M&As in Africa – effects of law and governance

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 873-898
Author(s):  
Alex Lundqvist ◽  
Eva Liljeblom ◽  
Anders Löflund ◽  
Benjamin Maury

Purpose The cultural and legal differences between foreign acquirers and African target firms can be substantial. There is also a large variation in cultures and legal systems within Africa. However, there is limited research on merger and acquisition (M&A) performance by foreign firms in Africa. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap by exploring the “spillover by law” hypothesis (Martynova and Renneboog, 2008) that focuses on the influence of the external environment on the governance and performance of foreign M&As in Africa. Design/methodology/approach The data set covers 415 M&A transactions by foreign firms in Africa during the period of 1999–2016. Dynamic data covering the country’s legal, cultural and political environment are collected from the World Bank, the Heritage Foundation and Transparency International. Findings The authors find that the legal environment significantly affects the returns of bidders on African firms. For complete acquisitions, bidder returns are significantly higher when the bidder’s country has higher shareholder protection and higher creditor protection compared with the target firm’s country. The results show that the effects are significant when there is a full control change (including a change in the target firm’s nationality) but not in the case of partial control transfers. The results are consistent with the “spillover by law” hypothesis. Originality/value The authors contribute to the literature on cross-border M&As by separately studying the valuation effects of full, majority and minority changes in control; by being the first study of the legal spillover effects in Africa; and by being the most extensive study of the legal determinants of the valuations of non-African acquirers of African firms.

2014 ◽  
Vol 52 (5) ◽  
pp. 897-915 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Chen ◽  
Yiwei Jiang ◽  
Chengqi Wang ◽  
Wen Chung Hsu

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how firm resources and diversification strategy explain the performance consequences of internationalization of emerging market enterprises. Design/methodology/approach – The paper conducts a regression analysis by using a novel panel data set comprising of 685 listed Chinese firms over the period of 2008-2011. Findings – The results show that the relationship between internationalization and performance is inverse U-shaped. Further, marketing resources play a greater role in enhancing the performance effects of internationalization than technological resources do. Related product diversification enhances the performance effects, while unrelated product diversification does the contrary. Research limitations/implications – The study focusses on listed firms in one country, and as a result, the findings cannot be generalized to non-listed firms and firms in other countries. Practical implications – This paper offers guidelines for international managers to improve performance of internationalization by developing a particular type of resources and diversification strategy. Originality/value – This paper extends the literature on the functional form of the internationalization-performance relationship, and further suggests that the analysis of the performance consequences of internationalization should go beyond the nexus between internationalization and performance, and focusses on firm-specific resources and strategies that may facilitate or constrain the performance effects of internationalization.


2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (12) ◽  
pp. 1071-1089
Author(s):  
Alan Chan ◽  
Bruce G. Fawcett ◽  
Shu-Kam Lee

Purpose – Church giving and attendance are two important indicators of church health and performance. In the literature, they are usually understood to be simultaneously determined. The purpose of this paper is to estimate if there a sustainable church congregation size using Wintrobe’s (1998) dictatorship model. The authors want to examine the impact of youth and adult ministry as well. Design/methodology/approach – Using the data collected from among Canadian Baptist churches in Eastern Canada, this study investigates the factors affecting the level of the two indicators by the panel-instrumental variable technique. Applying Wintrobe’s (1998) political economy model on dictatorship, the equilibrium level of worship attendance and giving is predicted. Findings – Through various simulation exercises, the actual church congregation sizes is approximately 50 percent of the predicted value, implying inefficiency and misallocation of church resources. The paper concludes with insights on effective ways church leaders can allocate scarce resources to promote growth within churches. Originality/value – The authors are the only researchers getting the permission from the Atlantic Canada Baptist Convention to use their mega data set on church giving and congregation sizes as per the authors’ knowledge. The authors are also applying a theoretical model on dictatorship to religious/not for profits organizations.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 915-934 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianluca Ginesti ◽  
Adele Caldarelli ◽  
Annamaria Zampella

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of intellectual capital (IC) on the reputation and performance of Italian companies. Design/methodology/approach The paper exploits a unique data set of 452 non-listed companies that obtained a reputational assessment from the Italian Competition Authority (ICA). To test the hypotheses, this study implemented several regression analyses. Findings Results support the argument that human capital efficiency is a key driver of corporate reputation. Findings also reveal that companies, which obtained reputational rating under ICA scrutiny, show a positive relationship between IC elements and various measures of financial performance. Research limitations/implications The study focuses on a single country; it is not free from the imprecisions of Pulic’s VAIC model. Practical implications This paper recommends companies that are interested to achieve a robust reputation should consider the human capital as a strategic intangible asset. Second, the results suggest that companies with an ICA reputational rating are able to leverage their intangibles to potentiate performance and competitiveness. Originality/value This is the first empirical investigation on the contribution of IC in generating value for corporate reputation. Additionally, the study contributes to the literature on the link between IC and performance by examining a sample of firms not yet explored in prior research.


