scholarly journals Unveiling the Nexus between Access to Electricity, Firm Size and SME’s Performance in Bangladesh: New Evidence Using PSM

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (20) ◽  
pp. 6493
Author(s):  
Mohammad Abir Shahid Chowdhury ◽  
Shuai Chuanmin ◽  
Marcela Sokolová ◽  
ABM Munibur Rahman ◽  
Ahsan Akbar ◽  
...  

Uninterrupted availability of energy and power resources is essential for the productivity and smooth functioning of an enterprise. However, constrained by financial resources, smaller firms in developing economies face a plethora of challenges concerning the access to electricity. However, less attention has been paid in the extant literature to explore this phenomenon. The present study investigates the impact of access to electricity on labor productivity in Bangladesh in the presence of electricity constraints, electricity obstacles, and SME firm size. It employs the OLS regression and propensity score matching (PSM) technique for treatment effect to deal with the selection bias and endogeneity issue using the World Bank Enterprise Survey’s cross-sectional firm-level data for 3196 sample firms over the period of 2007–2013. The results provide evidence in support of SMEs’ labor productivity in response to electricity access. Lack of electricity access was partially found to affect SMEs’ labor productivity significantly negatively. Further, the results show a positive impact of firm size on firm performance. However, results from this model appear that constrained SMEs’ access to electricity has a negative relationship with firm performance. The article then suggests several policy implications on changing government regulations regarding the efficient use of renewable energy resources to enhance electricity generation for optimized SME performance and sustainable economic development in Bangladesh.

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 993-1010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Motta

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are in the forefront of economic policy in developing economies, playing critical role in local economic growth and development. SMEs tend to serve local rather than global markets. However, several obstacles prevent greater participation of SMEs in the economy. Among them, crime is a major issue that negatively affects local development in developing countries, as robbery, theft, vandalism and arson increase the cost of doing business. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between crime and firm performance for Latin American SMEs in both service and hospitality sectors, using labor productivity as a measure of firm performance. Labor productivity is a key concern in Latin America as institution-related issues of corruption, infrastructure, regulations, trade policies, access to finance, and human capital may reduce the efficiency of firms in developing economies. The overall findings suggest that there is a negative relationship between criminal activity and firm performance for SMEs in Latin America.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Misuraca ◽  
Maria Carmela Annosi ◽  
Maria Rosaria Carillo ◽  
Wilfred Dolfsma

Abstract Growing migration between countries and the sustained trend of globalization are changing business dynamics and creating conditions for increased workforce birthplace diversity within firms. However, few studies investigate the relationships between workforce birthplace diversity and firm performance. We address this, and also study how the impact of workplace birthplace diversity on firm performance is moderated by characteristics of the firms (firm size). We find that firm performance increases when workforce birthplace diversity increases. While larger firms perform better, smaller firms can make better use of birthplace diversity’s positive impact on firm performance. We analyzed a panel of 33,258 Italian firms operating in the agriculture sector between 2012 and 2017. Theoretical implications of our results are discussed, and further research is recommended to investigate appropriate internal mechanisms to enable firms to take advantage of workforce birthplace diversity.JEL: F22, J15, J61, Z1


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 286-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ondřej Dvouletý

Purpose The purpose of the present study is to empirically investigate the impact of the newly established entrepreneurial activity on economic development of the Czech NUTS 3 regions during the period of years 2003-2015. Design/methodology/approach An econometric approach was used to validate the stated hypotheses assuming a positive relationship between the new entrepreneurial activity and regional economic growth and a negative relationship between the new entrepreneurial activity and unemployment rate. For the methods, regression models with fixed effects were estimated on the panel that included 13 Czech regions, covering the period of years 2003-2015. The new entrepreneurial activity was classified into two forms – rate of newly established self-employed set-ups per capita and rate of newly established business companies and partnership set-ups per capita. Findings Different impacts of newly established business companies and the self-employed were found on real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. Only the higher rates of newly established business companies and partnership were associated with higher levels of GDP per capita in the Czech regions, and no impact was found for the rate of new self-employed set-ups. Nevertheless, both forms of newly established entrepreneurial activity were associated with lower unemployment rates in the Czech regions; however, the impact of newly established business companies was significantly higher. The obtained results have several policy implications, which are discussed in the present paper. Practical implications Support of entrepreneurship in the Czech regions may improve the situation on the local labour markets and may deliver new job opportunities through the newly established enterprises. The Czech entrepreneurship policies focused on the growth of GDP and economic boom should be oriented more on the support of high-growth enterprises (unicorns). Originality/value The empirical analysis was conducted on the basis of the research gap in the studies related to the impact of the newly established entrepreneurial activity on the economic development of the Czech regions. Obtained results have several policy implications, which are discussed in the present paper.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-199
Author(s):  
Mohsin Ali Patel ◽  

