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Our meta-analysis investigates the environmental sustainability performance of family firms (FFs) distinguishing between environmental hand- and footprint and accounting for FF heterogeneity. Based on a sample of 87 primary studies comprising 118,538 firms, we find no significant difference between FFs and non-FFs regarding their overall environmental sustainability performance. Yet, distinguishing between environmental hand- and footprint, we show that FFs have a lower footprint than non-FFs but do not differ regarding their handprint. Firm size, being a public firm, and type of family involvement moderate the effects of FF status on environmental sustainability performance. Our research note extends prior meta-analytical evidence and contributes to a more fine-grained and nuanced understanding of the environmental sustainability performance of FFs. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Purpose: Our study aims to explore the ownership structure and accounting conservatism in influencing the value relevance that we analyse through the paradigm of open innovation and socio-emotional wealth (SEW). We also extended the test to identify how firm size could affect value relevance. Design/methodology/approach: Through panel data testing, we collected all issuers on the stock exchange for the 2016–2018 period. The total collected observations are 735 observations from various industries. Findings: The results of the study provide empirical evidence that institutional ownership is more pronounce, especially in companies with high asset levels. We also conducted other tests to see it from the perspective of SEW. We divide companies into family and non-family companies. The results of this study indicate that institutional ownership has an effect on increasing value relevance, especially in family companies compared with non-family companies. The results of the study also indicate that accounting conservatism plays a more important role in increasing value relevance in non-family firms compared to family firms. Originality/value: This study advances in two main ways. First, we use a SEW approach and an open innovation perspective. Second, we conducted tests for family and non-family firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigated the factors in the technology–organization–environment (TOE) framework that affect the decision of whether to adopt electronic commerce (EC) or not within small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). To this end, a questionnaire‐based survey was conducted to collect data from 60 managers or owners of manufacturing SMEs in Tunisia. Unlike the traditional regression approaches, we referred to novel machine learning (ML) techniques and reveal that ML techniques reach a higher level of performance in forecasting driving factors to EC adoption compared to the traditional logistic regression approach. The achieved results also indicate that EC adoption within SMEs is significantly affected by eight factors, namely, IT vendors' support, the adopted technology complexity degree, chief executive officer (CEO) innovativeness, technology readiness, customers' pressure, firm size, infrastructure compatibility, and the innovative technology‐perceived relative advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study delved into an analysis of 128 public companies in Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria to explore the influence of diversified board expertise on firm performance. We also investigated the impact of firm size and age on this relationship. Our results indicate that a varied blend of professional experts on corporate boards significantly boosts a company's ROA, although there is no significant effect when Tobin's Q measures firm performance. Nevertheless, we discovered that combining firm size and age negatively impacts the correlation between board expertise diversity and firm performance. Our findings support the significance of integrating agency, resource dependence, and convergence theories, implying that businesses can improve their financial performance by including an appropriate mix of expertise on their boards, especially for relatively younger small-sized firms. In contrast, more prominent and ageing firms may not see the same financial benefits. Consequently, we recommend that corporate executives and practitioners consider implementing board expertise diversity to enhance their firms' financial performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) software in manufacturing companies in Slovenia, Slovakia and Croatia, and across six production areas. This research ad-dresses a gap in the literature regarding AI software implementation in relation to company size, technology intensity and supply chain role, and examines whether Industry 4.0 (I4.0) readiness influences AI adoption. Data from the European Manufacturing Survey 2022 were analyzed, and showed that the use of AI is still relatively low. On average only 18.4% of companies use AI software in at least one production area. Logistic regression analysis revealed that neither company size nor role in the supply chain or technology intensity are statistically significantly related to AI usage. However, a significant positive relationship was found between I4.0 readiness and AI adoption, suggesting that companies with advanced digital infrastructures and integrated cyber-physical systems are more likely to adopt AI. This finding underlines the importance of digital transformation for the integration of AI software. The study concludes that while company characteristics such as size and the role of the company in the supply chain are not statistically significantly related to the use of AI, the level of digital readiness is crucial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how board gender diversity affects listed non-financial European companies' financial performance. Data from the Refinitiv Eikon Platform—LSEG and World Bank databases was used to complete the analysis. The total sample included 4257 companies for the period 2011–2023. This study examined board gender diversity and its interaction with liquidity while controlling for board characteristics such as board size, independence, and board meetings. Controlling for firm characteristics (firm size and leverage) and macroeconomic variables like inflation and GDP. This study estimated the connection using panel regression. Due to Hausman test significance, fixed effect estimation was used. The findings demonstrated a notable and favorable influence of board features, such as gender diversity, board independence, and board size, on European nonfinancial companies. Additionally, liquidity positively affects firm performance. Furthermore, the findings indicated that leverage had a significant negative impact on profitability. Finally, both the size and GDP have a significant beneficial impact on profitability. Our findings indicate that an increased representation of women on the board of directors is associated with greater independence among board members and a higher number of board members being hired. This, in turn, has a positive impact on profitability due to the extensive experience shared among board members. Additionally, this leads to improved governance, enabling better control over decisions and a greater focus on the long-term investment strategy of the company. Our results are robust, as are similar results reported by the GMM regression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The board of directors appoints the audit committee to assess the financial performance of the firm. The audit committee uses reports provided by audit firms, such as Form 10Ks, and annual reports to assess firm financial performance. The degree of audit oversight quality is a governance measure, which, if effective, may reduce firm risk. This study measures the effect of three measures of audit oversight quality on insolvency risk, systematic risk, and volatility of return on assets for a sample of U.S. pharmaceutical firms and energy firms from 2010 to 2022. All measures of audit oversight quality reduced firm risk, with the first measure reducing both systematic risk and volatility of return on assets, the second measure reducing systematic risk, and the third measure reducing volatility of return on assets. As institutional ownership is also a governance measure, we tested whether its joint effect with audit oversight quality reduced firm risk. This hypothesis was supported for all three measures of audit oversight quality for systematic risk and for the third audit oversight quality measure for volatility of assets. Robustness was established by replicating the regressions with an alternate governance measure, which yielded similar results. Endogeneity of all audit oversight quality measures was absent due to lack of significance of leverage, firm size, equity multiplier, and firm value in reducing risk through their effect on audit oversight quality. [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.)

Firm reputation provides the referential barometer to evaluate firm performance. This meta-analysis examined the past four decades of firm reputation studies to investigate the relationship between firm reputation and firm performance by attempting to solve the ongoing causality and effect size issues between the two constructs. The results indicate that firm performance has a stronger effect of influencing firm reputation using signaling theory. The effect size between firm reputation and firm performance was weaker during reputation-damaging events. The results of this quantitative review suggest that researchers need to be cautious about the generalizability of their studies when investigating the relationship between firm reputation and firm performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental pollution has long been a global concern, and the development of fintech has led to radical changes in the financial industry, while finance plays a very important role in environmental governance. We use the number of fintech companies to create a city fintech index, and with the data of 827 listed companies in heavily polluting industries from 2011 to 2020, we study the impact of fintech development on enterprise environmental investment. We find that fintech can significantly increase the environmental investment of heavily polluting enterprises, while increasing the size of enterprise green bonds and improving the green cognition of executives are two important influence mechanisms. Heterogeneity analysis found that the impact of fintech on Southern enterprises and state-owned enterprises is more significant. Further analysis shows that fintech can significantly reduce the carbon emissions of heavily polluting enterprises and increase the number of green invention patents. The results of the study provide a useful reference for the government to promote the implementation of fintech policies and explore new ways to modernize pollution management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the authors present a study on artificial intelligence (AI) integration in transportation and storage SMEs, focusing on research questions, literature reviews, hypotheses, sample selection, and data analysis. They explored current AI support and perceptions and plans of SMEs in this sector. The authors addressed the lack of literature on AI use in transport SMEs and investigated factors, such as AI adoption, benefits perception, company size correlation, and investment willingness. Data was collected from 163 SMEs in Serbia and Slovakia, revealing challenges in participant identification due to low AI use. Declining AI adoption rates authors attributed to financial, technological, regulatory, and awareness issues. The research aims to enhance the AI adoption in transportation and storage SMEs and give some directions for future work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides empirical evidence on the zero-leverage phenomenon for a sample of European listed firms for the period 1995-2016. It is shown that there are two types of firms with zero leverage: the financially constrained firms that face obstacles in obtaining external finance, as predicted by the financial constraints hypothesis; and the financially unconstrained firms that maintain zero leverage as a consequence of a financing decision, which supports the financial flexibility hypothesis. The zero-leverage phenomenon is also influenced by the financial system that prevails in each country, being boosted (inhibited) in market-based (bank-based) financial systems, and by the country's macroeconomic conditions, with the recent financial and sovereign debt crises increasing the propensity for zero leverage in marketbased countries. We also find that the financial flexibility hypothesis seems to be more important in market-based systems and that the financial constraints approach did not gain importance during the crisis period. Our results are robust to the use of alternative measures of debt conservatism, explanatory variables, and econometric methods and maintain their validity when we allow for endogeneity in firm size and dividend payments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ambidexterity has been linked to firm structures that are typical of organizations with a larger size. However, further research is needed to analyze whether the effect of firm size on ambidexterity is contingent on other aspects. We argue that micro and small firms that have developed some competitive intelligence routines (CIRs) may foster ambidextrous behavior and compensate for the limitations arising from a smaller size and lack of resources. We test our proposal on a sample of 200 firms in the furniture sector. Our results show that CIRs compensate for size constraints in that size is no longer a relevant variable to increase ambidextrous behavior in firms that achieve higher levels in these routines. Our results provide new and important insights into how ambidexterity may be fostered in small firms that lack resource slack or the ability to use separate units to develop knowledge exploration and exploitation activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the relationship between the legal form of a company and its size with the degree of achievement of the social SDGs. To do so, we worked with a random sample of 351 companies located in the Valencian Community (Spain). The results indicate that the legal form is not a determinant of the degree of implementation of the social SDGs; however, size is, as it is SMEs that have the greatest difficulties in the incorporation of these SDGs. The findings provide guidance to the Public Administration in the implementation of policies and aid focused on this type of company, so that they can meet the challenges set by the 2030 Agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research aims to assess the degree of dependence between innovation and productivity of medium-sized enterprises to further improve Kazakhstan's innovation policy and identify ways to implement it. In the process, methods of analysis were used with the help of an open-source statistical program "gretl", and data comparison from the position of positive innovation effect concerning the segment of medium-sized enterprises. The results demonstrate that innovation (production and process) is positively influenced by the internal costs of research and development, as well as the availability of patents and the size of the enterprise itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tax avoidance practices wield a substantial influence on the fiscal landscape, shaped by the strategic decisions of businesses and their organizational capital (OC), a vital reservoir of strategic assets unique to each firm. This study delves into the nuanced relationship between corporate tax avoidance and OC within the Iranian context, while also examining the moderating effects of firm size and CEO overconfidence. Leveraging a dataset spanning from 2016 to 2021, comprising 142 firms listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange, and employing advanced multivariate regression techniques, our analysis unveils a significant and positive association between tax avoidance strategies and OC. Notably, this relationship remains consistent across firms of varying sizes, indicating that size does not significantly moderate this association. Furthermore, our investigation reveals the influential role of CEO overconfidence in shaping the intricate interplay between tax avoidance and OC. These findings contribute to the ongoing discourse on corporate tax strategies, offering insights applicable to firms of diverse sizes and magnitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

The impact of COVID-19 on the economy was devastating. Small businesses typically have few resources to fight against such adversity. Many businesses remained closed for some time during the pandemic period, resulting in significant consequences for people in terms of jobs, income and life. The objective of this research is to identify the factors that contributed to increasing company failures during the pandemic. Furthermore, this study aims to verify whether the size of the companies, the sectors of economic activity in which they operate and their geographic location influence enterprise failure. This article analyzes the survival of 8931 small businesses from 2017 to 2023, in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The study applied a survival analysis using the Kaplan–Meier procedure, complemented with the Cox procedure, to determine the effects of the size of companies, sector activity and location on the survival time. The results indicate that survival is much higher in small companies with large revenues that are located in the Campaign and West Frontier regions, as well as in the Northeast, North, Production, South, Taquari, and Rio Pardo Valleys regions, whereas the survival rates were extremely lower in the commercial sector and in financial intermediation activities. In the second analysis restricted to the commerce sector, the data highlighted the retail activities, accommodation and food activities sectors as the most affected in terms of overall survival. The results indicated that the survival of small business remained relatively strong during the COVID-19 pandemic, signaling the pertinent support from the government. The smallest business with revenues under USD 15,576 (BRL 81,000) per year were the most affected, with only 39% survival after 7 years. Some activities and some regions suffered more than others, emphasizing the need for special attention from authorities in future catastrophes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to examine the association between firm-specific and macroeconomic determinants and environmental expenditures in the Indian manufacturing sector. Furthermore, it seeks to investigate the moderation effect of country-level governance and economic development on the association between macroeconomic, firm-specific, and environmental expenditures. The current study is based on 70 manufacturing firms for the period of 2011 to 2021. The dependent variable is environmental expenditures and the independent variables are firm-specific and microeconomic determinants. The results revealed that market capitalization and firm size have a positive and significant impact on environmental expenditures. On the other hand, inflation and the rule of law negatively and significantly affect environmental expenditures. Regarding the moderation effect, the results revealed that the rule of law and GDP positively moderate the association between inflation and environmental expenditures. Hence, this research has significant implications for corporate executives, financial experts, regulators, and other interested parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the influence of pervasive digital revolution, the accessibility and analysis of 'big data' can provide useful insights and help various industries evolve. Despite the popularity of big data, the construction industry is lagging behind other industries in adopting big data technologies. This paper fills the knowledge gap by examining the status quo of big data adoption in companies with different sizes and roles, as well as that in projects with different types, and ascertaining the drivers for and challenges in adopting big data. This paper employed a structured questionnaire survey and statistical analyses to investigate the significance of factors influencing the drivers, challenges, and enhancement strategies of big data adoption, and validated the results with post-study interviews with construction professionals. The results show that big data adoption in the construction industry is affected by the size of companies and the work experience of their employees. Technology advancement, competitiveness, and government plan and policy initiatives are identified as the top three drivers of big data adoption in the construction sector. Moreover, a lack of appropriate supporting systems, difficulties in data collection, and the shortage of knowledge and experience are found to be the major challenges in big data adoption. Finally, the identified top three strategies for overcoming these challenges and promoting big data adoption are 'clear organization structure', 'government incentives', and 'the training of information technology (IT) personnel'. The paper suggests the necessity of creating differentiated strategies for big data adoption for companies with different scales and roles, and helps provide useful insights for policy-makers in promoting big data applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has presented small-to-medium size enterprises (SMEs) with a massive and unexpected challenge that has caused many to adjust their operational standards. Perhaps the biggest change has been the shift to remote work and away from traditional office spaces. Thus, this study aims to explore the implications of this shift within the context of customer participation in the new product development (NPD) process. Design/methodology/approach: Our study surveys 218 small-to-medium size business-to-business firms in the USA on a variety of questions revolving around their NPD processes, customer collaboration and the shift to remote work. The authors use structural equation modeling in the AMOS program to analyze the data. Findings: The findings indicate that both customer participation breadth and customer participation depth positively impact new product performance. Furthermore, these relationships are found to be contingent upon whether firms rely on remote work during the collaboration process. The results show that accessing a broader variety of explicit customer insights (i.e., breadth) has become easier in the increasingly remote collaboration environment. However, as face-to-face customer participation in NPD has decreased, the prospect of gaining deep, tacit customer knowledge relevant to product development (i.e., depth) has become more challenging. Originality/value: This study contributes to the knowledge-based view of the firm and the customer participation literature, and it also has implications for managers adjusting to the shift to remote work following the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings provide additional evidence that customer participation is an effective strategy for SMEs (Morgan et al., 2018), but remote work has both positive and negative implications regarding the type of external knowledge that is acquired during customer participation in NPD. [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]

The study aims to examine how different aspects of the entrepreneurial environment affect startups' ability to survive. The quantitative research method and non-probability selection strategy were applied based on attributes pertinent to the study's goals. We included the 450 entrepreneurs (25 to 50 years old) who had started their businesses from 2021 to 2023 and were from Jaipur, Rajasthan. A significant correlation (positive) was noticed between firm size (FS), firm age (FA), innovative capabilities (IC), funding and financing opportunities (FFO), education and research (ER), competitive advantage (CA), networking, and infrastructure support (NIS) with the survival of startups. ER, CA, NIS, and FFO [calculated adjusted R square—0.903, F value—1041.166, and P value—0.000] were discovered to be significant predictors of startup survival (SS). Findings contribute to the need for entrepreneurs to improve their performance and survival of startups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technical progress has a tremendous potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by reducing energy consumption, a major concern across production units. However, the existing empirical literature concerning technical efficiency and carbon intensity is scanty. Thus, this paper examines the relationship between technical efficiency and carbon intensity for the organized manufacturing sector of two states, Maharashtra and Odisha, and the all-India level from 2001 to 2018. The paper uses data envelopment analysis to estimate technical efficiency scores. It applies the 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Tier 1 methodology for estimating carbon intensity for each 3-digit manufacturing industry in all three sample cases. The study has used static panel regression and fractional logit regression techniques to examine the deterministic relationship between technical efficiency and carbon intensity. The result shows that technical efficiency is highly sensitive to carbon intensity in the Indian manufacturing industries. The findings also addressed that the size of the industries also reduces the technical performance of manufacturing units. This paper also confirmed that increased profit could boost the Indian manufacturing industries' technical efficiency. Thus, this study addresses that carbon intensity as a proxy for the manufacturing sector's potential to affect climate change plays a crucial role in explaining the technical efficiency variations across industries. Thus, it calls for better policies aimed at reducing the emissions of industries specifically to achieve sustainable growth for the Indian manufacturing sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Korea has faced many social issues due to long working hours, lack of rest areas, and poor rest facility environments for cleaners, security guards, department store workers, etc. Discussions have been ongoing about mandating the installation of rest facilities. From August 18, 2022, Article 128–2 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, concerning the installation of rest facilities, was enforced. Consequently, employers in all industries are required to install rest facilities, and laws have been established to ensure these facilities meet certain standards. Accordingly, this study investigated the current status of rest facility installations and the awareness of the law's enactment in Korean industrial sites. The results, analyzed by gender, age, managerial status, industry, and size of the business, indicated that younger people were less satisfied with the rest facilities. Managers were more knowledgeable about the legal regulations than workers. In the service industry, compared to other industries, smaller businesses were less likely to have rest facilities and were less aware of the legal regulations. The results of this study are expected to be used as basic data to help establish the rest facility installation laws in Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employee turnover has long been a concern for businesses of all sizes and industries. To address this challenge, businesses increasingly turn to data-driven approaches to predict and prevent employee turnover. The article's authors focus on the effectiveness of processing large data through a predictive machine learning model in the context of employee turnover. The real dataset used for company research contained 14999 data points and 16 elements, while each row represented one employee. The Python programming language was used for the development of the prediction model. The study's results showed the relevance of HR analytics for companies, accurately predicting employee departures using a machine learning model and achieving significant cost savings by implementing the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This paper focuses on the evaluation of the impact of the use of compensation bonuses during a pandemic on the economic situation of companies. Methods: In order to achieve this objective, a primary quantitative survey in the form of a questionnaire survey was conducted in Czech enterprises and two research questions were set. The research questions were answered by testing four hypotheses, which focused on testing the relationship between the use of compensation bonuses and the nature of the change in the economic situation of the enterprise in terms of sector, size and prevailing business relationship. The parametric two-sample onefactor ANOVA and Pearson's Chi-squared test were used to test the hypotheses. Main findings: The results showed that the use of compensation bonuses was associated with a negative change in the economic situation of the firms. Differences in the magnitude of the effect were observed in terms of the prevailing business relationship and the size of the enterprises. The business sector did not affect the strength of the association between bonus use and change in economic situation. Limitations of the paper: the paper focuses on observing the short-term trend and is limited to Czech enterprises during the pandemic period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this research is to evaluate how companies approach cybersecurity, which measures the companies set, and how it is reflected in relation to organizational learning. A questionnaire was distributed electronically among 124 IT and IS professionals working in companies based in the Czech and Slovak Republic. Hypotheses were tested using the chi-square test of independence, the Mann--Whitney U test, and the Pearson correlation coefficient. The results depict that cybersecurity is a fundamental topic for most companies. Unless companies declare the importance of cybersecurity, they do not tend to set and use security rules unless they are not under security laws. Research shows that costs for cybersecurity are variable, not fixed, and are in correlation with the size of the company and the turnover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction industry has been identified as a major contributor to occupational accidents that can lead to fatalities. As a result, this study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of new safety and health regulations and revised guidelines in improving safety and health disclosures and performance within the construction industry. We retrieved safety and health disclosure reports from 25 Taiwanese construction companies between 2013 and 2020 using the Market Observation Post System website. We analyzed the data using the Kaplan–Meier method to assess the timing of disclosures and differences between larger (≥300 employees) and smaller (<300 employees) companies. We found that construction companies reported safety indicators more promptly than health indicators and that larger companies disclosed earlier compared to smaller ones. Only 45% of companies provide detailed reviews and preventative measures in their sustainability reports despite 64% disclosing occupational accidents. We found that from 2013 to 2020, more companies improved their occupational safety and health (OSH) reporting. This improvement coincided significantly with the adoption of international standards and Taiwan's government regulations. In summary, the study found that larger companies were more likely to disclose OSH data compared to smaller ones. This suggests that company size and available resources could have an impact on reporting practices. While some progress was made, companies still struggle to provide detailed reports on major accidents, balancing transparency with competitiveness. [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]

Islamic banking is a company sector that dominates the global Islamic economic industry. To hold it, Islamic banking has to do a lot. One of which is to grow the value of the company. This research aims to identify factors that have an effect on company value in Islamic banking companies in the world. The company value factors studied are profitability (ROE), leverage (DER), company size, and dividend policy (DPR) as moderating variables. To determine the sample, researchers used purposive sampling by selecting 20 Islamic banks registered with the Islamic Financial Service Board (IFSB). Descriptive statistical analysis and moderated regression analysis are used as analysis methods. The results of this research show that profitability and company size have a significant effect on the value of Islamic banking companies. Leverage does not have a significant effect on the price of Islamic banking agencies. Dividend policy as a moderating variable does now not show significant results so it cannot moderate the connection between profitability, leverage and company size on the value of Islamic banking firms. Simultaneously, the variables profitability, leverage, firm size and dividend policy significantly impact the value of Islamic banking companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective of the article is to empirically assess the benchmarks for the quick ratio (QR) commonly provided in the Polish literature. The article challenges the suggestion of a single benchmark despite a country’s and industry’s uniqueness. It concentrates on the Polish-German setting because of the intensive cooperation between the two countries. Research Design & Methods: Apart from reviewing and critiquing the existing literature, the article presents the results of empirical analysis. The research sample comprised 998 710 Polish firm-years and 1 579 619 German ones. Data was retrieved from the Orbis Database for going concern, non-financial firms from 2013 to 2022. Research methods comprised analyses of distributions, including descriptive statistics and histograms, parametric and nonparametric ANOVA, and trend analysis. Findings: The analysis shows that the benchmark for the quick ratio depends on the country, industry, period, and firm size. Standards should be drawn from quartiles instead of the arithmetic mean because of the high variability of QR. The range for QR is respectively wide. For Poland, it ranges from 0.6 (the first quartile) to 2.7 (the third quartile), with a median of 1.2 for the total sample. For Germany, it ranges from 0.7 (the first quartile) to 3.9 (the third quartile), with a median of 1.6. Benchmarks vary annually in Poland and Germany. Medians and third quartiles increase over time. They grow faster in Germany. There are substantial between-industry differences in both countries. The pattern of these differences is unique to a country. The size of the firm negatively influences the desired liquidity level in both countries. Implications & Recommendations: Because of substantive between-country, industry, period, and firm size differences in benchmarks, analysts and investors must be sensitive to the standards they use in assessing investment opportunities. A shock in the economy increases risk and, hence, benchmarks. Contribution & Value Added: The article’s main contribution is the empirical verification of benchmarks for the quick ratio provided in the Polish literature. Analysts should not trust theoretical concepts when looking for benchmarks. They must compare the firm’s financial standing with that of other firms from the same country, industry, period, and of a similar size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Businesses investing in production digitalization equipment are supposed to benefit from increased productivity, enhanced efficiency, and revenue growth. Despite the increasing use of digital technologies in business, many companies still struggle to measure and maximize their returns from production digitalization investments. This research assesses the impact of production digitalization investments on companies' financial performance (operating revenue) for European businesses in the period of 2013 to 2021. To achieve this target, we performed a Fixed Effects Panel Regression analysis, using a sample size of 5706 records from the Orbis database for 30 countries, covering 634 business units. The production digitalization investment in this research is expressed by a calculated variable value, measured as the annual change in a company's Plant and Machinery value, adjusted with corresponding an annual depreciation value for the assets. The regression output was analyzed by considering the characteristics of the company size and business location. The results suggest that companies in Eastern Europe benefit more from production digitalization than those in Western Europe. The analysis highlights the tendency for the company costs of the employee and intangible fixed asset value to increase as production digitalization investments grow. Additionally, it shows that large companies tend to gain more from such investments than smaller ones. The analysis provides support and guidance for businesses' production digitalization investment strategic decision-making processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research explores the variables that impact Green Competitive Advantage (GCA) in modern business environments. It highlights the importance of strategic investments in green finance and the strong association between Strategic Finance (SFI) and GCA, which aligns with the growing emphasis on sustainable business practices worldwide. Furthermore, the study reveals the correlation between Corporate Governance (CG), business Size (CS), and GDP, emphasizing the critical function of solid governance frameworks and the utilization of business scale to align with broader economic trends. However, discovering multicollinearity among particular variables underscores the necessity for caution when interpreting regression model results. In addition, incorporating a geographical dimension yields refined insights that disclose characteristics distinctive to a specific place and globally relevant determinants that affect GCA. Ultimately, companies that want to be sustainable and competitive must take a holistic approach considering governance, strategic finance, and location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the business environment has experienced a fast-paced change due to issues such as geopolitics or COVID-19. Accordingly, business internationalisation has been accelerated while the approaches followed for such an end have been improved to maintain companies' competitiveness. Within this context, this paper presents a new framework for the internationalisation of Earth Observation SMEs in two target countries: Australia and Chile. Internationalisation can be an effective strategy for SMEs to grow and expand, but it requires careful research, analysis and agile adaptation to markets and cultures through an integrative and innovative methodology. Secondly, a series of preparatory actions and several internationalisation strategies have been developed, including online bilateral meetings and online trade missions. This work is an innovation driver for the internationalisation of European SMEs, helping them to make the leap into two markets of great interest and in two very attractive sectors, agriculture and maritime, with remote sensing as the nexus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine the key determinants of corporate governance in selected financial institutions. Using South African financial institutions as a unit of analysis, namely insurance companies and banks, the study employed a panel generalised method of moments (GMM) model using a data set for the period from 2007 to 2020, to assess key determinants of corporate governance proxies identified for the study. The study sampled 21 South African financial institutions composed of Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) listed and unlisted banks and insurance companies. To measure corporate governance, the study developed a composite index employing the principal components analysis (PCA) method. The findings revealed a positive and significant association between the corporate governance index and its lagged variables. Furthermore, a significant and positive link was found between the efficiency ratio and corporate governance index and capital adequacy ratio (CAR); corporate governance index and firm size; corporate governance index and leverage ratio (LEV); and corporate governance index and return on assets (ROA). However, a negative and significant correlation was found between financial stability and the corporate governance index. The link between return on equity (ROE) and corporate governance was insignificant. A small cohort of financial institutions was excluded because it was challenging to obtain complete annual reports to extract the required data. The study was limited to only five corporate governance measures, namely board diversity, board size, board composition (independent non-executive directors and non-executive directors), and board remuneration. The findings are anticipated to persuade developing countries to pay special attention to how corporate governance is measured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The establishment of government investment funds serves as a crucial measure for governments at all levels to leverage their certification role and financial resources in attracting social capital to support enterprise development. This paper empirically examines the guiding certification effect and governance supervision effect of government investment funds on enterprise value enhancement, utilising panel data from listed companies and government investment fund investment event data spanning the period from 2011 to 2021. The research findings reveal that government investment funds significantly enhance the value of recipient enterprises. By leveraging their guidance and certification effects and governance supervision effects, these funds alleviate financing constraints, actively participate in corporate governance, and ultimately enhance corporate value. The impact of government investment funds is negatively moderated by the age and size of the enterprise, indicating that the "invest in early-stage and small businesses" investment strategy yields better results in promoting value enhancement. Furthermore, heterogeneity analysis demonstrates that government investment funds have a more pronounced impact on the value of non-heavily polluting industries, enterprises located in the eastern and southern regions of China, and non-state-owned enterprises. This article expands the research scope of government investment funds at the micro level, providing empirical evidence and theoretical support for optimising government investment funding policies and fostering the development of a modern capital market with distinctive Chinese characteristics. [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]

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Seafood fraud is commonly reported on food fraud databases and deceptive practices are highlighted by numerous studies, with impacts on the economy, health and marine conservation. Food fraud assessments are a widely accepted fraud mitigation and prevention activity undertaken to identify possible points of deception within a supply chain. This study aims to understand the food fraud vulnerability of post-harvest seafood supply chains in the UK and determine if there are differences according to commodity, supply chain node, business size and certification status. The SSAFE food fraud vulnerability assessment tool was used to assess 48 fraud factors relating to opportunities, motivations and controls. The analysis found seafood supply chains to have a medium vulnerability to food fraud, with the highest perceived vulnerability in technical opportunities. Certification status was a stronger determinant of vulnerability than any other factor, particularly in the level of controls, a factor that also indicated a higher perceived level of vulnerability in smaller companies and the food service industry. This paper also reviews historic food fraud trends in the sector to provide additional insights and the analysis indicates that certain areas of the supply chain, including uncertified prawn supply chains, salmon supply chains and food service companies, may be at higher risk of food fraud. This study conducts an in-depth examination of food fraud vulnerability relating to the UK and for seafood supply chains and contributes to a growing body of literature identifying areas of vulnerability and resilience to food related criminality within the global food system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the relationship between enterprise size and pollution abatement costs using firm-level datasets in China, where size-dependent distortions may exist in the distribution of enterprises of different sizes. We find that the pollution abatement costs decrease with enterprise size. Compared to the smallest size, the magnitudes of marginal decreases in pollution abatement costs per 1000 CNY of industrial output in the largest size are 3.29 CNY, 0.54 CNY and 2.60 CNY for gas, SO2 and dust, respectively. Moreover, we further explore the potential mechanisms for the decrease of pollution abatement costs from three perspectives: environmental protection-related investment, regulation intensity, and technological capability. Our findings suggest that the decrease in the intensity of environmental protection-related investment for large enterprises may be directly reduce the intensity of pollution abatement costs. Although large enterprises have low intensity of pollution abatement costs, this does not mean that they are subject to weaker environmental regulation. More importantly, we find that large enterprises may have more adoption of abatement technologies. For SO2 and dust, the pollutant removal efficiency of the largest enterprises is 4.92% and 1.82% higher than that of the smallest enterprises, respectively. Our results are robust to different specifications. These findings help us enact appropriate policies for enterprises based on their size, thereby improving the efficacy of pollution abatement and achieving the optimal level of pollution abatement for the entire society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study explores the work practices of managers who increased working from home during the pandemic to determine what, if any, impact there was on the conditions for vertical leadership development. Design/methodology/approach: The project utilized a survey approach. Each of the participants completed an anonymous online questionnaire using Google Forms. The questionnaire included four sections. The first section included informed consent and required participants to agree before completing the questionnaire. Participants provided general demographic information in the second section, including gender, age, race, job title, company size, average project team size and industry. The third section asked if there had been any change in their work location following the pandemic. The last section asked participants about their work practices. Findings: This study demonstrates that managers continued to be engaged in vertical leadership development activities while working from home. It also suggests that managers faced challenges working from home following the COVID-19 pandemic, which were prime vertical leadership development opportunities. Originality/value: To capitalize on these opportunities, organizations can more intentionally support the development of their remote staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As companies increasingly undergo digital transformation, the role of talent management processes becomes pivotal in enhancing overall organizational performance. The objective of this research is to assess the extent to which greater digitalization in the talent management process is linked to company size. The research has addressed four research questions in order to explore the significance of talent management in corporate digital transformation, examining whether variations in the digitalization of these processes can be attributed to company size. A qualitative approach was employed, utilizing a questionnaire, and collecting responses from 202 organizations across diverse sectors. The findings reveal disparities in digitalization throughout the talent management process, with pronounced presence in the attracting, selecting, and rewarding phases, but diminishing in deployment and development, and further declining in planning. A positive correlation between company size and the adoption of specific digital platforms was observed. Larger enterprises exhibit greater utilization of digital platforms in talent deployment and development. Moreover, corporate communication tools are consistently utilized in the rewarding phase, irrespective of company size. These findings offer practical insights for organizations aiming to optimize their digitalization strategies based on their scale, thereby contributing to more effective and tailored digitalization endeavours. The uniqueness of this research lies in its exploration of the influence of company size on the digitalization of talent management processes and its potential to explain variations across different stages of these processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses machine learning to investigate the effects of firm and CEO characteristics on stock price crash risk by collecting massive data on publicly listed firms in China. The results show that eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) is the most effective model for predicting stock price crash risk, with relatively satisfactory performance. Meanwhile, the SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) method is used to interpret the importance of features. The results show that the average weekly return of a firm over a year (RET) contributes the most and is negatively associated with crash risk, followed by Sigma, IPO age, and firm size. We also found that, among CEO characteristics, CEO pay contributes substantially to crash risk at the firm level. Our findings have important implications for research into the impact of firm and CEO characteristics on stock price crash risk and provide a novel way for investors to plan their investment decisions and risk-taking behavior rationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We know that, through lobbying and contributions, organizations systematically seek to influence political outcomes in liberal democracies. But what role do organizations play in an authoritarian regime's strategy for remaining in power? We argue that in order to maintain stability and consolidate control, an authoritarian regime must actively work to preempt dissent and the emergence of oppositional challengers. When potential challengers are unknown ex ante, the best guess is that they may rise from the ranks of those who run economically powerful organizations. Ability to control these organizations then minimizes the risk of instability. One way in which the regime accomplishes this control is through pro-forma cooptation—the process by which organizational leaders are assigned to positions with nominal authority in the government, thus ensuring their allegiance. We develop a theory predicting which organizations will be targeted for cooptation and posit that absolute and relative size and industry context are the key determinants. Empirical analyses of reappointment to congress of senior business executives in China offer support for the theory. The findings also offer a way to think of cooptation that is different from the conventional view that it drives adaptation (because power sharing widens representation and vested interests). By contrast, pro-forma cooptation of prominent organizations under authoritarian rule reifies the regime's dominance and solidifies its control, thus promoting inertia through the reproducibility of hierarchy in the social structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The financial sector, especially the Indonesian capital market, shows a positive trend with an increase in the number of IPO companies each year. The contribution of national GDP and the number of SME companies in Indonesia are high, so development efforts to facilitate the provision of capital through the capital market are carried out by the government. Basically, IPO funding obtained by the company will provide an opportunity for the issuer in the hope of improving financial performance so that the company's valuation among investors increases and also improves corporate governance. Purpose: This study aims to analyze the influence of Initial Public Offerings on Financial Performance, Good Corporate Governance and Valuation in SME’s Issuer on Indonesia Stock Exchange. Design/methodology/approach: The research was conducted using the Mann-Whitney test and OLS multiple regression analysis. Findings/Result: The results showed that financial performance has a significant difference after IPO particularly on activity ratio and leverage ratio. It is known that the variables company such as size, outstanding shares, profitability ratio and dummy covid have an effect on company valuation. While leverage, income and activity ratio have no effect on company value. In addition, leverage, company size, outstanding shares and dummy covid have significant effect on good corporate governance. Conclusion: Issues from SME can be considered potential options for investors in the capital market. Besides that, it encourages other SME to obtain funding from the capital market. Originality/value (State of the art): This study examines opportunities for SME companies that can increase their business scale through the capital market by meeting the requirements of financial performance prospects and the implementation of good corporate governance so that they can increase the company's value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]