Challenges to Formality from Formal Firms Behaving Informally: Evidence from Central America

This research explores the competitive environment for urban formal sector firms competing against peer formal sector firms behaving informally in Central America. Explored is the upper bound of the formal-informal continuum in a regional economic environment of persistent and widespread economic informality where formal firms may employ informal tactics to gain competitive advantage versus their formal competitors. The 2010 World Bank Enterprise Surveys form the basis for empirical analyses. The results suggest formal firms utilizing informal practices is widespread and is influenced by firm maturity, firm location, industry sector, firm legal status, firm organization, ownership composition, regulatory environment, international quality certification, web presence, entry into global markets, and firm size.

Dividend policy and political uncertainty: Does firm maturity matters?

Previous evidence has shown that numerous factors influence dividend policy, but how political uncertainty influences a firm’s cash dividend policy remains blurry. This study examines the relationship between cash dividends and political uncertainty in Nigeria. More so, the study analyses the interaction effect of firm maturity on the association between the cash dividend and political uncertainty. The study employed an ordinary least squares dummy variable fixed effects with robust standard error on a data set of non-financial listed Nigerian firms. The results revealed that political uncertainty strongly influences a firm’s cash dividend, and a matured firm tends to pay greater dividends than a firm with more growth options. Thus, this finding suggests that matured larger firms pay more dividends during a period of uncertainty. Consequently, the study supported the agency theory and life cycle theory.

Does maturity signals high risk and high return?

The objective of this study is to examine the interaction between firm maturity and firm growth opportunities over risk and its impact on returns. This study uses 135 firms listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange during 2010 to 2016 as sample which gives 945 as total observed data. This study conducts path analysis in term for hypothesis testing and finds that firm maturity has significant role to increase the risk which gives impact on increasing the returns. In context of Indonesian firms, the findings imply that mature firms will have higher risk and higher returns.

From informal to formal: an exploration of firm-level sectoral change in El Salvador

Purpose Enterprises in developed and developing world environments often begin life in the informal sector operating outside the purview of government oversight. Sectoral firm change, however, from the informal to the formal sector is not well studied. The purpose of this paper is to answer the following research question: “What firm-level markers help explain the movement of firms from the informal to the formal sector?” Design/methodology/approach Data from 719 urban formal enterprises included in the 2016 El Salvador Enterprise Survey undertaken by the World Bank forms the basis of the empirical analyses. The survey questionnaire comprehensively encompasses business practices and performance and the overall business environment. Findings Multivariate results reveal location, firm maturity, problems with land acquisition, a line of credit or active business loan, extortion by street gangs and practices of informal competitors increase the odds of informal firms becoming formal enterprises. Lessening the odds of once informal firms moving to the formal sector include the lack of access to public utilities, visitation by tax officials, formation as a corporation, bank accounts, number of employees and time spent focused upon government regulations. Originality/value Contextualized within the national setting of El Salvador, the integration of informal enterprises into the formal economy and related public policy implications of informal firm regularization are discussed.

Elucidating the determinants of business intelligence adoption and organizational performance

This research is one of the first few to investigate the adoption and usage of business intelligence among SMEs in the context of developing countries, in this case Thailand. Based on the three-pronged approach it proposes a comprehensive model that integrates the technology-organization-environment framework and the balance scorecard approach in order to better understand the degree of influence that each factor has on the adoption of business intelligence as well as the organizational performance among SMEs in Thailand. The results of the structural equation modeling show that compatibility, technology readiness, top management support and competitive pressure posited a positive relationship towards business intelligence adoption. The adoption of business intelligence had a positive effect on internal process and learning and growth in terms of organizational performance. A multi-group analysis was also performed focusing on firm maturity and sectors to understand the behavior towards business intelligence as well as organizational performance. Discussions and conclusions including theoretical and practical implications are also presented.

Dividend policy and corporate valuation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate an empirical solution to dividend policy relevance. Design/methodology/approach The paper combines measures of firm maturity in a logit regression to define a comprehensive life-cycle model of the likelihood of dividend payment. The valuation of firms that conform to the model is compared to the valuation of firms that do not fit the model. Valuation is measured by the market to book (M/B) ratio. Findings The analysis indicates that dividend policy is related to firm value. Dividend-paying firms that fit the life-cycle model have a higher median valuation than dividend-paying firms that do not fit the life-cycle model. Similarly, non-paying firms that fit the life-cycle model have a higher median valuation than non-paying firms that do not fit the life-cycle model. The results also provide evidence that the disappearing dividend phenomenon is related to shifts in valuation. Research limitations/implications This paper focuses on the payment of dividends. Stock repurchases are not considered. Practical implications The results indicate that dividend policy is related to firm value. Approximately 15 percent of sample observations have a dividend policy counter to the life-cycle model. Originality/value This paper shows that the relation between a firm’s M/B ratio and dividend policy changes over the firm’s life-cycle. It also shows that the catering motive for dividends is strongest among firms that are outliers in the life-cycle model and firms of intermediate maturity.