Constantino García-Ramos, Nuria Gonzalez-Alvarez and Mariano Nieto
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the influence of the institutional environment on entrepreneurial failure of certain characteristics, both formal (regulatory complexity…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the influence of the institutional environment on entrepreneurial failure of certain characteristics, both formal (regulatory complexity and tax pressure) and informal (social capital and fear of failure).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use data drawn from a panel of 37 countries over a period of nine years (2006-2014).
Findings
Results show that the greater the regulatory complexity, the higher the rate of entrepreneurial failure; also that the higher the country’s stock of social capital, the lower the rate of entrepreneurial failure. Finally, the greater the tax pressure, the lower the rate of business failure.
Research limitations/implications
Among the limitations of this paper is the difficulty of directly measuring the variables it analyses, making it necessary to use proxies.
Practical implications
This study has important practical implications for policymakers. First, the study provides important insights on how regulatory complexity positively affects entrepreneurial failure. In other words, the study represents a response to the call for the development of a better regulatory environment since this plays a significant role in entrepreneurial failure. Second, regarding tax pressure, the authors found that the greater the tax pressure, the lower the rate of entrepreneurial failure. In this respect, entrepreneurs, academics and policymakers should be aware of this result. Finally, this study also demonstrates the important role of social capital in preventing entrepreneurial failure.
Originality/value
In line with the findings, this study provides proof of how the institutional framework can have an influence on entrepreneurial failure.
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Mariano Nieto, Daniel Alonso-Martínez and Nuria González-Álvarez
The purpose of the paper is to study the determinants of firms' innovation effort using the main approaches in strategic management. The authors specifically analyze the joint…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to study the determinants of firms' innovation effort using the main approaches in strategic management. The authors specifically analyze the joint effects of industry structure and country characteristics on innovation effort while controlling for firm resources.
Design/methodology/approach
The hypotheses proposed are tested using a data set that includes firms registered in the EU Industrial R&D Investment (IRI) Scoreboard (European Commission, 2011). Specifically, the authors designed and applied a Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) method to perform an empirical analysis using a panel of 1,211 innovative firms in 55 industries and 26 countries between 2004 and 2012.
Findings
Country factors have significant effects on innovation effort. Results also indicate that the moderating and complementary effects of industry and country factors depend on the geographical area.
Practical implications
Although managers have generally tended to take into account only the firm perspective in innovation activities, this paper highlights that institutional factors are also relevant and play a key role in innovation effort. The authors provide suggestions for managers on how to ensure that their investment in innovation is efficient. They also suggest that the effect of some institutional factors may be modified by competitive pressure on firms' innovation effort.
Originality/value
The paper makes an incremental contribution to the literature on the determinants of innovation by providing a different approach to firm innovation determinants and taking into account the complementarities between institutional and industrial factors.
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Diego Asensio-López, Laura Cabeza-García and Nuria González-Álvarez
The purpose of this paper is to present a review of the literature on two lines of research, corporate governance and innovation, explaining how different internal corporate…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a review of the literature on two lines of research, corporate governance and innovation, explaining how different internal corporate governance mechanisms may be determinants of business innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
It explores the theoretical background and the empirical evidence regarding the influence of both ownership structure and the board of directors on company innovation. Then, conclusions are drawn and possible future research lines are presented.
Findings
No consensus was observed regarding the relation between corporate governance and innovation, with both positive and negative arguments being found, and with empirical evidence not always pointing in the same direction. Thus, new studies trying to clarify this relationship are needed.
Originality/value
Over recent years, interest has grown in the influence of governance mechanisms on innovation decisions taken by the management. Innovation efforts and results depend on factors that are influenced by corporate governance, such as ownership structure or the functioning of the board of directors. Thus, the paper shows an updated state of the art in this field proposing future lines for empirical research.
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Johana Sierra-Morán, Laura Cabeza-García and Nuria González-Álvarez
Although the literature on corporate governance and firm innovation finds that board independence is important, this paper proposes that the presence of independent directors…
Abstract
Purpose
Although the literature on corporate governance and firm innovation finds that board independence is important, this paper proposes that the presence of independent directors alone is not enough to explain their impact on firm innovation. This study analyses if diversity among independent directors may affect the relationship between board independence and firm innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
A panel data on a sample of 124 Spanish listed companies for the period 2008–2019 used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
Results suggest that independent directors have a negative effect on firm innovation, measured as number of patents, but when there are high levels of gender and nationality diversity among such directors, this negative effect may be mitigated.
Originality/value
Considering that firm innovation is a complex process associated with decision-making and that board independence itself may be not enough, this study goes a step further and delves deeper into the characteristics of independent directors. As far as is known, this paper is the first theoretical and empirical study that considers that independent director diversity as a moderating variable between board independence and firm innovation. Besides, this research contributes to the debate on the role of independent directors in firm innovation and the results may also serve as a guideline for policy makers and firms for structuring boards that are pro-innovation.
