Research and development efforts in Indian pharmaceutical industry: How much does it matter?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Avinash Shivdas ◽  
Sougata Ray

Purpose The economic value generated by a firm is determined by the efficient management of its resources within a given business environment. The Indian pharmaceutical industry is highly competitive and has attracted huge investments in research and development (R&D), including financing of biotechnological ventures, clinical trials, contract research activities in addition to traditional product development and filing of regulatory requirements. This study aims to identify the specific resources that are significant drivers of performance. Design/methodology/approach Data analysis uses panel regression based on an extended version of the Cobb-Douglas production function, where the dependent variable firm performance is measured using annual sales whilst the independent variables include labour, capital, R&D investments and marketing efforts. This study uses data spanning a period of 7 years (2012–2018) collected from 151 Indian pharmaceutical firms. Findings Contrary to the general understanding that R&D investments tend to create profitable opportunities, it is observed that R&D expenditures have a negative impact on sales in the short to medium time period. This study also highlights the finding that in addition to the positive impact of labour and capital, marketing efforts are more likely to have a greater positive influence on firm performance than R&D. Originality/value The uniqueness of the paper lies not only in the counterintuitive findings but also in the methodology used to capture the impact of the lagged effect of R&D investments on firm performance. Specifically, a regression model-based both on panel data and time-series averages is used to examine the said impact.

Südosteuropa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 505-529
Author(s):  
Kujtim Zylfijaj ◽  
Dimitar Nikoloski ◽  
Nadine Tournois

AbstractThe research presented here investigates the impact of the business environment on the formalization of informal firms, using firm-level data for 243 informal firms in Kosovo. The findings indicate that business-environment variables such as limited access to financing, the cost of financing, the unavailability of subsidies, tax rates, and corruption have a significant negative impact on the formalization of informal firms. In addition, firm-level characteristics analysis suggests that the age of the firm also exercises a significant negative impact, whereas sales volume exerts a significant positive impact on the formalization of informal firms. These findings have important policy implications and suggest that the abolition of barriers preventing access to financing, as well as tax reforms and a consistent struggle against corruption may have a positive influence on the formalization of informal firms. On the other hand, firm owners should consider formalization to be a means to help them have greater opportunities for survival and growth.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xianchun Zhang ◽  
Zhu Yao ◽  
Wan Qunchao ◽  
Fu-Sheng Tsai

Purpose Time pressure is the most common kind of work pressure that employees face in the workplace; the existing research results on the effect of time pressure are highly controversial (positive, negative, inverted U-shaped). Especially in the era of knowledge economy, there remains a research gap in the impact of time pressure on individual knowledge hiding. The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of different time pressure (challenge and hindrance) on knowledge hiding and to explain why there is controversy about the effect of time pressure in the academics. Design/methodology/approach The authors collected two waves of data and surveyed 341 R&D employees in China. Moreover, they used regression analysis, bootstrapping and Johnson–Neyman statistical technique to verify research hypotheses. Findings The results show that challenge time pressure (CTP) has a significant negative effect on knowledge hiding, whereas hindrance time pressure (HTP) has a significant positive effect on knowledge hiding; job security mediates the relationship between time pressure and knowledge hiding; temporal leadership strengthen the positive impact of CTP on job security; temporal leadership can mitigate the negative impact of HTP on job security. Originality/value The findings not only respond to the academic debate about the effect of time pressure and point out the reasons for the controversy but also enhance the scholars’ attention and understanding of the internal mechanism between time pressure and knowledge hiding.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Salah U-Din ◽  
David Tripe

PurposeThe study aims to analyze the changes in banking market structure and their impact on the bank efficiency.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a one-stage stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) to compare the impact of the market structure and the GFC on the economic efficiency of the major banks in both countries.FindingsA significant negative impact of the GFC is observed on bank efficiency. Overall, Canadian banks posted better efficiency scores than their American counterparts. Additionally, cost-efficient banks are found to be more resilient to crises and more profit-efficient in the post-GFC period. The authors found that market power had a positive impact on the cost and profit efficiency of banks. Higher levels of equity, market power and concentration helped banks be more cost-efficient.Research limitations/implicationsOnly large banks are selected for study although it represents the majority stake of both banking sectors.Practical implicationsBanking regulators should include more measures to assess the banking market structure and performance.Originality/valueAs per the best knowledge of the authors, it is the first study to assess the change in banking market structure and efficiency of the US and Canadian banking sectors in the post-GFC period.


