The Role of Entrepreneurial Orientation and Learning on the Performance of Junior Enterprises

This study aims to develop a model that analyzes the influence of learning orientation (LO) and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) as antecedents of performance in junior enterprises (JEs). To this end, a research model was developed and tested through a survey of a sample of 235 presidents of Brazilian Junior Enterprises. Through the Structural Modeling Equation (SME) technique, the effects of each of the variables on the performance of JEs were evaluated. The results indicate that both the EO and LO dimensions have a positive impact on the performance of this type of a company. Therefore, this study advances the understanding of the impact of strategic dimensions in a new context, as well as making direct contributions to these companies and other interested parties to use the results presented to support the construction of new strategies for improving performance

The Effect of Institutional Quality on Economic Growth: Evidence from Tripartite Approaches in the Context of War-Torn Countries

This paper is undertaken to investigate the role of institutional quality in proportion to the economic growth of war-torn countries during the last 20 years. Within this framework, the paper employed three different models to investigate the link that exists between good governance indicators and economic growth. According to the results, the long-run PMG model indicated that political stability and regulatory quality increase war-torn countries’ economic development. Contrarily, it has been demonstrated that the situation of law and corruption in these countries reduces economic growth. Neither the long-term nor short-term estimations from the MG and DFE models showed any noteworthy results. Next, the FMOLS and DOLS revealed that political stability, voice and accountability have a favorable effect on the economic development of these nations. On the other hand, these nations’ regulatory standards had a very detrimental impact on economic growth. Lastly, the fixed-effects model showed that a 1% improvement in these nations’ political stability will result in a 4.5% increase in GDP. This research will aid managers, academics, and policymakers in determining the course of actions needed in their areas of specialization or nations of interest to ensure economic growth and put in place an effective institutional framework through enforced supervision

Exploring Value Co-Creation in Sharing Platforms by Applying DART Framework

The spread and development of sharing platforms can be seen in many countries around the world, especially in emerging economies. However, sharing platforms face challenges in retaining users and attracting new ones. The value co-creation can be used as a tool to ensure competitiveness, develop innovation, and strengthen relationships with consumers. Thus, this study aims to explore value co-creation in sharing platforms from the perspective of platform developers by applying the DART framework. Case study analysis was applied to the empirical study. Its results indicate that the dialogue dimension unfolds through interaction; the access develops through information and tools; the risk-benefit reveals the disadvantages of sources and the possible risks of using the sharing platform; the transparency is exposed through transparency about user reliability. A new sub-dimension emerges in the dialogue dimension – ‘networking’, where platform actors can participate in value co-creation as user groups and foster innovation. Since information overload can lead to undesirable user behavior, we propose to assess the ‘navigation’ sub-dimension by analyzing the access dimension. The results of the study contribute to value co-creation scientific literature by extending and adapting the DART framework for sharing-based business models and provide useful practical insights for sharing platform developers

Global Value Chain and Total Factor Productivity in Africa

This paper examines the impact of global value chain (GVC) participation on total factor productivity in African economies. The analysis is based on panel corrected standard errors, IV-estimation technique and the novel Method of Moment (MM)-panel quantile regression. The results reveal that there is positive and significant relationship between global value chain and total factor productivity in African economies. Specifically, we discover that the impact of GVC participation on total factor productivity is positive and significant. This result is consistent across all the quartiles after employing MM-panel quartile regression. The coefficients of global value chains improve as we approach a higher quantile. The study concludes that GVC participation allows access to a larger global market which local firms may explore to gain from scale economies, and to learn using modern technology and innovations. It facilitates connections to cheaper and quality inputs for domestic production, while efficiency is guaranteed

Austerity Measures, Infrastructure and Economic Development in South Africa (1996–2019)

The paper aims to establish whether austerity measures promote economic development, improve infrastructure development, and whether they exacerbate infrastructure backlogs. The methodology used is a quantitative research method, sourcing secondary quarterly data from the South African Reserve Bank. The VAR model is used to analyse data between 1994 and 2019. The results showed that austerity measures have a significantly negative role in economic development. Also, they slow down investments that are crucial for infrastructure development. The results also pointed to the exacerbation of infrastructure backlogs caused by austerity measures

Communicating the Value of Waste Management to Customers: Focus on Website Content

