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This study empirically investigates the moderating effects of institutions interacted with economic growth as determinants of cross-country income inequality. For a sample of 43 advanced and developing countries in the OECD and Varieties of Capitalism (VoC) literature over the period of 1995–2019, we test the hypothesis that the income inequality-increasing effects of GDP growth are reduced by robust institutions through interactive terms between economic growth and labour market institutions, gender-based institutions, and governance-based institutions. We use correlated random effects, feasible generalised least squares, and systems-generalised method of moments for panel data analysis using the Gini coefficient for post-tax and post-transfer household disposable income inequality as the dependent variable. Across all models, we find consistently significant statistical evidence for contingency effects between greater GDP growth rates and robust institutions. More specifically, the positive or inequality-increasing effects of greater GDP growth are shown to be reduced by stronger employment protection legislation and greater gender parity in education. Policy implications on inclusive growth thereby call for labour market reforms in terms of employment protection and improved access to education for women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses an analytical approach to investigate the emerging disconnect between firm size and financial performance, as observed recently from a set of long-term data collected from U.S. public firms. By holding all organizational aspects of a firm constant, it confirms the validity of the old saying that the larger a firm is, the better chance it can secure advantages against rivals and the higher returns it can fetch. However, if the assumption about organizational aspects is removed, the present study shows that if a firm employs its assets to increase production output through hiring additional employees, then the consequently increased organizational inefficiency, as caused by interactions of the employees, will soon erase the expected increase in the output. Additionally, it is also shown, among other results, that when a firm hires additional human labor to meet the increasing market demand, the expected profit will decline after first reaching its maximum level. These results crystalize what has been speculated and what have been empirically observed. In the conclusion section, it is recommended that increasing a firm’s size, in terms of the number of employees, is not a realistic, efficient solution to meeting the challenge of increasing market demand. Instead, any genuine solution must satisfy the condition that it does not increase the organization’s inefficiency of the firm, such as increasing the magnitude of automation and/or digitization.

Scholars studying entrepreneurship are increasingly interested in understanding the impact of informal factors, such as national culture or norms, on entrepreneurial behavior. One concept that is receiving particular attention is fear of failure. While the prevailing assumption here is that it functions as a hindrance, recent studies are beginning to challenge this view. Adopting a perspective on fear of failure as a country’s cultural characteristic, we examine its differential effects on the emergence of entrepreneurship at the country level across three stages of the entrepreneurial process: the pre-launch, launch and post-launch stage. Across a set of 89 countries, we find empirical evidence showing that the effects of collective fear of failure unfold differently at subsequent stages of entrepreneurship. While collective fear of failure is negatively related to the emergence of entrepreneurial intentions and opportunity-seeking behavior, it is positively related to entrepreneurial activity in later stages that aims to achieve growth and innovation. Our research contributes to the field of entrepreneurship by reconciling previously conflicting findings on the role of fear of failure in entrepreneurship and extends the ongoing discussion of entrepreneurship as a process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue reflects one of the first systematic inquiries into the effects of revolutions on institutional change, a topic previously explored only tangentially across diverse social science domains. It fosters interdisciplinary discourse on revolutionary outcomes among economists, political scientists, sociologists, and economic historians informed by the public choice research program. The issue is divided into two parts, the first of which focuses on regime overthrow and institutional transformation and the second of which focuses on rational-choice theoretic analyses of revolution and its results. By employing analytical narratives and comparative analyses of contemporary and historical revolutions, the issue advances both theoretical and empirical understandings of revolution, revolutionary dynamics, and their implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study seeks to estimate union wage effect in the public and private sectors of Ghana, respectively. It also seeks to ascertain whether the union wage effect in the two sectors varies. Design/methodology/approach: The authors use data from the Ghana Living Standards Survey 6 (GLSS 6, 2012/2013) and Ghana Labour Force Survey (GLFS, 2015). In terms of estimation technique, the authors employ the Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition technique to estimate union wage effect in public and private sectors, respectively. Findings: The findings indicate that union wage effect in the public sector is positive and higher relative to that of the private sector. Practical implications: The findings imply that strict enforcement of Section 82 of Labour Act 2003 (Act 651) will curb the political influence of public sector unions over their employer (Government). Originality/value: This research paper has not been presented to any journal for publication and it is the authors' original work. Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-01-2023-0045 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Digital Markets Act (DMA) enacted by the European Union (EU) and its implications. The author questions the effectiveness of the DMA in shaping future markets and fostering innovation in Europe. They argue that the DMA lacks a clear vision for European digital markets and overlooks the benefits of the more economic approach in antitrust enforcement. The article also highlights concerns about overregulation and the denial of efficiency defenses under the DMA. Overall, the author suggests a need for skepticism and further analysis of the DMA's impact. The author, Thomas Lübbig, suggests that the EU impact assessment process should include more consideration of the potential market outcomes that can be achieved through regulation. He proposes that instead of relying solely on evaluation, the legislator should consider implementing binding sunset clauses, which would set a specific time limit for the regulation. The author acknowledges that predicting the future is difficult, but believes that this approach would provide a more balanced and effective approach to market regulation. [Extracted from the article]

This paper theoretically models and empirically assesses the sociotechnical transition process experienced by a group of producers in southern Bahia State (Brazil). Driven by the search for economic sustainability in cocoa production, this group has achieved full sustainability through production chain upgrading, enabling the agroforestry system's (cabruca) continuity in their properties. In order to understand how and why this process happened, our conceptual model advances on the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) framework, as it is an applied way of analyzing different niche transformations within the same regime, a typical situation in agrifood systems in emerging markets. Our analyses and empirical evidence suggest that interpersonal relationships play a crucial role in this process, particularly developing concepts and strategies, and in establishing operational structures. Rules and structure formalization may replace interpersonal relationships, as observed when the transition goes forward. Our findings evidence knowledge gathering, cooperation among actors, and information and support exchanging as critical factors to trigger the niche transition process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing number of economic geography scholars have discussed the spatial dimensions of sustainability transitions (STs), which entail radical changes in socio-technical systems to overcome societal, economic, and ecological problems. This involves innovation processes with a broad range of distinctive actors. Innovation intermediaries, such as universities and research institutes, are needed to support and accelerate the transfer of knowledge. Nevertheless, little is known about the influence of such actors on the configuration of the knowledge bases required for STs. This article presents insights from 14 semi-structured interviews with experts conducted in a regional innovation system (RIS) in East Germany. In cooperation with the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development, we investigate four innovation intermediaries in the region of Eberswalde. The analytical framework links the concept of differentiated knowledge bases to small wins. Our results show that, first, in the Eberswalde region, the relevant actors involved in regional knowledge transfer focus predominantly on synthetic knowledge bases, such as experience-based knowledge of local area settings. Second, symbolic knowledge bases are crucial and often prerequisites for intermediary organizations to recombine knowledge bases and support the capability to innovate in regional knowledge transfer. Symbolic knowledge entails the ability to translate scientific findings to a language that can be understood by the various actors in knowledge transfer. Third, changes in organizational structures complement changes in cultural–cognitive and normative institutions to support innovation on a systemic level and foster change processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on the restaurant industry in Alabama. This qualitative study examines how Alabama restaurants demonstrated resilience and adaptability across three distinct phases of the pandemic, including the period of unrestricted activities, offering a new perspective. The findings highlight significant operational, financial, and labor-related difficulties faced during these phases. Key strategies include operational adjustments, technology integration, and strategic financial management. The study underscores the critical role of technology in maintaining customer connections and adapting service models during disruptions. It introduces a conceptual model that offers valuable contingency plans for operational innovation and resilience, helping restaurants manage crises effectively. Additionally, the research emphasizes the crucial role of government financial support in the survival and recovery of restaurants during the pandemic. The study enriches the existing literature by providing insights into the post-recovery impact of COVID-19 on the restaurant sector.

