Impact of Export Promotion Programs on Export Performance

This research examines the relationship of Export Promotion Programs (EPPs), sponsored by a Portuguese Regional Association for Development on Trade and Industry, with firms’ export performance. To investigate this, two models were applied using panel data analyses that relate export performance to variables such as participation in EPPs, age and size of firms. Data on 198 firms for the sampling period 2010 and 2018 was drawn from a Portuguese Regional Development Association and SABI (Iberian Balance sheet Analysis System) database. The results show that participation in EPPs does have a positive influence on the export performance of firms, especially for those firms with previous export experience, demonstrating the importance of using these programs. Findings also document that firm size relates positively export performance, whereas firms age show a negative effect on export performance, suggesting that larger firms with more resources positively influence exports and an increase in firms’ age may increase their cultural inertia, inability to change strategies, decreasing their export performance, respectively. Finally, the participation in EPPs seems not to influence export performance for firms without previous export experience. The research contributes to the literature providing evidence on the role of EPP on firms’ export performance behavior promoted by regional development associations.

Laws of Concentration and Centralization of Capital: A Modern Review

Though the basic (the late 1860s) Marxian model, under the capitalist mode of production, assumes perfect competitive or contestable ambience within the market by means of a large number of trivial firms in each industry, Marx was cognizant of the growing size of firms, the subsequent dwindling of competition, and the evolution of monopolistic or anti-competitive power. Hence, the capital has the inclination for concentration and centralization in the hands of the richest and big capitalists. Actually, the concentration and centralization of capital are two capital accumulation (or self-expansion of capital) techniques. Such concentration and centralization of capital can be clearly detected at this modern time, especially in the USA, in the enormous occurrences of mergers, acquisitions and conglomerates. In this assignment, henceforth, I will be trying to cultivate an analytical discussion about these two interlinked concepts and their implications and repercussions in this modern world of capitalism.

Laws of Concentration and Centralization of Capital: A Modern Review

Though the basic (the late 1860s) Marxian model, under the capitalist mode of production, assumes (more or less) perfect competitive or contestable ambience within the market by means of a large number of trivial firms in each industry, Marx was cognizant of the growing size of firms, the subsequent dwindling of competition, and the evolution of monopolistic or anti-competitive power. Hence, the capital has the inclination for concentration and centralization in the hands of the richest and big capitalists. Actually, the concentration and centralization of capital are two capital accumulation (or self-expansion of capital) techniques. Such concentration and centralization of capital can be clearly detected at this modern time, especially in the USA, in the enormous occurrences of mergers, acquisitions and conglomerates. In this assignment, henceforth, I will be trying to cultivate an analytical discussion about these two interlinked concepts and their implications and repercussions in this modern world of capitalism.

THE EFFECTS OF KNOWLEDGE SPILLOVERS AND ALLIANCE PORTFOLIO DIVERSITY ON PRODUCT INNOVATION AND FIRM GROWTH

This study examines the extent to which the intra-industry knowledge spillover and a firm’s alliance portfolio diversity have an effect on product innovation performance and the growth of different size of firms. A model was proposed and empirically tested using structural equation modelling with Bayesian estimation. The data was extracted from the Colombian innovation survey EDIT from 2011 to 2016 and comprised a sample of 913 manufacturing firms. The results demonstrated that less-developed and resource-scarce settings, such as Colombia, foster interfirm collaboration regardless of their size. Nevertheless, even when considered the positive and significant effect of collaboration, spillovers are the most relevant external knowledge source in explaining the product innovation performance and growth of small and medium firms. The findings also showed that knowledge spillovers can be detrimental to the large firms’ outcomes, possibly associated with a weaker appropriability regime and the loss of knowledge derived from outgoing spillovers.

Status and features of the Korean labor market (2008-2018)

This article examines the status and structural characteristics of the Korean labor market since the global financial crisis in 2008. Even though the Korean labor market was resilient in the wake of that crisis, there are issues that require attention, which is including high earnings inequality, an aging labor force, increasing non-regular jobs, and rising youth unemployment rates. The Korean workforce has clearly divided not only by type of employment, but also by size of firms (large corporations and SMEs). Therefore, the main problem of employment is basically originated from the deepening dual structure in the labor market. This paper presents a brief characterization of the Korean’s labor market, analyzing in detail the main employment indicators. It also analyzes wage gap, and working conditions by employment type and firm size, focusing on the dual labor market. Additionally, examines the current situation of platform work, which has emerged as a major area of the labor market, and the trend of minimum wage, which has fluctuated in the last two years

Differences in Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) of SMEs in the International Context: Evidence from the Czech Republic and Turkey

