Economic and Business Review (EBR)
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362 research outputs found
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Can Oversight Mitigate Auditor’s Motivated Reasoning? An Experimental Study
No full textEvidence of auditors’ failure to provide an independent opinion has reopened debates on measures to ensure auditor independence. We examine the effectiveness of oversight on two prominent determinants of auditor’s biased opinion – financial incentives and a personal relationship with the client. We conduct a between-subject experiment involving an accounting choice task. We find a significant effect of a personal relationship on the auditor’s choice after controlling for financial incentives. Oversight has a significant negative effect on auditor’s choice arising from financial incentives, whereas a personal relationship significantly reduces the effectiveness of oversight. Our results show that, in addition to oversight, other solutions that break up personal ties are needed to ensure auditor independence
How Do Trading Firms Upgrade Skills and Technology: A Theoretical Model
No full textThis paper studies the mechanisms of skill upgrading in trading firms by developing a theoretical model that relates the individual’s incentives for acquiring higher skills to the profit-maximizing behaviour of trading firms. The model shows that only the high ability individuals have incentives for acquiring higher skills, as long as they are compensated with higher wages after entering employment. Furthermore, high-productive firms have incentives for investing in higher technology, to employ high-skilled labour, and to engage in international trade. The decisions for technology dress-up and skill upgrading coincide with firm’s decisions to start importing and exporting as the latter requires higher technology and high-skilled labour. Contributions of the paper are twofold: gaining new insights by combining fragments of models on individual’s and firm’s behaviours, and broadening the content of the Melitz (2003) model by introducing importers and controlling for skilled and unskilled labour
Jižní Město as a Place to Live from the Perspective of Two Generations of Its First Inhabitants
No full textThe paper introduces the results of a qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with respondents in their thirties (who as children at the age of 2-3 moved with their parents into the Prague housing estate Jižní Město in 1977-1978 and spent their childhood and adolescence there) and with their parents. The dataset allows for the identification and analysis of phenomena and processes that are typical of housing estates and life in housing estates during the last thirty years in the context of society changes and maturing of the estates
Analiza managerskih zaslužkov v nejavnih družbah v Sloveniji
No full textAlthough companies that are not listed on the stock exchange are the backbone of the economy, the area of executive remuneration in these companies is very poorly researched in the world and in Slovenia. Not only is little known about the factors that influence the level of managerial earnings, but also about the amount and structure of managerial earnings. Typically, unlisted companies are smaller, have a higher concentration of ownership and have a larger share of managerial ownership. Using a sample of 185 unlisted companies in Slovenia from 2013, we examined the level and structure of earnings and the factors that influence them. The research found that in addition to the two classic factors - size and performance of the company - the ownership of the company - co-ownership by managers, foreign origin of capital and private ownership as opposed to the state - are also crucial. However, we did not find the effects of gender, education and internationalisation of the company
Intangible Capital, Innovation and Export-Led Growth: Empirical Comparative Study of Slovenia and the Western Balkans
No full textIn the face of progressing globalisation and liberalisation of the markets, innovation is the minimum necessary requirement for companies and countries to be globally competitive, and knowledge is the key input. In a comparative study we investigate the intellectual capital of a sample of firms from the Western Balkans and Slovenia, and analyse the link between intellectual capital, innovation, and export volume. Using unique survey data sets for these countries, we propose a structural model to examine our hypotheses. The results suggest that possessing intellectual capital does not suffice for firms’ global competitiveness and that higher presence on global markets may offer exposure to more advanced knowledge that firms cannot obtain in their domestic markets
Small-Scale Projects and Their Potential for Urban Regeneration: Experiences from Eastern Germany
No full textThe notion that urban living is composed of multiple, interacting aspects instead of only depending on the condition of buildings is widely known. However, once urban renewal is considered, talk automatically turns to large-scale rebuilding projects. To date, there has been little knowledge exchange about projects that take place on the local level, tackling the socio-cultural dimension of urban life. While not destroying, but transforming, what already exists into something socially valuable, such projects open up a set of opportunities for the urban community. This paper draws upon German case studies to propose a definition for such projects and to investigate their potential for urban regeneration
Youth: The Motor of Redevelopment in Mid-Sized Post-Industrial Towns
No full textThis article builds on the results of a transnational project to reveal the importance of the youth in the redevelopment process of a post-industrial region. The introduction to the region and to collaborative planning is elaborated on the basis of two surveys performed in the Zasavje region and its central town of Trbovlje, in which the youth evaluated the state of the region and gave proposals for future development. The discussion focuses on the challenges and added value of the collaborative process for the development of the region and is then generalised to similar areas across Central Europe
User-Driven Innovation: An Exploratory Study
No full textDespite the relatively robust promotion of user-driven innovation (UDI) in practice, research on UDI remains in its early stages. Following a grounded theory analysis approach, this paper makes a contribution by conducting exploratory research of the field. Nine interviews yield an empirical basis for extracting categories connected with existing conceptual issues. The results reveal three key elements of the UDI (user involvement, searching for feedback, and design orientation). The results also indicate the interdisciplinary nature of UDI with branding, design, and company-user interaction as complementary fields in creating user experience. The analysis leads to four theoretical propositions for future studies. The article concludes with limitations and implications for future research
Effectiveness of Financial and Fiscal Instruments for Promoting Sustainable Renewable Energy Technologies
No full textThe new EU target of achieving 80-95% emission reductions by 2050 calls for novel energy policy solutions. Previous research has failed to evaluate the influence of all relevant elements of energy policy on technology-specific sustainable renewable energy diffusion. This paper adds to existing research by studying the effectiveness of financial and fiscal instruments on diffusion, additionally controlling for potential political, economic, social, and environmental drivers. These drivers are analysed for 26 EU countries over the period 1990-2011. The main results show that feed-in tariffs, quotas, and tenders effectively promote wind technologies. Other explanatory variables have technology- and model-dependent impacts
Institutional Change as a Result of International Accreditation: Business Schools of Lithuania after the Iron Curtain
No full textThis paper studies the effects of gaining international accreditation in business schools (B-schools) in Lithuania. As in other CEE countries, in Lithuania international accreditation has recently become one of the key solutions to achieving legitimacy for B-schools. Due to the lack of research in this area, the aim of this paper is to explore and unveil the reasons for, and the consequences of the accreditation using an institutional theory framework. A multiple case study methodology is used to answer the research questions. The findings reveal that accreditation effects represent a case of institutional isomorphism, because B-schools seek accreditation to achieve legitimacy rather than improved performance. B-schools decide for accreditation and implement it mainly because of bandwagon effects and the reduction of information asymmetry – reasons which are accompanied by all three types of isomorphic change (coercive, mimetic, and normative). Based on the findings, the study concludes by suggesting propositions to be tested in future studies to further investigate this under-researched topic, especially in the CEE region