2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 682-699 ◽  
Author(s):  
Waripas Jiumpanyarach

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate teenagers’ preferences, attitudes, and purchasing power towards organic foods in markets and to explain influences of teenagers’ choices and purchasing intentions on organic foods. Design/methodology/approach A paper-based and a web-based survey were conducted among 557 teenagers in Thailand. A choice experiment logit model was used to identify factors influencing decision in purchasing. Findings The study found that teen consumers were likely to buy ready-to-cook organic food items instead of conventional food items because of health and food safety concerned under their budget constraints. The willingness to pay found organic food items (eggs, pork, chicken) had negative impact but organic opinion had positive impact. The attitudes on high price of organic food items were positive impact because of production process, quality, and quantity of products. Research limitations/implications Teenagers’ consumption impacted on food demands in supermarkets and convenient stores because of their attitudes and behaviours in purchasing. The desired food characteristics should be good quality, safety for consumers, and available in the market nationwide. The supported policies for expanding organic markets were benefits for organic farmers to be sustainable farming. Originality/value This study examined the impacts of economic conditions and the premium quality healthy food products on teenagers’ food motivation.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohd Azrai Azman ◽  
Carol K.H. Hon ◽  
Bo Xia ◽  
Boon L. Lee ◽  
Martin Skitmore

PurposeMany large construction firms (LCFs) adopt product diversification (PD) to counter downturns and spread risks. However, no detailed information is available concerning the type of PD that improves their performance. In addition, it is still uncertain how much changes in institutional dimensions influence the effectiveness of PD. Therefore, the aim is to resolve this issue by establishing a model that shows the extent of this influence.Design/methodology/approachThe generalised method of moments (GMM) estimator is used to model the PD strategies of 86 LCFs in Malaysia over 14 years (2003–2016) and its impact on productivity and profitability performance.FindingsUnrelated diversification (UD) decreased firm performance in 2003–2016, while related diversification (RD) had a positive impact during the more liberal 2010–2016 phase. The models show that the impact of PD is highly dependent on changes in institutional dimensions.Practical implicationsFirstly, managers may adjust the type of PD and its level of diversification to improve firm performance. Secondly, they may devise PD strategies based on changes in institutional dimensions to maximise their effectiveness.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the literature by determining the optimal amount of PD (including RD and UD) and its impact on performance. Secondly, the study is the first to investigate the moderating relationship of the institutional dimensions of economic and regulatory institutions on PD-firm performance. Thirdly, the study is the first to explore the components of technical-scale-scope economies (movement towards and around the production frontier), this being crucial to the strategy that was only conjectured in previous studies.


2011 ◽  
Vol 495 ◽  
pp. 306-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Panagiotis Trivellas

This paper examines the influence of Research and Development (R&D) strategy on firm performance controlling for external environment. In this turbulent era, several firms build their competitive advantage on their innovation competence investing on R&D. Drawing upon a sample of 248 firms located in Greece, a structured questionnaire was developed to measure R&D strategy, external environment (dynamism, complexity, munificence, technological) and firm performance (financial, market, innovation, growth and organizational). The importance of R&D strategy in explaining the variance of all performance dimensions is confirmed with innovation performance playing a dominant role. Results indicate that R&D strategy is the most crucial antecedent of firm performance, controlling for business environment. Among environmental dimensions, only dynamism exerts statistical significant relationships. Regarding organizational size, larger firms possess a competitive advantage in the market, enjoying dominant market shares, while smaller firms exhibit supremacy regarding their innovative behavior.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 372-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaurav Manohar Marathe ◽  
Tanusree Dutta ◽  
Sayantan Kundu

Purpose The study aims to examine whether management education can successfully cultivate the competency of empathy that is needed in future corporate leaders to promote sustainability initiatives catering to diverse stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach The research highlights the impact of management education on cognitive and affective empathy by analysing the interpersonal reflectivity scores of entering students enrolled in a two-year, full-time MBA programme and the scores of the same students at graduation. Findings The findings show that management education has a positive impact on cognitive empathy, while it reduces affective empathy and general empathy. Further, findings show that the management curriculum brings cognitive and affective empathy to an equilibrium level that is needed for a competitive business environment. Research limitations/implications The research focussed only on the change in empathy of the participants (students) during management education and not during actual corporate work. Practical implications The research infers that current management education creates future executives with higher cognitive empathy. It argues that they would care more about the sustainability of the business in terms of profit or access to capital rather than care and concern for all the stakeholders, society and the environment. A new paradigm in management education also needs to be focussed around inculcating how to empathise affectively. Originality/value The study presents an empirical analysis suggesting that management education is opening the mind but not the heart. It raises a significant concern that higher management curriculum is not developing future executives who can lead the sustainability initiatives.


