Financial Development and Economic Growth in a Post Financial Liberalization Era in Ghana: Does the Measure of Financial Development Matter?

This paper investigated the long-run effect of financial sector development on growth in Ghana. The result showed that the sensitivity of financial sector development to growth depends on the choice of proxy for financial sector development. The result showed that ratio of private credit to GDP, ratio of total domestic credit to GDP, ratio of currency to GDP, ratio of currency to broad money and ratio of broad money stock to GDP are statistically significant and negatively affects growth. The result from the indexes created from principal component analysis confirmed the sensitivity of the effect to the choice of proxy. The findings therefore suggest that one will judge financial sector development as having negative or positive effect on growth depending on the choice of indicator as a proxy for financial sector development. The research therefore recommends that policy makers exercise caution in the choice of proxy for financial development in policy design

Refugee entrepreneurship survey 2023

Refugee entrepreneurship initiatives (REIs) play a significant role in rebuilding livelihoods and fostering positive social impacts among displaced communities. REIs provide a variety of activities that support people with refugee experiences to create and pursue new business opportunities. REIs have been deployed in camps[i] and host country settings[ii] around the world, gaining traction with global agencies, including UNHCR[iii] and the World Bank[iv]. Interest in these initiatives has been heightened by the intuitive connection between the global focus on refugee self-reliance and the process of starting a business. However, growth in interest masks the reality that business support for individuals with refugee backgrounds can be complex to bring to life and difficult to scale. Little is known about the collective reach and impacts of these initiatives, both on business related outcomes and on refugees’ personal development. The extent to which REIs typically monitor or estimate reach and impact is also unknown.</p

Entrepreneurial alertness: A mechanism for innovation and growth in an emerging economy

In this study, we draw from the conservation of resources theory to develop and test a model on the processes through which resiliency influences two entrepreneurial strategies, product differentiation and international diversification. Results from 226 entrepreneurs in Pakistan demonstrate that psychological resiliency predicts product diversification and international diversification through entrepreneurial alertness. Also, we find that institutional voids moderate the relationship between entrepreneurial alertness, product diversification, and international diversification. Our theorizing advances entrepreneurial alertness as a lynchpin variable for operationalizing founders’ characteristics to affect innovation and expansion efforts. Furthermore, by demonstrating the complementary effect of institutional voids on the entrepreneurial alertness–product differentiation and entrepreneurial alertness–international diversification relationships, we draw the attention of entrepreneurs to the brighter side of institutional voids. This is an important addition to international entrepreneurship literature and a critical contextual contribution to entrepreneurial alertness theory development because limited attention is devoted to examining how resiliency promotes entrepreneurial alertness for facilitating product differentiation and international diversification strategies in the Asia Pacific region

Postformation alliance capabilities and environmental innovation : the roles of environmental in‐learning and relation‐specific investments

This paper draws insights from the relational view perspective to examine the effects of two postformation alliance capabilities—interorganizational coordination and communication, and relation‐specific investments on small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises' (SMEs') environmental innovation. Analysis of time‐lagged survey data from a sample of 223 SMEs from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) shows a positive interactive effect of interorganizational coordination and communication on environmental innovation, and this relationship is mediated by environmental in‐learning. The results further indicate that relation‐specific investment moderates the indirect relationship between the complementary effect of interorganizational coordination and communication and environmental innovation. These findings extend the environmental innovation literature by exploring the interactive effect of interorganizational coordination and communication on environmental innovation

Charity can still begin at home:Examining the drivers and boundary conditions of Africa-to-Africa outward foreign direct investment (OFDI)

Recent studies on ‘Africa Rising’ and ‘Africa-to-Africa Internationalization’ have propelled conversations on how African Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) can continue to internationalize within African countries. From the tenets of the institutional theory and the dynamic capabilities perspectives, this study proposes and tests a framework of how and when dysfunctional competition drives SMEs' outward foreign direct investments within African countries. Analysis of a survey data from 196 Ghanaian SMEs operating across the African continent indicates that cross-border open innovation mediates the relationship between dysfunctional competition and SMEs' intra- Africa OFDI activities. Further analysis revealed that SMEs' strategic agility plays a double-edged sword moderating role in enhancing the effects of dysfunctional competitions and cross-border open innovation on intra-Africa OFDI. These findings have significant implications for the international business and finance literature as well as the management and growth of African SMEs

Institutional voids, international learning effort and internationalization of emerging market new ventures

Much of the existing scholarly works portray institutional voids (IVs) in emerging economies as impeding forces against the development of new ventures. However, little attention has been paid to how such voids generate positive outcomes in emerging market new ventures. Drawing on the institutional theory, we propose IVs as crucial enablers of new venture internationalization. In addition, we investigate both how and when IVs enhance the degree to which new ventures internationalize by examining international learning effort (ILE) as a mediator and two domestic market environmental factors (i.e., environmental dynamism and competitive intensity) as important contingencies. We test our moderated mediation model using primary data gathered from 211 new ventures from Ghana. We found that ILE mediates the relationship between IVs and new venture internationalization and that both environmental dynamism and competitive intensity moderate the indirect relationship between home-country IVs and new venture internationalization. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of this study

Revisiting the Accelerated Internationalization of Emerging Market SMEs : The Roles of Firms’ Collaborations and Environmental Management Practices

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Vertical alliances and innovation : A systematic review of the literature and a future research agenda

For this paper, we conducted a systematic review of 116 articles on vertical alliances and innovation published in 35 leading journals between 2000 and 2021, and provide an integrative and in-depth evaluation of the current state of the vertical alliances and innovation literature. Through such review, this article makes three key contributions to the extant literature. First, it provides an integrative overview of vertical alliances and innovation. Second, it maps the depth and scope of the study of vertical alliances and innovation by highlighting the research methods, geographical coverage, industries, and theoretical perspectives deployed by the extant scholarship. Third, it develops a multi-level framework of the vertical alliances and innovation relationship, and discusses the findings based on research linkages between antecedents, mediators, outcomes, and moderators. This framework led us to identify key research gaps and to highlight additional theoretical approaches that may shed light on this important topic, given the growing importance of technological advancement and networks for innovation.© 2022 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

External knowledge resources and new venture success in developing economies : leveraging innovative opportunities and legitimacy strategies

This study draws insights from entrepreneurial opportunity and organizational legitimacy perspectives to specify an intervening role of opportunity recognition and the contingency effect of entrepreneurial legitimacy to explain how and when external knowledge resources are associated with new venture performance. The conceptual model is tested on primary data from 230 new ventures operating in a sub-Saharan African economy: Ghana. Findings from the study indicate that the relationship between external knowledge resources and new venture performance is mediated by opportunity recognition and that high levels of both strategic and regulatory legitimacy strategies strengthen the indirect relationship. Theoretical implications and new venture management lessons drawn from these findings are discussed.https://www.elsevier.com/locate/techforehj2022Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS

Regional expansion of emerging market SMEs: the roles of domestic market environmental uncertainty and international alliance partner diversity

This study develops and tests a framework of the effect of domestic market environmental uncertainty on international alliance partner diversity (IAPD) and the effect of IAPD on small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs’) regional expansion. Leveraging primary data from a sample of 232 Pakistani SMEs, the findings indicate that domestic market dynamism and technological dynamism drive SMEs to engage in IAPD. The analysis further reveals that IAPD improves SMEs’ regional expansion, and particularly so at higher levels of cross-cultural knowledge absorption. The research and practical implications of these findings are discussed