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Digital Disruption (DD) has become a hot topic in recent years, yet detailed research is surprisingly lacking. The literature offers almost no insights into how DD occurs at the industry level and what industry factors influence it. This paper advances knowledge of DD by developing and testing a configurational theory. Using a multi‐method research design, we identify two types of DD and four industry factors (downstream DD, digitally enabled structural conflict, transferability of core competitive elements, and industry player size) that contingently lead to the different types of DD. We integrate those findings into a configurational theory that describes causal recipes of how these factors or conditions combine to produce the outcome of transformational DD and destructive DD. The theory offers important implications for researchers and practitioners. The research also contributes methodologically by demonstrating the merits of combining grounded theory with qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) to expand the theory‐building potential of QCA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show that female directors are associated with higher equity undervaluation after controlling for the effects of female managers, firm performance, corporate governance, risk, dispersion in analysts' earnings forecasts, firm size, stock price informativeness, and earnings quality. This association is less pronounced after increased societal awareness of female directors. Our findings are robust to the use of alternative measures of key variables and various tests of endogeneity. We further find that female directors' committee membership, committee chair role, board tenure, and board experience are positively associated with equity undervaluation. Additional results show that female directors' age and ethnicity also impact equity undervaluation, and the undervaluation of female directors mostly occurs for firms operating in male‐dominated industries. Our results collectively suggest that investors' negative gender role stereotyping of female directors contributes to equity undervaluation of firms with female directors. Negative stereotyping of female directors is less pronounced after investors become more aware of the benefits of female directors. Therefore, our findings provide insights for policy makers and suggests that further increased awareness of the benefits of female directors is essential. Policy makers may also consider taking appropriate actions to further minimize gender stereotyping of female directors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Economics is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Economics is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

We introduce a model of large many‐to‐one matching markets with occupational choice where each individual can choose which side of the market to belong to. We show that stable matchings exist under mild assumptions; in particular, both complementarities and externalities can be accommodated. Our model generalizes Greinecker and Kah (2021), which focuses on one‐to‐one matching and did not allow for occupational choice. Applications include the roommate problem with nonatomic participants, explaining the size and distribution of firms and wage inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to add to the knowledge on the motivations driving SMEs in Spain to engage in voluntary social and environmental reporting (SER). We apply inductive content analysis to information sourced from interviews with SME owner‐managers, complemented with CEO letters. While the paper confirms that there are several co‐existing motivations for SER in SMEs, inconsistencies are identified between the information disclosed in the two aforementioned sources. Overall, stakeholder engagement seems to be the most important motivation for reporting. Contrary to what the literature to date has shown about the relevance of SME owner‐managers' personal values when it comes to disclosing social and environmental information, our findings suggest that individual beliefs and values are not the main factor driving SER. Results also show industry and firm size are determinants of motivations for SER. The study thus contributes to the literature on this underexplored topic by providing insights into the motivations for SER in SMEs. An understanding of these motivations is pivotal to help policymakers focus their efforts on implementing appropriate institutional reforms in this emerging field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employers' organizations (EOs) are the voice of business interests in social partnership and socio‐economic policy making. Their legitimacy depends on the willingness of employers to join them as members. We examine the role of two types of power that EOs confer onto their members as drivers of EO membership: countervailing power against labour and organizational power. By analysing large‐scale micro‐level data on more than 30,000 business establishments across 27 EU countries in 2013 and 2019, we find that at the micro‐level, company size, workplace unionization and the presence of trade unions and works councils are positively associated with membership, as is union density at the macro‐level. These findings suggest that, in contrast to contemporary arguments in the EO literature, countering the collective power of labour remains an important motivation for EO membership. The positive impact of company size also suggests that organizational power, that is the ability to influence public policies and collective agreements through EOs, dominates the services provided by EOs to their members as a selective incentive for EO membership. Further tests of this argument, however, yield inconclusive results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conduct a comparison of three portfolio investment strategies in the US stock market following the implementation of Regulation Fair Disclosure in October 2000. The strategies analyzed are analyst‐recommended, recommendation changes, and momentum portfolios. Across various time periods, company sizes, and industry sectors, the momentum portfolio consistently outperforms the other strategies. Portfolios based on analyst recommendations exhibit poor performance in industries such as consumer staples and materials, which are strongly correlated with oil prices. These industries are susceptible to external demand and supply‐side price shocks