Developing Country Context Research Articles

Effect of R&D and Advertisement on the Market Value of Firm: Evidences from Indian Firms

A strand of literature on Innovation suggests that discretionary expenses, such as research and development (R&D), and advertisement expenses have mixed effects on the value of the firm. To provide recent evidence from a developing country context, specifically the Indian context, this article explores the relationship between discretionary expenses and the value of a firm. With the help of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy prowess database for 680 Indian firms belonging to 41 industries over a 15-year period covering 5,171 firm years, we find that both R&D and Advertisement Expenditure have a positive effect on the market value of a firm. Our results suggest that the effect of R&D on the value of firms is more in smaller and younger firms when compared to large and mature firms, respectively. We also find that the return to R&D investment is more in non-manufacturing firms. JEL Codes: G10, L2, O31, O32

Assessing and Explaining CSR Investment Efficiency in a Developing Country Context

Assessing and Explaining CSR Investment Efficiency in a Developing Country Context

The impact of board characteristics on corporate social responsibility disclosures: evidence from state-owned enterprises in Kenya

PurposeTo investigate the impact of board characteristics (board gender diversity, board chair age, board subcommittees, board meetings, board skill, board size and board independence) on corporate social responsibility disclosures (CSRD) of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Kenya during the period 2015–2018.Design/methodology/approachThe study employed fixed-effects balanced panel data to examine the impact of board characteristics on CSRD. The analysis is repeated using two regression estimators (robust least square and random effects) and the four CSRD subcomponents to evaluate the robustness of the main analysis.FindingsThe results established that board gender diversity, board chair age and board subcommittees had significant negative effects on CSRD. The impact of the remaining board characteristics was found to be insignificant.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was limited to the disclosures included in the annual reports, which means that information disclosed in other media, like websites, was not considered. The second limitation concerns mediating and moderator variables that were not considered.Practical implicationsThere is a need for a stricter corporate governance implementation mechanism, as opposed to the “comply or explain” principle, since results suggest that most of the board characteristics do not appear to be impactful. Additionally, the low level of reported CSRD calls for the establishment of Corporate Social Responsibility or related committees.Social implicationsThe evidence suggests that SOEs are reluctant to report on issues such as ethics, health and safety initiatives, environment and social investments.Originality/valueThe paper extends the literature on the impact of board characteristics on CSRD in unlisted non-commercial SOEs in a developing country context.

What factors are associated with public corruption perception? Evidence from Canada

Purpose Corruption perception is essential to study because it can shape people’s attitudes toward the government. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to address this key question: what factors are associated with a non-expert’s judgment of whether Canada is corrupt? Design/methodology/approach This study uses the World Value Survey conducted in Canada in October 2020. This survey is based on a nationally representative sample of a cross-section of adult Canadian residents, including Canadian citizens and permanent residents and those who are neither Canadian citizens nor permanent residents. Findings Based on this study, some conclusions can be made. First, people accessing corruption news from the traditional news media are less likely than those receiving information from the new media to perceive the state (in this case, Canada) as corrupt. Second, people who have less confidence in public institutions are more likely to perceive a country as corrupt. Third, people who participate in electoral and non-electoral forms of political participation are more likely to perceive the state and its public officials as corrupt. Fourth, regardless of which political party is in power, individuals who lean right politically are more likely than those on the left to perceive the state as corrupt. Finally, immigrants are less likely than those born in Canada to perceive the state as corrupt. This work enriches the literature on the substantive understanding of the factors associated with corruption perception. Originality/value Studies investigating factors associated with public perception of corruption tend to focus on developing countries. The current study contributes to filling this gap in knowledge by examining correlates of corruption perception in Canada. As a result, this study contributes to the literature on factors associated with corruption perception, especially in the developed country context.

