argue that FFs’ organizing preferences and capabilities will

  7. Keeping Up: Personal Staff Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woolls, Blanche

    2009-01-01

    Some essential components of "keeping current" with trends and new developments in the school library field for library media specialists includes attending conferences and reading professional literature. Beginning in May 2007, one article on "keeping up" each year has been devoted to summarizing the major themes in conferences and professional…

  8. Technical efficiency of FDI firms in the Vietnamese manufacturing sector

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vu Hoang Duong

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The study examines technical efficiency of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI firms in the Vietnamese manufacturing sector by applying stochastic production frontier model and making use of cross-sectional data in the period 2009-2013. The average level of technical efficiency of FDI firms is about 60% and it is higher than that of domestic firms (including private firms and state-owned firms. In addition, the study also analyses correlation between technical efficiency of FDI firms and other factors. It finds that there are positive correlations between FDI technical efficiency and net revenue per labour, firm’s age or export activities in 2013. However, the study is unable to find evidence of a relationship between FDI technical efficiency and infrastructure or firm’s investment activities.

  9. An export-marketing model for pharmaceutical firms (the case of iran).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohammadzadeh, Mehdi; Aryanpour, Narges

    2013-01-01

    Internationalization is a matter of committed decision-making that starts with export marketing, in which an organization tries to diagnose and use opportunities in target markets based on realistic evaluation of internal strengths and weaknesses with analysis of macro and microenvironments in order to gain presence in other countries. A developed model for export and international marketing of pharmaceutical companies is introduced. The paper reviews common theories of the internationalization process, followed by examining different methods and models for assessing preparation for export activities and examining conceptual model based on a single case study method on a basket of seven leading domestic firms by using mainly questionares as the data gathering tool along with interviews for bias reduction. Finally, in keeping with the study objectives, the special aspects of the pharmaceutical marketing environment have been covered, revealing special dimensions of pharmaceutical marketing that have been embedded within the appropriate base model. The new model for international activities of pharmaceutical companies was refined by expert opinions extracted from result of questionnaires.

  10. An Export-Marketing Model for Pharmaceutical Firms (The Case of Iran)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohammadzadeh, Mehdi; Aryanpour, Narges

    2013-01-01

    Internationalization is a matter of committed decision-making that starts with export marketing, in which an organization tries to diagnose and use opportunities in target markets based on realistic evaluation of internal strengths and weaknesses with analysis of macro and microenvironments in order to gain presence in other countries. A developed model for export and international marketing of pharmaceutical companies is introduced. The paper reviews common theories of the internationalization process, followed by examining different methods and models for assessing preparation for export activities and examining conceptual model based on a single case study method on a basket of seven leading domestic firms by using mainly questionares as the data gathering tool along with interviews for bias reduction. Finally, in keeping with the study objectives, the special aspects of the pharmaceutical marketing environment have been covered, revealing special dimensions of pharmaceutical marketing that have been embedded within the appropriate base model. The new model for international activities of pharmaceutical companies was refined by expert opinions extracted from result of questionnaires. PMID:24250597

  11. Related party transactions and firms financial performance ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Related party transactions and firms financial performance. ... African Research Review ... financial performance using Secondary data obtained from Nigeria stock ... on Asset, Return on Equity and Earnings per share of manufacturing firms. ... Result showed RPT has no significant effects on ROA and EPS and not used to ...

  12. Technology diversification, coherence, and performance of firms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Leten, B.; Belderbos, R.A.; Looy, van B.

    2007-01-01

    Technological diversification at the firm level (i.e., the expansion of a firm's technology base into a wide range of technology fields) is found to be a prevailing phenomenon in all three major industrialized regions,—the United States, Europe, and Japan—prompting the term multitechnology

  13. Market distortions and aggregate productivity: Evidence from Chinese energy enterprises

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dai, Xiaoyong; Cheng, Liwei

    2016-01-01

    Market distortions can generate resource misallocations across heterogeneous firms and reduce aggregate productivity. This paper measures market distortions and aggregate productivity growth in China's energy sector. We use the wedge between output elasticities and factor shares in revenues to recover a measure of firm-level market distortions. Using data on a large sample of Chinese energy enterprises from 1999 to 2007, our estimations provide strong evidence of the existence of both factor and product market distortions within and across China's various energy industries. The productivity aggregation and decomposition results demonstrate that the estimated aggregate productivity growth (APG) is, on average, 2.595% points per year, of which technological change, resource reallocation, and firm entries and exits account for 1.981, 0.068, and 0.546% points, respectively. The weak contributions of resource reallocation and firm turnover to APG are also found in energy sub-industries, except in the coal industry. Our research suggests that China's energy sector has major potential for productivity gains from resource reallocation through the reduction of market distortions. - Highlights: •We estimate market distortions and productivity growth of China's energy sector. •We use a large sample of Chinese energy enterprises. •There are evidences of the existence of factor and product market distortions. •Aggregate productivity growth is largely driven by firm-level technological change. •China's energy sector can realize productivity gains from resource reallocations.

  14. Leverage, Asymmetric Information, Firm Value, and Cash Holdings in Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aldea Mita Cheryta

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available This research aimed to analyze the effect of leverage and asymmetry information on the firm value through cash holding as mediation variable. The populations of this research were all the firms which listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange since 2012 – 2015. A sample of this research was saturated sample and census, consisted 56 firms related the population criteria.  This research used secondary data from the firm financial report through path analysis method. This research showed that leverage had a negative effect on the cash holdings, asymmetry information had a negative effect on the firm value through cash holding, and cash holding had a negative effect on the firm value.  With leverage and effect on cash, holding cannot affect the firm value, due to investor risk-averse, investor risk seeker, and neutral investor has their own point of view in assessing the company. Cash holdings can lead to asymmetric information that can lead to agency conflict that can affect a company's performance, so that indirectly, with the existence of asymmetry information had an effect on the declining the firm value. 

  15. Production, depreciation and the size distribution of firms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Qi; Chen, Yongwang; Tong, Hui; Di, Zengru

    2008-05-01

    Many empirical researches indicate that firm size distributions in different industries or countries exhibit some similar characters. Among them the fact that many firm size distributions obey power-law especially for the upper end has been mostly discussed. Here we present an agent-based model to describe the evolution of manufacturing firms. Some basic economic behaviors are taken into account, which are production with decreasing marginal returns, preferential allocation of investments, and stochastic depreciation. The model gives a steady size distribution of firms which obey power-law. The effect of parameters on the power exponent is analyzed. The theoretical results are given based on both the Fokker-Planck equation and the Kesten process. They are well consistent with the numerical results.

  16. How to subsidize energy efficiency under duopoly efficiently?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nie, Pu-yan; Yang, Yong-cong; Chen, You-hua; Wang, Zhao-hui

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • This article captures the effects of output subsidy. • Firms without subsidy are not willing to improve energy efficiency. • Subsidy stimulates the subsidized firms’ outputs and deters the others’ outputs. • The subsidy intensity depends on firms’ position. • Overdue subsidy cannot reach the environmental object. - Abstract: Establishing a game theory model, this paper captures the effects of output subsidy on energy efficiency under Cournot competition and Stackelberg competition. Three types of subsidies are considered in the model, namely without subsidy, unilateral subsidy and bilateral subsidy. The findings indicate that firms without subsidy are not willing to improve energy efficiency. Also, subsidy stimulates the subsidized firms’ outputs while deters the outputs of other firms. Meanwhile, the equilibrium subsidy intensity depends on firms’ position. Furthermore, the minimal subsidy budgets under different situations are presented. Especially, given the fixed subsidy budget, the output of the subsidized firm is the highest if this firm plays the leading position. In addition, certain subsidy can reduce the total emission, while overdue subsidy cannot reach the environmental object.