that are not adequately captured by analyst recommendations. The findings highlight firstly, the efficacy of the momentum strategy and the limitations of relying solely on analysts' recommendations, particularly in oil‐dependent sectors; and secondly, the varying dynamics and performance of different investment strategies for investors seeking to optimize their investment decisions across different sectors and market conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interplay between a firm's customer portfolio and the firm's performance presents a theoretical conundrum that challenges traditional supply chains. In particular, the role of government customer concentration—how extensively a firm incorporates government entities as part of its customer base—emerges as a pivotal factor with the potential to both bolster and burden firm performance. Analyzing 3,643 firm‐year observations from the U.S. Federal Procurement Data System‐Next Generation, Compustat, and FactSet Revere reveals an inverse U‐shaped relationship between government customer concentration and firm performance. Excessive or insufficient government customer concentration adversely impacts performance, suggesting that a strategic balance is essential. Firm size, absorptive capacity, and network embeddedness are crucial in navigating this complex relationship, guiding a firm toward optimizing its government customer portfolio. This research advances the discourse on customer base management, underscoring the essential strategic considerations for firms interacting with government buyers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a first assessment of the causal impact of the 2018–2021 reform in Korea meant to combat its long working‐hour culture. The reform consists of lowering the statutory limit on total weekly working hours from 68 to 52. We apply a difference‐in‐difference approach in which we take advantage of the stepwise implementation of the reform by firm size using individual‐level data. We present three main findings. First, the introduction of the 52‐h limit reduced but far from eliminated the incidence of working more than 52 h. Second, there is some evidence that the introduction led to a reallocation of working hours, with more employees shifting from working fulltime to working overtime within the new limit (41–52 h). Third, and more tentatively, this reallocation more likely took place within firms to account for fewer overtime hours worked by their employees, rather than within households to compensate for any income effects. Overall, our results show that a lower statutory limit can help to lessen a long working‐hour culture, but is an insufficient measure by itself to fully eradicate it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically investigates the association between the size of accounting firm offices and corporate tax aggressiveness. We find that clients audited by large offices have lower levels of corporate tax aggressiveness. We also find that such a negative relation is less pronounced when an accounting firm office provides tax services or when the office possesses tax‐specific industry expertise, and it is more pronounced when a client is financially important. The study contributes to the literature by documenting the role of accounting firm offices in influencing tax aggressiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigating the impact of sustainability committee characteristics (SCCs) on corporate sustainability performance (CSP) utilised environmental, social and governance (ESG) scoring. Based on secondary data obtained from Refinitiv, Fame and FTSE 150 databases, the sample consists of 112 non‐financial companies from 2010 to 2018, thus 926 firm‐year observations. The results reveal a positive and significant relationship between organisational factors including firm size, profitability and firm age across combined ESG and environmental scores. As for the sustainability committee characteristics, there is a positive association between frequency of committee meeting and age diversity with governance scores and a negative relationship between frequency of committee meeting and environmental performance. The empirical finding shows positive and negative relationships under the presence of focussed and non‐focussed committees equally. Furthermore, the presence of focussed or non‐focussed sustainability committees (SCs) do appear to have an association with the overall CSP. Furthermore, this paper provides empirical evidence of the insignificant relationship of SCC with the sub‐dimension of social performance, which contradicts our hypothesis and existing studies. Together with SCC's weak associations with environment and governance dimensions, this finding supports the argument that firms are actively using sustainability committees to create positive public image and reputation to protect legitimacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability issues became ever more important for firms' business strategies. Not living up to public and stakeholders' expectations results in controversies damaging the firm's reputation. Firms integrate sustainability aspects – environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues – in their business strategies to satisfy stakeholders ranging from customers to investors. Substantial resources are invested to increase their sustainability engagement to avoid sustainability‐related controversies. However, the degree to which sustainability engagement is effective is an open issue, as the occurrence of sustainability‐related controversies has structural components, which are under the firms' control, but also random components. Using data on firms' sustainability engagement, this paper investigates to what degree firms can actually avoid controversies by engaging in sustainability and to what degree such controversies are caused by factors beyond the firm's control, like random events or the societal environment. Our findings indicate strong sustainability engagement to be a significant factor for avoiding controversies, albeit the magnitude of the effect is very limited. While controversies are not purely random events, they are driven strongly by factors beyond the firm's strategic control, like firm size and country of origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Firms adopt different green supply chain management (GSCM) practices at varying levels. Drawing on institutional field theory, this study aims to explore the heterogeneity in GSCM