Antecedents of big data adoption in financial institutions

Big data (BD) adoption is still relatively slow despite the numerous business opportunities that it embodies. Within the context of financial institutions in South Africa, the specific drivers of big data adoption remain largely indeterminate. Consequently, this study explores the possible relationships between perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use and actual big data adoption, while being duly cognisant of the role that behavioural intention to adopt big data could play. The study employed a survey research approach and relied on data collected from a purposive sample of 195 management level employees of financial institutions. Regression analysis to test the hypothesised relationships in the study revealed that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use were statistically significant predictors of big data adoption. Instructively, this relationship was subject to the extent of behavioural intention of respondents. For respondents with a low behavioural intention to adopt big data, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use displayed a statistically insignificant relationship with big data adoption. Conversely, the regression model for the group of respondents with a high behavioural intention to adopt big data is statistically significant. These findings enrich literature related to big data from a developing country context while concurrently identifying veritable antecedents of big data adoption in financial institutions.

Counter-conducting environmental injustices and (un)accountability: Ken Saro-Wiwa’s accounts of the Ogoni’s struggle for emancipation

PurposeThis paper explores the historical roots of environmental accountability in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria by focusing on the campaigns for social and environmental justice by writer Ken Saro-Wiwa and the indigenous Ogoni people.Design/methodology/approachThe methods consist of an analysis of books, diaries, letters and poems written by Ken Saro-Wiwa as well as books, reports and audio recordings of panel discussions which capture the Ogoni struggle, Ken Saro-Wiwa’s activism and its impacts. The authors’ approach to the data is sensitised by Foucault’s notion of counter-conduct as it enables the authors to better grasp the creative agency of Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni as they struggle and campaign for political autonomy, environmental justice and accountability.FindingsThe authors’ findings illustrate how Ken Saro-Wiwa’s books, letters, poems, diaries and articles provide early accounts of environmental injustices and the absence of accountability in the Niger Delta. They highlight how Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni movement deploy counter-conduct to subvert existing power and accountability structures through innovative strategies, effective mobilisation and communication at local and international levels. The authors’ findings also highlight how these have led to specific forms of accountability for human rights and the environment at local and global levels. They also show how Saro-Wiwa’s activism and the Ogoni struggle have inspired a new generation of environmental activists and new ways of demanding accountability.Originality/valueThis paper presents, for the first time, an account of the historical roots of environmental accountability practices from an African and developing country context. Its focus on the historical roots of environmental accountability is also unique as it expands the view beyond the origins of environmental accounting to look more broadly at the origins of environmental accountability practices.

Supply chain resilience in developing countries: a bibliometric analysis and future research directions

PurposeUsing bibliometric, this work aims to evaluate the current status of the body of research on the subject of supply chain resilience (SCR) in developing nations and to provide recommendations for potential lines of inquiry for additional research.Design/methodology/approachThree hundred and thirty-six articles published between 2011 and 2021 were retrieved in Scopus for this bibliometric analysis. This analysis focuses on SCR research conducted in developing countries, highlighting its key authors, countries, institutions, journals, articles and themes.FindingsThis bibliometric review seeks to enrich the discourse on SCR in developing nations through a comprehensive and detailed review of 336 articles covering 138 Journals, 73 countries, 877 authors, 743 organizations and 1,145 author keywords. The United Kingdom, India, and the United States provided a substantial share of the publications. Publication-wise, Hong Kong Polytechnic University and The University of Hong Kong play key roles. The author found that supply chain risk management, sustainability, agile management, artificial intelligence and blockchain are trending topics. Additionally, the author identified eight themes by page rank analysis.Practical implicationsThis study's importance lies primarily in its examination of the current information about SCR in developing countries and significant cluster areas (themes). In the paths, it recommends for further study, which academics may take, and industry professionals should apply in their businesses to create a more resilient and sustainable supply chain.Originality/valueBased on published studies, this study gives exploratory data on SCR in developing countries context. This is first of its kind bibliometric study that focuses on developing countries.

