The impact of information technologies on firm productivity: Empirical evidence from Spain

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between working capital and firm profitability for a sample of 719 Polish listed firms over the period of 2007–2016. The scarcity of empirical evidence for emerging economies and the importance of working capital efficiency motivate the research on the working capital–financial performance relationship. The paper adopts a quantitative approach using different panel data techniques (ordinary least squares, fixed effects, and panel-corrected standard errors models). The empirical results report an inverted U-shape relationship between working capital level and firm profitability, meaning that working capital has a positive effect on the profitability of Polish firms to a break-even point (optimum level). After the break-even point, working capital starts to negatively affect firm profitability. The study brings theoretical and practical contributions. It extends and complements the literature on the field by highlighting new evidence on the non-linear interrelation between working capital management (WCM) and corporate performance in Poland. From the practitioners’ perspective, the results highlight the importance of WCM for firm profitability.

Download Full-text

Effect of regional skill gaps and skill shortages on firm productivity

Environment and Planning A Economy and Space ◽

10.1177/0308518x19889634 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 52 (5) ◽

pp. 933-952 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

David Morris ◽

Enrico Vanino ◽

Carlo Corradini

Keyword(s):

Spillover Effects ◽

Firm Productivity ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Firm Level ◽

Regional Productivity ◽

Data Set ◽

Industrial Sectors ◽

Skill Gaps ◽

The Impact ◽

Skill Shortages

This paper contributes to the literature on regional productivity, complementing previous education and skill-level perspectives with a novel approach analysing the impact of regional skill gaps and skill shortages. This allows us to reflect the idiosyncratic needs of the regional economic structure better, considering both the demand and supply side of the skills equation in localised labour markets. Controlling for unobserved time-invariant firm-level heterogeneity and other region–industry effects across a longitudinal data set for the period 2008–2014, our analysis reveals a negative direct effect of skill shortages on firm productivity. We further find negative spillover effects for both skill gaps and skill shortages in related industries and proximate regions. Results are also shown to be heterogeneous with respect to agglomeration levels and industrial sectors. Stronger negative effects are found in industries defined by a knowledge-intensive skill base, pointing to the loss of learning effects in the presence of skill deficiencies. Conversely, agglomeration effects appear to moderate the impact of skill deficiencies through more efficient matching in the local labour market. The findings presented thus suggest that policies aimed at improving productivity and addressing the increasing regional productivity divide cannot be reduced to a simple space-neutral support for higher education and skill levels but need to recognise explicitly the presence and characteristics of place-specific skills gaps and shortages.

Download Full-text

The Impact of Development Aid on the International Migrations in the African, Caribbean, and Pacifi c Group of States

Zagreb International Review of Economics and Business ◽

10.1515/zireb-2017-0010 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

pp. 101-112 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Marko Gregl ◽

Klavdij Logožar

Keyword(s):

Economic Growth ◽

Empirical Evidence ◽

Direct Effect ◽

Developed Countries ◽

Development Aid ◽

Donor Side ◽

Financial Flows ◽

The Pacific ◽

African Caribbean ◽

The Impact

Abstract Development aid, one of the most important mechanisms for the redistribution of global wealth, represents financial flows that have economic growth and social improvement as their main objective. It has also frequently been described as an instrument which is able to diminish international migrations and is used by several developed countries. Recently, much empirical evidence and several contributors have argued that connection and set out other grounds. This paper explores the interaction between development aid and migrations from developing to developed countries. We want to determine, if the amount of development aid has any impact on migrations from African, Caribbean, and the Pacific Group of States. Our results show that development aid does not have a direct effect on migrations and therefore, in terms of international migrations, is not effective. Moreover, we will argue that the donor side should use different policies and other mechanisms to manage migrations from those countries

Download Full-text