Firm Support Research Articles

International Political Economy, Business Ecosystems, Entrepreneurship, and Sustainability: A Synthesis on the Case of the Energy Sector

This paper explores the intricate relationships among the evolution of the international political economy, the dynamics of business ecosystems, and the transformations in entrepreneurship within the European energy sector, with a specific emphasis on Greece, particularly the less developed region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. The aim is to understand how geopolitical, economic, and technological dynamics interact across macro-, meso-, and microlevels, especially within the context of the ongoing global energy transition. Α multi-method approach is employed, including interviews with 16 experts, a survey of 89 energy firms, and eight in-depth interviews with microfirm owners. A key finding is that an integrated and evolutionary macro–meso–micro framework is essential for understanding and addressing the complex dynamics across various sectors, especially in the energy sector. The study highlights the need for targeted support for smaller firms through a restructured energy policy to foster local entrepreneurship and innovation. It further emphasizes that understanding the evolution of the global energy system and its components is crucial for addressing sustainability in environmental and socioeconomic terms, as the emerging model of energy production and consumption is directly tied to the reshaping of socioeconomic development models in the new globalization.

Women helping women? Female local official and gender gap in bank credit

This study examines whether and how female local officials benefit female-led firms by focusing on the gender gap in bank credit. Using a sample of Chinese listed companies from 2007 to 2021, we find that female local officials can facilitate access to bank credit for female-led firms, particularly for long-term loans. Mechanism analysis reveals that female officials can reduce the impact of gender bias and provide greater policy support for female-led firms, thereby helping to narrow the gender gap in bank credit.

Stakeholder attention and ambidextrous green innovation: Evidence from China

AbstractBased on stakeholder theory, resource dependency theory, and institutional theory, this study focuses on exploring how primary and secondary stakeholder attention differentially influences corporate green innovation. Specifically, it distinguishes between exploratory and exploitative green innovation and further analyzes how formal institutional pressures (environmental regulations, ERs) and informal institutional pressures (public environmental concern, PEC) moderate the relationship between stakeholder attention and green innovation. By analyzing empirical data from A‐share listed companies in China from 2011 to 2021, the study finds that primary stakeholder attention often suppresses green innovation, while secondary stakeholder attention has a positive driving effect. Notably, the negative impact of primary stakeholder attention is mainly confined to exploitative innovation, whereas the positive influence of secondary stakeholder attention promotes both exploratory and exploitative green innovation. Moreover, the research confirms that ERs and PEC, as key factors of the institutional environment, play crucial roles in reinforcing these differential impacts. They intensify the negative effects of primary stakeholder attention on green innovation and amplify the positive impact of secondary stakeholder attention. This study enriches the field of stakeholder theory, resource dependency theory, and institutional theory, offering theoretical support and practical guidance for firms' sustainable development and green transformation.

Tough and anisotropic Janus hydrogel for tendon injury repair with controlled release of bFGF in tendon microenvironment

To address the high complexity and challenging nature of large-scale tendon injury repair, an innovative Janus structured hydrogel patch (JAHP@bFGF) was designed in this study. The patch combines microenvironmental responsiveness with efficient repair function, aiming to optimise and accelerate the tendon healing process. The outer layer is a PVA/SA/Na3Cit hydrogel with excellent mechanical properties, protein resistance, and low friction, which provides firm support to the tendon and reduces adhesions to ensure the recovery of gliding function. The inner layer of TCSB@bFGF microgel responds intelligently to changes in the microenvironment, precisely regulates the release of bFGF, promotes cell proliferation and migration, accelerates tissue regeneration, and has high adhesion strength and antimicrobial properties, which significantly reduces the risk of postoperative infection. Experimental results show that JAHP@bFGF significantly optimises the healing process, accelerates the repair speed and improves the repair quality under simulated large-scale tendon injury conditions. The unique Janus surface design and the intelligent drug release function, in synergy, not only bring new hope to patients with large-scale tendon injuries, but also provide an important reference for the application of biomedical materials in the repair of complex tissues, which heralds the arrival of the era of more efficient and personalised tendon repair.