Entrepreneurial ecosystems’ readiness towards knowledge-intensive sustainable entrepreneurship: Evidence from Brazil

Pathways to sustainable development are a key to providing innovation transitions and well-being. In this context, knowledge-intensive entrepreneurs play a pivotal role in shaping the markets for new products, services and business models. Prior literature has put emphasis on the contextual elements that shape entrepreneurial opportunities and business endeavors, i.e., entrepreneurial ecosystems. However, little is known about the extent to which these ecosystems are capable of nurturing the emergence of knowledge-intensive ventures with a sustainable orientation. Our goal in this article is to identify the ‘readiness’ of entrepreneurial ecosystems in terms of enablers of Knowledge-Intensive Sustainable Entrepreneurship (KISE) events in a developing country context – and how they differ from ‘traditional’ Knowledge-Intensive Entrepreneurship (KIE). Our empirical data comes from firms participating in the PIPE Program (Innovative Research in Small Business) funded by the São Paulo Research Foundation in Brazil. The methodological approach relies on the estimation of entrepreneurial propensity functions that assess the statistical associations between city-level features and the generation of KISE for a panel of 629 municipalities. Findings indicate strong similarities on the underlying ecosystem drivers of KIE and KISE. However, when we disaggregate KISE into four domains (Cities, Health, Education and Green Technologies), the ‘ecosystem readiness’ towards sustainable transitions varies from more mature (as in the case of HealthTechs with an inclusive orientation) to very incipient configurations (Cities and EdTechs).

Evaluating Collective Action for Effective Land Policy Reform in Developing Country Contexts: The Construction and Validation of Dimensions and Indicators

Although land reform can be motivated by different policy objectives, it always involves the participation of many actors. Insights from New Institutional Economics suggest that individual interests that are not aligned with collective interests tend to undermine the goals of reform. This study provides a viable framework and measures for social capital, trust, and cooperation performance and their interrelationships to compensate for the existing separate analysis of these three factors and their rare application in achieving goals of collective action. We also build a strong and deepening theoretical foundation for the indicator design, providing a rich representation of social capital, trust, and cooperation performance. After being presented with variables, indicators are used to further elaborate on the variables to enhance the richness and science of the indicator design. The validation results of indicators from 12 experts and 223 respondents are to yield an average reliable coefficient as a positive sign of reliability and validity of the evaluation process with Kendall’s Co-efficient of Concordance (W) through R programming. This study emphasizes the importance of collective action for sustainable land use and effective land policy reform, a topic that remains underrepresented in most land reform analyses.

Conceptualising the characteristics of the indicators of a neighbourhood sustainability assessment framework in a developing country context

Sustainability Indicators (SIs) emerged to monitor progress towards sustainable development which has led to the development of large quantity of indicators locally at the various scales of spatial development. This paper utilizes 23 SIs that were distilled in engagement with both residents and institutional stakeholders responsible for neighbourhood delivery in metropolitan Lagos. The aim is to conceptualise how these indicators can be characterised in terms of their attributes in a way they can be compared with indicators developed in other contexts. Drawing extensively from literature on how indicators can be described, the 23 indicators were characterised based on their typology in an assessment framework, weight, and ranking, and balance (i.e. contextual, procedural, and integrational). Findings showed that while there are some similarities in the characteristics of the indicators when compared to existing Neighbourhood Sustainability Assessment Frameworks (NSAFs), there are areas of differences which are primarily driven by contextual factors. As major area of contribution, this article could serve as a starting point, and basis for comparison with indicators developed in other African cities with similar contextual factors and sustainability challenges. This paper contributes significantly to the argument that SIs are context-specific and transference of sustainability solutions may be quite challenging.