  17. The Emergence of the Modern Theory of the Firm

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Foss, Nicolai Juul; Klein, Peter G.

    sociology and business administration has been relatively limited and ad hoc (although some scholars, notably Williamson, have made more substantive use of these disciplines than othe~s) The fact that the theory of the firm has stayed relatively close in to the (changing) economic mainstream and that its......We discuss the emergence of the theory of the firm (in the Coasian sense); survey and discuss the main currents of the theo~y of the firm, and discuss what has determined the emergence of the theory of the firm. We argue that advances in the theory of the firm have been strongly influenced...... substantive borrowing from neighbouring disciplines has been relatively limited unde~lie and explain much of the "external" critique of the theory (i.e., the critiques of sociologists, heterodox economists and management scholars)....

  18. Dancing With the Stars: How Talent Shapes Firm Performance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Eriksen, Bo

    In spite of the attention that attracting and retaining talent receives, little is known about effective talent management. What is the impact of talent on firm performance, among which employee types should firms build talent and do complementarities between employee talent and firm resources...... affect which talent management approach firms should follow? Our paper contributes with two insights using a rich panel of Danish matched employer-employee data. We identify a tradeoff between short term adjustment costs and longer term gains from increasing talent where initial gains appear of offset...... later benefits. We identify important complementarities between manager and worker talent, and between these and the firm’s capital resources and organizational design. These complementarities suggest that firms can create and appropriate rents from talent when their talent acquisition strategy is well...

  19. Female Directors, Board Committees and Firm Performance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Green, Colin P.; Homroy, Swarnodeep

    A number of studies have found little economic impact of board gender diversity on firm performance. We return to this issue in the context of large European firms. Our contribution is twofold. First, using information on the gender of CEOs children as a source of exogenous variation in female

  20. Fixed export costs and multi-product firms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Creusen, H.; Smeets, R.

    2011-01-01

    This paper has two aims. First, we uncover some salient components of fixed export costs, which play a crucial role in recent heterogeneous firms models of international trade. Second, we investigate whether the importance of these fixed export costs varies with the size of a firms export product

  1. Cost Focussed Firms and Internet Usage

    OpenAIRE

    Joanne Loundes

    2002-01-01

    This paper looks at Internet usage by Australian firms that have a cost focussed competitive strategy. The data source for this analysis is the Melbourne Institute Business Survey, conducted by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research. The survey was conducted in late 2001, and targeted large Australian firms. Instrumental variables estimation found that cost-focussed organizations utilised the Internet more intensively for both internal organizational activities and ex...

  2. Markups and Firm-Level Export Status

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    De Loecker, Jan; Warzynski, Frederic

    and export behavior using plant-level data. We find that i) markups are estimated significantly higher when controlling for unobserved productivity, ii) exporters charge on average higher markups and iii) firms' markups increase (decrease) upon export entry (exit).We see these findings as a first step...... in opening up the productivity-export black box, and provide a potential explanation for the big measured productivity premia for firms entering export markets....

  3. Towards quality in marketing: a small firm context

    OpenAIRE

    O'Shea, Josephine Ann

    1994-01-01

    It is generally accepted that the small firm sector is vital to the well being, both social and economic, of most countries. Fostering and developing indigenous small firms has been a consistent industrial policy goal of successive Irish governments. For many years, informed commentators have stressed the need for strategic market planning and customer orientation if a company is to survive in a vigorously competitive market place. However, specific studies on the Irish small firm sector have...

  4. Firm size and export performance: some empirical evidence

    OpenAIRE

    Owen Gabbitas; Paul Gretton

    2003-01-01

    This paper uses firm level data collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in its Business Longitudinal Survey to help fill the information gap about the characteristics of successful exporters. This study suggests that the main influences on export performance of Australian manufacturing firms may lie with a range of ‘firm-specific’ factors other than size or domestic market share. These potentially include: kind of activity, product design and quality, marketing expertise and the moti...

  5. Firm Productivity, Organizational Choice and Global Value Chain

    OpenAIRE

    Anna Giunta; Domenico Scalera; Francesco Trivieri; Jeffrey B. Nugent; Mariarosaria Agostino

    2011-01-01

    Based upon insights of the global value chain literature, the aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of being a supplier firm on labour productivity. The country of analysis is Italy, historically characterized by a very strong division of labour among firms. We make use of a unique database, which collects information on several organizational, structural and performance variables of a representative sample of more than 3000 Italian manufacturing firms, spanning the period 1998-2006....

  6. Wage policy of medium and large Portuguese firms

    OpenAIRE

    Suleman, F.; Lagoa, S.; Suleman, A.; Pereira, M. L.

    2013-01-01

    The research on wage policies has been triggered by the interest in identifying whether labour market or institutional forces shape wage settings inside firms. This article draws on linked employer-employee data and uses a fuzzy c-means clustering analysis to identify the typical wage policies of medium and large firms in Portugal. Empirical evidence suggests firms are segmented into four clusters that can be labelled according to wage rules as regulated, asymmetric, hierarchical and discreti...

  7. Firm Investment and Balance-Sheet Problems in Japan

    OpenAIRE

    Toshitaka Sekine

    1999-01-01

    This paper investigates whether balance-sheet conditions of firms and their main banks matter for firm investment behavior using dynamic corporate panel data in Japan for the period 1985-95. It finds that smaller non-bond issuing firms were facing liquidity constraints; these firms’ balance-sheet conditions (the debt asset ratios) affected their investment from the midst of the bubble era by influencing main banks’ lending to them; and the deterioration of their main banks’ balance-sheet cond...

  8. Internationalization of the Business Firm: A Literature Review

    OpenAIRE

    Rodríguez Valle, Alejandro

    2011-01-01

    Internationalization of the firm theory remains unfinished business and as a result there remains confusion among the academic community. This paper revises the main currents of thought in the academic world concerning the internationalization of the firm debate. We do a brief diagnosis of the international currents of thought and their impact on the unfinished debate of how to advance the theory of internationalization of the firm. Finally, we offer an agenda of academic work which deals wit...

  9. Energy efficiency in Swedish industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Shanshan; Lundgren, Tommy; Zhou, Wenchao

    2016-01-01

    This paper assesses energy efficiency in Swedish industry. Using unique firm-level panel data covering the years 2001–2008, the efficiency estimates are obtained for firms in 14 industrial sectors by using data envelopment analysis (DEA). The analysis accounts for multi-output technologies where undesirable outputs are produced alongside with the desirable output. The results show that there was potential to improve energy efficiency in all the sectors and relatively large energy inefficiencies existed in small energy-use industries in the sample period. Also, we assess how the EU ETS, the carbon dioxide (CO_2) tax and the energy tax affect energy efficiency by conducting a second-stage regression analysis. To obtain consistent estimates for the regression model, we apply a modified, input-oriented version of the double bootstrap procedure of Simar and Wilson (2007). The results of the regression analysis reveal that the EU ETS and the CO_2 tax did not have significant influences on energy efficiency in the sample period. However, the energy tax had a positive relation with the energy efficiency. - Highlights: • We use DEA to estimate firm-level energy efficiency in Swedish industry. • We examine impacts of climate and energy policies on energy efficiency. • The analyzed policies are Swedish carbon and energy taxes and the EU ETS. • Carbon tax and EU ETS did not have significant influences on energy efficiency. • The energy tax had a positive relation with energy efficiency.

  10. Corporate Diversification and Firm Performance: Evidence from Asian Hotel Industry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ooi Chai-Aun

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The unstable environment of hotel industry which is driven by the fluctuation of tourism demand has motivated this study to look into the best diversification strategy for firm performance betterment. 42 hotel firms are investigated across 4 Asian economies, from year 2001 to 2012. Our results suggest that unrelated industrial diversification is the only alternative to improve hotel firm performance. Unrelated international diversification instead has a significant negative effect towards firm performance. Our results further show that board of directors implies a significant link to the relationship between diversification and firm performance, only in a crisis period.

  11. Free Trade Agreements and Firm-Product Markups in Chilean Manufacturing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lamorgese, A.R.; Linarello, A.; Warzynski, Frederic Michel Patrick

    In this paper, we use detailed information about firms' product portfolio to study how trade liberalization affects prices, markups and productivity. We document these effects using firm product level data in Chilean manufacturing following two major trade agreements with the EU and the US....... The dataset provides information about the value and quantity of each good produced by the firm, as well as the amount of exports. One additional and unique characteristic of our dataset is that it provides a firm-product level measure of the unit average cost. We use this information to compute a firm...

  12. FEATURES CONCERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AUTHORIZED INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY FIRMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    CLAUDIA ISAC

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents recent legislative changes relating to the establishment and organization of small firms as: The individual firm, the family firm, Authorized individuals (PFA. Thus, in the first part of the paper I present the main features and advantages of the three types of firms, and a comparison between them. The paper continues with the necessary documents for setting up the companies and highlights their role in economic advances. In the second part of the paper, I did a statistical analysis of the evolution of the number of firms of this type and the sectors in which they operate.

  13. Panel Data Models of New Firm Formation in New England

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jitendra Parajuli

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available This study examines the impact of the determinants of new firm formation in New England at the county level from 1999 to 2009. Based on the Spatial Durbin panel model that accounts for spillover effects, it is found that population density and human capital positively affect single-unit firm births within a county and its neighbors. Population growth rate also exerts a significant positive impact on new firm formation, but most of the effect is from spatial spillovers. On the contrary, the ratio of large to small firm in terms of employment size and unemployment rate negatively influence single-unit firm births both within counties and among neighbors. However, there is no significant impact of local financial capital and personal income growth on new firm formation.

  14. Ownership Structure and Publicness of Firms: A Literature Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wisnu Untoro

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available There has been an extensive body of literature studying the link between ownership structure and firm performance. Some of them focus on the performance difference across ownership types (i.e. state vs foreign vs private domestic. On the other hand, some studies stress ownership structure on the fraction of ownership based on agency theory (i.e. majority versus minority and its derivatives (e.g. ultimate ownership, cross listing. However, an important element has not been explored while discussing ownership structure of firms which is the concept of publicness of firms. Publicness is important to explain to which extent an organization is related with governmental institutions. In fact, there are many engagements of firms with governmental bodies (e.g. deposit and lending from and to public organization. In this present paper, I provide a comprehensive literature review on the intersection between publicness level of firms and ownership structure. Going deeper, I also provide a literature review on the measurement of publicness and postulate a model to link between these two and firm performance as a venue for future studies.

  15. Characteristics of Intrapreneurs in Scale-Intensive Service Firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katja Maria Hydle

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This empirical paper explores the work of employees in charge of service innovation when firms develop and launch new scale-intensive services by addressing two re- search questions: i How do employees responsible for service innovation work? and ii what are the related managerial implications when developing and launching new scale-intensive services? To this end, 21 qualitative, in-depth interviews were con- ducted with employees in five large scale-intensive service firms. The findings suggest that the involvement of internal professionals is an asset when new scale-intensive services are developed, and that internal professionals act as intrapreneurs when they are involved in the development of radically new scale-intensive services. This paper integrates understanding from the innovation management literature with knowledge of professionals from extant literature on professional service firms since we find that professionals in scale-intensive firms act as intrapreneurs. Thus, this pa- per extends the theory on determinants of innovation in scale-intensive service firms, blending insights from both findings and theory.

  16. RECENT THEORIES OF THE FIRM: A CRITICAL APPROACH

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pacala Anca

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Besides the classical theories of the firms as complete or incomplete contract theories, in the last decades there were developed some new theories bringing new perspectives and approaches. Among these new perspectives we are presenting in this paper the evolutionary theory of the firm, the importance of resources and knowledge, and game theory. According to evolutionary theory the most important element for a firm is the company itself and its specific assets (physical and human. Evolutionist theories, in their diversity, are interested in issues such as the effects of changes in the long run within the firms, in terms of products, processes, decisions, analysis of the determinants of success. Resource and knowledge -based theories try to find a common point between transactions and organizational management analysis, focusing on development issues within companies, the importance of business strategy and achieving competitive advantages. Finally, cooperative game theory sees the firm as a coalition of various parts that compose it, emphasizing the importance of cooperative relations between employees and shareholders, risk sharing and effective collective skills, knowledge and funds using.

  17. Major KEEP Findings, 1971 - 1975.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamehameha Schools, Honolulu, HI. Kamehameha Early Education Project.

    This report lists the 34 major research findings from the Kamehameha Early Education Program (KEEP) for the years 1971-1975. Each finding is accompanied by a listing of KEEP technical reports and working papers which contain information relevant to that finding. Included among areas covered in the findings are: (1) student motivation, (2) teacher…

  18. KEEP Five-Year Summary Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gallimore, Ronald; Tharp, Roland G.

    This brief summary outlines the activities and findings of the research and development efforts of the Kamehameha Early Education Program (KEEP) from 1971 to 1976. The paper suggests that the original goals of the program were met and that the initial operating procedures agreed upon by KEEP and the Hawaii State Department of Education were…

  19. Motivators of Dividend Payout among Firms listed on the Stock ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Nafiisah

    firms that are officially listed on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius. .... future prospects of their firms, their actions might convey new information to ... Sometimes, when designing dividend policies, some firms consider the behaviour of their.

  20. FOOD ENTREPRENEUR SUSTAINABLE ORIENTATION AND FIRM PRACTICES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mark A. Gagnon

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available This exploratory research examines the relationship between food entrepreneur sustainable orientation, mindset and firm sustainable practices in a mixed methods format. In particular we seek to address if entrepreneur behavior and firm practices are congruent with founding entrepreneur espoused support of sustainability. Our survey findings with thirty specialty food entrepreneurs suggest tenuous empirical support for the relationship of entrepreneur sustainable orientation, mindset and firm sustainable practices. However our qualitative results indicate positive relationships between sustainable orientation, mindset and practices. Evidence from this work highlights the critical role of founding entrepreneurs for successful implementation of sustainability along its multiple fronts including profitability.

  1. Customer orientation and innovation : a comparative study of manufacturing and service firms

    OpenAIRE

    Wang, Qiang; Zhao, Xiande; Voss, Christopher

    2016-01-01

    This study investigates the effect of customer orientation on innovation performance in manufacturing and service firms by comparing their innovation mechanisms. Based on a sample of 1646 manufacturing firms and 686 service firms, our results indicate that customer orientation positively affects service innovativeness and product innovativeness in service firms and manufacturing firms, respectively, and that such effects are mediated by two important firm resources: supplier collaboration and...

  2. Electronic Commerce, Digital Information, and the Firm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosenbaum, Howard

    2000-01-01

    Discussion of the social context of electronic commerce (ecommerce) focuses on information imperatives, or rules that are critical for ecommerce firms. Concludes with a discussion of the organizational changes that can be expected to accompany the incorporation of these imperatives into the mission and core business processes of ecommerce firms.…

  3. Trade credit: Elusive insurance of firm growth

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bams, Dennis; Bos, Jaap; Pisa, Magdalena

    2016-01-01

    Firms depend heavily on trade credit. This paper introduces a trade credit network into a structural model of the economy. In an empirical analysis of the model, we find that trade credit is an elusive insurance: as long as a firm is financially unconstrained and times are good, more trade credit

  4. Measuring Firm Performance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Assaf, A. George; Josiassen, Alexander; Gillen, David

    2014-01-01

    Set in the airport industry, this paper measures firm performance using both desirable and bad outputs (i.e. airport delays). We first estimate a model that does not include the bad outputs and then a model that includes bad outputs. The results show important differences in the efficiency...

  5. Tax optimization and the firm's value: Evidence from the Tunisian context

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Soufiene Assidi

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The paper investigated the relationship between corporate tax optimization and the firm's value in the Tunisian context over an 11 year period. The empirical results revealed that tax optimization, accruals and investment increased the firm's value. After dividing the sample between listed and non-listed firms, we concluded that, compared to non-listed firms, the listed firms were better able to optimize tax through adopting a tax policy. Our findings help decision makers, researchers and practices to better understand the role of tax optimization in the management of firms and, also, in their performance.

  6. Choosing R&D or advertising for competing firms in uncertain market

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bo Xie

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: R&D and advertising have become important means to enhance the competitiveness of firms’ products. Design an appropriate model to help the firm to make the right choice is value in supply chain.Design/methodology/approach: In considering that whether the market is completely covered or not, we build the strategy selection model for R&D and advertising for two competing firms and solve the optimal strategy.Findings and Originality/value: The research results show that when a firm does not take any measures to enhance competitiveness, another firm will neither. However when one takes measures to improve the competitiveness, another will do so, also. When two firms must choose one measure to improve the competitiveness, either in full-covered market or not full-covered market, the two firms will not choose to do advertising in step, even if the firms do not have to pay additional cost in advertising.Originality/value: In the game model, the firm could compare the own profit in different strategies. According to the above model, the firm choose the right strategy to make the profit maximize in a vertically differentiated market. And when the firm make the choice, it must think about other primary elements such as market.

  7. Is There a Better Semiconductor Firm in Taiwan?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cheng-Wen LEE

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The authors investigate the firm value of semiconductor industry in Taiwan in order to differentiate between outstanding semiconductor company and weak semiconductor company. The authors use GAP which is analytical tool to perform four steps: the original maps, sorting maps with clustering trees, summary sufficient maps, and sediment maps. The findings offer a good instruction for policymakers to make related policies in semiconductor firms. Additionally, the paper helps to find firms needed to be reformed through classification by GAP.

  8. Centralized versus Decentralized Taxation of Mobile Polluting Firms

    OpenAIRE

    Georges A. Tanguay; Nicolas Marceau

    2000-01-01

    We consider a world in which a mobile polluting firm must locate in one of two regions. The regions differ in two dimensions: their marginal cost of pollution and the production cost of the firm. It is shown that under incomplete information on regional marginal costs of pollution, fiscal competition may lead to the sub-optimal location of the firm. We also show that under incomplete information, a sub-optimal location is less likely under centralized than under decentralized taxation. Nous é...

  9. Small firm perspective in customer relationship management implementation

    OpenAIRE

    Teh, Soo Yee

    2017-01-01

    CRM has been a popular topic since the 90s and several of studies have been conducted by academic scholars from diverse multidisciplinary fields of study. CRM implementation have always been focused in large organizations and not that much attention given has been to smaller size organization. However, with the emerging small size firms in the market CRM software providers shifted the attention from larger firms to smaller size firms. The ready to use software, lower cost and features functio...

  10. Centralized versus decentralized taxation of mobile polluting firms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tanguay, Georges A.; Marceau, Nicolas

    2001-01-01

    We consider a world in which a mobile polluting firm must locate in one of two regions. The regions differ in two dimensions: their marginal cost of pollution and the production cost of the firm. It is shown that under incomplete information on regional marginal costs of pollution, fiscal competition may lead to the sub-optimal location of the firm. We also show that under incomplete information, a sub-optimal location is less likely under centralized than under decentralized taxation

  11. Pharmaceutical R&D performance by firm size: approval success rates and economic returns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DiMasi, Joseph A

    2014-01-01

    The R&D productivity of pharmaceutical firms has become an increasingly significant concern of industry, regulators, and policymakers. To address an important aspect of R&D performance, public and private data sources were used to estimate clinical phase transition and clinical approval probabilities for the pipelines of the 50 largest pharmaceutical firms (by sales) by 3 firms size groups (top 10 firms, top 11-20 firms, and top 21-50 firms). For self-originated compounds, the clinical approval success rates were 14.3%, 16.4%, and 18.4% for top 10 firms, top 11-20 firms, and top 21-50 firms, respectively. The results showing higher success rates for smaller firms were largely driven by outcomes for the small-molecule drugs. Adjustments for the relatively small differences in therapeutic class distributions across the firm size groups showed that the success rate for small-molecule self-originated drugs was 6% below average for top 10 firms and 17% above average for top 21-50 firms. Although success rates for small firms were higher, this advantage was offset to some degree by lower returns on approved drugs, suggesting different strategic objectives with regard to risk and reward by firm size.

  12. Franchising as strategy for internationalization of Family Firms: an exploratory study

    OpenAIRE

    Rosado-Serrano, Alexander; Universidad de Puerto Rico

    2017-01-01

    Family business is the most prevalent form of business thru out Latin America. Franchising has been a strategy used by many firms to expand domestically and internationally. Internationalization theories indicate that firms tend to expand to culturally close markets/countries. Family Business theories indicate that family firms have specific advantages in comparison with non-family firms. The purpose of this paper is to conduct a literature review about franchising family firms in Latin Ameri...

  13. Does Nature of Financial Institutions Matter to Firm Growth in Transition Economies?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abubakr SAEED

    2009-05-01

    Full Text Available Drawing on firm-level data set on transition economies, this paper investigates the relationship between financial institutions and firm growth. The paper focuses in perspective of growth, how the impact of various sources of external finance varies across firm size. Primarily, it is shown a differential impact of institutions on firm growth, precisely, in terms of employment and sale, growth augments by equity market, local banks, foreign banks, state-owned banks, trade credit and leasing, while informal lending abates growth. In particular, the results suggest that local banks and trade credit improve sale growth of small and medium firms, while these financial institutions are insignificant for large firms. By contrast, state owned banks and informal institutions constrain employment growth of small firms. It is confirmed that irrespective of firm size lease financing exerts statistically significant positive impact on firm growth. Moreover, financial system differences across the regions play vital role in firm growth-finance relationship.

  14. A Comparison of the Financial Characteristics of European and Asian Manufacturing Firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Meric Gulser

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Comparing the financial characteristics of firms in different countries has been a popular research topic in finance. However, general financial characteristics of European and Asian manufacturing firms have never been compared. In this paper, we undertake such a study with the MANOVA (Multivariate Analysis of Variance technique. Our research uses all European and Asian manufacturing firms included in the Research Insight/Global Vintage database at the end of 2015. Our findings may provide valuable insights for financial managers and global investors. We find that Asian firms tend to have less liquidity risk but more bankruptcy risk compared with European firms. European firms have more efficient accounts receivable management and higher fixed and total assets turnover rates. However, Asian firms have higher inventory turnover and sales growth rates. Return on equity is not significantly different in European and Asian firms. However, Asian firms have significantly higher net profit margin and return on assets compared with European firms.

  15. Participation of firms in the skills development levy system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    GJ Lee

    2004-04-01

    Full Text Available Skills development levies are increasingly being utilised to increase enterprise provided training in developing economies. South Africa is one such example. The impact of such incentive systems on the bottom-line of firms is a vital consideration in such programs. Particularly important are the economic conditions under which the incentive will stimulate participation by organisations. The transaction costs of participation must be taken into account: while a levy-grant system clearly creates a prima-facie incentive, it may be prohibitively expensive for some firms to enter the grant disbursement systems. Accordingly, through a simple model of the incentives for firms, the participation level of the firm under various types of levy systems is assessed. Non-monetary considerations are also considered. The implications for participation by firms, along with managerial and policy implications, are discussed.

  16. Service-Oriented Strategies for Manufacturing Firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tan, Adrian; McAloone, Tim C.; Matzen, Detlef

    2009-01-01

    This chapter establishes PSS (Product/Service-Systems) approaches in the context of manufacturing firms and their existing product-oriented business. PSS can be seen as a strategy for manufacturing firms to gain competitive advantage in the market, but what market conditions and organisational......, customers and partners in business planning and strategy to reap the full benefits. Finally a path to how manufacturers can make the change from product to service-orientation is traced....

  17. Comportements des firmes et commerce international

    OpenAIRE

    Joël Thomas Ravix; Olivier Sautel

    2007-01-01

    Growth of international outsourcing, has been a dominant feature of the international economy. Recent theoretical developments have focused on firm behaviour and its consequences on trade structure, through the introduction of the modern theory of the firm. In a first section, we link this new approach with previous explanations of vertical specialization (intra-industry trade and Multinational Corporation). In a second section, we present methodology and results of these new developments, wh...

  18. Intra-industry trade with multinational firms

    OpenAIRE

    Egger, H; Egger, P; Greenaway, D

    2007-01-01

    Recent developments, including the analysis of firm-level adjustment to falling trade costs, have contributed to a revival of interest in intra-industry trade (IIT). Most empirical work still relies on the standard Grubel–Lloyd measure. This however refers only to international trade, disregarding income flows stimulated by repatriated profits of multinational firms. Given the overwhelming importance of the latter, this is a major shortcoming. This paper provides a guide to measurement and es...

  19. Cluster-based global firms' use of local capabilities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Poul Houman; Bøllingtoft, Anne

    2011-01-01

    Purpose – Despite growing interest in clusters role for the global competitiveness of firms, there has been little research into how globalization affects cluster-based firms’ (CBFs) use of local knowledge resources and the combination of local and global knowledge used. Using the cluster......’s knowledge base as a mediating variable, the purpose of this paper is to examine how globalization affected the studied firms’ use of local cluster-based knowledge, integration of local and global knowledge, and networking capabilities. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative case studies of nine firms...... in three clusters strongly affected by increasing global division of labour. Findings – The paper suggests that globalization has affected how firms use local resources and combine local and global knowledge. Unexpectedly, clustered firms with explicit procedures and established global fora for exchanging...

  20. The Role of Corporate Governance in Firm Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Naimah Zahroh

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this study is to examine the role of corporate governance to increase firm performance. The measure of corporate governance are corporate governance mechanism and Corporate Governance Perception Index (CGPI. Samples are companies that followed CGPI award at 2005-2014. The examination of the relationship of corporate governance and firm performance is conducted by regression of corporate governance mechanism variables and control variables to profitability. Corporate governance mechanisms are board size, board independence, outside directors, audit committee size, audit committee meeting, audit quality, and CGPI. Control variables are leverage and firm size. The results of this study indicate that board independence negatively influence profitability, audit committee meeting positively influence profitability, audit quality positively influence profitability, CGPI positively influence profitability, leverage negatively influence profitability, and firm size negatively influence profitability.

  1. Age structure of the workforce and firm performance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Westergård-Nielsen, Niels Chr.; Grund, Christian

    2008-01-01

    Purpose - Given the ongoing demographic change in European countries, this paper aims to exploreempirically the link between age structures of employees in firms and firm performance. Design/methodology/approach - Based on theoretical considerations, the paper examines the linkbetween both...... the average age and the standard deviation of employees' age and firms' value added per employee. Linked employer employee data of all private-sector firms in Denmark with at least 20 employees is used. Findings - A pyramidal or inverse U-shaped interrelation is found between mean age and standarddeviation...... of age and value added per employee, respectively. Research limitations/implications - It would be interesting to determine whether the results hold for different countries with other institutional environments.Originality/value - This is the first paper to examine the link between corporate age...

  2. Prospecting theoretical approaches to understand internationalization of creative economy firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sílvio Luís de Vasconcellos

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available We argue that the internationalization process of firms in the creative economy has particular aspects that distinguish it from internationalization of firms in traditional economic sectors. We explore ways in which the international business literature might be helpful for understanding how internationalization takes place in firms whose core business is creation of ideas. We conducted a case study using a focus group technique to investigate a creative economy firm specialized in computer graphics. The firm already does business internationally as a producer of electronic mockup models, but is transitioning to the computer-generated video production industry. Our results suggest that behavioral approaches to international business related to entrepreneurship, as well as country origin effects and networks theory could be useful to expanding knowledge about the internationalization process in such firms, in which creativity is a critical resource.

  3. When do German Firms Change their Dividends?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Correia Da Silva, L.; Goergen, M.; Renneboog, L.D.R.

    2002-01-01

    Anecdotal evidence suggests that the dividend policy of German firms is more flexible than the one of their Anglo-American counterparts.This paper analyses the decision to change the dividend for a panel of 221 German firms from 1984 to 1994.The choice of the period of study is motivated by the fact

  4. Career Development Programs in Fortune 500 Firms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keller, Jack; Piotrowski, Chris

    Career development programs (CDPs) are a rather recent area of study in organizational and industrial psychology. The present study investigated the nature and evaluation of CDPs in Fortune 500 firms. Data were obtained by a mailed questionnaire completed by the firms' human resources directors. Of the 500 companies surveyed, only those 50 that…

  5. Promoting clean energy technology entrepreneurship: The role of external context

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Malen, Joel; Marcus, Alfred A.

    2017-01-01

    This study examines how political, social and economic factors influence clean energy technology entrepreneurship (CETE). Government policies supporting clean energy technology development and the development of markets for clean energy create opportunities for CETE. However, the extent to which such opportunities lead to the emergence of new clean energy businesses depends on a favorable external context promoting CETE. This study employs a novel dataset combining indicators of the policy and social context of CETE with information on clean energy technology startup firms in the USA to provide empirical evidence that technological and market conditions supporting clean energy induce more extensive CETE under contexts where local attention to clean energy issues and successful firms commercializing clean energy technologies are more prominent. By establishing that CETE is contingent upon a supportive local environment as well as technology and market opportunities, the study holds relevance for policy makers and clean energy technology firms. - Highlights: • Influence of political, social and economic factors on clean energy technology entrepreneurship (CETE). • CETE more prominent with clean energy technology availability. • Greater when local attention interacts with technology availability and market opportunities. • Greater when local firms successfully commercialize technologies. • Novel dataset and Arellano-Bond dynamic panel estimation.

  6. Information and Knowledge Management at South African Law Firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T du Plessis

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Global and national law firms alike operate in a challenging business environment and managing the firm's information and knowledge assets is increasingly viewed as a key factor in efficient legal service delivery. In legal practice, information management technologies, for example intranets, portals, workflow management systems, document and content management systems, case and project management systems and online dispute resolution systems are becoming important means of legal service delivery. The reason for applying information management technologies and implementing knowledge management strategies in law firms is not only to satisfy clients' growing need for a trusted online platform to interact with legal service providers, but for law firms to capitalise on their intellectual assets, to continuously modernise legal practice management, to empower lawyers, to increase productivity, to use time efficiently, to transfer skills and knowledge from senior to junior professionals, to improve service delivery and to gain competitive advantage. This article firstly reviews the role of information and knowledge management in providing an effective legal service to clients and compares foreign and South African law firms' information management related contexts, challenges and benefits. Secondly, it presents the findings of a survey conducted at South African law firms based on their knowledge management practices. The aim of the article is to provide insights into law firm knowledge management and its effect on providing legal services in an online business environment.

  7. Optoelectronics-related competence building in Japanese and Western firms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miyazaki, Kumiko

    1992-05-01

    In this paper, an analysis is made of how different firms in Japan and the West have developed competence related to optoelectronics on the basis of their previous experience and corporate strategies. The sample consists of a set of seven Japanese and four Western firms in the industrial, consumer electronics and materials sectors. Optoelectronics is divided into subfields including optical communications systems, optical fibers, optoelectronic key components, liquid crystal displays, optical disks, and others. The relative strengths and weaknesses of companies in the various subfields are determined using the INSPEC database, from 1976 to 1989. Parallel data are analyzed using OTAF U.S. patent statistics and the two sets of data are compared. The statistical analysis from the database is summarized for firms in each subfield in the form of an intra-firm technology index (IFTI), a new technique introduced to assess the revealed technology advantage of firms. The quantitative evaluation is complemented by results from intensive interviews with the management and scientists of the firms involved. The findings show that there is a marked variation in the way firms' technological trajectories have evolved giving rise to strength in some and weakness in other subfields for the different companies, which are related to their accumulated core competencies, previous core business activities, organizational, marketing, and competitive factors.