We study full implementation with evidence in an environment with bounded utilities. We show that a social choice function is Nash implementable in a direct revelation mechanism if and only if it satisfies the measurability condition proposed by Ben‐Porath and Lipman (2012). Building on a novel classification of lies according to their refutability with evidence, the mechanism requires only two agents, accounts for mixed‐strategy equilibria, and accommodates evidentiary costs. While monetary transfers are used, they are off the equilibrium and can be balanced with three or more agents. In a richer model of evidence due to Kartik and Tercieux (2012a), we establish pure‐strategy implementation with two or more agents in a direct revelation mechanism. We also obtain a necessary and sufficient condition on the evidence structure for renegotiation‐proof bilateral contracts, based on the classification of lies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of monitoring institutions affects quality and effort of leaders. We investigate the effect of intensified monitoring on the ability and effort of leaders for a sample of forest user groups in Ethiopia, and find experimental and non-experimental evidence of an important trade-off: monitoring increases leaders' effort but lowers their quality in terms of education and experience. This effort–ability trade-off only occurs in the presence of alternative income opportunities (affecting the opportunity cost of time) and only among a subsample of leaders with low prosocial motivation. For our context, we document that the net effect of monitoring on economic outcomes is positive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore the changes in central government administration due to European Union (EU) membership and its consequences for policy outcomes and economic efficiency in Finland and Sweden. Both countries became members of the EU in 1995. Upon joining the union, member states are expected to adopt common legislation and are encouraged to develop similar rule-making procedures. The actual implementation of EU directives varies considerably between member states, however. This is also the case for Finland and Sweden. Despite the two Nordic countries for historical reasons having had similar government systems, upon becoming members of the EU, they started to diverge. Using a model of delegation and comparing the more centralized Finnish system with the decentralized institutional setup in Sweden, we show that the Swedish approach leads to a stricter than optimal environmental policy, which in turn makes EU policy non-optimal from a global point of view, ceteris paribus. We also provide empirical support for our findings in the form of some example cases. We focus on environmental policy since this is an area that has been high on the EU agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals often deem market transactions in sex, human organs and surrogacy, among others, repugnant. Repugnance norms can be explained by appealing to social-status concerns. We study an exchange economy in which agents abhor consumption dominance: one's social status is compromised if one consumes less of every good than someone else does. Dominance may be forestalled by partitioning goods into submarkets and then invoking the repugnance norms that proscribe trade across these submarkets. Dominance may also be forestalled if individuals strategically 'overconsume' some goods, interpreted as emergent status goods. When equilibria are multiple, there is scope for welfare-enhancing policies that coordinate on status goods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing number of labour market participants transact through gig platforms. This choice should reflect a reduction in transaction costs for platform users, compared to costs they meet when using alternative modes of governance. We exploit a unique cross-platform, cross-country data set of gig platform users to test the impact of the institutional environment in one of its dimensions – the strictness of labour market regulation (LMR) – on the ability of gig platforms to reduce users' transaction costs. According to our findings, the regulation indicator of both the user and platform countries influences transaction costs for platform users, even controlling for platform and user characteristics. The platform appears to reduce transaction costs most when users face stricter or weaker LMR, in a U-shaped effect. In the former case, the platform may provide an escape from labour regulations when hiring for tasks, while in the latter case, the platform can economize on the usual transaction costs of private contracting by administrating some types of users' activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Institutions matter for postdisaster recovery. Conversely, natural disasters can also alter a society's institutions. Using the synthetic control method, this study examines the effects that Hurricane Katrina (2005) had on the formal and informal institutions in Louisiana. As measures of formal institutions, we employ two economic freedom scores corresponding to government employment (GE) (as a share of total employment at the state-level) and property tax (PT). These measures serve as proxies for the level of governmental interference into the economy and the protection of private property rights respectively. To assess the impact on informal institutions, we use state-level social capital data. We find that Hurricane Katrina had lasting impacts on Louisiana's formal institutions. In the post-Katrina period, we find that actual Louisiana had persistently higher economic freedom scores for both GE and PT than the synthetic Louisiana that did