A Policy Design Framework on the Roles of S&T Universities in Innovation Ecosystems: Integrating Stakeholders’ Voices for Industry 4.0

In the digital transformation era, especially university-based innovation ecosystems (IEs) play an essential role in linking science and technology universities with industrial firms, including startups and enterprises. However, establishing a productive collaboration between these actors has many challenges. In this context, we primarily aim to explore the roles of universities as strong IE actors in Industry 4.0 technologies domain from the view of startup companies in these ecosystems. This article devises an integration matrix framework that links the I4.0 technology domains and their adoption challenges with the universities’ roles and obstacles for contributing to I4.0 adoption and digital transformation. The proposed framework considers and integrates the opinions of different stakeholder groups for prioritizing issues to select high-impact policy areas for universities. We collect data on the prioritization and links between the framed technologies, their challenges, universities’ roles, and obstacles by performing two different Delphi studies with 59 cofounders of Industry 4.0 startups and 15 experts on IEs in Turkey, as a case from developing country context. The integration matrix indicates high-impact and priority areas for policy development from a complex dataset, reflecting the voices of IE stakeholders in a structured way. The study also discusses the theoretical and managerial implications of the findings, highlighting potential research.

Sustainability Reporting Practices in Bangladesh: Insights from Upper Echelons Theory

The objective of this paper is to explore and understand how the top management team (TMT)'s, namely the CEO/ MD/ Board of Directors (BOD) and Executive Committee Members, observable attributes and cognitive traits influence the strategic choices, such as adopting the Sustainability Reporting (SR) practices in the organization. This qualitative study conducts 12 semi-structured in-depth interviews with the Top Management Team, including CEOs of publicly listed companies from different industries in Bangladesh. Using the Upper Echelons theory, the author provides an alternative theoretical lens to the motivations of SR practices in Bangladesh. There has been a number of studies on the relationship between CEO attributes and strategic decisions in management literature, primarily in the developed country context. However, the influence of CEO and TMT traits on strategic choices like SR practices in emerging countries is scant. The overall analysis reveals that cognitive bases like values and beliefs, philosophies, and vision of the top management team (TMT), as well as the observable traits like education and background, career track, functional and financial expertise, international exposure or orientation, views, and understanding of the SDGs and their disclosure influence the strategic choice of organizations like the adoption of SR practices. Demographic traits largely shape the values, views, and attitudes of the top management (Hambrick & Mason, 1984), which help them develop or change their perceptions and eventually influence their strategic choice. This paper contributes to sustainability reporting literature by providing an insight into how the top management characteristics shape the SR practices in an emerging economy like Bangladesh.

Quality of Work Life as a Precursor to Work–Life Balance: Collegiality and Job Security as Moderators and Job Satisfaction as a Mediator

The current study investigates the relationship between quality of work life (QWL) and work–life balance (WLB) among construction workers in a developing country, India. A multi-layered conceptual model involving collegiality and job security as moderators in the relationships were developed. A survey instrument was used, and data were collected from 592 construction workers from southern India. After checking the psychometric properties of the measures using LISREL 9.30 software for covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM), a structural model was analyzed using Hayes’s PROCESS macros. The findings indicate the following: (i) QWL is positively associated with (a) WLB and (b) job satisfaction; (ii) job satisfaction positively predicts QWL; and (iii) job satisfaction mediates the relationship between QWL and WLB. The results also support the following: (i) work environment (second moderator) moderates the moderated relationship between QWL and collegiality (first moderator) in influencing job satisfaction; and (ii) work hours (second moderator) moderates the moderated relationship between job satisfaction and job security (first moderator) to influence WLB. The first three-way interaction between QWL, collegiality, and work environment and the second three-way interaction between job satisfaction, job security, and work hours have been investigated for the first time concerning construction workers in a developing country context and make a novel contribution to the advancement of literature on QWL and WLB. Further, this study contributes to the socio-economic well-being of workers and contributes to the sustainable working environment. The implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Understanding Vulnerability to Poverty, COVID-19’s Effects, and Implications for Social Protection: Insights from Ghana

