Performance Of European Firms Research Articles

Management Financial Incentives and Firm Performance in a Sustainable Development Framework: Empirical Evidence from European Companies

Management financial incentives are an effective way to attract, retain and stimulate managers with beneficial spillover effects on firm performance. This paper explores the relationship between board and executive management compensation and remunerations and the financial performance of European companies from various industries in a sustainable development framework. The sample covers 1594 firms with data extracted from Thomson Reuters Eikon (Refinitiv, New York, NY, USA) databases from 2019 and a selection of specific indicators. The complex methodological endeavor encompassed by our research embeds several robust and two-stage least squares (2SLS/IV) regression models, structural equation modelling, including latent class analysis and network analysis through Gaussian Graphical Models. Main results bring to the fore that management financial incentives/packages reverberate positively and significantly on the performance of European firms, leading to important upwards in enterprise value and company earnings. Moreover, the sustainability indicators (committee, policy, energy use, renewable energies) also have positive effects on the financial performance of analyzed companies, being discussed extensively within the paper.

Debt specialization and performance of European firms

Abstract Relying on a cross-country comparable sample of European manufacturing firms, this paper investigates the relationship between the level of debt specialization (i.e. composition of the various types of debt) and firm turnover reduction in a time of crisis. The analysis is conducted applying the generalized propensity score matching methodology for continuous variables recently developed by Hirano and Imbens (2004) and Imai and Van Dyk (2004). This quasi-experimental setting allows estimating the (average) firm turnover reduction at each level of debt concentration (i.e. the dose–response function). Consistent with the theoretical analysis of De Fiore and Uhlig (2015) on the flexibility of the financial system, results from the empirical analysis suggest that firms having a diversified debt structure are less likely to experience a severe turnover reduction.

Evaluating the Effects of Product Innovation on the Performance of European Firms by Using the Generalised Propensity Score

Abstract The relationship between product innovation intensities and the performance of European firms is assessed, assuming that the selection into different intensities is based on a set of observed covariates. Most studies only distinguish between the innovating and non-innovating status of firms within a binary treatment framework. Instead, we use a generalised propensity score to estimate a dose-response function, which connects the product innovation intensities of the firms to their labour productivity and profitability growth rates, as measures of performance. The results indicate that high levels of product innovation intensity have significant positive effects on the profitability rate, whilst no significant effects are found on productivity rate.

Do Innovation and Offshoring Make a Difference? An Empirical Exploration of the Effects on the Performance of European Firms

<p>This study attempts to answer the question of whether European manufacturing firms that undertake offshoring, innovation or both benefit from higher productivity and profitability. From a methodological point of view, the driving forces that push firms to innovate and/or to offshore can be seen as self-selection mechanisms that make the estimation of their economic impact more difficult if the confounding factors affecting these mechanisms also affect the economic performance of the firms. To disentangle the effect of both offshoring and innovation on firms’ performances from the effect of firm characteristics, the propensity score matching methodology in a multi-overlapping treatment setting is used.<strong> </strong>The study targets European countries using the EU-EFIGE/Bruegel-Unicredit dataset. Decisions to offshore and innovate do not seem to have a significant effect on productivity, whereas the decision to innovate only has a significant effect on firm profitability.<strong> </strong></p>

How Did Financial Development Affect the Performance of European Firms Before and After the 2008 Credit Crisis?

The recent credit crisis led to a serious downturn in the United States and the rest of the world. This article analyzes the relationship between the crisis and financial development based upon European firm-level data. It studies how the level of financial development interacts with a firm’s dependence on external financing, as well as its size and age, in determining a firm’s earnings. It also tries to identify which factors explain the spread of shocks and their impacts on different firms during the crisis period. The results show that financial development is positively related to a firm’s earnings. Surprisingly, however, it can also exacerbate the impact of a crisis.

The impact of bundles of strategic human resource management practices on the performance of European firms

The relationship between HRM practices and perceived firm performance was analysed in 3,281 firms located in European Union countries using data derived from the Cranet data set. A factor analysis of 80 different HRM practices resulted in 15 bundles of HRM practices which were then further categorized as being either ‘calculative’, ‘collaborative’ or ‘intermediary’. While controlling for contingency factors, firm strategy, firm size, market conditions and degree of unionization, as well as controlling for industry and country, the resulting analysis indicates that while five of the six calculative practices and two of the three intermediary practices have a significant impact on performance none of the six collaborative practices has. Significantly it was further noted that the overall effect of HRM on performance was relatively modest.

Markets, Corporate Behaviour and the State. International Aspects of Industrial Organization

One Conceptual and Methodological Problems.- I. The determinants of market structure: designs for research.- 1. An analytical framework.- 2. Previous research on determinants of structure.- 3. Transnational and comparative approaches.- 4. Summary and conclusions.- II. International comparisons in the study of industrial organization.- 1. Sources of variance in studies.- 2. Options and impacts of public policies.- 3. Institutions and the formation of industrial structure.- 4. Determinants and criteria of performance.- 5. Conclusion.- III. Power and competition.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Economic power within competition.- 3. Economic power versus competition.- 4. Conclusions.- Two Concentration, Mergers and Performance in the E.E.C..- I. Concentration, size and performance of European firms.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Firm sizes and concentration.- 3. Plant size distribution.- 4. Effects of industrial concentration.- 5. Size of firms and market performance.- 6. Conclusions.- II. Large and small manufacturing enterprises in Europe and America.- 1. Aggregate industrial concentration in Britain and the United States, 1909-1970.- 2. Large enterprises in Europe.- 3. The number of small firms.- 4. The need for improved statistics on enterprises.- III. Theory and evidence concerning mergers: an international comparison.- 1. Introduction: evidence on merger activity.- 2. Merger characteristics.- 3. Motives for mergers.- 4. Merger theories.- IV. The causes and effects of mergers.- Mergers and changes in industrial concentration.- Causes of the merger wave.- Implications for industrial concentration.- The effects of mergers and some policy considerations.- V. Static and dynamic methods for analysing industrial concentration: the Italian case.- Section 1. A static analysis of the structural inequality.- Section 2. A dynamic analysis of the structural inequality.- Section 3. General commentaries and conclusions.- Three Big Corporations and Market Structures in the U.S..- I. The elements and evolution of market structure.- 1. The context of enterprises.- 2. Concepts of market structure.- 3. Evolution of market structure over time.- 4. Actual context and market structure.- 5. Risk and return.- 6. The rate of decline of market power.- 7. Implications.- II. Private planning and social efficiency.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Horizontally diversified giantism: automobiles.- 3. Vertical giantism: petroleum.- 4. Conglomerate giantism: the firms of the future.- 5. Conclusion.- Four The Impact of the Multinational Corporation.- I. Systemic instability and the global corporation at home: The role of power in economic analysis.- Methodological introduction.- Structural change and the nature of transformation.- The present transformation.- Global corporations and the nature of global corporate competition: policy implications.- The dilemma of national policy-making: the need for planning.- II. Industrial policy and the structural impact of multinational firms: an analytical view.- 1.- A. The Nation State's criteria.- B. The multinational firm's criteria.- 2.- 3.- Conclusion.- Case 1: The French biscuit industry.- Case 2: The French computer industry.- III. Theoretical elements for an introduction to petroleum economics.- 1. The genesis of the oil surplus.- 2. The appropriation of the oil surplus.- Five Some Policy Aspects.- I. Concerted action as an aspect of oligopolistic behaviour and its treatment in competition policy.- Competition policy and the solution to the problem of oligopolistic behavior.- Concluding remarks.- II. Perfect and free competition as guiding principles in competition policy towards large enterprises.- The Bundeskartellamt's policy.- Arguments in favour.- Arguments against ....- Competition: considerations for a well-designed policy.- Conclusion.- III. Industrial structure and price/wage controls: the U.S. experience.- Economic prelude to U.S. controls.- Administrative structure of program.- Basic strategy of regulations.- General price standards.- General pay standards.- Reconciling pay board and price commission standards.- Liaison with other regulatory agencies.- Dash back to the market: phases III-IV.- Results of econometric studies of controls.- Concentration and inflation.- Conclusion.