The corporate board usually influences all important decisions of a firm including setting of its long-term goals, developing a corporate strategic policy, as well as hiring and setting the compensation of the chief executive. Moreover, the organization of the board may have a significant effect on the monitoring and governance of the company. This paper analyses the impact of structure of the board and firm performance on chief executive compensation, in an emerging economy context specifically, Pakistan. Chief executive compensation is one of the controversial and sought after topics in research nowadays. Interestingly, the exploration into the topic has found that there is a significant and positive impact of the non-executive directors serving on the corporate boards on the compensation of chief executive. Furthermore, the size of the board has also showed to have a significant and positive impact on the chief executive’s compensation which logically means that the companies in which the boards are larger than the mean size will relatively pay higher to their chief executives. Also it was found that the performance of the firm does not have a statistically significant impact on chief executive compensation. These results have policy implications and are important to corporate stakeholders. Keywords: corporate governance, board structure, firm performance, Pakistan


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):  
Muhammad Farooq ◽  
Amna Noor ◽  
Shoukat Ali

Purpose The purpose of this research is to look into the governance–performance relationship in the context of critical firm characteristics, such as firm size. Design/methodology/approach Based on total assets, sample firms were classified as small or large. The governance index, which is based on 29 governance provisions covering the audit committee, board committee, ownership and compensation structure of the respective firm, measures governance quality among sample firms. A higher governance index indicates a higher level of governance quality and vice versa. Accounting and market value measures are used to determine firm profitability. The authors used the two-stage least square (2SLS) method of estimation of the model to eliminate the simultaneous equation bias. Findings Corporate governance (CG) appears to have a positive impact on accounting return and market indices (Tobin’s Q), but it has little impact on return on equity. In terms of firm size, larger companies profited more from better governance implementation than smaller firms that lacked these principles, thus improving CG. The findings indicate that small businesses should improve their governance mechanisms to reap the benefits of CG in terms of increased profitability. Research limitations/implications There are certain drawbacks to this research. First, the authors omitted qualitative aspects of CG from the CG index, such as the board’s decision-making process, directors’ perceptions of the board’s position and directors’ age and qualifications. Such a qualitative component will improve the governance index in the future while building the governance index. Second, as the current study only looks at the nonfinancial sector, caution should be exercised before applying the findings to the entire population. Practical implications The findings show that companies that follow good governance standards have better accounting and market efficiency than those that do not. As a result, good governance practices can help firms in developing countries improve their performance. Academic researchers, regulators, investors, lenders and practitioners can find the findings useful in establishing a true relationship between firm performance and CG practices in Pakistan. Originality/value The relationship between governance and profitability in the context of firm size is examined in this research. Firms with varying resources and ability to implement CG codes have varying effects on profitability. To the authors’ knowledge, there was a gap in the literature that addressed this topic in the local context.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dung Nguyen ◽  
Hoai Nguyen ◽  
Kien S. Nguyen

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the simultaneous relationship among ownership concentration, innovation and firm performance of the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam during the 2011–2015. By employing a Conditional Mixed Process (CMP) model, the findings show that: there is no impact of ownership concentration on innovation, but it has a positive impact on sales growth; innovation positively affects firm performance; and there exists a positively reverse causality from sales growth to innovation. Design/methodology/approach In this study, the authors propose the adaption of CMP model (Roodman, 2011). The nature of the first stage dependent variable – Innovation – is a binary one while the dependent variable Performance is continuous. Therefore, a model that can adapt the binary nature of the dependent variable and perform the estimation of a system of equations such as CMP model is preferred. The CMP framework is substantially that of seemingly unrelated regression, but with application in a larger scope. This approach is based on a “simulated maximum likelihood method” suggested by Geweke–Hajivassiliou–Keane algorithm. Findings By applying CMP method, this study examines the simultaneous relationship among ownership concentration, innovation and firm performance of the SMEs in Vietnam from 2011 to 2015. The findings indicate that: there is no impact of ownership concentration on innovation, but it has a positive impact on sales growth; innovation positively affects firm performance; and there exists a positively reverse causality from sales growth to innovation. Research limitations/implications In spite of the efforts to explore the simultaneous relationship among ownership concentration, innovation and firm performance of the SMEs in Vietnam, the study still has some limitations which are promising further research directions. First, the SME surveys by Central Institute for Economic Management do not have much information about other types of ownership including state-owned and foreign ownership. Therefore, possible further studies with richer data sets may explore the impacts of different types of ownership on firm innovation and performance. Second, other types of innovation such as organizational innovation, marketing innovation can also be investigated in further studies in a richer data set for the case of Vietnam SMEs. Originality/value The findings show that: there is no impact of ownership concentration on innovation, but it has a positive impact on sales growth; innovation positively affects firm performance; and there exists a positively reverse causality from sales growth to innovation. The policy implications insist on facilitating SMEs with easier access to capital via loans with preferred interest or trust loans without collateral, training programs for the labor force and SME leaders, and reduction of unnecessary administrative procedure.