The Coronavirus pandemic has created new vulnerabilities and deepened existing ones. In Ghana, the overall headcount poverty decline has disguised a large group of vulnerable households now threatened with falling back into poverty given the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This article draws on new household panel data to analyse transient poverty, the drivers of vulnerability before and since the COVID-19 pandemic and provides implications for social protection. Using poverty transition matrices, we first measure poverty episodes which help to not only track the movements in and out of poverty but also to identify and categorize households into distinctive groups. We then apply logistic regression to examine the determinants of vulnerability to poverty before evaluating COVID-19 vulnerabilities in the context of social protection in Ghana. We find that a large group of struggling households exist between the poor and the stable middle classes that have been overlooked by cash transfer programmes. We characterize this group and show that current vulnerability measurements and social protection design need adjustments. We also find that poverty and vulnerability to it is no longer a rural phenomenon as the transient poor since the COVID-19 pandemic are mostly located in urban areas and largely not covered by current social protection systems. Both vertical and horizontal expansion of social policy is required to reach these new groups and new locations. For reducing poverty and limiting vulnerability in developing country contexts, our findings imply that (a) new measurements and targeting may be required, (b) vulnerable informal groups in urban areas need to be included, and (c) new types of social protection for struggling households are required to prevent their falling back into poverty in the event of aggregate shocks.

Determinants of digital technologies adoption in government census data operations

PurposeThis study investigates the determinants of digital census for population and housing census (PHC) program through the lens of performance expectancy, technology readiness, self-efficacy and hedonic motivation for the upliftment of a national data collection exercise and development of human resource management.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative and qualitative research method was used to survey enumerators' responses from the PHC exercise during the COVID-19 period in Ghana. Based on the four determinants, a conceptual framework was developed consisting of eight proposed hypotheses tested through a structural equation model.FindingsThe findings of the study indicate that technological readiness, self-efficacy and hedonic motivation significantly influence behavioural intention to adopt digital technologies for PHC training and data collection. Importantly, the authors identified four key themes relating to digital technologies in PHC – personal enablers, general enablers, inherent affordances (inherent possibilities by the user in relation to what the technology offers in context) and personal inhibitors.Originality/valueFor research, this work systematizes antecedents from diverse research streams and validates their relative impact on government digital transformation for accurate data, thus providing a cohesive theoretical explanation of digital technologies in PHC. Due to the study's infancy in a developing country context, the findings provide a preliminary foundation and constructive insight for a digitalization plan conducive to people’s personality and technological readiness.

“Your Health at Present”: Are Patterns of Reporting Heterogeneity in Self-rated Health Gendered?

This study explores reporting heterogeneity in self-rated health in a developing country context, and it thereby contributes to a growing literature which evaluates whether purely subjective indicators of health provide reliable measures of health status that permit inter-personal comparisons. We focus on gender and investigate if reporting patterns on self-rated health vary systematically between women and men. Most studies assess the reliability of self-rated health indicators by incorporating gender as a control variable in the analysis. We extend this research by examining whether gender intersects with a range of social factors to affect health perceptions. We analyse national longitudinal data, using the random effects generalised ordered probit iterative estimation procedure, thereby controlling for unobserved characteristics that may compromise cross-sectional analysis. Overall, our study corroborates other findings on the reliability of subjective health indicators, even in the culturally and economically diverse context of South Africa. However, although reporting styles are largely consistent between women and men, we also identify several differences, which warrant further investigation in other contexts.