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Nuria Gonzalez‐Alvarez and Vanesa Solis‐Rodriguez
The aim of this paper is twofold. First, it intends to analyze the influence of human capital and social capital on the second of the stages in the process of entrepreneurial…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is twofold. First, it intends to analyze the influence of human capital and social capital on the second of the stages in the process of entrepreneurial creation established by Shane and Venkataraman, the discovery of opportunities for creating a business. Second, it aims to analyze the existence of gender differences both in the discovery of opportunities and in the stock of human and social capital possessed by men and women.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Spanish Project. From a random sample of 28,888 individuals, which is representative of the whole of the Spanish population between the ages of 18 and 64, the opinion of 1,473 active entrepreneurs has been gained. Also, logistic regressions were used as a statistical method to test the hypotheses proposed.
Findings
The results indicate that individuals possessing a greater stock of human capital, as well as those who are highly involved in broad social networks, discover more chances of business creation. Similarly, this work shows that men discover more business opportunities and possess more human and social capital than women.
Research limitations/implications
The results obtained allow the authors to make a contribution to the literature about the influence that human and social capital exerts on the discovery of entrepreneurial opportunities. Regarding gender, the main contribution of the work is that gender differences exist both in the discovery of opportunities and in the stocks of human and social capital possessed by individuals. The main limitation of the paper is the difficulty of directly measuring variables used and thus the need to use “proxy” variables.
Practical implications
The results of the paper can help politicians and educators to enhance endeavours to increase attention to human and social factors and gender differences, in order to develop the second of the stages in the process of entrepreneurial creation, the discovery of opportunities for creating a business.
Originality/value
In line with the findings and research implications, the paper provides additional proofs of why gender differences exist with regard to the entrepreneurial process, in part related to differences in human and social capital. However, other factors apart from the different stocks of human and social capital could explain this phenomenon, so a new line of research is necessary.
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Daniel Alonso-Martínez, Nuria González-Álvarez and Mariano Nieto
The main goal of this study is to analyze the influence of social capital and corporate ethics on social progress. A theoretical model is proposed, and the hypotheses were tested…
Abstract
The main goal of this study is to analyze the influence of social capital and corporate ethics on social progress. A theoretical model is proposed, and the hypotheses were tested on a sample of 32 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and non-OECD countries between 2011 and 2018 that includes data from the Social Progress Imperative non-profit organization as well as from the World Economic Forum database (Global Competitiveness Reports). The results indicate that, although both social capital and corporate ethics have a direct influence on social progress, social capital also influences corporate ethics so that the latter acts as a mediating variable between social capital and social progress.
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Nuria González‐Alvarez and Mariano Nieto‐Antolín
The purpose of this paper is to study how causal ambiguity around technological competencies can help firms to achieve superior performance.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study how causal ambiguity around technological competencies can help firms to achieve superior performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Traditionally, it has been recognised that causal ambiguity of technology represents an effective protection against imitation. Recently, however, researchers have unearthed evidence that the effects of causal ambiguity also could be extending to the interior of the firm itself, hampering the diffusion of its own technological capabilities among its managers. In this case, the existence of causal ambiguity of technology will have a negative impact on firm performance. In this paper both effects are studied in a sample of 258 Spanish manufacturing firms using several statistical techniques.
Findings
The results indicate that causal ambiguity exerts a double‐edged influence on firm performance. On the positive side, by protecting technological competencies from imitation and, on the negative, hampering the diffusion of these capabilities within the firm, with this second effect being stronger.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation of this work is that there are clearly many other factors that can explain firm performance apart from causal ambiguity of technology. However, as the main objective of the present work is to study the relations between causal ambiguity around technological capabilities and firm performance, it did not seem wise, for operational reasons, to complicate the analysis by including other variables.
Practical implications
In order to achieve better results, firms must use causal ambiguity around technological competencies to protect these competencies against imitation and should make great efforts to diffuse them within the firm.
Originality/value
The results obtained allow one to make a contribution to the debate existing on the literature about the influence that causal ambiguity around technological competencies has on firm performance.
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The purpose of this study is to explore the dynamic capabilities required of information technology (IT) entrepreneurs for facing globalized challenges.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the dynamic capabilities required of information technology (IT) entrepreneurs for facing globalized challenges.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a methodological approach that combines Q‐technique and questionnaire survey, the author collected 98 statements obtained from interviewing ten IT entrepreneurs. A total of 44 out of 98 critical statements were extracted as Q‐samples based on purposive sampling. Subsequently, 20 experts used Q‐technique in terms of the sample the 44 statements to generate a revised questionnaire to investigate 500 Taiwan IT‐based companies.
Findings
According to the responses of the 281 valid copies of questionnaire received, market‐oriented sensitivity, the ability to absorb knowledge, social‐networking capability, and the integrative ability to communicate and negotiate are the dynamic capabilities required of IT entrepreneurs.
Research limitations/implications
As for the restrictions, the expansive nature of the IT industry prevented the author from addressing any specific sector of the industry, and no minimum capitalisation of IT companies was set for the sample‐collecting process.
Practical implications
The results can be used by IT entrepreneurs of SMEs in the self‐assessment of capabilities and the development of dynamic capabilities during their start‐up and growth phases. They can also be applied to nurturing successors and cultivating new entrepreneurs.
Originality/value
This study clarifies the intrinsic dynamic capabilities of IT entrepreneurs, and identifies the required components of such capabilities and their priorities. The results can be used in managerial decision‐making and personnel training, both of which help entrepreneurs in building competitive advantages.