Financial geographic structure and innovation quality: Evidence from Chinese firms amid economic policy uncertainty

In countries where indirect financing dominates, the geographic distribution of financial resources to firms is crucial in enhancing credit availability and improving innovation quality. This study examines the impact and heterogeneity of financial geographic structure on firm innovation quality. Using the number of bank branches surrounding Chinese listed companies as a proxy for financial geographic structure, we employ a multidimensional fixed effects model and Heckman's two-stage method, finding that a higher density of bank branches significantly enhances firms’ access to credit. This fosters innovation by increasing invention patent applications in high-tech non-state-owned enterprises and green patent applications in non-high-tech state-owned enterprises. However, as economic policy uncertainty increases, the positive effect of financial geographic structure on firm innovation diminishes. Hence, countries facing substantial policy uncertainty and relying on indirect financing must strengthen multilevel financial markets and encourage commercial banks to provide greater support for firms pursuing higher levels of innovation.

Fintech, financing constraints and corporate green innovation

This study comprehensively analyzes the panel data of 4195 listed companies in the A-share market during the period from 2011 to 2022, aiming to explore the mechanism of fintech's influence on corporate green innovation. The study adopts a two-way fixed effects model to confirm the positive association between fintech and corporate innovation, and reveals the role of fintech in promoting corporate innovation output by alleviating financing constraints with the help of a mediated effects model. The findings suggest that FinTech not only directly promotes firms' innovation activities, but also provides important support for firms' innovation by reducing financing constraints, a finding that is confirmed by a series of robustness tests.On this basis, this paper emphasizes that, in the face of market changes brought about by fintech, firms should proactively adapt to and take advantage of these changes to mitigate the pressure of high costs of external financing by maintaining good credit records and reducing information asymmetry. Such a strategy not only helps firms obtain more funds for R&D and innovation, but is also key to achieving sustainable development goals. In addition, policymakers should also recognize the important role of fintech in promoting business innovation and green transformation and take measures to encourage its development and application for the long-term health of the economy.

Auditor Perceptions, Reactions, and Responses to PCAOB Inspection Feedback

ABSTRACT Guided by the performance feedback literature, we study PCAOB inspections as a nonstandard feedback event. We use an experiential questionnaire to collect and analyze perceptions, reactions, and responses to inspection feedback from 120 partners and managers subject to a recent PCAOB inspection. Despite varying perceptions, we find on average auditors perceive strong firm support but also that firms acquiesce to inspectors. Generally, the feedback source, inspectors, are perceived as professional, organized, and knowledgeable and auditors agree with the feedback message, perceiving it as consistent and well reasoned. We observe a range of auditor reactions (satisfaction with and motivated to use inspection feedback), responses at the engagement level (improvements to audit quality and inspection risk or impression management), and individual responses. Multivariate analyses show more positive feedback perceptions improve reactions, which enhance desirability of responses and are robust to considering the inspection outcome, offering insights for refining inspection interactions and processes.

Enhancing cybersecurity protocols in tax accounting practices: Strategies for protecting taxpayer information

This paper highlights the importance of enhancing cybersecurity measures in tax accounting to protect taxpayer data. It proposes strategies to ensure compliance and enhance data security in the context of evolving cyber threats. This study investigated the cybersecurity landscape within the tax accounting sector, focusing on prevalent threats, the effectiveness of existing security measures, and areas for improvement. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, the research combined qualitative interviews with cybersecurity experts and tax accounting professionals, quantitative surveys of 200 tax accounting firms, and detailed case studies of firms that experienced significant cyberattacks. The findings reveal that phishing attacks, ransomware, data breaches, malware, and insider threats are the most common cybersecurity challenges faced by tax accounting practices. While measures such as encryption, multi-factor authentication (MFA), firewalls, intrusion detection systems (IDS), regular security audits, and comprehensive employee training prove effective, their inconsistent implementation across the industry highlighted the need for standardized protocols. The study identified significant gaps in resource allocation, particularly for smaller firms and non-profits, and underscores the necessity for formal incident response plans. Recommendations include enhanced training programs, development of standardized security protocols, resource support for smaller firms, regular security audits, comprehensive incident response plans, and adoption of advanced technologies. The study calls for further exploration of emerging threats, cost-effective solutions for smaller firms, the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), longitudinal studies on cybersecurity practices, and analysis of policy and regulatory impacts. These insights aim to enhance the cybersecurity posture of tax accounting practices, ensuring the protection of sensitive taxpayer information and overall industry resilience.