Is ride-hailing a step closer to personal car use? Exploring associations between car-based ride-hailing and car ownership and use aspirations among young adults

New and emerging ICT-mediated mobility services, such as ride-hailing, are shaping travel behaviours with profound implications for sustainable urban transport and mobility. Despite the growing literature on ride-hailing’s impact on travel behaviour, there is a dearth of evidence on the possible influence of this relatively new form of car-based transport on car ownership and use aspirations, and future travel behaviour. We address this gap in the literature by answering the question: does car-based ride-hailing explain aspirations for private car-based transport among young adults? We mobilise a conceptual model that accounts for the possible influences on car ownership and use aspirations of individuals’ perceived similarities between ride-hailing and private car use; perceived benefits of ride-hailing; attitude toward car ownership and use; attitude toward the environment; as well as socio-demographic attributes. We test this model empirically in a developing country context where there is a growing use of car-based ride-hailing services, especially among young demographics. We found that individuals perceived close similarities between car-based ride-hailing and private car use, and that attitude toward car use (instrumental aspects) and perceived benefits of ride-hailing had a direct positive influence on their perceptions. Car ownership and use aspirations were strongly underpinned by individuals’ experience using car-based ride-hailing as well as the social-symbolic meaning of the private car. We also found a dissonance between individuals’ pro-environmental attitude and their desire for car ownership and use. We conclude that ride-hailing is fulfilling an immediate preference for car-based transport among our study participants. Car-based ride-hailing could therefore be a step closer to realizing personal car ownership and use aspirations. We reflect on the implications for creating sustainable urban transport and mobility futures.

Role of sustainable supply chain management practices in boosting environmental performance: Empirical evidence from the textile sector of developing economies

The global climate crisis hampers emerging economies, hindering textile manufacturers from implementing innovative measures to address climate change impacts in their daily operations amidst a complex and dynamic business environment. The key focus of the current study is to investigate the impact of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices on the operational, organizational and environmental performance of textile firms. Data from 210 textile firms in a developing country context severely impacted by climate change and global warming was collected using cluster sampling for the study. The study shows that implementing SSCM practices can improve operational efficiency and organizational and environmental performance. Furthermore, the findings indicate that environmental goals (environmental cost savings and environmental impact) can be enhanced by implementing proper SSCM practices through operational excellence. In conclusion, this study offers implications for managers and insights to policymakers and managers of the textile industry.

Supply chain information integration, supply chain innovativeness and supply chain resilience among manufacturing firms in a developing context

Purpose The purpose of this study is to empirically explore the influence of supply chain information integration (SCII) on supply chain innovativeness (SCI) and supply chain resilience (SCRE).Design/methodology/approach Data from 403 manufacturing companies in Uganda were analyzed using Analysis of Moments of Structures version 27. Unmeasured common latent factors were used to minimize the bias of common methods.Findings SCII, SCI and SCRE have significant positive relationships. About 41% of SCII and SCRE are partially mediated by SCI.Research limitations/implications Considering variations in perception of SCRE, the cross-sectional nature of the study limits generalizability and transferability. Experiments and interviews are recommended to explore differences between firms in SCRE.Practical implications SCII and SCI capabilities buffer a firm’s SCRE.Originality/value This study establishes SCI as a mediator between SCII and SCRE by studying manufacturing firms in a developing country context.

Enhancing supply chain resilience in SMEs: the role of business and political ties

PurposeThe COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has created disruptions across the supply chain that are beyond the resources of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to effectively deal with. This study aims to examine the idea that top managers' business and political ties can play direct roles in enhancing SCR in SMEs during COVID-19 by providing access to valuable resources. The study further investigates integrative capability as an underlying mechanism through which the effects of business and political ties can be transformed into enhanced SCR.Design/methodology/approachResponses from 217 SMEs in the country of Jordan were received via an online survey. The measurement and structural models were tested using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) technique.FindingsThe study found that business and political ties are positively related to SCR. However, integrative capability fully mediates the relationship between business ties and SCR, whereas it partially mediates the relationship between political ties and SCR.Research limitations/implicationsThe study examined only the direct and indirect impacts of business and political ties on SCR. It could be extended by exploring the conditions under which they influence SCR.Originality/valueThe study explicates the role of top managers' business and political ties on improving SCR in a developing country context. It further examines the mediating role of integrative capability in the relationships between business and political ties and SCR.