practice adoption considering different firm characteristics, including firm size, industry, and ownership. Secondary data from 394 firms operating in China show that four organizational groupings—brown, light brown, light green, and green—firms exist. Multinomial logistic regression results show that larger firms and firms in the electronics industry are more likely to be greener, indicating that firm size and industry play a strong role in discriminating GSCM practice adoption. Interestingly, no differences between domestic and foreign‐owned firms exist, implying that the gaps in institutional perspectives between Chinese domestic and non‐domestic ownership may be disappearing. This study provides practical implications for strategic benchmarking of GSCM practices. The results also have broader implications for firm operations within China and Chinese firms competing elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I examine how capital structure (relative to target) affects the financing of R&D spending. Studies on capital structure have shown that firms adjust their debt levels toward target debt levels. I show that firms with below‐target debt are more likely to issue debt to finance R&D spending compared to firms that have above‐target debt. The results are stronger for firms that are smaller in size and firms that do not pay dividends. I also show that firms with below‐target debt are more likely to use a greater fraction of proceeds from net debt issuance to finance R&D spending (either directly or indirectly). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If large firms employ relatively more educated workers, will an increase in market concentration increase income inequality by raising the relative demand for skill? I use Swedish employer–employee data from 1997–2016 and find a strong correlation between firm size and the share of college‐educated ('skilled') workers. An increase in a sector's market concentration is correlated with a higher skilled wage premium and higher relative employment of skilled workers. This is due mainly to the reallocation of workers across firms. I demonstrate how these findings can be explained by a model of heterogeneous firms where productivity and skill intensity are positively correlated. This paper is part of the Economica 100 Series. Economica, the LSE "house journal" is now 100 years old. To commemorate this achievement, we are publishing 100 papers by former students, as well as current and former faculty. Anders Akerman completed his BSc and MSc at the LSE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article refines and expands the debate on antecedents of company engagement in business partnerships for sustainability. It builds upon the Awareness–Motivation–Capability (AMC) framework and extends it by means of an in‐depth qualitative study. The article thereby expands the understanding of antecedents of company engagement in business partnerships for sustainability. In particular, it advances on the elements related to company‐ and industry‐level motivators and on microlevel aspects. Based on our research findings, we are able to extend the AMC framework's main categories and provide a more nuanced account of the underlying elements constituting them. To reach a more complete understanding of the antecedents of company engagement in business partnerships for sustainability, our analysis provides a general conceptual advancement while also investigating potential differences based on business size and industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stakeholder management is an important method for reducing business risk. Recent decades have seen the growth of a new type of stakeholder: social protest stakeholders, individuals engaging in protest action which is directed at other unrelated parties, often the government. However, the actions of social protest stakeholders may negatively affect companies located nearby. This stakeholder category has not received any formal attention in the literature, and this article addresses the knowledge gap by exploring the effects of community‐driven protest action in South Africa and the strategies that firms adopt to mitigate the negative consequences of such protests. A multiple case study analysis was used to describe this type of stakeholder group and the management of the consequences of social protest action. Eight manufacturing companies in the Gauteng province participated in the study, the companies varied in size and industry. Among the key findings are that companies need to be highly adaptable if they are to mitigate the impact of protest action. We make practical suggestions about how companies may manage these risks, including the recommendation that companies engage more directly with social protestors to manage risks. The study makes an important contribution to the literature by identifying an additional key category of stakeholder and proposing a risk management approach to avert or minimize loss and damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Economics is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Motivated by the introduction of the UK Gender Pay Gap Reporting legislation to large firms, defined as over 250 employees, we use linked employee–employer panel data from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings to explore pre‐legislation variation in the gender pay gap by firm size. In doing so, we contribute to the evidence on the relationship between two prominent empirical regularities in the labour economics literature, namely the gender pay gap and the firm‐size wage premium. We find that both the raw and adjusted gender pay gaps increase with firm size in the UK private sector, even after controlling for unobserved worker heterogeneity, consistent with the legislation being targeted effectively. However, this conclusion changes after accounting for unobserved firm‐level heterogeneity. Large firms have smaller within‐firm raw gender pay gaps and similar adjusted gender pay gaps when compared to smaller firms. Our findings are not specific to the current definition of large firms but hold more generally, including at alternative proposed size thresholds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how the aftermath of the 2008 crisis affected firm productivity in the UK, focusing particularly on the cohort effect of firms established after 2008 – a previously overlooked aspect of the crisis – as well as the interaction with access to credit, which we test using firm‐specific and time‐varying credit scores. For identification, a matched sample is used based on credit score, firm age, size and ownership status, combining propensity score matching with difference‐in‐differences. While we find evidence that smaller firm size and changes in credit conditions affect productivity, about half of the difference in productivity remains unexplained. When we extend the matching analysis to examine across sectors and cohorts, we find that the low productivity performance during the years 2011–2016 is driven primarily by newer firms in the services sector, rather than in manufacturing. Within services, the underlying productivity puzzle is driven by a cessation of output growth in high‐productivity financial services, while abundant labour supply has led to a 'levelling down' of performance of newer firms in other services, converging towards the relatively low‐productivity manufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses data from a large‐scale survey on corporate action to support biodiversity and ecosystem services undertaken by firms of all sizes and across manufacturing industries. The analysis focuses on Germany as the largest economy by GDP in the European Union and analyses the uptake of activities directly aimed at protecting biodiversity and ecosystem services compared to the uptake of other environmental protection activities. It furthermore investigates how activity and tool adoption as well as risk assessments vary with firm size and across industries, and with implementing environmental management systems. The analysis finds tensions between risk perception and activities pursued for biodiversity protection, largely because firms shy away from substantive action. It reveals that smaller and medium‐sized firms are less active and that environmental management systems are not conducive to corporate activities in support of biodiversity and ecosystem services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the importance of the target firm directorship to target firm non‐executive directors during takeovers. Using Australian data and a size‐based measure of directorship importance, we find a positive association between takeover hostility and directorship importance after controlling for takeover premiums and target firm size. Further analysis reveals that directorship importance leads to a greater likelihood of offer price revisions following initial rejection of a takeover bid, but not the likelihood of bid success. Our findings are consistent with target firm non‐executive directors exhibiting self‐serving behaviour at directorships which they consider more important to their reputation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to investigate climate change awareness and mitigation effort and their associated motivating and limiting factors to pro‐environmental behavior and firm demographics in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in Switzerland. For this purpose, a questionnaire was developed, conducted, and analyzed on motivating and limiting factors along with firm demographics, using descriptive statistics and ordinary least squares (OLS) and ordered probit regression models. The results show that Swiss SMEs are in general aware of climate change and their resulting consequences. SMEs have taken steps to help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions through recycling, reduction of energy and water consumption, and use of recycled packaging. SMEs could however improve their environmental impact through low‐carbon means of transport and use of public transport, sustainable raw material inputs, sustainable energy sources, and setting environmental goals and audits. There was a positive association between climate change awareness and mitigation. Motivating factors to pro‐environmental behavior included financial advantage and responsibility towards the environment, while firm size and human resources were limiting factors. Lastly, different mitigation measures might be influenced by different motivating and limiting factors including financial advantage and pressure from interest groups, as well as firm size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power laws in productivity and firm size are well documented empirical regularities. As they are upper right‐tail phenomena, this paper shows that assuming asymptotic power functions for various model primitives (such as demand and firm heterogeneity) are sufficient for matching these regularities. This greatly relaxes the functional‐form restrictions in economic modeling and can be beneficial in certain contexts. We demonstrate this in a modified Melitz (2003) model, which embeds an innovation mechanism so as to endogenize the productivity distribution and generate both of the above‐mentioned power laws. We also investigate the model's welfare implications with regard to innovation by conducting a quantitative analysis of the welfare gains from trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: There is growing recognition that precarious employment is an important determinant of health, which may increase BMI through multiple mechanisms, including stress. It was investigated whether increases in precarious employment were associated with changes in BMI in the United States. Methods: Data were from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth adult cohort (1996–2016) (N = 7280). Thirteen indicators were identified to operationalize seven dimensions of precarious employment (range: 0–7, 7 indicating most precarious): material rewards, working‐time arrangements, stability, workers' rights, collective organization, interpersonal relationships, and training. The precarious employment–BMI association was estimated using linear regression models and an instrumental variables approach; state‐ and individual‐level firm sizes were the instruments for precarious employment. Models also included individual and year fixed effects and controlled for age, marital status, education, region, and industry. Results: The average precarious employment score (PES) was 3.49 (95% CI: 3.46–3.52). The PES was the highest among Hispanic (4.04; 95% CI: 3.92–4.15) and non‐Hispanic Black (4.02; 95% CI: 3.92–4.12) women with lower education. A 1‐point increase in the PES was associated with a 2.18‐point increase in BMI (95% CI: 0.30–4.01). Conclusions: Given that even small changes in weight affect chronic disease risk, policies to improve employment quality warrant consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interplay between labour institutions and firm‐level adoption of new technologies such as robotics and other advanced digital tools remains poorly understood. Using a cross‐sectional sample of more than 20,000 European establishments, we document a positive association between shop‐floor employee representation (ER) and utilization of emerging technologies. We explore mechanisms driving this correlation by exploiting rich information on the role played by ER in relation to well‐defined decision areas of management, such as work organization, dismissals, training and working time. In addition, we conduct a quantitative case study using a panel of Italian firms and exploiting size‐contingent policy rules governing the operation of ER bodies in the context of a local‐randomization regression discontinuity design. The analysis suggests a positive effect of ER on investments in advanced technologies around the firm size cut‐off, although results are sensitive to type of technology and specification choices. We also document positive effects on training and process innovation, and no evidence of changes in composition of employment. Our findings cast doubt on the idea that ER discourages technology adoption. Rather, ER seems to influence workplace practices that enhance the complementarity between labour and new advanced technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of government bailouts have been extensively examined in the literature. This paper is one of the first to empirically examine the bailout funds established in China in 2018, which aimed to mitigate firms' liquidity squeeze risk caused by share pledges. Utilising a hand‐collected dataset of government bailout funds, this paper finds that stock prices increased when government introduced the bailout fund plan, especially for non‐state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) and firms with small size and share pledges. Long‐term performance of bailed out firms increased as well. Overall, our results provide new evidence that government bailouts have positive effects on financial markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leveraging digital technologies is a major concern for companies and has significant implications for their information technology (IT) functions. In many cases, a bi‐modal IT function is established: a 'traditional IT' mode focusing on the stability and exploitation of existing IT resources and an 'agile IT' mode focusing on exploring new technologies. Whereas previous research has predominantly taken an organisational‐level view of bi‐modal IT by treating it as a single, aggregated entity, we provide a micro‐foundations perspective on the intricate and paradoxical interrelationships between the two IT modes. Based on a multi‐case study with companies from different industries and of varying sizes, we uncover nine core tensions between traditional IT and agile IT as manifestations of five underlying paradoxes. We also identify corresponding management practices to address these tensions and paradoxes. Our study contributes to Information Systems research by disaggregating bi‐modal IT and capturing the tensions and their underlying paradoxes at the organisational and individual levels that bi‐modal IT entails. By highlighting the intricate interdependencies between the traditional and agile IT modes, we show that bi‐modal IT can be messier and more contested than previously anticipated. For practitioners, our study offers an overview of paradoxes and tensions that may arise in bi‐modal IT settings and provides suggestions on how to manage them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines empirically the economic relationship between local labour market size and firm returns to training. Anchoring in the literature of micro‐foundation of agglomeration economies, we suspect that this relation is driven by two mechanisms: (i) labour pooling which should positively influence the returns to training through matching and learning effects and (ii) the risk of labour poaching, which tends to reduce the returns to training in larger labour markets. Our estimates, based on a large sample of French industrial firms, reveal that returns to training are increasing with the labour market size, suggesting that labour pooling dominates labour poaching effects. On average, returns to training lie between 6.7 and 7.7%, more in line with the microeconomic literature on education than previous studies focusing on training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional view of firm capability building stems from the strategic as well as the tactical levels of firm activities. However, corporate governance entities such as the board may exert influence on firm capabilities by creating the necessary architectural basis and resource configurations that drive the development of firm capability. The current research bridges this important gap and connects firm boardroom diversity to marketing‐side capability. This link is investigated more deeply by including two moderating factors – firm size and CEO power – to present an enriched model of the relationship. Results from our analyses show that an increase in board diversity significantly improves marketing capability. Further, this relationship is stronger (a) for firms that are smaller and (b) for firms with lower CEO power. This study provides useful contributions towards firm board diversity research, as well as for firm capability building in the marketing area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the U.S., large firms now account for a greater share of economic activity, new firms are being created at slower rates, and workers are receiving a smaller share of GDP. Changes in population growth provide a unified quantitative explanation. A decrease in population growth lowers firm entry rates, shifting the firm‐age distribution toward older firms. Firm aging accounts for (i) the concentration of employment in large firms, (ii) and trends in average firm size and exit rates, key determinants of firm entry rates. Feedback effects from firm demographics generate two‐thirds of the effect. Prior to the decrease, entry rates rose steadily reflecting the earlier baby boom. The glut of firms due to the baby boom lead to rich transitional dynamics within the feedback effects, accounting for more than half the total change. Baby boom induced changes in the firm‐age distribution provide a driving force for the post‐WWII rise and fall in the aggregate