1,721,003 research outputs found
Patents and small business risk: longitudinal evidence from the global financial crisis
Get PDFPurpose: The purpose of this study is to shed light on the relationship between patent applications and long-term risk for small firms across the global financial crisis of 2008. During a crisis, firm risk often skyrockets, and small and medium enterprises face significant dangers to their business continuity. However, managers have a set of strategies that could be implemented to increase a firm’s resilience, sustaining competitive advantages and improving access to financial resource. The authors focused on the investigating the impact of patenting activities on small business risk in a time of crisis. Design/methodology/approach: This is a quantitative study based on a sample of Italian firms that applied for a patent in 2005. The changes in corporate credit ratings over a five-year period are related to different proxies of patent activity using multivariate regression analysis. Findings: Firms that filed for a patent were more resilient, compared to the control sample, during the financial crisis. Innovative activities resulting in patent application seem to deliver strategic resources useful to tackle the crisis rather than increase riskiness. The moderating effect of patents on risk sensitivity is stronger for small firms and when the number of patents or the patent intensity is larger. Originality/value: Limited evidence is available on how patent applications are related to risks for small firms during an economic crisis. The authors highlight that the innovative efforts resulting in patent applications can support small business resilience. The authors also point out that the implementation of patent information in small firms' credit score modeling is still an uncommon practice, while it is useful in estimating firm risk in a way more robust to exogenous credit shocks
Family business growth around the world
Get PDFGrowth is important for the long-term success of a business. Regrettably, the impact of family influence on firm growth is largely neglected. We examine whether family firms have a higher growth rate than their nonfamily counterparts. Based on a large sample of firms across 43 countries over a 10-year period, we show that family firms on average have higher growth rates than nonfamily firms, and this positive effect is greater for family firms operating in strong national institutional environments which are less corrupt, more democratic, more subject to rule of law, and have effective government policies. We also find that the positive effect of family influence on firm growth varies significantly across different types of family firms and different business cycles. These findings show that family control has an economically significant impact on growth rates and important implications for both family firm theory and practice
Board of Directors' characteristics and environmental SDGs adoption: an international study
Get PDFDrivers of environmentally conscious firm behaviour have gained increasing attention over past decades. The Board of Directors holds a central role in corporate decision-making, and previous empirical evidence suggests that its characteristics could influence corporate environmental performance. This paper contributes to the literature with the first evidence of the influence certain board characteristics have on whether a firm ulti-mately supports one or more environmental SDGs. Our focus is on board size, gender diversity, board independence and CEO duality. Logistic and fractional regressions on 4417 globally listed firms highlight that board size, the share of female directors, and the share of independent directors are significant drivers of support for environmental SDGs. The results and insights revealed in this study should be helpful to policymakers, investors and corporations in evaluating the effectiveness of corporate governance characteristics and fostering corporate contributions to the 2030 Agenda
Blockholders and the ESG performance of M&A targets
No full textThis paper investigates the effects that certain characteristics of blockholders have on the environmental and social performance of M&A target firms. First, adopting a counterfactual methodology on a large sample of listed companies, we show the existence of a positive impact of blockholders on target ESG performance. Then, we find that the ESG performance of the target firm does not differ depending on whether the blockholder is a financial or a strategic buyer. This contrasts the general wisdom that the aim of financial acquirors is to maximize short-term profit and so will likely overlook long-term sustainability projects. In addition, acquisitions that are followed by a decrease in leverage are linked to significantly higher ESG performance over the long-term. These results highlight the positive impact of blockholders’ equity investments on environmental and social practices—both strategic and financial. This novel empirical evidence should be valuable to policymakers who wish to define an institutional environment that can speed up sustainable transitions and for investors and managers evaluating M&A deals
Family Firms and Environmental Performance: A Meta-Analytic Review
No full textThis article critically reviews and meta-analyzes the environmental performance of family firms. Using a sample of 40,910 firms covering a 12-year period, we conclude that the average effect of family involvement on environmental performance is negative, albeit small. This negative effect is more pronounced in primary studies that measure environmental performance via the environmental operational practices adopted and in those that define family business using the family ownership and management criteria. Our findings suggest that from an agency perspective, and compared with nonfamily firms, the negative view of the environmental performance of family firms prevails over the positive view
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Modelli di misurazione della performance e del valore nel sistema dei servizi
No full textL’emergere della scienza dei servizi offre nuovi e rinnovati interessi di ricerca al management accounting ed al performance management. Sul versante del management accounting, la prospettiva della co-creazione di valore e servitization spinge verso oggetti di analisi che considerano maggiormente il cliente. Secondariamente la tendenziale dissociazione tra investimenti (costi) e fonti dei ricavi pone dubbi circa la validità della tradizionale logica del costing for pricing nel contesto della service science. Infine si assiste ad una crescente problematicità nella ripartizione dei costi e dei ricavi tra partner co-produttori in un sistema di servizi. Sul versante del performance management l’approfondimento si concentra maggiormente sulle tecniche innovative di misurazione del valore e delle prestazioni manageriali anche in ottica di compensation
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