2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Ndou ◽  
Giovanni Schiuma ◽  
Giuseppina Passiante

PurposeThe creative process through which the territorial resources, knowledge and culture are used, exploited and configured to match needs and to achieve congruence with the changing business environment has become a crucial process for competitiveness. This is even more relevant for economies of developing countries which are continuously struggling to reap the benefits of globalisation, as well as to grasp the new opportunities for competitiveness. As such, this paper aims to try to concentrate on the dynamic perspectives of the creative economy of countries by distinguishing between the potentialities and performance. The paper tackles the influence that creativity capacities might have on performance of countries.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology consists in identifying creative economy indicators from a diverse data set of the World Economic Forum and distinguish them between potential and performance indicators.FindingsData reveal as good progress and emphasis is being devoted to increasing the level of creativity; however, the Balkan countries still holdup in their capacity to boost innovation.Practical implicationsThe paper provide a new focus of research on creativity measurement that is significant for understanding what creative capacities territories possess and the ability to make proficient use for growth and innovation.Originality/valueThis paper proposes a new operational framework for measuring and interpreting the creative economy indicators by identifying not only indicators that gauge the potentialities of a country, but also indicators that are linked with the performance dimension, as well as the relationship amongst them.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Giulio Calabrese ◽  
Alessandro Manello

Purpose This study aims to contribute to the debate on the relationship between board diversity and performance, a hot topic for scholars and shareholders. A number of studies have found contrasting impacts of board diversity on firm performance and this paper adds new and original evidence in the context of the automotive supply chain focusing on gender, age and nationality diversity. Design/methodology/approach The authors propose a triple stage empirical analysis. First, the authors use linear models according to different performance indexes for investigating diversity (gender, age and nationality) within the board of directors and executives. Second, the authors investigate the issue of diversity in different contexts such as position in the supply chain, nationality of the owner and family/corporate ownership. Finally, the authors use non-linear models to find a better combination of diversity in terms of gender and nationality for retrieving some managerial implications. Findings First, the authors demonstrate a robust positive effect of women in board representation on firm performance in terms of profitability and firm risk. In the case of, age and nationality the results are more equivocal in particular for the former. Second, the authors depict board diversity in different contexts as follows: positioning in the supply chain, type and nationality of the final owner. Again, gender heterogeneity is more adequate in the complex firm as Tier 1 suppliers, corporate and foreign company. Originality/value The authors focused the analysis on a specific industry, shedding light on the main specificities linked to operating in certain phases of the supply chain, a substantial novelty in this field. The empirical evidence is based on a very large data set containing quantitative and qualitative information on a representative sample of 1,538 firms operating in the Italian automotive supply chain, one of the most relevant in Europe.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bowen Yi ◽  
Da Shi ◽  
Fangfang Shi ◽  
Liang Zhang

Purpose By building on cooperation–competition theory, this study aims to investigate the multidimensional flipped effects of neighborhood hotels on Airbnb listings’ popularity, examining the degree to which such impacts are influenced by hotel types and geographical areas. Design/methodology/approach This study explores the interdependent and competitive relationship between neighborhood hotels and Airbnb from the perspective of effects on Airbnb listings’ popularity by exploring a data set covering 10,492 Airbnb listings and 2,691 hotels from Ctrip. Findings Results reveal that neighborhood hotels’ number of reviews, review ratings and prices each have positive spillover effects on Airbnb listings’ popularity, while quality assurance labels and negative review topic sentiments exert competitive effects on Airbnb popularity. Moreover, the number of budget chain hotels and high-star hotels have positive and negative effects on Airbnb popularity, respectively. Geographical areas also have a moderating effect on the relationship between various hotel-related influencing factors and Airbnb. Practical implications This study can offer hotel managers and Airbnb operators a clearer understanding of these businesses’ coexisting relationship. Findings can also provide Airbnb-specific guidelines for practitioners in terms of site selection, promotional features and development strategies for Airbnb listings. Originality/value This study establishes a cooperation–competition relationship model between hotels and Airbnb and considers the flipped effects of hotels on Airbnb for the first time. It expands previous studies by considering the multidimensional effects of hotels on Airbnb listings’ popularity and by examining the influences of hotel types and geographical areas on hotels’ impacts on Airbnb.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aristeidis Samitas ◽  
Spyros Papathanasiou ◽  
Drosos Koutsokostas