Author(s):  
Xiaohui Huang ◽  
Qian Lu ◽  
Fei Yang

Purpose This paper aims to build a theoretical model of the impact of farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation measures on the agricultural output to analyze the impact of farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation measures on agricultural output. Design/methodology/approach Based on the field survey data of 808 farmers households in three provinces (regions) of the Loess Plateau, this paper using the endogenous switching regression model to analyze the effect of farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation measures on agricultural output. Findings Soil erosion has a significant negative impact on agricultural output, and soil erosion has a significant positive impact on farmers’ adoption of soil and water conservation measures. Farmers adopt soil and water conservation measures such as engineering measures, biological measures and tillage measures to cope with soil erosion, which can increase agricultural output. Based on the counterfactual hypothesis, if farmers who adopt soil and water conservation measures do not adopt the corresponding soil and water conservation measures, their average output per ha output will decrease by 2.01%. Then, if farmers who do not adopt soil and water conservation measures adopt the corresponding soil and water conservation measures, their average output per ha output will increase by 12.12%. Government support and cultivated land area have a significant positive impact on farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation measures. Research limitations/implications The research limitation is the lack of panel data. Practical implications Soil erosion has a significant negative impact on agricultural output, and soil erosion has a significant positive impact on farmers’ adoption of soil and water conservation measures. Farmers adopt soil and water conservation measures such as engineering measures, biological measures and tillage measures to cope with soil erosion, which can increase agricultural output. Social implications The conclusion provides a reliable empirical basis for the government to formulate and implement relevant policies. Originality/value The contributions of this paper are as follows: the adoption behavior of soil and water conservation measures and agricultural output are included into the same analytical framework for empirical analysis, revealing the influencing factors of farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation measures and their output effects, enriching existing research. Using endogenous switching regression model and introducing instrumental variables to overcome the endogenous problem between the adoption behavior of soil and water conservation measures and agricultural output, and to analyze the influencing factors of farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation measures and its impact on agricultural output. Using the counter-factual idea to ensure that the two matched individuals have the same or similar attributes, to evaluate the average treatment effect of the behavior of soil and water conservation measures, to estimate the real impact of adaptation measures on agricultural output as accurately as possible and to avoid misleading policy recommendations.


2019 ◽  
Vol 129 (622) ◽  
pp. 2390-2423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Flabbi ◽  
Mario Macis ◽  
Andrea Moro ◽  
Fabiano Schivardi

Abstract We investigate the effects of female executives on gender-specific wage distributions and firm performance. Female leadership has a positive impact at the top of the female wage distribution and a negative impact at the bottom. The impact of female leadership on firm performance increases with the share of female workers. We account for the endogeneity induced by non-random executives’ gender by including firm fixed-effects, by generating controls from a two-way fixed-effects regression and by using instruments based on regional trends. The findings are consistent with a model of statistical discrimination in which female executives are better at interpreting signals of productivity from female workers. This suggests substantial costs of women under-representation among executives.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 435-454
Author(s):  
Lien Duong ◽  
John Evans ◽  
Thu Phuong Truong

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the impact of Australian Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) as board insiders on firm performance and earnings quality with reference to agency theory and theory of friendly board. Design/methodology/approach The ordinary least square, two-stage least-squares and propensity score matching regressions are performed with various proxies for firm performance and accruals quality. Findings Firms with CFOs as board insiders experience significantly lower firm performance and earnings quality. In firms with powerful CEOs, the negative impact of CFO board membership on earnings quality is further magnified. Additionally, the negative impact of CFO board membership on firm values and earnings quality is only present in firms with bigger boards or firms with less outside directors. The findings are consistent with the agency perspective and in sharp contrast to the US market. Originality/value This is the first Australian study to examine the impact of CFO board membership on firm performance and earnings quality. The findings suggest that the monitoring of executives is best done by a small or independent board and that the insider board membership should be optimised.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document