bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Cross-country variations in the participation of small businesses in the informal economy
Authors: Williams Colin C , Horodnic Ioana Alexandra 
Published: February 2016

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to advance a new explanation for cross-country variations in the participation of small businesses in the informal economy. Drawing upon institutional theory, it proposes that the greater the asymmetry between the codified laws and regulations of formal institutions (state morality) and the unwritten socially shared rules of informal institutions (civic morality), the greater is the propensity of small businesses to participate in the informal economy. To analyse this, the extent to which small businesses evade payroll taxes by paying employees an undeclared (envelope) wage in addition to their official declared salary is analysed.Design/methodology/approach– To evaluate this, data are reported from a 2013 Eurobarometer survey involving 5,174 face-to-face interviews with employees in small businesses across the 28 member states of the European Union (EU-28).Findings– The finding is that small businesses display a greater propensity to engage in this informal wage practice in countries where there is a higher degree of asymmetry between the codified laws and regulations of formal institutions (state morality) and the unwritten socially shared rules of informal institutions (civic morality). A multi-level logistic regression analysis reveals these to be countries which have lower qualities of governance, lower levels of taxation and intervention in the labour market and less effective social transfer systems.Research limitations/implications– The major limitation of this study is that it has only examined whether employees in small businesses receive informal wages. Future cross-country surveys should analyse a wider range of ways in which small businesses participate in the informal economy such as under-reporting turnover.Originality/value– This is the first known analysis of cross-country variations in the participation of small businesses in the informal economy.
Exploring the venture capitalist – entrepreneur relationship: evidence from India
Authors: Panda Swati , Dash Shridhar 
Published: February 2016

Purpose– Maintaining cooperation and avoiding opportunism is essential for a healthy venture capitalist (VC) – entrepreneur relationship. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore the role of control and trust for developing a cooperative VC-entrepreneur relationship in an agency environment in the Indian context.Design/methodology/approach– The study adopts a multiple case study approach to investigate ten VC-entrepreneur dyads. It uses data collected from both primary and secondary sources. Content analysis was used as the data treatment technique.Findings– The empirical evidence indicates that VC-entrepreneur relationships emerging in the early stages suffer from low agency risks and use more of relational mechanisms to curb opportunism and develop cooperation while relationships at an advanced stage suffer from higher agency risks and employ more of control mechanisms to address it.Practical implications– The findings can be utilized to enhance cooperation in VC-entrepreneur relationship by identifying the appropriate context to apply relational or control mechanisms, which would eventually lead to better performance of the venture.Originality/value– This distinction results in the development of a theoretical model which shows how the dual governance mechanisms of control and trust interact with one another to affect confidence in partner cooperation as an entrepreneurial venture raises multiple rounds of venture capital across various stages. The data collected from Indian VC-entrepreneur dyads offers a rich description of the relationship dynamics across the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Online learning
Authors: Smith Tara , Barrett Rowena 
Published: February 2016

Purpose– If owner-managers engage in management development activities then chances of success may be improved for small businesses. But small business owner-managers (SBOMs) are a difficult group to engage in management development activities. While practitioners worry about timing, content and location of development activities, the purpose of this paper is to examine what drives SBOMs to participate in an online discussion forum (ODF) as a form of management development. An ODF was run with SBOMs and the factors affecting their participation are reported from this exploratory study.Design/methodology/approach– A qualitative methodology was used where data gathered from three sources, the ODF posts, in-depth interviews with participants and a focus group with non-participants. These were analysed to evaluate factors affecting participation of SBOMs in an ODF.Findings– The findings point to the importance of owner-managers’ attitudes. Attitudes that positively affected SBOMs participation in the ODF included; appreciating that learning leads to business success; positive self-efficacy developed through prior online experience; and an occupational identity as a business manager.Research limitations/implications– Few SBOMs participated in the ODF, which is consistent with research finding that they are a difficult group to engage in management development learning activities. Three forms of data were analysed to strengthen results.Practical implications– Caution should be exercised when considering investment in e-learning to develop the managerial capabilities of SBOMs.Originality/value– Evidence of the factors important for participation in an informal voluntary ODF. The findings suggest greater emphasis should be placed on changing attitudes if SBOMs are to be encouraged to participate in management development activities.
Marketing self-efficacy and firm creation
Authors: Antoncic Bostjan , Auer Antoncic Jasna , Aaltonen Heli Marketta 
Published: February 2016