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the connectedness across a variety of Sukuk and conventional bond indices and the implications for optimal asset allocation for the period January 1, 2010–April 30, 2020. Design/methodology/approach The data set consists of five major Sukuk (Dow Jones Sukuk, Thompson Reuters BPA Malaysia Sukuk, Indonesia Government Sukuk, S&P MENA Sukuk and Tadawul Sukuk and Bonds Index) and five conventional bond indexes, one for developed (USA) and four for emerging markets (Malaysia, Indonesia, Africa and Qatar). This study investigates the connectedness and volatility spillover effects across the aforementioned indices, by following the Diebold and Yilmaz (2012) approach, based on the time-varying parameter vector autoregressive (TVP-VAR) model. In addition, this paper provides optimal hedge ratios and portfolio weights for investors. Findings The empirical results show that Sukuk and conventional bond markets are highly integrated and that total connectedness exhibits sensitivity to exogenous shocks. The Dow Jones and the Malaysian Sukuk indices are the primary shock transmitters to other markets. However, the weak volatility spillovers between the Dow Jones and conventional bonds suggest that opportunities for optimal asset allocation may in fact exist. The highest (lowest) hedging effectiveness can be achieved by taking a short position in Malaysian (Qatarian) bonds. Originality/value To the best of the knowledge, this is the largest sample taken into account to investigate the connectedness between Sukuk and conventional bonds.


2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 469-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tsai-Ju Liao

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the cluster effect by decomposing the broad category of “clusters” into cluster size and technological knowledge spillovers. Further, this study questions whether all foreign firms benefit equally from participation in geographic clusters. Specifically, the paper examines the moderating roles of local ownership ties and a local market orientation with respect to the benefits of cluster size and technological knowledge spillover. Design/methodology/approach – Using the Database of Enterprises in China, this study examines a sample of 2,200 Taiwanese manufacturing firms operating in China from 2005 to 2007. Findings – The paper found that increased cluster size and technological knowledge spillovers help to enhance foreign firms’ financial performance. The analysis also shows that local ownership ties and a local market orientation have a positive moderating effect on the relationship between cluster size, technological knowledge spillovers, and performance. Originality/value – This study distinguishes between the effects of cluster size and technological knowledge spillovers, which is an important step toward demystifying the “black box” of cluster benefits. Further, due to the liability of foreignness and the lack of legitimacy that foreign firms face when operating in emerging economies, this study integrates the cluster perspective and the legitimacy perspective to discuss whether foreign firms can actively adopt strategic behaviors that will help to improve their legitimacy and enable them to better capture potential cluster benefits.


2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 410-427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurizio Massaro ◽  
Francesca Dal Mas ◽  
Nick Bontis ◽  
Bill Gerrard

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to deepen resource-based view theory by analyzing how intellectual capital (IC) affects performance in temporary teams and by showing the moderating role of integrative mechanisms. Design/methodology/approach The research context focuses on 153 national teams of football (NTF), also referred to as national soccer teams, as an example of temporary groups. A partial least squares (PLS) methodology was utilized on a data set built from transfermarkt.com and FIFA world rankings. Three main hypotheses were developed and tested using first a PLS and then an OLS approach. Findings The results show how IC contributes to performance, extending the findings of previous studies to the context of temporary teams. Additionally, the results show how some integrative mechanisms such as assembly decisions and team leader experience influence temporary team performance by creating an interaction effect with existing IC. Originality/value This study contributes to IC theories for three reasons. First, it applies IC research to a specific research context: temporary teams, where specific organizational capabilities are required to coordinate resources. Second, the study analyzes the role of integrative mechanisms as moderators of the relationship between IC and performance in temporary teams. Third, the study focuses on NTF as an example of temporary teams.


2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
María José Rodríguez-Gutiérrez ◽  
Pilar Moreno ◽  
Pilar Tejada

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine both the sources of competitiveness of small and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) in the services industry measured by their capability to grow, and the relative importance of each of these sources. More specifically, the resources and capabilities of Spanish SMEs in the services industry that may become sources of competitive advantage are analysed. Design/methodology/approach – In order to achieve this objective, this paper is organized as follows. First, a concise overview of prior research on determinants of performance of SMES is provided, outlining the role of factors regarding resources and capabilities. Second, a set of lineal regression models are performed to test the hypothesis research. In line with several previous studies, competitive success and performance of the company are approached through the recent evolution of firms in terms of employment, turnover and productive investment. The data set comes from a survey on Spanish SMEs operating in the services industry that was carried out between the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011. Findings – The findings reveal that entrepreneur characteristics, firm features and managerial attributes have significant effect on the business performance. The results from the empirical analysis indicate that competitive success of the Spanish SMEs in the service industry is conditioned by macroeconomic and social factors related to the general business environment and especially by business factors concerning the entrepreneurial orientation of the firm, these findings are consistent with those of earlier research conducted at both an international level a national level. Originality/value – The fundamental contribution of SMEs to the overall performance of the economy constitutes a crucial motive for researchers to investigate and examine the key success factors behind these enterprises. This issue has been analysed exhaustively for the manufactured goods industry, but has scarcely been addressed for the services industry. Thus, further research is needed to clarify the variables explaining survival and success for services SMEs. Furthermore, since this research is focused on the microeconomic level, by considering the firm as the unit of analysis, it contributes towards complementing previous research on this topic that has been conducted from a macroeconomic approach. Thus it attempts to provide certain empirical evidences for support the traditional academic debate between economic and administrative disciplines concerning the appropriate unit of analysis for the understanding and explanation of businesses competitiveness.


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