not experience the hurricane. These findings imply that the hurricane led to a reduction in both PTs and GE, which indicates a decrease in the relative size of the public sector as a share of the state's economy. On the other hand, we find no impact on our chosen measure of informal institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collusive agreements in the form of corporate cartels are complex structures. The involved firms need to agree on terms that are legally not enforceable. However, the interplay between the involved firms in a collusive agreement, i.e. the governance dimension within a cartel, has received surprisingly low attention. Using a comprehensive OECD dataset of 191 cartels from 2012 to 2018, this paper empirically demonstrates how polycentric governance within a cartel may possibly contribute to understanding its stability. It may be beneficial for the duration and lower sanctions imposed by competition authorities, especially for large cartels. By that, the paper sheds new light on two aspects: the entangled governance structures of corporate cartels and the relevance of the concept of polycentricity beyond public administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trust in institutions is important for economic prosperity. We present results from a field study where we compare stated trust in institutions in general, stated trust in employees at institutions, and amount sent to employees at institutions using a trust game. Including more than 250 entrepreneurs in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, we examine levels of trust towards entrepreneurship development agency, district administration, tax authority, and electric utility. There is a positive and sizeable significant correlation between stated trust and trust game. Furthermore, we find that generalized trust is weakly correlated with trust in specific institutions both compared with stated trust, and trust game. Given the large heterogeneity in levels of trust to specific institutions, we argue it is important to elicit institution-specific levels of trust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper explores how implementation of digital technologies (DTs) assists firms in transition economies in addressing weaknesses of the institutional environment surrounding them, in particular via establishment of collective governance systems. Based on case studies of three large-scale agroholdings operating in Ukraine, the paper aims to fill the research gaps with regard to the following: motivation of the firm to initiate DT-enabled collective governance systems; the rules these systems are based on; and the reasons behind the firm's choice of a particular governance mode – closed, shared or open – for these systems. The findings generally support the institutional theory argument that complex technology enables coordination of exchange relationships not only within but also outside firm boundaries. At that, the choice of a governance mode between closed, shared or open institutional infrastructure is likely to depend on the firm's ownership concentration, corporate transparency, availability of resources and social embeddedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of ORDO: Jahrbuch für die Ordnung von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study aims to determine whether big business or institutions comprise a more significant entrepreneurship determinant. In addition, we have three subobjectives: We examine (1) how the relationship between big businesses and entrepreneurship changes according to the economic development stage; (2) if big businesses affect the two different entrepreneurship types, namely, opportunity- and necessity-driven entrepreneurship, differently; and (3) which institutional factors are effective for these two different entrepreneurship types. To this end, we compare the effects of big businesses and institutions on entrepreneurship among 33 countries covering lower-middle-, upper-middle-, and high-income countries during the 2001–2015 period. Among the various determinants of entrepreneurship, we focus on two key factors that affect entrepreneurship, namely, big businesses and institutions while controlling for the demand- and supply-side factors that influence entrepreneurship. This study conducts fixed-effect estimations. We find that the relationship among entrepreneurship, big businesses, and economic development is “N-shaped.” In particular, there is a positive relationship between big businesses and opportunity-driven entrepreneurship in high-income countries. Moreover, among the various institutional factors, only supportive public policies toward new firms and positive social perceptions toward entrepreneurs are effective for opportunity-driven entrepreneurs, whereas none of the institutional factors are effective for necessity-driven entrepreneurs.

Copyright of Journal of International Entrepreneurship is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper provides an analysis of how thinking about the links between institutions and entrepreneurship has evolved over time. In its incipient phase, research largely viewed entrepreneurship as being independent of institutions and shaped solely by the personality attributes and characteristics of the entrepreneur. However, a reaction to the entrepreneur in isolation views entrepreneurship as being shaped and influenced by context. Institutions, public policy and culture are key components of the entrepreneurial context. Most recently, new thinking suggests that the causality can also be reversed, in that entrepreneurship may shape the institutions characterizing the context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]