  8. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmentally Sound Technology in Endogenous Firm Growth

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Angela C. Chao

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available We have entered the “New Normal” economy, with more emphasis on economic growth driven by innovation than resource. This paper investigates the impacts of firms considering corporate social responsibility and environmentally sound technology by building a three-stage Cournot competition model with asymmetric cost. The sustainable development of economic and endogenous firm growth achieves the win–win result in the theoretical model. Using data from 31 firms in China, this paper empirically researches on the relationships among corporate social responsibility, environmentally sound technology and firm endogenous growth. The results show that: (1 Marginal cost decreased with the increase of innovation, as well as getting government research and development subsidy, which has a positive effect on firm growth. (2 Consumers respond positively to corporate social responsibility initiative, the reputation of the firm can be improved. At the same time, environmentally sound technology objectively reduces the marginal cost of competitors because of the technology spillover. (3 Profit of a firm undertaking corporate social responsibility partly decreases, which has a negative effect on firm growth. The contradiction between corporate social responsibility and profit of firm could be adjusted, such as socially responsible investment fund hosed by institutional investors.

  9. Managing innovation in SMEs product development in small Irish electronics firms

    CERN Document Server

    Ledwith, Ann; Bessant, John

    2009-01-01

    Innovating and developing new products is critical for the survival and growth of any small firm but particularly for technology based firms. This study of NPD at small Irish electronics firms makes two main contributions to knowledge. Firstly, the management of NPD at small firms is found to be different from that at large firms in several respects including; NPD resources and expenditure, organising for NPD, NPD process proficiency, marketing and technical skills and proficiency, R&D/marke...

  10. Air Quality Co-benefits of Energy Policy in China: Evidence from Iron & Steel and Cement Industries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qiu, M.; Weng, Y.; Selin, N. E.; Karplus, V. J.; Cao, J.

    2017-12-01

    Previous literature has calculated large air quality co-benefits from policies that reduce CO2 emissions and increase energy efficiency. These (often prospective) studies rely on assumptions about how air pollutant emissions respond to energy use changes. Using a unique firm-level data set from China, we examine how a real-world energy efficiency policy affected SO2 emissions, estimate its actual effects on atmospheric PM2.5, and compare to ex ante theoretical estimates. During the 11th Five-year plan (2006-2010), the Chinese government implemented policies directing large energy-consuming firms to reduce their energy consumption per unit of economic output. The Top 1000 Enterprises Program (T1000P) set binding energy intensity targets for China's 1000 highest energy-consuming firms. This program is widely considered a policy success, as 92% of firms met their energy intensity target. Focusing on the cement and iron and steel industry, we examine how T1000P (and related provincial policies) affected firms' SO2 emissions and coal consumption from 2005 to 2008. By comparing T1000P firms with similar firms not subject to the policy, we find that T1000P had a very limited incremental effect on energy use or on air quality co-benefits. Compared to firms not subject to the policy, T1000P firms had 14.7% (cement) and 24.0% (iron & steel) lower reductions in SO2 emission per unit energy use. We also observe large, heterogeneous changes in emission factors (defined as SO2 emissions per unit of coal consumption) among all firms during this period. In comparison to co-benefits estimates that assume constant emission factors, SO2 emissions from T1000P firms in the post-policy period are 23.2% (iron and steel) and 40.2% (cement) lower, but spatially heterogeneous, with some regions experiencing increases. Using the GEOS-Chem model, we estimate the air quality co-benefits of the T1000P policy with realized SO2 emissions changes and compare them with two theoretical estimations

  11. Interlocking Boards and Firm Performance: Evidence from a New Panel Database

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    M.C. Non (Marielle); Ph.H.B.F. Franses (Philip Hans)

    2007-01-01

    textabstractAn interlock between two firms occurs if the firms share one or more directors in their boards of directors. We explore the effect of interlocks on firm performance for 101 large Dutch firms using a large and new panel database. We use five different performance measures, and for each

  12. The HRM practices of innovative knowledge-intensive firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jørgensen, Frances; Becker, Karen; Matthews, Judy

    2011-01-01

    , is the basis of this research. The study investigates the HRM practices being used by four innovative firms: two KIFs and two traditional production companies. The findings suggest that there are some similarities between the HRM practices of the case firms, but there are also important differences......There is little research on HRM practices in knowledge-intensive firms (KIFs), especially in comparison to that conducted in traditional production environments. Whether such HRM practices are appropriate for KIFs, particularly ones that differentiate themselves on their ability to innovate...

  13. Why firm-established user communities work for innovation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jeppesen, Lars Bo; Frederiksen, Lars

    Studies of the sources of innovations have recognized that many innovations are developedby users. However, the fact that firms employ communities of users to strengthen their innovationprocess has not yet received much attention. In firm-established user communities users freely revealinnovation...... by selling them to all users. We study the key personal attributes of the individuals responsiblefor innovations and the creation of value in this organizational context, namely the innovative users, toexplain why firm-established user communities work. Analyzing data derived from a web...

  14. Why firm-established user communities work for innovation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jeppesen, Lars Bo; Frederiksen, Lars

    2004-01-01

    Studies of the sources of innovations have recognized that many innovations are developedby users. However, the fact that firms employ communities of users to strengthen their innovationprocess has not yet received much attention. In firm-established user communities users freely revealinnovation...... by selling them to all users. We study the key personal attributes of the individuals responsiblefor innovations and the creation of value in this organizational context, namely the innovative users, toexplain why firm-established user communities work. Analyzing data derived from a web...

  15. The cash-flow analysis of the firm

    OpenAIRE

    Mariana Man

    2001-01-01

    The analysis of economic and financial indicators of the firm regards the profit and loss account analysis and the balance sheet analysis. The cash-flow from operating activities represents the amount of cash obtained by a firm from selling goods and services after deducting the costs involved by raw materials, materials and processenig operations

  16. Globalization and Firm Competitiveness in the Middle East and North Africa Region

    OpenAIRE

    Fawzy, Samiha

    2002-01-01

    Globalization has increased competitive pressures on firms. Together with rapid technological change, it has altered the environment in which firms operate. While globalization offers unprecedented opportunities for firms to act successfully, it simultaneously heightens the risks for firms lagging behind. In an open and liberalized world, increasing firm competitiveness has become a major ...

  17. Evolutionary model of the growth and size of firms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaldasch, Joachim

    2012-07-01

    The key idea of this model is that firms are the result of an evolutionary process. Based on demand and supply considerations the evolutionary model presented here derives explicitly Gibrat's law of proportionate effects as the result of the competition between products. Applying a preferential attachment mechanism for firms, the theory allows to establish the size distribution of products and firms. Also established are the growth rate and price distribution of consumer goods. Taking into account the characteristic property of human activities to occur in bursts, the model allows also an explanation of the size-variance relationship of the growth rate distribution of products and firms. Further the product life cycle, the learning (experience) curve and the market size in terms of the mean number of firms that can survive in a market are derived. The model also suggests the existence of an invariant of a market as the ratio of total profit to total revenue. The relationship between a neo-classic and an evolutionary view of a market is discussed. The comparison with empirical investigations suggests that the theory is able to describe the main stylized facts concerning the size and growth of firms.

  18. Corporate Governance and Firm Performance: Evidence from Saudi Arabia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amina Buallay

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available This study aimed to measure the impact of Corporate Governance on Firm performance of listed companies in Saudi stock exchange. The study methodology was a pooled data collected from the Saudi stock exchange (TADAUWL for the period from 2012 to 2014. The study sample is 171 listed companies. The study independent variable is Corporate Governance principals. The dependent variable is Firm performance which was measured using ROA, ROE and Tobin's Q. The study also utilized five control variables in order to help measuring the relationship between Corporate Governance and Firm Performance. In conclusion, the study found that the governance level was 61.4% in Saudi stock exchange which is considered high compared to previous studies. The results of the study test indicate that there is no significant impact for corporate governance adoption on firm's operational and financial performance in the listed companies in Saudi stock exchange. By testing the Tobin's Q model the study also concluded that there’s no significant impact for ownership of the largest shareholder and independency of Board of Directors on firm's market performance. Significant impact was found for the ownership and the size of the Board of Directors on firm's performance.