labor share. Ignoring changes in population growth attributes all the long run decline in entry rates to a decrease in firm exit rates, which in reality have been only one‐third as large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper integrates the classic theory of firm boundaries, through span of control or taste for variety, into a model of the labor market with random matching and on‐the‐job search. Firms choose when to enter and exit, whether to create vacancies or destroy jobs in response to shocks, and Bertrand‐compete to hire and retain workers. Tractability is obtained by proving that, under a parsimonious set of assumptions, all worker and firm decisions are characterized by their joint surplus, which in turn only depends on firm productivity and size. The job ladder in marginal surplus that emerges in equilibrium determines net poaching patterns by firm characteristics that are in line with the data. As frictions vanish, the model converges to a standard competitive model of firm dynamics. The combination of firm dynamics and search frictions allows the model to: (i) quantify the misallocation cost of frictions; (ii) replicate elusive life‐cycle growth profiles of superstar firms; and (iii) make sense of the failure of the job ladder around the Great Recession as a result of the collapse of firm entry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a more nuanced analysis of employee promotion decisions; specifically, how they are affected by firm size, gender and stages within the business cycle. Drawing on data from Portugal, we find that during times of adverse macroeconomic conditions, promotion prospects in all firms decline. Within large firms, women are more likely to be promoted during economic downturns, reflecting the 'glass cliff' hypothesis. In small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), overall promotion rates are less affected by adverse economic conditions, however, women are less likely to attain promotions. Our results emphasize the importance of market volatility and firm heterogeneity in promotion and importantly, reveal differing forms of gender discrimination. In large firms women are, in effect, afforded greater responsibility for the effects of market volatility whilst SMEs invest more confidence in male employees to manage during crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study firm responses to a large‐scale change in apprenticeship regulation in Colombia. The reform requires firms to train, setting apprentice quotas that vary discontinuously in firm size. We document strong heterogeneity in responses across sectors, where firms in sectors with high skill requirements tend to avoid training apprentices, while firms in low‐skill sectors seek apprentices. Guided by these reduced‐form findings, we structurally estimate firms' training costs. Especially in high‐skill sectors, many firms face large training costs, limiting their willingness to train apprentices. Yet, we find substantial overall benefits of expanding apprenticeship training, in particular when the supply of trained workers increases in general equilibrium. Finally, we show that counterfactual policies taking into account heterogeneity across sectors can deliver similar benefits from training while inducing less distortions in the firm‐size distribution and in the allocation of resources across sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports managers' perceived importance of various stakeholders' pressure in their greenhouse gas (GHG) disclosure decisions. We also report on which stakeholders explain the variation in the extent of GHG disclosures. Further, evidence of how firm size moderates the relationship between some stakeholders and GHG disclosure is provided. Data were obtained through a mail survey of the United Kingdom's FTSE 100 listed firms, to which 62 firms responded. GHG disclosures within the respondents' annual reports were scored, and regression analysis was undertaken to determine if a relationship existed between actual GHG disclosures and the rating assigned to the stakeholders. The results indicate that the provider stakeholder group (shareholders, investors and community) is perceived to have the most significant influence on managers' GHG disclosure decisions, followed by government regulators, organisational (employee, customers and suppliers) stakeholders and social (competitors, NGOs and media) stakeholders, respectively. Regression results show a positive and significant relationship between perceived organisational and regulatory stakeholder pressure and actual GHG disclosures. However, the relationship between providers and social stakeholders and GHG disclosure is not significant. The findings further suggest that the relationships between organisational and regulatory pressure are moderated by firm size. The results have important implications for policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature has mostly examined supply chain (SC) traceability and SC transparency separately, ignoring the mutually constitutive relationship of these two related constructs. We draw on the resource orchestration theory and the causal complexity perspective to conceptualize and validate SC traceability and SC transparency as interrelated organizational capabilities that may mutually enhance or compensate each other for competitive advantage. We constructed an original sample from two sources to empirically test this conceptualization using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). Our empirical results reveal that the ability of firms to leverage SC traceability for a high financial performance is contingent upon creating a transparency perception of SC with a wide range of stakeholders. Our results also identified the firm size and its international presence, as having a significant bearing on the ability of firms to leverage SC traceability and SC transparency capabilities for a competitive advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines financial and transaction characteristics that influence mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in U.S. agribusinesses. During the M&A private phase, we model the likelihood of firms becoming bidders or targets as a function of firms' past financial performance. During the M&A public phase, the likelihood of bidders becoming acquirers is modeled as a function of firms' past financial performance and M&A transaction characteristics. The results for the subset of bidders in the M&A private phase