Jianfeng Wu and Menita Liu Cheng
The purpose of this paper is to adopt a contingency perspective and examine the impact of managerial political connections on access to a specific external resource – government…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to adopt a contingency perspective and examine the impact of managerial political connections on access to a specific external resource – government subsidies – in China.
Design/methodology/approach
This study proposes that managerial political connections help firms gain access to government subsidies; in addition, firms must signal their managerial quality through managerial reputation and/or past firm performance to address government officials' concerns with job safety and future career development. These cues, in turn, ensure and increase confidence on government officials' resource allocation decisions in favor of the firm. The authors test the contingency hypothesis by using archival data collected from 212 Chinese firms that went public between 2002 and 2004.
Findings
This study finds that managerial political connections play a significant positive impact on obtaining government subsidies only when managerial reputation is high, and/or when firm past performance is superior vis‐à‐vis others.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the existing literature in two ways. First, it enlarges the research scope of political connections by examining their impact on government subsidies instead of financial performance. Second, and more importantly, it posits that the role of political connections is contingent on other moderating factors such as managerial reputation and past firm performance.
Details
Keywords
Menita Liu Cheng, Jianfeng Wu and Jianjun Zhang
The purpose of this paper is to examine corporate political activities (CPA) by migrant entrepreneurs to improve business performance in a host developing country.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine corporate political activities (CPA) by migrant entrepreneurs to improve business performance in a host developing country.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use a cross‐sectional analysis of 97 Chinese migrant entrepreneurs with business operations in a host developing economy.
Findings
A significant positive relationship was found between formal CPAs and performance.
Research limitations/implications
To further deepen the examination of CPAs, new quantification methodologies have to be applied to properly measure CPA relational strength, investment intensity and diversity.
Practical implications
The results enable migrant entrepreneurs to make a more educated decision on the type of CPAs to pursue and to what intensity.
Social implications
The results could motivate migrant entrepreneurs to adapt rapidly to the host country's formal customs to facilitate socio‐economic adaptation.
Originality/value
This study contributes to literature by examining both formal and informal CPAs, their inter‐relationship and their effects on migrant businesses, which have not been examined previously.
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Mai Thi Thanh Thai and Ekaterina Turkina
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue on “Entrepreneurial migration: characteristics, causes and effects”.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue on “Entrepreneurial migration: characteristics, causes and effects”.
Design/methodology/approach
Literature review.
Findings
Studies on immigrant entrepreneurship have become increasingly popular and the importance of social context and social connections has been recognized by scholars. However, research on their effects on immigrant entrepreneurship has been rather limited. This special issue explains the essential steps of the entrepreneurial process by immigrants (i.e. host country choice, entrepreneurial engagement, new venture creation, business network development and corporate political activities) and discusses the effects of immigrant entrepreneurs on their host countries.
Originality/value
The paper presents a review of literature on entrepreneurial migration and social impacts.