  19. Shaking up the Firm Survival: Evidence from Yogyakarta (Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aloysius Gunadi Brata

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The survival of firms under changes in the business environment caused by exogenous shocks can be explained using economic Darwinism. Exogenous shocks can cause ‘cleansing effects’. Shocks clean out unproductive firms so that available resources are allocated to the remaining more productive firms. However, shocks may also force out young firms that have the potential to be highly productive in the future, which will lower the average productivity of industries. This is known as the ‘scarring effect’ of shocks. Therefore, the overall impact of exogenous shocks on the allocation of resources depends on the relative magnitude of cleansing and scarring effects. This paper investigates this natural selection mechanism after the Yogyakarta earthquake in 2006. The study uses data on medium-sized and large manufacturing firms in the Yogyakarta province collected by the Indonesian Statistical Agency. The main finding of this paper is that firms that had higher productivity prior to the earthquake in 2006 were more likely to survive after the earthquake, which suggests the existence of a natural selection mechanism, specifically cleansing effects. There is no evidence of the scarring effects of the earthquake on the new entrants.

  20. Measuring the purpose of firms' customer and competitor-oriented activities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Hans Eibe

    Traditional empirical market orientation research predominantly focuses on the presence of firms' market-oriented activities. This paper empirically explores a novel structure of four multi-indicator measures assessing the purpose of firms' customer and competitor-oriented activities. The operati......Traditional empirical market orientation research predominantly focuses on the presence of firms' market-oriented activities. This paper empirically explores a novel structure of four multi-indicator measures assessing the purpose of firms' customer and competitor-oriented activities...

  1. Servitization in Industrial Firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hsuan, Juliana; Frandsen, Thomas; Raja, Jawwad

    This booklet outlines the breadth and depth of services offered by Danish manufacturing companies, aiming to provide a better understanding of the servitization landscape in Denmark. A total of 1,103 company websites have been checked against 16 service categories. Of these, 939 companies were...... analyzed in more detail, for example with regard to the types of services offered, company size, industry representation, turnover and earnings before interest and tax (EBIT). The analysis presented in this booklet may inspire Danish firms and help them, in their servitization journeys, to position...... themselves in relation to other companies in similar or related industries. In setting out a brief overview of the overall industrial service landscape in Denmark, the following is highlighted: - The extent to which Danish industrial firms are communicating service offerings through their websites...

  2. A Tree Based Broadcast Scheme for (m, k-firm Real-Time Stream in Wireless Sensor Networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    HoSung Park

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Recently, various unicast routing protocols have been proposed to deliver measured data from the sensor node to the sink node within the predetermined deadline in wireless sensor networks. In parallel with their approaches, some applications demand the specific service, which is based on broadcast to all nodes within the deadline, the feasible real-time traffic model and improvements in energy efficiency. However, current protocols based on either flooding or one-to-one unicast cannot meet the above requirements entirely. Moreover, as far as the authors know, there is no study for the real-time broadcast protocol to support the application-specific traffic model in WSN yet. Based on the above analysis, in this paper, we propose a new (m, k-firm-based Real-time Broadcast Protocol (FRBP by constructing a broadcast tree to satisfy the (m, k-firm, which is applicable to the real-time model in resource-constrained WSNs. The broadcast tree in FRBP is constructed by the distance-based priority scheme, whereas energy efficiency is improved by selecting as few as nodes on a tree possible. To overcome the unstable network environment, the recovery scheme invokes rapid partial tree reconstruction in order to designate another node as the parent on a tree according to the measured (m, k-firm real-time condition and local states monitoring. Finally, simulation results are given to demonstrate the superiority of FRBP compared to the existing schemes in terms of average deadline missing ratio, average throughput and energy consumption.

  3. Keep online应用趋势预测

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    谢剑超

    2010-01-01

    @@ 随着执智能机的普及和上网资费下降,用户逐渐形成了keep online的使用习惯.保持在线是现在智能终端的最主要的特点. Keep online不是always oline,keep online 表示用户保持在线,而不指用户一直使用应用.Keep lnline 并不代表用户使用应用的时间变长,而是指用户使用应用更加频繁.

  4. Stability, Bifurcation, and Chaos in N-Firm Nonlinear Cournot Games

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akio Matsumoto

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available An N-firm production game known as oligopoly will be examined with isoelastic price function and linear cost under al Cournot competition. After the best responses of the firms are determined, a dynamic system with adaptive expectations is introduced. It is first shown that the local asymptotic behavior of the system is identical with that of the adaptive adjustment process in which the firms cautiously determine their outputs. Dynamic analysis is confined to two special cases, one in which N is divided into two groups and the other in which N is divided into three groups. Then stability conditions will be derived and the global behavior of the equilibria will be illustrated including chaos control. Lastly the two- and three-group models are compared with two-firm (duopoly and three-firm (triopoly models to shed light on roles of the number of the firms.

  5. Analysis Regarding the Growing Presence of Italian Firms in Romania

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stefano Valdemarin

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available At the end of 2014, the number of firms with an Italian presence in Romania was 39,556, representing 19.33% out of total registered firms and this number is still growing. This article focuses on answering the following question: what kind of Italian firms are investing in Romania and why? Starting from the empirical observation that the number of Italian firms in Romania grew by 6.82% last year, we have used a PESTEL analysis to find the key points characterizing the country, paying attention also to the concept of country brand. From the point of view of Italian firms, we have also analyzed the shifting paradigm of internationalization from a Vertical Foreign Direct Investment model to a Horizontal Foreign Direct Investment model. This paper can be useful for managers and entrepreneurs who are oriented towards investing in Romania following the path of Italian firms.

  6. Cross-regional Variations in Offshore Outsourcing Choices: Evidence from Firm-level Data

    OpenAIRE

    TOMIURA Eiichi; ITO Banri; WAKASUGI Ryuhei

    2008-01-01

    In offshoring, a firm chooses outsourcing to independent suppliers or in-sourcing from their FDI subsidiaries. This paper empirically examines how the factor intensity is related with the firm's offshore make-or-buy decision based on the Japanese direct firm-level data of offshoring across all manufacturing industries. This paper confirms that in-sourcing firms tend to be substantially more capital-intensive than outsourcing firms, even if firm size or industry is controlled for. Among the fi...

  7. On the importance of forest assets for micro-firm performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katarina Haugen

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available Business start-ups are on the increase, a development which is accompanied by hopes that these new firms will generate a potential for, e.g., local and regional development and a strengthening of local labour markets as well as the national economy. However, the long-term performance and viability of new firms are often rather poor. This research aims to analyse the importance of access to assets in the form of forest holdings for the performance of Swedish micro-firms. The analyses are based on official register data and fixed-effects panel regression modelling. A hypothesis is that a firm whose owner also possesses forest holdings is more viable thanks to the different resources (in the form of capital from logging or mortgaging, or non-pecuniary other values the forest holdings may provide, and which possibly contribute to the firm’s economic stability and resilience to economic fluctuations. From a general point of view, we find support for the hypothesis that forest assets positively and significantly influence firm performance in terms of earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT, but not in terms of value added. Access to forest assets is never detrimental to firm performance, although it does not have a significant positive effect in all sub-categories of entrepreneurs based on different combinations of age, gender and firm type. Particularly, the economic performance of private firms run by older men benefits from resources stemming from their forest holdings. No significant effects were found for female entrepreneurs or for limited companies. As regards regional variations, firms located outside the metropolitan regions – as compared to those at the top of the urban hierarchy – are likely to perform better, thus indicating that local development may benefit from resource transfers from the forest sector to micro-firms engaged in non-primary activities.

