Marina Apaydin, Erkan Bayraktar and Mohammad Hossary
The purpose of this paper is to identify cross-country differences in socio-economic sustainability, which are operationalized as relative efficiency of economic and social…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify cross-country differences in socio-economic sustainability, which are operationalized as relative efficiency of economic and social impacts of hyperconnectivity (usage intensity of information and communication technologies (ICT) devices). The authors have a particular interest in the emerging economies because they enjoy outstanding growth rates and prospects for market expansion, and have undertaken significant economic reforms and, thus, should be expected to lead other two groups in the efficiency of transforming hyperconnectivity into sustainable growth.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use canonical correlation analysis (CCA) to confirm the existence of a strong and significant relationship between hyperconnectivity drivers and socio-economic outcomes on a country level. The authors test the difference in efficiency of transforming hyperconnectivity into socio-economic sustainability among three groups of countries: advanced, emerging and developing nations using data envelopment analysis (DEA).
Findings
The findings indicate that indeed emerging economies were the most effective ones to use infrastructure and digital content followed by developing and advanced countries, respectively. However, relatively better affordability of technologies in the emerging countries did not produce as much socio-economic impact as compared with developing nations. Favorable legislative conditions and high individual ICT usage in advanced economies did not contribute much to socio-economic sustainability either.
Research limitations/implications
One of the limitations of this study stems from the classification of the countries. World Economy Forum and International Monetary Fund resources are utilized for the economy categories, but their basis for classification of counties is rather subjective. Lack of existing comparative efficiency studies on a country level prevents effective benchmarking of the results.
Practical implications
Since the key vehicles of transforming technology into socio-economic impact are organizations, they should design and implement an appropriate organizational architecture which would facilitate this transformation in the emerging markets more effectively.
Social implications
In a climate of increasing public accountability, governments have been increasingly urged to introduce good administrative practices and performance standards to enable efficient utilization of their resources and enhance social implications within and across countries.
Originality/value
Although the impact of ICT on macro-economic development has been previously studied, the efficiency of this impact was not. Using CCA as a complementary tool for DEA approach in this study constitutes a methodological contribution to existing DEA research, mostly done in the area of operations management. Using DEA on a country level is a novel approach which contributes to the realm of application of this methodology.
Details
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Sami Alanzi, Vanessa Ratten, Clare D'Souza and Marthin Nanere
Culture and economic settings are often perceived as key influential elements in formulating the entrepreneurial ecosystem, either on the organizations level or the entire social…
Abstract
Culture and economic settings are often perceived as key influential elements in formulating the entrepreneurial ecosystem, either on the organizations level or the entire social system. In their different forms, culture and economic conditions have always been critical drivers for innovation and entrepreneurship. Understanding the community's cultural traits and economic status helps entrepreneurs map their entrepreneurial objectives and define enablers and deterrents. This chapter investigated the cultural and economic environment within the Gulf Council Countries (GCC), mapped their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices and entrepreneurial performance. It was evident that some cultural traits, such as tribalism, could play an adverse role in supporting entrepreneurship. However, the economic system, which mainly relies on oil and gas production, could be the best enabler for entrepreneurship, which has a unique nature in the GCC and receives high government reinforcement through massive capital surpluses generated from the oil revenue. The latest statistics ranking the global entrepreneurship performance indicated that the GCC lay in the middle area among other countries worldwide. Qatar came on the top of the GCC with a global rank of 22, while Saudi Arabia came last, at position 45 globally. The government legislative and economic support for entrepreneurship activities contributes to preparing a proper authoritative climate that promotes entrepreneurship and could be a golden opportunity for entrepreneurs in the GCC.