2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-91
Author(s):  
Tsun-Jui Hsieh ◽  
Yu-Ju Chen

This paper investigates the impact of outside directors on firm performance during legal transitions and examines how the roles of family business and director compensation influence board efficacy. By using Taiwanese listed companies as our sample, the empirical results show that outside directors who are appointed by legal mandate have less positive impacts on firm performance than outside directors appointed voluntarily. Family business weakens the positive impact of outside director on firm performance. The evidence further suggests that director compensation contributes to firm performance, particularly when outside directors are voluntarily appointed. The findings provide western managers with an understanding of how the typical Chinese family business affects board independence. We also demonstrate and incorporate the cultural and the ownership characteristics into the analysis to present a country-specific pattern that should be informative for foreign investors who are concerned about the quality of corporate governance in East Asia.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 104-115
Author(s):  
Wasantha Perera ◽  
Pradeep Priyashantha

The Working Capital Management (WCM) has an important role for the firm’s success or failure, because it directly affects the overall business health of the firm. This study examined the impact of WCM on profitability and shareholders’ wealth using 50 companies listed in different sectors on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) for the period from 2010 to 2015. This sample represents 47% of the selected sectors of CSE. The profitability of the company is measured using gross operating profit (GOP) and shareholders wealth measured by Tobin’s Q (TQ) ratio. The WCM is measured using five independent variables namely stock holding period (SHP), debtors’ collection period (DCP), creditors’ settlement period (CSP), cash conversion circle (CCC) and current assets ratio (CAR). Further, three additional variables such as firm size (SIZE), leverage (LEV) and earning yield (EY) are employed as controlling variables to capture the impact of other performance of the companies.The data were analyzed using ordinary least square (OLS) and panel data regression models. These regression models reveal that there is a significant negative relationship between CCC and dependent variables (GOP & TQ). Further, this relationship has been confirmed by the major components of CCC such as SHP, DCP. Firm size also positively and significantly effects on the firm GOP while negatively effects on the TQ. Further, they revealed that there is a significant positive relationship between LEV and TQ. The study finds that the shareholders’ wealth and profitability can be increased through the efficiency of WCM.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-39
Author(s):  
Brigitta Angelica ◽  
◽  
Desya Gunawan ◽  
Jessy Christella ◽  
Yane Chandera ◽  
...  

Abstract. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of related party transactions (RPTs) on company performance using a panel data regression on 388 non-financial companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange during the 2015-2018 period. RPT variables used in this study are divided into several categories, namely transactions with related parties in the operational field (operational RPTs), financial field (financial RPTs), other fields (other RPTs), and total RPTs (sum of the three previous types). The study finds a significant negative relationship between financial RPTs and other RPTs on company performance. This finding is consistent with the precedent research that non-operational RPTs (i.e., financial RPTs and other RPTs) are commonly used by controlling shareholders as tunneling channels to expropriate minority shareholders. The results suggest policymakers to monitor more closely RPTs, particularly financial and other RPTs, that are more likely to be used as tunneling activities that are detrimental to firm performance. The results of this study are robust to various proxies of firm performance, providing additional empirical studies on RPTs in emerging countries with concentrated ownership structure, and shedding direct light on which type of RPTs that is mainly used as tunneling channel. Keywords: Efficient transaction hypothesis, firm performance, Indonesia, related party transactions, type II agency problem


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