Understanding waste management processes and their role in positive environmental changes is significant at various levels. Among members of the public, awareness can be fostered by communicating the benefits of waste management and responding to the needs of individuals. The web is one of the communication channels that is easily accessible to many users and managed by waste management organisations. Therefore, this study aims to explore the combinations of content ideas, forms, and customer value dimensions in communication with society about the value of waste management through a website. Theoretical analysis showed that purposeful communication of customer value can be implemented by utilising different customer value dimensions using content marketing principles. Quantitative content analysis of waste management organisation websites was conducted and directed toward the current state of communication and its patterns. The results revealed that current content focuses on the repetitive communication of functional value through informative articles. Thus, a lack of more diverse content presenting the emotional and social values of waste management was identified. The waste management field can benefit by integrating various customer value dimensions and content marketing theory to identify new opportunities and ways to involve society and achieve the scale of impact needed. The authors would like to thank the European Commission and the REA for the support of the TWIN-PEAKS project. TWIN-PEAKS has received funding from the European Union`s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 951308

The Impact of Technology Awareness, Motivation and Attitude on Intention to Pay with Cryptocurrency for Tourism Services

This study aims to investigate consumer intention to pay for services in the travel and tourism industry using cryptocurrencies. This research investigates the impact of technology awareness, motivational factors and consumer attitudes on the intention to pay for tourism services using cryptocurrency by analyzing data collected from 794 respondents in the Baltic countries (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia). The empirical findings support the extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and confirm that technology awareness, motivational factors and attitudes towards cryptocurrencies have a statistically significant impact on the intention to use cryptocurrencies to pay for tourism services. The results also suggest that technology awareness has an indirect effect on intention through the mediators of motivational factors and attitude, with motivation indirectly affecting intention through the mediator of attitude towards cryptocurrencies

Long-Term Asymmetric Impact of VAT on Domestic Investment in Nigeria

We employ a non-linear ARDL (NARDL) technique to explore long-term asymmetric influence of value added tax (VAT) on domestic investment using quarterly data for Nigeria from 1994 to 2021. A long-term relation was found between domestic investment and VAT (alongside lending and inflation rates, credit to private sector, exchange rate, openness and households’ consumption expenditure) based on the bounds test to cointegration. We uncovered a long-term asymmetric association between domestic investment and VAT. The results show that a positive shock (an increase) in VAT has a long-term decrease and significant influence on domestic investment, while a negative shock (a decrease) in VAT has an insignificant positive influence on investment during the long-term. Other significant long-term drivers of domestic investment are credit to private sector, inflation and lending rates, openness, exchange rate and households’ consumption expenditure. Some recommendations have been offered based on the empirical outcomes

MOOCs: The Factors Impacting Learners’ Continuance Intention, the Intention to Complete or Cancel a Course

The growing popularity of massive open online courses (MOOCs), especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, has attracted significant attention from researchers and businesses. Though many studies have investigated what motivates learners’ continuance intention, it is no less important to reveal the factors that lead to course completion or cancellation. The aim of this study is to reveal the factors impacting three different e-learning behaviour intentions– continuance intention, the intention to complete, and the intention to cancel MOOCs – by applying the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and the technology acceptance model (TAM). Based on a survey of 299 respondents, it was revealed that the TAM only explains continuance intention but cannot be fully employed to predict two other e-learning behavior intentions. Also, participants’ support and self-efficacy, being a part of the TPB model, had an influence on the intention to complete the course, while they did not affect continuance intention. Only participants’ support had a moderate positive impact on the intention to cancel it. Moreover, it was revealed that continuance intention positively impacted the intention to complete and negatively impacted the intention to cancel the course. This expands the body of knowledge about learners’ motivations for three different e-learning behaviour intentions and has managerial implications for their development in emerging economies

Entrepreneurial Climate in India, China and the USA

Entrepreneurship plays a vital role in the process of wealth creation and improving the standard of living of the people through large-scale employment generation. So this study aims to identify the critical factors among the entrepreneurial framework conditions (EFC) and entrepreneurial behaviour and attitudes (EBAA) in enhancing the entrepreneurship climate in the United States of America (USA), China and India. The data for the study is collected from GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor) on EBAA and EFC. Exploratory factor analysis was attempted initially to reduce the EBAA and EFC data into manageable factors. Further, confirmatory factor analysis was attempted to cross-validate the results. Key Points: • The results unveil that the Public conditions and Business Promotions (EFC) in the USA are superior to India and China. At the same time, India lags behind both the USA and China. • Indian entrepreneurs are more optimistic and audacious than their Chinese counterparts. • The future of entrepreneurship in India depends on what measures the Government adopts today to strengthen the entrepreneurship framework conditions