suggest that the likelihood of a firm becoming a bidder is positively correlated with the bidder's firm size 1 year before the M&A announcement. In contrast, the likelihood of a firm becoming a bidder is negatively associated with bidder's leverage, cash level, and very low market valuations. For the subset of targeted firms, the likelihood of firms being targeted is positively associated with the firm's leverage and negatively related with its profitability. Our results for the M&A public phase model show that firm experience in the M&A market is positively associated with the likelihood of acquisition completion. In addition, relative to nonhorizontal transactions, horizontal mergers tend to be more difficult to complete. [EconLit Citations: G34, M2]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the relationship between import competition and firm‐level markups by examining the imports of intermediate and final goods. Using a rich firm‐level dataset of French food companies from 2001 to 2013, we find that, on average, increased final goods import competition (intermediate inputs) is negatively (positively) associated with firm‐level markups. These results are consistent with the trade models that predict the pro‐competitive effects of trade and the incomplete cost pass‐through to prices. Importantly, the reduction in markups due to the pro‐competitive effect of trade tends to be counterbalanced by the increase in markups induced by incomplete pass‐through. Our empirical analysis uncovers considerable heterogeneity in the effects of output and input import competition on markups. Our results particularly reveal that firm size and industry market structure (i.e. concentration) are key determinants of how firm‐level markups respond to import competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We offer a new perspective on the low‐beta anomaly by acknowledging the omitted‐variable problem in the correlation component of beta: Correlation is "plagued" by firm size (the omitted variable) to exhibit a negative price. Once isolating the size impact, a hidden positive price emerges for the size‐orthogonalized component of correlation. Further analyses suggest that (a) the positive price of the size‐orthogonalized component is not due to mispricing, supporting the return comovement‐based pricing channel; (b) the negative price of the size‐explained component is related to illiquidity and coskewness.; (c) the omitted‐variable problem also applies to the pricing of beta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the design of the optimal dynamic policy for a firm subject to moral hazard problems. With respect to the existing literature we enrich the model by introducing durable capital with partial irreversibility, which makes the size of the firm a state variable. This allows us to analyze the role of firm's size, separately from age and financial structure. We show that a higher level of capital decreases the probability of liquidation and increases the future size of the firm. Although analytical results are not available, we show through simulations that, conditional on size, the rate of growth of the firm, its variability, and the variability of the probability of liquidation decline with age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Although many scholars have demonstrated that companies engaged in collaborations achieve better environmental performance than other companies, existing studies have not analyzed in depth whether this effect changes considering the characteristics of cooperation. Our paper aims to explore whether collaboration with other companies always has a positive effect on environmental performance or whether it depends on cooperation goals, collaboration type, or company size. Empirical analysis based on a sample of 773 European companies demonstrated that an external source of knowledge is an important way to foster firms' environmental proactivity, especially when environmental goals are shared at the basis of collaboration. Second, we verified that companies involved in JVs with environmental goals achieve greater environmental performance than companies that use M&As to acquire external knowledge. Finally, we demonstrated that it is more important for small companies to be involved in environmental collaboration than larger ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using China as the research setting, this paper investigates the relationship between economic policy uncertainty and corporate precautionary cash holdings. Empirical results show a U-shaped relation between economic policy uncertainty and corporate precautionary cash holdings. Empirical analysis, in terms of ownership structure, firm size, corporate competitiveness and geographical location, further shows that (i) the effects for economic policy uncertainty in both state-owned and non-state-owned enterprises are significant, but the effect is stronger for state-owned enterprises; (ii) such significant effect is also found more strongly in small and medium-sized enterprises and highly competitive enterprises; and (iii) the effects for eastern, central and western China are all statistically significant, but the effect is strongest for eastern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

External assurance engagements performed by auditors and consultants to test sections of organisations' sustainability and integrated reports have become commonplace and are examined in detail by the prior research. Less often considered is how different types of internal and external sources of assurance form part of a combined assurance model that organisations rely on to ensure the integrity of information used for internal decision making and reporting to stakeholders. As a result, this paper offers an important contribution to the academic literature by providing one of the first reviews to deal specifically with the operation of combined assurance. The research considers if firm size and profitability, industry membership and select governance features are associated with the use of more sophisticated combined assurance models for ensuring relevant and reliable integrated reporting. Multiple regression, complemented by supplementary analysis, reveals that larger firms that are more profitable and members of environmentally and socially sensitive industries are not necessarily using extensive combined assurance models. These organisations rely on robust assurance methodologies, but the coverage of their combined assurance