Agrotourism in Kazakhstan as a factor of economic empowerment of rural population

Nowadays agrotourism is one of the most important tools for improving the image of the village and its attractiveness for economically active population, an effective mechanism for spreading entrepreneurship in rural areas and increasing economic opportunities for rural residents by diversifying the activities of peasant (farmer) farms. Purpose - the concept of "agrotourism", factors constraining the development of the industry are considered, new approaches to expanding the range of tourism services in rural areas of Kazakhstan on the basis of the model "One Village - One Product" (OVOP) are studied. Methods - empirical for the purpose of data selection, observation and research of specific phenomena, establishing links between them; statistical, economic analysis, logical - to identify general trends or effects, use of international experience and generalization of results. Results - the authors note that rural tourism in the country is fragmented, there is no concept and system principles in the tourism sector, which are the key barriers to the development of tourism agribusiness in the country. Popularization of the OVOP movement in the regions of the Republic of Kazakhstan will contribute to the creation of new jobs, the growth of rural people's welfare. It is shown that the agritourism sector is one of the rapidly developing directions in modern tourism. In Kazakhstan there are potential reserves of its wide distribution, which allow to diversify the tourist product and create an additional item of income to the budget of the republic. Conclusions - agrarian tourism is an important segment of modernization of agrarian sector economy, promising innovative rural entrepreneurship. The development of tourism infrastructure in rural areas contributes to the diversification of rural economy, increasing employment and income of rural population, increasing the number of small business enterprises, the volume of production of environmentally friendly products of private subsidiary plots and farms, reducing the outflow of rural population to the cities. Agritourism industry has a large reserve of natural and human resources. However, the authors state that farmers need information and consulting support of tourist firms.

Cooperative performance and lead firm support in cleaner production adoption: SEM-fsQCA analysis of precision agriculture acceptance in Vietnam

To drive sustainable agricultural development, farmers in developing countries must prioritize adoption of precision agriculture (PA) as a cleaner production practice. This study investigates factors influencing smallholder rice farmers' behavioral intention (BI) to adopt such technology in Vietnam. Data from 568 farmers was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). This study makes a significant contribution to extending the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) by demonstrating the substantial positive influence of lead firm support on the intention to adopt PA technology. Also, a key novelty of this research is its exploration of the moderating role of cooperatives’ performance in enhancing the effects of external support factors, such as government and lead firms. Additionally, the fsQCA indicates that the combination of strong external support from the government, lead firms, and cooperatives can foster high adoption intentions even under challenging internal facilitating conditions. The findings may be generalized beyond Vietnam to other developing countries to offer insights for policymakers, cooperatives, and lead firms to improve agricultural efficiency and productivity.

Impact of digital economy development on corporate green governance efficiency

ABSTRACT This study investigates the impact of regional digital economy development on firms’ Green Total Factor Productivity (GTFP), aiming to understand its role in enhancing green governance efficiency. Using panel data from Chinese listed firms and cities from 2011 to 2019, we empirically analyse the impact. Our findings reveal that regional digital economy development significantly improves firm GTFP by enhancing technical efficiency, fostering ICT agglomeration, and advancing industrial structure. Additionally, the impact varies based on city traits (e.g. fossil-fuel reliance, low-carbon focus, and Yangtze River Economic Belt location) and firm specifics (e.g. state-owned enterprises and financially constrained firms), as well as market competition. These results highlight the importance of tailored strategies to leverage digitalisation for firm-level green transition, and infer promoting the digital economy, fostering ICT agglomeration, and developing region-specific strategies considering diverse contexts (i.e. city traits, firm specifics and market) to enhance firm GTFP and support sustainable growth.

Self‐directed productivity investment on the job

AbstractThis paper considers a hidden action agency model in which an agent can be incentivized to simultaneously work and exert effort to invest in human capital or process innovation so as to increase productivity in a future period. We characterize the conditions under which the principal would and would not want to incentivize such multitasking and the conditions under which the agent would want to participate. The firm's support for investment is contingent on the agent's outside market option not being too high, and sufficient conditions for a separate contingent payment for productivity increase are presented.

Assessing trade supply chain vulnerability and trade participation of SMEs in India: insights from a comprehensive analysis

