Impact of trade liberalization on agriculture in the near East and North Africa:

Trade liberalization Africa, Agricultural trade., Economic development Africa, Sub-Saharan., Sustainable agriculture Africa, Sub-Saharan, Agricultural marketing, Agricultural policy Africa, Sub-Saharan, Agriculture Economic aspects Africa,

Promoting innovation in developing countries: a conceptual framework

The author provides a conceptual framework for approaching the promotion of technological innovation and its diffusion in developing countries. Innovation climates in developing countries are, by nature, problematic, characterized by poor business and governance conditions, low educational levels, and mediocre infrastructure. This raises particular challenges for the promotion of innovation. The latter should be understood as the diffusion of technologies-and related practices-which are new to a given context (not in absolute terms). What matters first is to provide the necessary package of support-technical, financial, commercial, legal, and so on-with flexible, autonomous agencies adapting their support and operations to the different types of concerned enterprises. Facilitating and responding to the emergence of grass-root needs at the local level is also essential. Support to entrepreneurs and local communities should be primarily provided in matching grant forms to facilitate the mobilization of local resources and ownership. It is of primary importance to pay the greatest attention to country specificities, not only in terms of development level, size, and specialization, but also in terms of administrative and cultural traditions. At the global level, major issues need also to be considered and dealt with by appropriate incentives and regulations: the role of foreign direct investment in developing countries'technological development, conditions of technologies'patenting and licensing, the North-South research asymmetry, and brain drain trends.Innovation,Environmental Economics&Policies,Agricultural Research,Poverty Assessment,Health Monitoring&Evaluation

Global Trade in the Emerging Business Environment

Global Trade in the Emerging Business Environment explores global trade dynamics in the emerging business environment. Globalization, technological advancements, Industry 4.0, China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and the COVID-19 pandemic are changing the global trade ecosystem. Companies and countries need to evaluate these rapid changes and adjust their respective business strategies and policy formulations. This book discusses such strategies and how firms and countries can reposition themselves within the current environment

Academic Aspect of the Leather Industry: An Interpretation from the Perspective of Business Science

In the leather industry, a production process that is the subject of many different disciplines is dominant. Many studies on these branches of science have examined the sector in detail in terms of production. On the other hand, studies dealing with the sector in terms of business administration department and sub-disciplines are not common. In this study, academic publications examining the relationship between the leather industry and the business administration department are the subjects. 98 scientific studies obtained after the search in the Web of Science database were examined in terms of the form of publication, the year of publication, the country where the publication was made and the sub-disciplines of the business department

Towards EU-MENA shared prosperity. Bruegel Policy Report, 3rd ed. February 2019

The trade agreements that the European Union has with North African countries – with Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia – are often seen as having delivered disappointing results since they came into force during the 2000s. The four North African countries have seen insufficient growth in their exports to the EU, and have undergone only limited diversification. In the meantime, the EU’s exports to North Africa have grown quite rapidly

Transfer of training and development practice from western countries MNCs to their subsidiaries in developing countries : the case of french and US MNCs in ivory cost

Cette thèse s'intéresse aux déterminants institutionnels et culturels du transfert de la pratique de formation et du développement des compétences des multinationales françaises et américaines vers leurs filiales en Côte d'Ivoire, un pays Africain en développement. La question fondamentale de recherche est : quels sont les facteurs institutionnels et culturels qui influencent le transfert de la pratique de formation et du développement des compétences des multinationales françaises et américaines vers leurs filiales en Côte d'Ivoire ? Afin de répondre à cette question, cette thèse est subdivisée en trois (03) articles. Le premier article met en évidence les initiatives visant à développer les compétences en Afrique subSaharienne, identifie les challenges qui leurs sont liées et propose des solutions idoines à leur amélioration. Le deuxième article examine les facteurs institutionnels du pays hôte qui influencent le transfert de la pratique de formation et de développement des compétences des multinationales françaises et américaines vers leurs filiales en Côte d'Ivoire. Le troisième article, quant à lui, examine l'influence de la distance culturelle entre les pays d'origine et hôte sur ce transfert.This thesis examines institutional and cultural determinants of training and development practice transfer to French and US MNCs' subsidiaries in Ivory Coast, a developing country of Africa. The fundamental research question is: 1) what institutional and cultural factors influence training and development practice transfer to French and US MNCs' subsidiaries in Ivory Coast? This thesis is divided into three (03) articles to answer this question. The first article highlights human capital development initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa, identifies challenges related to them, and offers solutions for their improvement. The second article investigates the host country's institutional factors that influence training and development practice transfer to French and US MNCs' subsidiaries in Ivory Coast. The third article examines the influence of the cultural distance between home and host countries on such transfer

Factoring as a Financing Alternative for African Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the main drivers of economic growth and employment. African SMEs are constrained by a lack of access to finance. In line with the pecking order theory, capital-constrained SMEs are expected to seek external finance. However, due to credit rationing, African SMEs have limited success raising finance. Factoring could enable African SMEs to gain access to finance, as underwriters mainly place the risk on the receivables as opposed to the firm itself. Despite its benefits, factoring has not taken root in sub-Saharan Africa. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the obstacles and prospects to stimulating awareness, availability, acceptance, and utilization of factoring in Africa. Data on the lived experiences of 22 executives providing or promoting factoring in 16 African countries were collected through semistructured interviews; these data were analyzed using the Braun and Clarke thematic approach. Four themes emerged: supply-side conditions, demand-side conditions, business environment conditions, and facilitating institutions and industries. Results suggest high factoring prospects, legal and regulatory impediments, low awareness levels, reluctance of banks to avail factoring, high entry barriers for nonbank factors, a lack of credit insurance, and a lack of an open account trade culture. A framework was recommended, based on these findings, along with actions for factoring development in Africa. Implications for positive social change include increased awareness which may boost factoring availability, acceptance, and utilization. Improved financing options may yield improved African SME competitiveness, which in turn, may result in improved job opportunities, household incomes, quality of life, and more broadly, Africa\u27s economic growth