Purpose– New firm creation plays an important role in economic development and growth. Despite the recognized importance of general and entrepreneurial self-efficacy for entrepreneurship, new firm creation, and growth, research has devoted minimal attention to explicitly investigating the relationship between marketing self-efficacy and firm creation. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between marketing self-efficacy and firm creation.Design/methodology/approach– Data were collected in two European countries (Finland and Slovenia). Regression analysis was used to test the hypothesis.Findings– The findings of this study demonstrate that marketing self-efficacy makes a difference in firm creation.Research limitations/implications– The model advanced in this study is partial and not comprehensive. Gaining insights into marketing self-efficacy-based firm creation in established economies of northern Europe and transition economies of Central and Eastern Europe can be valuable for broadening the new firm formation research and improving marketing self-efficacy-related practices in these countries.Practical implications– Practitioners and policymakers need to be aware that marketing self-efficacy can be an important driver of new firm creation.Social implications– It is suggested that economic policymakers make funds available or channel investments into training and education in marketing abilities in elementary, middle, higher, and university education levels in order to increase marketing self-efficacy levels in the population.Originality/value– This study contributes to a better understanding of firm creation induced by marketing self-efficacy by developing and testing a normative model.
How do entrepreneurs’ characteristics influence the benefits from the various elements of a business incubator?
Authors: Monsson Christian Kjær , Jørgensen Søren Berg 
Published: February 2016

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate empirically that differences in characteristics of entrepreneurs result in benefits from different elements of a regional incubator programme.Design/methodology/approach– The authors use mixed methods consisting of in-depth interviews and a survey of 100 incubatees in order to study entrepreneurs within a specific incubator programme called the Growth Factories located in Region Zealand, Denmark.Findings– The authors find that there are significant differences in the perceived benefit of various business incubator elements for incubatees depending on their entrepreneurial characteristics.Research limitations/implications– Future studies are particularly important in order to learn which elements provide the different kinds of entrepreneurs with a critical factor in determining their success or failure.Practical/implications– The conclusions have importance for regional government and development managers aiming at designing new business incubators. The authors suggest that in order to enhance the effect of incubator programmes they must be tailor-made to the individual entrepreneur.Originality/value– Previous studies have either tended to treat incubator programmes as a uniform entity, where all entrepreneurs receive the same service, or they have treated all entrepreneurs as a uniform group, even though it is well known that entrepreneurs vary considerably in their characteristics. This paper overcomes the gap.
Exploring the sustainability of small rural veterinary enterprise
Authors: Henry Colette , Rushton Jonathan , Baillie Sarah 
Published: February 2016

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to explore the sustainability of small rural veterinary enterprise in light of recent changes in both the farming and veterinary sectors. The overarching research question relates to how small rural veterinary enterprises, especially those at the start-up stage, can meet the needs of their farming clients while ensuring their service offering is both viable and sustainable.Design/methodology/approach– The paper draws on relevant rural enterprise and veterinary literatures as well as case data, and applies selected elements of Scott’s (2008) 7-P sustainability framework.Findings– The authors find that the future sustainability of rural veterinary SMEs is dependent on the veterinary business owners being prepared to change with their clients, develop supportive partnerships and create effective marketing strategies. The authors use the findings to construct an innovative business model to help improve future sustainability of farm animal veterinary business.Research limitations/implications– The paper adopts a single case approach.Practical/implications– