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• This paper empirically examines the effects of two distinct innovation strategies. • Independent innovation sands firm performance; spillover innovation greases it. • Greasing effect of spillover innovation is amplified by bribing. • Greasing effect of spillover innovation is amplified under poor institution. • Sanding effect of independent innovation is reduced under good institution. While a large body of literature has explored the impacts of bribery on firm performance, particularly in terms of innovation outcomes, a significant gap exists in understanding the effects of innovation strategies on firms' performance as well as the influence of institutional quality on the interaction between innovation strategies and bribery. This paper empirically addresses this gap by investigating the complex effects of bribing and two distinct innovation strategies—independent innovation and spillover innovation. Using global firm-level evidence from the latest Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey, we employ three semiparametric methods to estimate productivity as proxy of firms' performance. Our results show that independent innovation exerts sanding influences on productivity, while spillover innovation and bribery grease the wheels of firm performance. Moreover, bribery and spillover innovation mutually amplify each other's positive effects on firm performance. Further examinations indicate that the impacts of innovation strategies and bribing are significantly moderated by institutional quality. Under poor institutional quality with excessive government control or corruption, the positive influence of spillover innovation and bribing tends to be strengthened. Conversely, good institutional quality mitigates the greasing effects of spillover innovation and bribery. Through multiple robustness tests employing alternative methodologies, firm performance metrics, and institutional quality measures, these findings are consistently confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes advantage of the COVID-19 outbreak to explore the determinants of firms' R&D choices around an exogenous shock. We make use of unique panel data on 7,800 Italian companies between January –right before the pandemic– and March 2020 –amid lockdown policies. We exploit the short-run revision in firms' research plans to test the impact of deteriorating expectations and uncertainty on firms' R&D. In addition to the significant role played by firms' expectations, we find that preexisting innovative activities significantly shaped the reaction to the general uncertainty shock. • We explore the determinants of firms R&D choices around an exogenous shock. • We test the differential effect of deteriorating expectations and uncertainty on firms' R&D. • Expectations on future demand have a dramatic effect, especially for innovative companies. • Characteristics of the innovative process shape firms' reaction to the general uncertainty. • Newly innovative and transitioning companies are particularly affected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worldwide, enterprises are affected by disasters such as cyclones and floods. Despite these negative impacts, many do not prepare for future disasters. Research on pro-environmental behavior suggests that changing the factors influencing people's actions can lead to changes in behavior. However, it remains unclear if this applies to disaster preparedness, and what specific factors determine it. Our study seeks to identify quantitatively factors that influence enterprises' disaster preparedness. First, it examines whether certain socio-psychological traits of entrepreneurs relate to how their enterprises prepare for disasters. Second, it tests whether showing enterprises visual information about six simple disaster preparedness activities affects their attitudes toward preparedness and their actual preparedness. We use data from a 2022 panel of Mozambican micro-enterprises and apply fixed effects regressions and randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluations. Our findings show that knowledge of climate change, descriptive norms, and egoistic values are linked to disaster preparedness. This is especially true for enterprises run by their owners compared to those with hired managers, and for larger micro-enterprises versus smaller ones. Providing information does not, on average, change disaster preparedness, though it does significantly improve preparedness among carpenters. Future interventions should explore combining information provision with addressing the socio-psychological determinants of disaster preparedness, such as enhancing specific social norms and increasing knowledge about climate change. • Entrepreneurs with more climate knowledge are likelier to prepare for disasters. • Entrepreneurs prepare more if they believe others are also preparing for disasters. • Unlike past research, entrepreneurs' affect and biospheric values lack ties to preparedness. • Providing images of six simple preparedness activities did not significantly impact behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Financial barrier is an encumbrance for eco-investment for firms. • The linkage between environmental behavior and credit accessibility is driven by the ownership structure. • The paper also investigates the relationship between credit access and corporate environmental behavior according to the pollution intensity of firms. Firms play a major role in facilitating green growth in developing nations by promoting environmental protection investment to control pollution caused during the manufacturing process. The paper explores whether the financial vulnerability of firms curbs their investment towards environmental practices that eliminate the creation of wastes or pollutants and hence acts as a deterrent towards green economy. Using firm-level data for manufacturing firms from 2010 to 2019, it is confirmed that financial barrier is an encumbrance for eco-investment by firms. We also focus on the environmental behavior of firms classified according to their ownership structure observing that government-owned firms (GOFs) tend to rely less on their internal and debt capital to finance their environmental investment, whereas private-owned firms (POFs) rely mainly on their internal capital. However, internal financing methods have generally no significant impact on the eco-investment decision of foreign-owned firms (FOFs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we employ survey information on more than 10,000 Southern and Eastern European firms to assess the effects of the COVID-19 related lockdown and government support policies on the business operations of enterprises. Our findings reveal considerable size- and sector-related heterogeneity, with small firms, and firms such as hotels and restaurants operating in the facilities sector reporting the largest losses in terms of sales when governments increase the strictness of confinement measures. Fixed effects regression estimates suggest that a complete lockdown results in an average year-on-year sales growth that is approximately 63 percentage points lower than it would be without any curtailment measures. The magnitude of the coefficient on year-on-year sales change for a complete lockdown is 14 percentage points higher for small compared to large enterprises. Furthermore, our results suggest that state aid in the form of deferral of payments or wage subsidies are associated with firms' labor market and financial outcomes in times of crisis. For instance, deferrals of payments are linked to between 0.7 and 1.5 fewer layoffs per firm in the surveyed enterprises compared to other types of support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from Italian firms during the period 2008–2012, this study empirically explores how the presence of foreign-owned firms can affect the domestic firm's probability to invest abroad (i.e., Outward FDI spillovers from Inward FDI). The findings revealed positive spillovers via horizontal linkages and negative spillovers via forward and backward linkages. However, both the origin of IFDI and destination of OFDI play an important role. • A reduction in foreign competitors located within a country leads domestic firms to stay at home. • A decrease in foreign firms along the supply chain pulls domestic firms into global markets. • Both the origin and destination of Foreign Direct Investment matter in elucidating OFDI spillovers from IFDI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the three kinds of heterogeneity of the executive team: heterogeneity of its professional background, overseas experience, and financial background. It also explores the mechanism and impact of these three heterogeneities on the enterprise's total factor productivity using the Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies in China as the research samples from 2010–2022. Results reveal that (1) the heterogeneity of the executive team's professional background, overseas experience and financial background of the military increased the total factor productivity of the enterprise; and (2) improving the enterprise's financial flexibility, internal control quality, and research and development and innovation are effective paths for the rise in the level of the enterprise's total factor productivity by the aforementioned heterogeneities. [Display omitted] • The study investigates the impact of executive team on TFP from heterogeneity. • The study reveals Characteristics of the executive team that positively affect TFP. • The study explores the effective ways for executive team to improve TFP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge sharing between employees has long been viewed as a major driver of firm productivity growth, and the strength of productivity spill-overs within firms is a common measure of knowledge sharing. Using data from three Bangladeshi garment factories, I first find that spill-overs are stronger within organizational sub-divisions of the factories than across. I then show that a management intervention that routinely brought together workers producing the same garments to exchange production knowledge further strengthened spill-overs within sub-divisions, but not across, when it was implemented in randomly selected sub-divisions. These findings suggest that boundaries between sub-divisions pose strong frictions to knowledge sharing within firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine how Covid-19 resilience of Chinese firms varied with a cluster index (measuring spatial agglomeration of firms in related industries) at the county level. Two data sources are used: entry flows of newly registered firms in the entire country, and an entrepreneur sample survey regarding operation of existing firms. Both show greater resilience in counties with a higher cluster index, after controlling for industry dummies and local infection rates, besides county and time dummies in the entry data. Reliance of clusters on high density informal entrepreneur hometown networks and closer proximity to suppliers and customers help explain these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows that higher information technology (IT) adoption by banks was associated to a larger increase in corporate lending in the months following the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy. Examining banks with heterogeneous degrees of IT adoption, we investigate the dynamics of credit and its allocation across firms using a new database with detailed information on banks' IT expenditures and use of innovative technologies matched with bank-firm level data on credit growth before and during the pandemic. Using a diff-in-diff approach, we find that banks with a higher share of IT spending increased their credit more than others during the pandemic. The increase was concentrated in term loans extended to smaller and financially sounder companies; the effect was stronger in the initial phase of tighter restrictions to firm activity and individual mobility, and more significant for undertakings active in the sectors most affected by the shock. We provide evidence that these results are driven by bank's ability to offer credit entirely online and bank's use of artificial intelligence for credit risk assessment. Physical proximity between borrowers and lenders was important for credit provision during the pandemic, but only when combined with high level of IT adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The paper examines the impact of an extension of a metro line on service firms' survival. • A survival analysis is developed using a Cox Proportional Hazards model. • The model controls for anticipation and speculation effect. • The results suggest a positive effect mainly after the opening of the service. • The impacts are concentrated within 250 to 1,250 m of the nearest station. The aim of the paper is to investigate the impact of the extension of a metro line on the survival of individual firms. An empirical analysis focuses on the relation between proximity to new stations and firm survival following the announcement of the extension of the orange line of the metro in Montréal (Canada) between 1996 and 2016. To do so, a Cox Proportional Hazards model is estimated using the simultaneous announcement of two potential extensions to define the treatment (new stations) and control groups (speculative stations) based on the distance to the closest stations. The model explicitly controls for anticipation and speculation effect by introducing three distinct treatment effects by period. The impact of the new metro stations appears to be mostly positive on firms' survival probability during the construction period and after the opening of the service. The results suggest that the metro extension does have a positive influence on the survival rates of individual firms within 250 to 1,250 m. of the closest station, especially for local activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the war started, both Russian and Ukraine forces have been using Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS). Theoretically, the heated particulate matter residuals from MLRS could be captured by satellite imageries, but this premise has never been tested. In this study, the Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) data were analyzed to identify anthropogenic thermal anomalies resulting from the war in Ukraine. The research team examined the frequency of Feb–June FIRMS in both long-term (2001–2021) and short-term trends (2022), as well as the recency of last FIRMS date. In addition, other crucial factors like site control and the proximity of nearby Russian troops are also considered in developing this suitability model. Human analysts with military knowledge, understanding of standard operating procedure and the strategic importance of a developing battlefield were deployed to identify potential tactical firing locations. The proposed model was developed on Google Earth Engine for ease of distribution and deployment. Four case studies are demonstrated to illustrate the implemented model, interpreted in the context of ongoing conflicts and verified by geospatial intelligence crowdsourced and/or reported by the public and social media. This study provides counter-MLRS geospatial intelligence from crowdsourced data and publicly available satellite imagery. [Display omitted] • Short- and long-term spatiotemporal patterns of FIRMS can distinguish MLRS from natural wildfires. • Four case studies are demonstrated to illustrate the implemented model and verified by the public and social media. • The proposed framework opens up new frontiers to conduct suitability assessment of a highly mobile geographic feature. • A practical tool was developed on Google Earth Engine for ease of distribution and deployment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the link between joining global value chains (GVCs) and firms' environmental performance. Based on new survey data for firms in countries in Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and MENA, we use propensity score matching (PSM) to compare similar companies that differ in terms of GVC participation. Our results show that firms that enter GVCs perform better across several environmental indicators. In particular, these firms are more likely to adopt environmentally friendly production technologies, comply with more demanding standards and regulations and, in the case of manufacturing firms, monitor CO2 emissions along their supply chains. Moreover, by combining PSM with difference-in-differences, we find that becoming active in GVCs is also linked to more efficient energy use. Our results are stronger for firms in non-EU countries, and highlight the importance of environmental regulation in ensuring that global supply chains go hand in hand with greener production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Keystone agents are dominant players and critical for system transition. • We study the extractives, which has multiple sustainability controversies. • We find both the extractives industries and ownership thereof is highly concentrated. • Advancing sustainability in extractives requires leveraging a limited number of keystone agents. Natural resource extraction has a lasting and dramatic impact on the natural environment as well as far-reaching social effects. As such, public policy and governmental regulation are crucial for a transition to sustainability. However, on their own, these have shown to be insufficient to achieve such transformation. Changing commitment and conduct of the extractives too is important to transit. Firms in the extractives are large and highly international, and their owners are decisive for businesses' conduct. Therefore, it is relevant to determine whom and how to influence to transit towards sustainability. To this extent, we study dominant firms and their owners in the top-10 international extractive industries. We establish that both natural resource markets and ownership of keystone agents are highly concentrated: the three largest companies earn 70% of the revenues in the ten industries studied, and the three largest shareholders in these companies on average have 22% of the shares of the keystone firms. This helps explain why regulation has been rather ineffective so far. We discuss several options to influence keystone agents. We conclude that advancing sustainability in extractives requires leveraging a limited number of keystone agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The EU ETS positively impacts firms' current environmental expenditures, i.e., short-term behavior. • However, the effect is not statistically significant for environmental investments, i.e., long-term behavior. • Also, turnover, employment, foreign ownership, environmental taxes and subsidies positively influence current spending and the likelihood to invest. • Once the decision to invest is made, environmental taxes negatively influence the amount invested. • Overall, the EU ETS motivates firms to act against pollution. We examine the impact of the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) on environmental protection expenditures over 2014–2015 for a representative sample of firms, which activate on Romanian territory. First, the findings reveal that EU ETS positively impacts current expenditures, namely, the short-time behavior of firms. Second, the results based on the investments selection model show that EU ETS has no statistically significant effect on the likelihood to invest, and the amount invested (i.e., long-term behavior). Overall, these results suggest that the EU ETS is a viable instrument, acting as a pivotal incentive for firms to undertake environmental expenditures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • This paper uses the arrival of broadband, to study the causal effects of heterogeneous types of ICT on firm performance. • Instruments are constructed on the infrastructure underlying broadband, which determines its availability and speed. • The instruments strongly predict the upgrading of various hardware ICTs, but not software technologies. • We find that these ICTs impact the scale of firms, through employment and sales, but not their productivity. • Access to broadband is linked to complementary investment in various ICTs which are consistent with the scale effect found. Abstract The recent economics literature has begun to recognise that ICT is a heterogeneous technology altering information storage, processing and communication in distinct ways. In this paper we use the arrival of a new communication technology, ADSL broadband, to study the effects of heterogeneous types of ICT on firm performance. To do so free from endogeneity bias, we construct instruments using postcode-level geographic variation in the infrastructure underlying broadband internet – the pre-existing telephone network. We show that after placing various restrictions on the sample, instruments based on the timing of ADSL broadband enablement and the cable distance to the local telephone exchange satisfy the conditions for instrument relevancy and validity. We find in turn, that ICT causally affects firm size (captured by either sales or employment) but not productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the role of regional context on innovation persistency of firms. Using the Community Innovation Survey in Sweden, we have traced firms' innovative behaviour from 2002 to 2012, in terms of four Schumpeterian types of innovation: product, process, organizational, and marketing. Controlling for an extensive set of firm‐level characteristics, we find that certain regional characteristics matter for innovation persistency of firms. In particular, those firms located in regions with: (i) thicker labour market or (ii) higher extent of knowledge spillover exhibit higher probability of being persistent innovators up to 14 percentage points. Such higher persistency is mostly pronounced for product innovators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines regional and sectoral impacts of R&D subsidies on firms in Czechia during the period 2007–2014. Driven by still-developing innovation policies where regional innovation systems are emerging, R&D support plays an important role for activating regional potential. To explore this we employed a geographical perspective and a combination of two counterfactual approaches. Our results revealed that R&D support has a higher net effect on companies operating in regions with lower R&D intensity. In the most advanced regions, the differences in effects between supported and unsupported entities are very small and targeted support no longer plays such a significant role. In contrast, indirect tax support associated with innovation activity is applied much more often. Furthermore, our case study in the South Moravian Region revealed that the impact of R&D support is changing over time and reflects from economic cycles. It has been confirmed that direct R&D support in this advanced regional innovation system is associated negatively with firms' competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forest certification, originally introduced to promote sustainable forest management and protect forests from threats such as deforestation, has become a large-scale market tool. There is no consensus in the literature on the impact of forest certification on exports. Few studies have analyzed the impact of forest management certification on exports, and none have analyzed this effect at the firm level, taking into account firm heterogeneity. The current paper aims to fill this gap by analyzing the impact of the difference in the level of forest management certification between an exporting country and importing or destination countries. In particular, we determine how this impact differs by firm size. Our study focuses on the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). We use a panel of exports of wood and wood products at the level of French firms. We find that when the level of forest management certification in the exporting country increases relative to that of the importing countries, exports increase; but this occurs to a lesser extent as firm size increases. This result is robust to the various additional analyses. For example, an increase in the difference in the share of PEFC-certified forests by 0.15 is associated with a 90% increase in the value of exports. We also find heterogeneity by product category, geographic area, and income level of destination countries. Our study highlights the role played by forest certification on exports and the need to develop forest certification in a market-driven manner. [Display omitted] • We analyze the impact of forest management certification on exports. • We use a panel of wood and wood product exports at the level of French firms. • We conduct an empirical analysis and find heterogeneous effects. • Exports are increasing with a higher share of certified forests. • Forest certification must be developed with market requirements in mind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of private sector engagement on risk reduction is increasingly mentioned over the last years. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 stresses that the private sector should be a crucial partner in achieving disaster resilience. However, the contribution by the private sector is still rare and mostly undertaken by large multinational firms with just a few positive impacts on the local level. Particularly manufacturing firms are heavily exposed to floods in Indonesia; Jakarta and Semarang are prominent examples. Broader flood risk reduction measures are still insufficiently developed. Therefore, it is argued that firms can reduce the flood risk through collective adaptation measures. We understand collective adaptation as collaborative activities to reduce risks that firms are either initiating or participating together with other firms, the community, NGOs and authorities. Our own research has revealed that particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) rarely engage in collective flood adaptation. Based on our findings, this paper examines which circumstances determine the willingness of SMEs to contribute to flood risk reduction. Instruments in order to increase the willingness to collective adaptation are also discussed. Scenario-based experiments with 120 SMEs have been conducted in Jakarta and Semarang. These scenarios contain different risk reduction measures (polder system, river expansion and sensitization program), each with different actors’ constellation of contribution. Comparative logistic regressions have been applied to determine context-specific factors, e.g. risk behavior, firm-specific characteristics or level of flood-proneness that influence the willingness to contribute to flood risk reduction. Overall, the paper provides deeper insights in understanding firms’ engagement in flood risk reduction and gives answers of how firms can be motivated to become an active player on building resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents new evidence on the expectation formation process of firms from a survey of the German manufacturing sector. First, firms become too optimistic after their business has improved, consistent with the over-extrapolation of their experience. Second, firms extrapolate improvements in their business more than deteriorations. Third, firms are more optimistic (pessimistic) than usual during business cycle peaks (troughs), suggesting that they do not anticipate reversals. Fourth, the German reunification provided a positive exogenous shock to the business of West German products. The industries most positively affected by the shock initially over-extrapolated the past downward trend just as much as the less affected industries, and thus failed to anticipate the reversal. Fifth, more overoptimistic firms subsequently report larger inventories and lower profits, suggesting that expectation errors entail (opportunity) costs. Sixth, older and larger firms show a smaller extrapolation bias, indicating that time and resources can alleviate the extrapolation bias. Seventh, firms that expect their business to improve tend to also expect their prices to increase, suggesting that firms mostly try to forecast demand shocks as opposed to supply shocks. Overall, these observations suggest that firms have a limited ability to anticipate changes in their activity and extrapolate their experience too much. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to facilitate the transition to electricity industries with low CO 2 emissions, it is important to understand which firms invest in renewable energy technologies. This study concentrates on the heterogeneous characteristics of investors in wind power that are embedded in the investors’ dynamic capabilities. Data on 617 investors in the Swedish onshore wind industry are analyzed. Investors with higher investment and management experience and a mixed generation portfolio whose business is electricity production have more assets in wind. Investors’ age in the wind industry has a negative relation with assets in wind, illustrating that latecomers are investing more. Individual incumbents of the electricity industry hold a relatively large amount of assets in the Swedish wind industry, but the group of incumbents as a whole possesses only 15 percent of wind assets. The results suggest that tailor-made policies could stimulate a greater variety of firms to invest in wind power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability has become a critical perspective in managing firms via a holistic approach by considering economic, environmental and social dimensions of firms. With the rising significance of sustainable development, the theories of sustainability in firms have evolved during the past six decades. This article offers a critical review of the evolving theories linking sustainability to firms, and discusses their implications for future renewable energy research. The relationships among different theories are critically analysed, and the directions for future research are discussed. The paper shows that, the main theories linking sustainability to firms, in a chronological order, are: 1) Corporate Social Responsibility, 2) Stakeholder Theory, 3) Corporate Sustainability, and 4) Green Economics. Currently various innovative approaches and new theories emerged, such as Co-evolution Theory and Multi-level Perspective, reflecting three directions of theory development, namely 1) shifting from "what" to "how", 2) growing use of interdisciplinary approach, and 3) towards broader systems. Renewable energy studies associated with firms and future research opportunities in this area are also critically analysed. The comprehensive review offered in this paper provides a useful reference for policy makers, corporate managers and researchers interested in corporate sustainability and renewable energy related studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Situated within geographical scholarship on policy mobilities, this article aims to direct attention to the state and corporate dimensions of corporate policy mobilizations as terrains that require further conceptual development. It argues that doing so is important for two reasons. First, it shows that national states should not be seen merely as functional and institutional infrastructures across and through which policies circulate, since national state policymakers also operate as active agents of policy mobilization across space and scale, especially in contexts of strong, centralized governance. Second, it illustrates how the economic dimensions of corporate actors engaged in mobilizing policy deserve more sustained analyses for a better conception of how firms' capitalist agendas shape their participation as policy transfer agents. We suggest that a relational economic geography perspective provides a set of conceptual tools — actors, networks, and value — to unpack the corporate rationalities and knowledge-sharing processes of firms. Drawing on research conducted on the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city, we show how national state policymakers and transnational conglomerates are active agents in circulating urban sustainability expertise across space. An appreciation of these geographies of policy knowledge across the state and corporate domains of policy mobilization is a first step towards grasping these varied registers of expertise, and their implications for the form and content of policies on the move. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we examine the extent to which pre-disaster planning and post-disaster aid can help firms recover from the negative impact of a natural disaster. Using detailed plant-level data covering the areas affected by the March 2011 Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami we find that the number of stopped days of operation was negatively impacted by the disaster although we find that only the tsumani-affected plants experienced reduced sales six months after the earthquake. However, we do find evidence to suggest that post-disaster sales was influenced by a number of pre and post-disaster policies. More specifically, we find that pre-disaster policies such as having alternative transport arrangements and a diversified supplier network positively affect post-disaster sales. We also find that post-disaster aid from local banks and trading partners positively influences post-disaster sales but that direct cash payments from government appears to have no statistically significant effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper exploits daily customs transaction data on the universe of Swiss agri-food importing firms to assess the response of firms to a global shock. Estimating a linear model that regresses product-level import margins on daily COVID19 shocks and a host of fixed effects, we find that the pandemic had a substantial trade-reducing effect on imports. The trade effects were driven mainly by a reduction in the number of importing firms (i.e., 63% of the total effect), and much less by the number of products imported and the average import value per product per firm. We explore several sources of heterogeneity and show, among others, that larger and incumbent firms were affected more by the trade adjustments. Our results also reveal that the relative contribution of each import margin to the decline in aggregate imports depends on the level of data aggregation (i.e., daily, weekly or monthly). Finally, we validate and confirm our main findings by testing two mechanisms: (i) third-country supply-side effects using insights from structural gravity models and (ii) changes to consumer demand using consumer mobility, and retailer and consumer scanner data. • We assess the effect of COVID19 on agrifood trade using daily firm-level import data. • A 10% increase in COVID-related case counts decrease daily firm-level imports by 3%. • The trade reduction was driven mainly by a drop in the number of importing firms. • Larger firms were affected more by the trade adjustments. • Relative to consumer goods, intermediate goods were relatively insulated from the shock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces the concept of value chain directionality to investigate how orientation to different value chains has implications for productive learning and industrial outcomes. We develop and test this concept building on a purposefully designed firm-level survey focused on the textile and apparel value chain in East Africa. Tanzanian and Kenyan textiles and apparel firms lie on a spectrum in terms of their engagement with national, regional and global value chains (NVCs, RVCs and GVCs), with outcomes varying with value chain directionality. GVC firms focus on a narrow range of lower-value functions (mostly garment assembly) while RVC and NVC firms perform a wider range of functions including vertical integration to textile manufacture and higher-value activities such as design and branding, but cases of functional upgrading were rare in all groups. GVC firms were closer to the technological frontier, but RVC and NVC firms were similarly engaged in process upgrading. GVC firms tended to have more complex products than RVC and NVC firms, and only GVC firms had recently engaged in product upgrading. Crucially, results in the area of end market upgrading confirmed the hypothesis that RVCs have the potential to serve as 'learning grounds', or 'stepping stones' to more demanding but potentially lucrative global markets. In other outcomes, GVCs appear to offer greater prospects for rapid employment generation but RVCs and NVCs tend to favour backward integration by incorporating more locally sourced inputs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Firms are exposed to various kinds of risks such as man-made and natural disasters that can negatively affect their business. The objective of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of disasters, disaster preparedness, and post disaster recovery strategies and the private sector in Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS), a region highly vulnerable to such impacts. A Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) was adopted using a novel database-the Innovation, Firm Performance, and Gender (IFPG) firm-level dataset conducted in the Caribbean in 2020 to estimate the production function as well as technical efficiency scores of firms, following which the efficiency scores were regressed against disaster preparedness and post disaster recovery strategies, and other firm-specific control variables using robust standard errors clustered at the country and sector level. The results indicate that disaster preparedness and post disaster recovery strategy affect technical efficiency. In particular firms with a post disaster recovery plan to resume operations after a disaster, firms with knowledge of which parts of their business need to be operational following a disaster, and firms that ensure that their suppliers have a post disaster recovery plan experience a positive effect on technical efficiency, while firms operating in a building that is able to withstand disasters negatively affects technical efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper show that corporate innovation (research and development, patents, citations, and patent value) positively influences tangible investment. • The manner in which this effect transpires is characterized by a firm's external/internal dependence on finance, technological intensity, size, maturity, and payout policy. • We discover that corporate investment and corporate innovation follow a business cycle pattern to the extent that innovations have a greater effect on corporate investment during economic expansions than during recessions. This paper quantifies the impact of corporate innovation on corporate tangible investment for a large panel of U.S. firms. We show that corporate innovation (research and development, patents, citations, and patent value) positively influences tangible investment and the manner in which this effect transpires is characterized by a firm's external/internal dependence on finance, technological intensity, size, maturity, and payout policy. We discover that input- and output-type innovations affect corporate investment differently, with research and development (patent value) having the least (most) effect on investment. Our analysis reveals that corporate innovation moves investments more during economic expansions than during recessions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we address the overlooked issue of whether and how industrial relations might play a role in the process of greening the economy, primarily through the levers of innovation adoption and organisational change. We address our objective econometrically, assessing the quality of industrial relations as a driver of environmental innovation adoption, through the use of micro-data on manufacturing firms. The results yield two interesting main findings: being a unionised firm is not associated with the adoption of environmental innovation; however, when we consider the industrial relations climate, we observe a positive relationship between a cooperative industrial relations climate (union involvement) and the propensity to introduce environmental innovation. Two models are relevant: a managerially oriented model (unions are informed) and a participatory model (unions bargain on innovation adoption). The contents of environmental innovations are also important: union involvement is more relevant for adopting more complex and radical innovations to abate CO 2 and EMS and ISO practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Firms interact with universities through a variety of channels, ranging from collaborative research projects, patents, spin-off creation, consultancy and specialized training, to informal relationships. This article explores the combination of mechanisms used by firms in Andalusia, a peripheral region in Spain and Europe, when interacting with universities. Using information from a survey of 737 innovative firms, the empirical study found evidence that university–industry links can be grouped into five latent dimensions (knowledge generation and adaptation, involvement in new organisations, training and exchange of human resources, intellectual property rights, and facilities and equipment) which are mainly based on exploitation or exploration activities. A typology of firms was created, highlighting the large number of firms with no interactions, and six clusters that specialize in specific mechanisms (IPR exploiters, Institutionalized interactors, University facility users, Training and education beneficiaries, Tacit knowledge users, and R&D interactors). The study also presents the determinants for engaging in each type of channel, concluding that whilst firms developing exploitation activities also develop parallel exploration activities, the reverse is not significant. The absorptive capacity of firms is important in determining the type of interaction, but is not fully conclusive about the range of exploration and exploitation activities. The article ends by discussing the policy implications associated with incentives to adapt knowledge transfer mechanisms to the industrial fabric of peripheral innovation systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Light and heavy duty commercial vehicles are a cause of concern in urban areas because of their cumulative stress on the system in terms of air pollution, congestion, and noise. This cumulative stress is expected to increase with the expected growth in commercial vehicle movements. While electric commercial vehicles (ECVs) may provide a possible technological solution, the research on the market penetration of ECVs is scarce. This study proposes a comprehensive framework for understanding the motivations and barriers of small and medium-size firms to the introduction of ECVs in commercial vehicle fleets. The framework is based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), and it is modelled with a structural equation model with latent variables. The model is estimated on the basis of 1443 responses from a large-scale survey in Austria, Denmark, and Germany. The results establish a linkage between the ECV procurement intentions, the TPB constructs (i.e., positive attitudes and subjective norms towards ECVs, familiarity with ECVs and perceived operational ease) and their relative importance. It also provides information regarding the relationship between the TPB constructs and the characteristics of the fleet manager as the individual decision maker, the industrial sector and the fleet management and tour pattern. Last, it provides insights regarding the transferability of the revealed TPB- ECV procurement intentions across industrial sectors and across countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers have not yet reached consensus on whether there is a difference in performance between STEM and non-STEM firms across different financial markets during economic expansion and through economic downturns, such as pandemics and recessions. It is unclear as to whether STEM or non-STEM firms, but also graduates with STEM or non-STEM education contribute more, less, or equally to economic inequality. By analysing total wealth at varying scales, ranging from individuals, to firms, to entire countries, we demonstrate that the Zipf exponent, serving as a proxy for wealth inequality, persistently ramps up as the scale of a system increases. At an individual level, analysing the Zipf plots separately for the world's richest individuals with STEM and non-STEM graduation degree, we begin by demonstrating that STEM education contributes more to inequality than non-STEM. At a firm level, in contrast to the DAX and CAC40 indexes, for firms comprising the S&P 500 index, the average growth rate of STEM constituents has been significantly higher than those calculated for non-STEM constituents during the most recent economic expansion and the coronavirus pandemic. This insight is particularly useful for the financial sector. Secondly, we demonstrate a functional dependence between a country's number of patents and its STEM graduates. Finally, motivated by the fact that the U.S. heavily surpasses the E.U. in terms of Venture Capital, we model wealth inequality at different scales of the economy. • By examining the Forbes lists of richest individuals at the world level over the last two decades, we find that the Zipf plot) of the world's STEM billionaires significantly increases in wealth inequality. • We demonstrate a functional dependence between a country's number of patents and STEM graduates. • The model combines Simon's traditional rich-gets-richer model with the rich-gets-richer competition mechanism. • In the model, we empirically establish that the U.S. STEM-orientated companies demonstrate better performance than non-STEM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper assesses the role for innovation of one aspect which has been generally overlooked by evolutionary economic geography: context. It analyses how context shapes the impact of collaboration on firm-level innovation for 1604 firms located in the five largest city regions of Norway. Specifically, the analysis shows how the benefits to firms of collaborating within regional, national, and international innovation networks are affected by the knowledge endowments of the region within which the firm is located. Using a logit regression analysis, we find, first, that only national and international networking have a significant positive impact on the likelihood of innovation (the former only for process innovation), whereas the regional knowledge endowments have no direct effect. Second, regional cooperation is particularly effective in regions with high investments in R&D, whereas international cooperation is important in regions with an educated workforce – and regional and national collaboration may be ineffective in such cases. We conclude that, in the case of Norway, context is essential in determining the capacity of firms to set up networks and innovate. Regions with an educated workforce can use the resulting absorptive capacity to successfully assimilate knowledge being diffused through global pipelines from faraway places. However, this absorptive capacity is likely to be heavily filtered if regional firms mainly rely on internal connections within Norway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Illegal land use is an important environmental issue that is attracting increasing attention. Taking the neo-institutional literature as a starting point, this article outlines an approach focusing on illegal land use by firms. The pervasive nature of illegal land use is examined in terms of isomorphism, intended as imitative behaviour, in response to two kinds of environmental pressures: institutional pressure exerted by complementary institutions at local level, and market pressures, particularly the degree of uncertainty affecting certain sectors. Using a database mainly consisting of judgments handed down by the Italian Court of Cassation, this study argues that low quality of the local regulation and enforcement has a significant impact on the incidence and degree of seriousness of illegal land use, though a connection with the low quality of local governance has yet to be proven. In addition, the study highlights the fact that in sectors characterized by a high degree of uncertainty, the spread of illegal land use consists of practices of a more serious nature. An understanding of the extent to which firms replicate illegal land use with a similar degree of seriousness may help in the design of effective land management policies. Due to the complexity of the behaviour of firms a policy mix is suggested, including transparent rules, and fully functioning checks and balances, particularly local enforcement mechanisms. However, it is argued that better outcomes are more likely to be achieved by preventive measures in the sense of more acceptable land-use regulation and industry-specific measures. • The study analyses the relation between isomorphism and illegal land use by firms. • Two hypotheses are tested based on a survey of illegal land use by Italian firms. • Institutional pressure influences the spread of land abuses similar for seriousness • Market pressures are related to illegal land use in conditions of market uncertainty. • The implications for land use policies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary We find that heterogeneity in production functions is an important source of variation in firm outcomes in Africa, and we find it is more important than education or productivity in explaining differences in output per worker. There is some technological diversity within Africa, with more dependence on raw materials in poor countries and higher returns to education in richer countries. This suggests that parameter evolution is an important element of modeling the nature of technical change, and that development policy should consider technological change as a mechanism to increase growth as well as augmenting factor stocks or total factor productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In addition to highlighting improvements in the availability and speed of broadband as a national priority, the National Broadband Plan also includes several recommendations for improving access and use of broadband by small businesses. The plan also recommends economic development officials include broadband in their local development strategies. While these are certainly import goals, more research is needed to evaluate how broadband impacts the regional business environment, and regional capacity to retain and attract businesses in particular industries. In order to further our understanding about the linkages between broadband and businesses, and the ability of places to retain and attract businesses in particular industries, this study will develop and estimate econometric models to better understand the linkages between broadband and firms in the knowledge intensive sector. Specifically, 54 metropolitan area specific models will be developed to examine regional variations in the linkages between broadband and firms in the knowledge intensive sector in 2004. Model results highlight the importance of broadband to knowledge firms in all but five metropolitan areas across the U.S. They also reveal variations in the impact of broadband on knowledge firm presence related to metropolitan area size and industrial legacy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: This paper assesses the impact of risk and shocks on non-farm enterprise development in rural Ethiopia using a matched household–enterprise–community dataset augmented with precipitation based measures of risk. The likelihood of running a non-farm firm and the returns to running such firms co-vary with agricultural productivity shocks. Diversification into non-farm activities thus provides limited protection against fluctuations in agricultural performance. This may explain why ex-ante risk has no impact on the likelihood of running a non-farm firm. It nonetheless hampers non-farm enterprise development by repressing investment and inducing sorting into less capital-intensive activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We analyse the take-up by firms of internationally recognized standards such as ISO 9000 and ISO 14000. Based on an analysis of 11,668 firms in countries in Asia and Eastern Europe, we conclude that the probability of standard certification increases with firm size, is greatest in large cities and in manufacturing industries. There are other differences, including between countries. Given these differences, we argue that single generic standards for all firms may not be optimal and that there is a case for the simultaneous publication of differentiated standards targeted at different user characteristics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The purpose of this study is to examine business leaders' perceptions on sustainable development and their expectations about local governments. Using a questionnaire on a cross-section of 32 French business leaders, we examine the following questions: can issues related to sustainable development extend beyond questions of profit and future economic dynamism? The modern global economic crisis, in combination with the ongoing ecological one, makes regional attractiveness more topical than ever. If local governments invest in sustainable development policy, it might satisfy not only citizens but also firms in the territory, while attracting new ones as well. To determine if firms are really interested in such a policy, as well as understand their expectations, this research undertook interviews with 32 business leaders. We found that local governments should act with firms as partners to increase resilience and sustainability. The expectations of business leaders and their sensitivity to sustainable development suggest that sustainable development policies' could improve the attractiveness of a local economy, especially in the context of the current environmental and economic crises. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Australian Government has set an ambitious target that at least 20 per cent of Australia’s electricity needs will be met by Renewable Energy (RE) sources by 2020. Given the limited use of RE sources for electricity generation, this national Renewable Energy Target (RET) leaves state, territory and municipal governments in a challenging policy position. In this article, we examine the Australian state of Queensland where RE provides approximately 4 per cent of the region’s electricity supplies. The research utilizes stakeholder theory to examine the developmental barriers, targets, policies and actions identified by firms and stakeholder organizations in the RE industry sector. The results from our analysis show that RE developments face a range of socio-technical barriers that require timely actions in the areas of financial incentives, infrastructure enhancement, regulation reform, community-centred developments, technology and workforce investments, and information and education programs. Also, in the context of RE planning, while the national RET is the preferred setting, the differences between Queensland’s RE installed generation capacity and electricity supply targets require clarification and agreement. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: High-speed rail is seen as a factor contributing to the attractiveness of a location for economic activities. This paper focuses on how the level-of-service characteristics of railway stations, and in particular the presence of high-speed train services, influence the attractiveness of locations for specific types of offices. The results are presented for a stated choice experiment for location choices of offices in the Netherlands. It is concluded that the availability of high-speed train services contributes to the attractiveness of a location for offices. For internationally-oriented offices the areas around stations with international high-speed train services are attractive because of their good international accessibility. We also found an indication that high-speed train services can raise the status of an office site. In the Netherlands, the domestic high-speed train services are less relevant for location choices, because of the small domestic distances. Besides high-speed train services, other location characteristics that determine how well a site is connected to the railway network are also found to be important for location choices. Thereby differences between offices occur, which can partly be explained by the number of trips to/from an office. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Many new and proposed emissions trading systems involve multiple countries and regions. The introduction of interregional trading raises questions about how flexible state- or national-level authorities should be in allowing individual firms to trade with firms or authorities in other states or countries. This paper uses laboratory methods to evaluate the efficiency and pricing performance of linking trading across regions at the firm-to-firm level. In one treatment, individual firms trade directly with firms or authorities in other regions. We compare performance in this treatment to an intergovernmental trading treatment, where emissions trading is restricted to occur only between intermediaries. A baseline treatment of autarky, where firms only trade with other firms in their country or region, provides a benchmark to assess the efficiency benefits of allowing linking. Although efficiency and price discovery are both improved by allowing intermediation in linked permit markets, we find that further gains can be realized through direct firm to firm trading. Buyers in high cost regions and sellers in low cost regions benefit the greatest from linking. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper provides evidence of the importance of what might be termed ‘expert leaders’. Although it is widely assumed that leaders affect the performance of their organizations, the complexity of this social-science research area has meant that comparatively little empirical progress has been made. We deliberately choose a narrow focus. We examine a high-skill setting in which there are accurate data on performance. We argue that an influential role is played by a leader''s expert knowledge. A strong predictor of a leader''s success in year T is that person''s level of technical attainment, in the underlying activity, in approximately year T-20. Our data are on US professional basketball. The paper documents a correlation between brilliance as a player and the (much later) winning percentage and playoff success of that person as a team coach. The results suggest that leaders’ effects on performance are substantial and are visible in the data within the first 12 months of a coach being hired. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Difficulty in extracting scientific and research findings from EU universities and placing such knowledge at the commercial disposal of innovation-dependent firms and industries is a cause for grave concern in many European states and regions. We take stock of the evidence from the perspective of knowledge-seeking firms and knowledge-generating universities, an exercise that reveals striking asymmetries: firms presently seek mainly public science outputs of academics, while universities encourage their academics to pursue proprietary science opportunities more heavily in their dealings with business and industry, pursuit of which may provoke other academics to oppose greater commercialization of university research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Freight trips are modeled as a joint package consisting of outsourcing and insourcing decisions. • Multivariate modelling framework is used to account for error correlations between freight trips. • Substitutive relationship found between insourced and outsourced trips using same truck type. • Models reveal the exogenous effects of busines size, age, fleet ownership and industry sector. • Study findings highlight the drawbacks in the current approach of modelling overall freight trips. Despite the advancements in the logistics choices, freight trip generation (FTG) studies in the past have made no distinctions between insourced and outsourced variants of trips and the associated selection of truck types. This paper addresses past research gap by treating FTG as a joint package decision and proposing a multivariate ordered response system that allows error correlations capturing the underlying interdependencies. Study findings reveal the presence of complementary and substitution effects between freight trip decisions, and the additional computation burden resulting from the simultaneous model estimation appears to be justified for improving the logistical foundations of FTG models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The paper analyses the motives and consequences of including environmental protection in good managerial practices driven by a concern of responsible corporate behaviour. Corporate Social Responsibility is increasingly discussed in economics and management studies today. This idea is fairly recent and stems from a philosophical school of thought attributed to Hans Jonas, which says that nature must be preserved for anthropocentric as well as biocentric reasons. In this respect, the consequences that these two visions imply for men and companies will be developed. Corporate leaders often make use of this concept, which finds its origins in philosophy, in order to analyse the normative behaviour of their companies. In this respect we shall favour a jonasian interpretation. Hans Jonas will help us question the fundamental meaning of responsibility. We will attempt to investigate this meaning using CSR. More specifically, this article tries to answer the question: what exactly is corporate responsibility? Is it a mere concept currently in fashion, or is it a new structural approach which could indeed take responsibility into account in so far as long-term environmental preservation is concerned? In order to answer this question, we shall first propose a reading of “stakeholders”. This approach poses several problems when dealing with corporate responsibility regarding the preservation of nature. Secondly, we shall present a more detailed analysis of such corporate social responsibility and the problems it poses. The debate regarding action with the interest of its outcome and action in the interest of the action itself shall be the focal point of our discussion. This article will adopt a narrative and critical methodology. So as to achieve this goal, we propose to critically analyse theoretical paradigms and test them through case studies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We present a dynamical model of the emergence of firms as opposed to a flat labour market where entrepreneurs would recruit workers for each business opportunity. The model uses a preferential choice of partners based on previous collaborations experience. A sharp transition in the parameter space separates an ordered regime, where preferential links establish, from a disordered regime corresponding to a fast turnover of employees. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]