Although SMEs make significant contributions to socio-economic conditions of countries, they face many financial, organizational and mercantile obstacles in their operations. In this regard, having more innovative, risk-taking and proactive activities (EO) increases SMEs’ performance, financial conditions and help them to survive in the long term. Therefore, finding regional, national and international differences in EO of SMEs can enable policymakers, financing institutions, SMEs, and entrepreneurs to create more opportunities for SMEs to overcome those problems. In this regard, this research seeks to explore the differences between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) of SMEs that operate in different regions of countries with various cultural values, income levels, economic, political and legal risks. Moreover, age and size of firms are also considered to find differences among SMEs in national and international contexts. In line with these objectives, the current study examines two different countries that have cultural differences and have different economic, legal and political risks. To achieve the objectives, 1620 Czech and Turkish SMEs were analyzed by performing the Mann-Whitney U and Moran’s I spatial autocorrelation tests. According to the results of Moran’s I autocorrelation test, this research does not find any differences between the low and high-income regions of the selected countries regarding EO of SMEs. Experience and age of the respondents might be the reason for these results. Significant results in the national context are that EO of SMEs does not differ across the age categories, while there are differences between firm size and their EO. In the international context, the main findings are that Czech SMEs are more proactive than Turkish ones in all age and size categories, while Turkish SMEs are more innovative in all age categories and only in small size segment. However, this research has not revealed any differences within the risk-taking behaviour of SMEs from different countries considering their size and age. The significant differences and similarities in EO of SMEs from different countries might stem from the educational status of the respondents, a considerable number of operating firms in a market, agility, flexibility, R&D activities and sector of firms. Financial, educational, administrative and legislative support needs to be given by policymakers to close the gap between EO of SMEs of different age, size, regions and countries.

The Effects of Corporate Tax Rate on the Firm Performance

The issue of taxation is one of the key subjects that draw the attention of both policymakers and business executives. This chapter investigates the effects of taxation on the firm performance by using an extensive data set from a panel of 738 companies for 16 different countries over the years between 2000 and 2016. The results suggest that the impact of corporate tax rates on firm performance is significantly negative. The results also show that financial crisis, development levels of countries, and size of firms have a significant effect on this relationship. The results are robust in terms of combining different sets of control variables. These findings are to guide the business executives in the decision-making process, which could increase the firm performance, and the results may help to improve the implementation of fiscal policy in the field of taxation.

Does Technology Matter When Selecting a Target Firm in an M&A? Some Evidence on a European M&A Sample

Using a sample of European M&As from 2009 to 2017, this work assesses whether there is a linkage between a firm's innovation orientation and its participation in an M&A. This main aim has been divided into three aims: defining the target firms’ characteristics in M&A deals with a special focus on innovation orientation, performance, financial structure and size; understanding what kind of firm is generally acquired from institutional investors; describing the effects of M&A deals on the targets. With reference to the analysis method, aims were pursued through logistic regressions on the cross-sectional sample and by comparing pre-deal and post-deal average balance values. The result is twofold. First, a high probability of being targeted is associated with high portfolio patents and low research and development costs of a firm, but only in cases of technological overlap; otherwise the R&D intensity, performance and size of firms are relevant. Second, when analysing the effects of M&As, comparing the same variables in post vs. pre deal period, they are only significant for patent and R&D costs. These results confirm that the M&A transactions produce useful synergy in terms of innovation capability.

THE IMPACT OF FIRM TYPE, SIZE AND EXPERIENCE ON PROFESSIONAL SERVICES OF ARCHITECTURAL FIRMS IN NIGERIA

Clients have expressed dissatisfaction about services of professionals as a result of poor quality of service and errors in documentations resulting into overrunning project cost and delayed completion. This study investigated the influences of firms’ types, size of firms and experience of firms on provision of professional services of Architectural firms in the process of meeting the expectations of the client. Questionnaires was used to collect data for the study through random sampling. The results of ANOVA showed that firm types had no significance on services across the stages of service, firm size showed significance while the experience of the firm showed significance across the inception and the design stages. Multiple regression analysis showed that the variables cumulatively explained 3.9% (at p < 0.05) of the variance in the overall professional services of architectural firms. Among the variables, only the firm size showed a significant impact on the overall professional services with a p-value of 0.003. The firm type and experience of firm had no impact on the overall professional services. The findings serve as a guide to the clients in making choice of consultancy firms for their project, and as a guide to the consultancy firms in order to remain competitive in the globalized industry. Keywords: Architectural firms, Building Projects, Clients, Firms’ Characteristics, Professional Services