models is restricted. Similarly, board experience is substituting for the use of complex assurance methodologies. Board size and independence are only associated with a stronger commitment to implementing codes of best practice dealing with combined assurance but not with the coverage of the assurance models or the assurance methodologies being applied. The results may be indicative of the fact that internal controls and systems required to support integrated thinking and reporting are still in a developmental stage, making it difficult for them to be the subject of any formal verification by internal or external assurance providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article evaluates the influence of pressure of 10 distinct types of stakeholders on the adoption of environmental strategies, with the special focus on the proactive environmental strategy (PES). The moderation effect of the company size on this relationship is investigated in depth. The existence of the relationship between stakeholder pressure and environmental strategies has been explored by numerous studies. The study adds significantly to this ongoing discussion as the moderation effect of the company size was explored scarcely so far in the literature. The results from the multinomial logistic regression models confirmed almost unanimously the effect of stakeholder pressure and the presence of the moderation. Positive, but nonlinear, direct and moderated effect of pressures of regulators, competitors, clients, NGOs, media, shareholders and employees on PES was discovered. In case of suppliers, consumers and top management, the pressure–PES relation was more complex. Also, large companies seem to be more resilient to pressures than the smaller ones when adopting PES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We revisit the relationship between the optimal privatization policy and market competition indexes such as the Hirschman–Herfindahl index. It is affected by the number of the firms and asymmetry among the sizes of the firms; the smaller the number of firms and the more asymmetry among firms, the higher the market concentration index. The literature on mixed oligopolies suggested that the optimal degree of privatization increases with the number of private firms, and thus, decreases with the market competition index, assuming that all private firms are homogeneous. We investigate how asymmetry among private firms affects the optimal degree of privatization. We propose the simplest and natural model formulation to discuss asymmetry among private firms. We find that the optimal degree of privatization is either nonmonotone or monotonically increasing, and thus never monotonically decreasing, in asymmetry among private firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do organizations of vastly different size collaborate in order to achieve a common goal? While this poses less of a problem when the network is orchestrated by a classic lead firm, in networks exhibiting a shared governance mode, where leadership responsibilities are more or less equally distributed, size differentials present a critical management challenge. In this paper, we contribute to the literature on coordination in and of inter‐organizational arrangements by emphasizing the so far largely neglected role of size for managing close collaborative relationships. We study the case of Apprenticeship Network, a network that originally consisted of seven small and medium‐sized enterprises, but which then accepted a very large multinational firm as a new member. By unpacking how the network coordinated its endeavour over time to achieve accountability, predictability and a common understanding as critical conditions for effective coordination, we explore how coordination effectiveness may deteriorate and result in the failure of the collaborative effort. We pay special attention to the role of size in these processes, and we theorize how the strategic front and back‐staging of agreed‐upon rules and norms facilitates the formation, maintenance and deletion of a tie, thus producing important network dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this paper is to analyse the association between open inbound knowledge strategies and the performance of eco‐innovative firms in the food and beverage industry. We propose a mixed framework based on the eco‐innovation literature and the open innovation approach. We consider the characteristics in a traditional sector based upon a resource‐based perspective. Three types of firms are distinguished in terms of their sales growth in the Spanish food industry from the least to the most successful eco‐innovators. Using multinomial logistic regression models, it is shown that the diversity of collaborators (breadth of external sources of knowledge) and joint adoption of product and process eco‐innovations are positively associated with the probability of achieving high sales growth. Moreover, we find an inverted U‐shaped relationship between the breadth of the external search and firm performance, but only for the group of the most successful firms. Moreover, operational flexibility, knowledge‐based capabilities and company size are also positively related to the group of successful eco‐innovators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although environmental innovation studies have traditionally focused on manufacturing firms, the distinctive features of eco‐innovation activities carried out by service firms require special attention. Using the Spanish Commumity Innovation Survey (CIS), this paper determines which are the main drivers of undertaking eco‐innovation and investigates the similarities and differences between service and manufacturing firms within the five sub‐groups of services (supplier dominated, scale intensive physical networks, scale intensive information networks, science‐based, and others). The results confirm that the main eco‐innovation triggers are similar—technological push factor orientation (internal R&D and persistence) and firm size—while the impact of market pull factors and public environmental legislation differ within the services sub‐groups. In addition, we find a high degree of heterogeneity within service firms. In contrast to traditional service firms, those in the groups involving R&D activities, information networks, and scale‐intensive physical networks exhibit intensive eco‐innovation performance and show a high level of green indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]