PurposeThis study presents the impact of Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU)-induced Trade Supply Chain Vulnerability (TSCV) on the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in India by leveraging the World Bank Enterprise Survey data for 2014 and 2022. Applying econometric techniques, it examines firm size’ influence on productivity and trade participation, providing insights for enhancing SME resilience and trade participation amid uncertainty.Design/methodology/approachThe econometric techniques focus on export participation, along with variables such as total exports, firm size, productivity, and capital intensity. It addresses crucial factors such as the direct import of intermediate goods and foreign ownership. Utilizing the Cobb-Douglas production function, the study estimates Total Factor Productivity, mitigating endogeneity and multicollinearity through a two-stage process. Besides, the study uses a case study of North Indian SMEs engaged in manufacturing activities and their adoption of mitigation strategies to combat unprecedented EPU.FindingsResults reveal that EPU-induced TSCV reduces exports, impacting employment and firm size. Increased productivity, driven by technological adoption, correlates with improved export performance. The study highlights the negative impact of TSCV on trade participation, particularly for smaller Indian firms. Moreover, SMEs implement cost-based, supplier-based, and inventory-based strategies more than technology-based and risk-based strategies.Practical implicationsPolicy recommendations include promoting increased imports and inward foreign direct investment to enhance small firms’ trade integration during economic uncertainty. Tailored support for smaller firms, considering their limited capacity, is crucial. Encouraging small firms to engage in international trade and adopting diverse SC mitigation strategies associated with policy uncertainty are vital considerations.Originality/valueThis study explores the impact of EPU-induced TSCV on Indian SMEs’ trade dynamics, offering nuanced insights for policymakers to enhance SME resilience amid uncertainty. The econometric analysis unveils patterns in export behavior, productivity, and factors influencing trade participation during economic uncertainty.

Lignin, extractives and structural carbohydrate characteristics of Thinopyrum intermedium biomass reveal additional valorization opportunities for dual-crop utilization.

Thinopyrum intermedium (Host) Barkworth & D.R. Dewey, or intermediate wheat grass (IWG), is being developed as the first widely-available perennial grain candidate. However, because the crop is still in development, grain yields are lower than those of traditional cereals. Utilization of its non-grain biomass (e.g. for biofuel production and as a source of fine chemicals) would increase the economic value of its cultivation. The present study provides a structural characterization of the lignin and cell wall carbohydrates in IWG biomass and qualitative profiling of biomass extractives and compares them to those of annual wheat (Triticum aestivum) biomass grown in the same location and growing season. The monosaccharide composition and ester-linked phenolic acid contents of vegetative biomass material from annual wheat and IWG were similar. IWG vegetative biomass is rich in feruloylated arabinoxylans (AX) with a very low substitution rate, whereas the AX from IWG bran have a slightly higher substitution rate. The structure of IWG lignin was investigated using both the quantitative derivatization followed by reductive cleavage method and 2D-NMR analysis, revealing an H:G:S lignin that incorporates tricin and is acylated with coumaric acid and smaller amounts of ferulates. IWG and wheat extractives contained fatty acids, various free phenolic compounds (tricin, monolignols and phenolic acids), phenolic conjugates and phytosterols. The present study provides firm support for the further exploration of T. intermedium biomass as a carbohydrate feedstock (e.g, abundant in lightly substituted AX and cellulose polymers) for biofuel production and source of high-value fine chemicals, such as tricin. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

The British Role in US-French Security Cooperation, 1978-1987

The threat of IRA terrorist attacks on French soil in the early 1980s necessitated the start of in-depth bilateral discussions between Britain and France concerning issues of counter-terrorism. France was initially reluctant to engage with Britain on these matters due to Paris’ concern that Britain would exert pressure to expand cooperation with the United States, and refused to budge from the position of cooperation only within the EEC once bilateral dialogues began. As terrorist attacks increased in France throughout the summer of 1986, the French government decided to take drastic counter-terrorist measures which angered many of their European neighbours. However, Britain’s firm support for French action had the effect of increasing British influence over France’s rather ineffective counter-terrorism policy, which in turn allowed London to apply more pressure on Paris to agree to wider consultations with Washington. Unable to resist British pressure further - particularly after the faux-pas over the Hindawi Affair - the French government in May 1986 finally decided to conduct deeper consultations on counter-terrorism issues with the United States and the other G7 nations, which resulted in the Statement on Terrorism at the G7 Summit in Venice in June 1987.

Zombie lending, labor hoarding, and local industry growth

After the bursting of real estate bubbles in 1991, Japanese banks continued lending to unviable firms to conceal problem loans. We revisit Japan’s experience and propose a new mechanism via which banks’ loan-evergreening policy undermines allocative efficiency across industries by focusing on construction and real estate loans. Namely, banks’ continuing support for construction and real estate firms encourages labor hoarding in unviable construction projects. Since construction projects predominantly use low-skilled workers, banks’ loan-evergreening policy in these troubled sectors may depress other low-skilled industries. Based on the industry-level data in each of Japan’s 47 prefectures from 1992 to 1996, we document empirical facts consistent with this hypothesis. On average, low-skilled industries experienced disproportionately slower output and employment growth and more sluggish growth in the number of new establishments in prefectures where the share of bank loans to local construction/real estate sectors increased more after construction boom ended.

Joint optimization of dynamic pricing, quality, and production quantity in the presence of online reviews: A distributionally robust optimization approach

This paper investigates the joint pricing, product quality, and production quantity decisions of a firm in a two-stage scenario, considering potential market demand uncertainty and the existence of online reviews. Two decision models are established based on whether the firm adjusts product quality and prices according to consumer feedback from reviews: a static model (as a baseline) and a dynamic model. In the static model, the firm decides product quality, prices, and production quantity in the first stage, while in the second stage, the firm does not enhance product quality, and prices remain unchanged. In the dynamic model, in the first stage, the firm decides initial product quality and pricing, then in the second stage, adjusts product quality based on consumer feedback and sets pricing accordingly. We propose a distributionally robust optimization (DRO) method to address this problem, obtaining a closed-form solution for the expected profit function under the worst distribution, making it easy to determine the optimal decision. Through numerical simulation analysis, we find that the firm implementing dynamic decisions always make higher profits compared to those using static decisions. This highlights the superiority of dynamic decisions in adapting to market changes and improving product quality. We also analyze the impact of expected and standard deviation of potential market demand, as well as consumer private assessment weight, on business decisions and profits. Our research provides effective support for firms with limited market information, enabling them to better formulate joint pricing, quality, and production decisions.

Assessing digital capability for twin transition and profitability: From firm and people perspectives with leadership support as moderator

AbstractDigital capability encompasses the skills and attitudes that firms and employees need to thrive in the modern digital era. Digital capability of a firm involves the effective adoption and use of modern digital technologies such as Industry 4.0. From the individual perspective, digital capability is referred to as knowledge and skill sets of people which are essential to work in digitally enabled firms. Not many studies have been conducted to assess how digital capability can help in twin transition, that is, both at individual and firm levels, and how such digital capability can help in improving profitability for the firms. There is also a lack of studies exploring how firm leadership support can enhance digital capability to improve both organizational and employee performance. In this background, the aim of this study is to assess the role of digital capability for both firm and people perspectives with leadership support as moderator. With the support of resource‐based view (RBV) and literature, a research model was prepared conceptually which was later validated using PLS‐SEM technique considering 348 responses from employees of different types of industries. Based on the analysis of feedback from participants in India, this study has reached a specific conclusion. Consequently, the results suffer from external validity issues which have been considered as one of the critical limitations of this study. It has been demonstrated that impacts of digital competency could improve both people and firm performance enhancing the profitability of the firms. Such enhancement of profitability is facilitated by the impact of leadership support.

Analysis of Organizational and Family Roles in the Work-Life Balance of Blue-Collar Employees

Objective –Blue-collar workers' work-life balance (WLB) issues have not received enough attention in the literature. This study aimed to examine the impact of organizational support and family support on blue-collar employees’ work-life balance.Design/Methodology –Employees engaged in the RMG industry in Bangladesh were surveyed using a questionnaire. 387 responses were analyzed through the PLS-SEM approach. The instrument and data were validated by a measurement model, and the hypotheses were tested by a structural model using SmartPLS 3.0 software.Results –The study revealed that firm support and home support can significantly influence work-life balance, and firm support can strongly impact an employee's home life. These findings indicated that the policies and practices of RMG companies and support from family members can help employees manage their overall life smoothly.Research limitations/implications - The study was conducted in the RMG industry, which limits the generalizability of its findings. Findings suggested that by introducing employee-friendly corporate policies and human resource practices, RMG companies can assist their employees in solving work-life issues and meeting their personal and family life challenges.Novelty/Originality –This study, for the first time, empirically validated firm support as an antecedent of home support. In addition, the WLB issues of blue-collar employees are focused on in this study, which has been overlooked in the prior studies.

Beyond funding: The moderating role of firms' R&D human capital on government support and venture capital for regional innovation in China

Technological innovation is a cornerstone of economic growth. It is a crucial determinant of regions' competitiveness, especially for rapidly developing emerging economies. Past research remained inconclusive on whether venture capital and government subsidies to firms have a significant effect on innovation performance at the regional level. In this article, we show the determining role of investment by firms in R&D human capital. We use panel data from 31 provinces in China, covering the period 1999–2015. The results reveal that government support for firms and venture capital do not have a significant direct impact on regional innovation performance. This effect is strongly moderated by R&D human capital. The findings of this study offer practical implications for policymakers and private investors, guiding them on how to maximize the efficiency of their R&D investments for regional economic growth. They also show the importance of investment in R&D human capital for the management of technology and innovation at the firm level.