  8. LITERATURE REVIEW ON CORPORATE GOVERNANCE - FIRM PERFORMANCE RELATIONSHIP

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pintea Mirela-Oana

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available In the matter of corporate governance reforms, an important aspect is whether the implementation of corporate governance principles and codes has a positive impact on firm performance. The literature testing the relationship between different corporate governance mechanisms and firm performance is extensive. Over time, a lot of corporate governances mechanisms were studied in relation to firm performance and the most used are: CEO duality, board size, proportion of non- executive directors, board committees, ownership structure and concentration, managers’ compensation and incentives schemes. With time, different authors began to use more comprehensive measures for corporate governance rather than a single variable or a single governance mechanism, the so called corporate governance indexes. Regarding performance there are three main approaches to firm performance in social science research: research based on market prices, accounting ratios and total factor profitability.The most used performance measures are: Tobin’s Q, return on equity, return on asset and economic value added. In our paper, we present the studies undertaken since the 1990’s regarding the relationship between different mechanisms of corporate governance and firm performance and between corporate governance index and performance for both developed and developing countries around the world. Regarding the working tools used in this theoretical research we can mention the longitudinal method, by presenting the evolution in time of empirical studies on the research topic and the comparative method used in presenting the resulys of different studies mentioned in our paper. The results of the studies are inconclusive, some studies founded a strog positive relation, others founded a negative correlation between corporate governance and firm performance, while a third category of studies didn’t found any relationship at all. We used participative observation method by issuing

  9. Guarantees come to professional service firms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hart, C W; Schlesinger, L A; Maher, D

    1992-01-01

    Can lawyers, doctors, investment bankers, accountants, and consultants guarantee their work? Your money back if not absolutely delighted? Some professional service firms are doing exactly that, and they believe they are gaining not only satisfied customers but higher market share and improved service quality. The authors discuss the benefits and risks of unconditional and more limited guarantees. Firms that address this issue proactively now, they argue, will be less likely to rush into poorly considered guarantees later.

  10. The liberalization of the European electric and gas industries through the firms' M and A and investment strategies: propositions for a better energy security

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Benhassine, W.

    2009-04-01

    The electric and gas industries have been traditionally managed by public monopolies. The post World War II context was supportive to such an industrial organization. In fact, Europe was getting engaged in a long period of economic growth and was benefiting a favorable energetic context. At the end of the 90's, Europe decides to liberalize the national energy industries in order to create a unique European energy market. This liberalization has occurred in a context that as dramatically changed from the economic and energetic perspective. Indeed, the globalization phenomenon has strengthened the competitiveness of the emerging economies. The strong growth of the energy demand and the stagnation of the supply on the offer side have created tensions which have been increasingly frequent and important on the energy markets. Besides, facing greater budget restrictions and financial difficulties, the states have wished to get financially disengaged from these industries. Many factors show that the economic and energetic context will not get better in the next decades. Hence, in this new context, the liberalization of the energy industries should respond to two major stakes for the energy security of the European countries: the sustainability of the investments and the control of the energy demand. After having studied the merger and investment strategies of the energy firms, operating within a freshly liberalized sector, we make some propositions to draw up a new industrial organization which would allow a more efficient response to these two stakes. (author)

  11. Why do firms engage in forward-looking search?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jissink, Tymen; Rohrbeck, René; Huizingh, Eelko K.R.E.

    firms with a low level of slack resources engage to a much lower extent into forward-looking search, if they operate in high-competitive-intensity environments. Our findings not only carry important implications for predicting a firm’s engagement in forward-looking search, but also potentially...... performed below aspirations are less likely to engage in forward-looking search, suggesting that forward-looking search is not a form of problemistic search. In contrast, firms that have abundant uncommitted (slack) resources as well as firms expecting to outperform in the near future are engaging more...... into forward-looking search. We also find interaction effect between performance feedback and environmental characteristics. Interestingly firms with a high level of slack resources are only surpassing their less rich peers in forward-looking search, if they are in technologically turbulent environments. Also...

  12. Product-Marketing Innovation, Skills and Firm Productivity Growth

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Junge, Martin; Severgnini, Battista; Sørensen, Anders

    The role of product and marketing innovation for productivity growth is addressed using survey and register data for the Danish economy. It is argued that marketing and product innovation are complementary inputs and that innovation activities are skill-intensive. It is found that product...... and marketing innovation in skill-intensive firms results in significantly faster productivity growth than in unskilled-intensive firms that introduce this combination of innovation activities. More precisely, an increase in the share of educated workers of one percentage point, increases productivity growth...... by around 0.1 percentage point in firms with product and marketing innovation. In addition, it is found that firms that engage in product innovation but not in marketing innovation or the other way around do not demonstrate a growth effect from their innovation activities. It is also found that product...

  13. 48 CFR 36.607 - Release of information on firm selection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... firm selection. 36.607 Section 36.607 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL ACQUISITION... Services 36.607 Release of information on firm selection. (a) After final selection has taken place, the contracting officer may release information identifying only the architect-engineer firm with which a contract...

  14. Dividend policies of shariah-compliant and non-shariah-compliant firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Farooq, Omar; Tbeur, Oumkeltoum

    2013-01-01

    Do shariah-compliant firms pay higher dividends than other firms? Using data from the MENA (Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Kuwait, and Bahrain) region, this paper shows that shariah-compliant firms not only have higher payout ratios but also have higher likelihood...

  15. Importing, productivity and SMEs: firm-level evidence from the Netherlands

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van den Berg, M.R.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/297206710

    2013-01-01

    Constructing a comprehensive data set covering Dutch firms over the years 2002-2008 I am the first to investigate the relationship between trade status, firm size and firm-level productivity in the Netherlands, thereby focusing particularly on small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The empirical

  16. Firm productivity, pollution, and output: theory and empirical evidence from China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Erzi; Zhang, Jingjing; Haider, Zulfiqar

    2015-11-01

    Using a theoretical model, this paper argues that as firm productivity increases, there is a decrease in firm-level pollution intensity. However, as productivity increases, firms tend to increase their aggregate output, which requires the use of additional resources that increase pollution. Hence, an increase in productivity results in two opposing effects where increased productivity may in fact increase pollution created by a firm. We describe the joint effect of these two mechanisms on pollution emissions as the "productivity dilemma" of pollution emission. Based on firm-level data from China, we also empirically test this productivity dilemma hypothesis. Our empirical results suggest that, in general, firm productivity has a positive and statistically significant impact on pollution emission in China. However, the impact of productivity on pollution becomes negative when we control for increases in firm output. The empirical evidence also confirms the positive influence of productivity on output, which suggests that the main determinant of pollution is the firm's output. The empirical results provide evidence of the existence of, what we describe as, the productivity dilemma of pollution emission.

  17. A Selection Model of Patenting Firms in Demark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Anders Østergaard

    1999-01-01

    on how market structure relate to innovative activity in small open economies. The paper explores the relation between patenting activity and market structure in the Danish manufacturing industries using data from a recently developed database containing accounting information on a sample of patenting...... firms in Denmark. Market structure by concentration and firm size in manufacturing industries was found to be of opposite effects on firms patent activity. Studies on the relation between industrial innovation and market structure in the Danish manufacturing industries are few. Also, since the majority...

  18. True versus spurious state dependence in firm performance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kaiser, Ulrich; Kongsted, Hans Christian

    2008-01-01

    This paper analyzes the persistence of firms' exporting behavior in a panel of German manufacturing firms using dynamic binary choice models. We distinguish between true and spurious state dependence in exports and apply fixed effects methods that allow us to verify the robustness of our results ...... determinants. Our results, which are consistent with the findings of previous studies on firms in developing countries and in the United States, show the presence of important sunk costs in export market entry and a depreciation of knowledge and experience in export markets....

  19. True Versus Spurious State Dependence in Firm Performance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kaiser, Ulrich; Kongsted, Hans Christian

    This paper analyzes the persistence of firms' exporting behavior in a panel of German manufacturing firms using dynamic binary choice models. We distinguish between true and spurious state dependence in exports and apply fixed effects methods that allow us to verify the robustness of our results ...... determinants. Our results, which are consistent with the findings of previous studies on firms in developing countries and in the United States, show the presence of important sunk costs in export market entry and a depreciation of knowledge and experience in export markets...

  20. Financing the alternative: renewable energy in developing and transition countries

    OpenAIRE

    Brunnschweiler, Christa N.

    2006-01-01

    This paper examines the determinants of credit allocation to renewable energy firms in developing and transition countries. Using a simple en- dogenous growth model, we show that the development of the renewable energy sector, i.e. the diversification of renewable energy resources used in primary energy production, depends on the quality of financial intermedia- tion, debtor information costs to banks, and financing needs of renewable energy firms. Policies should aim at increasing financial ...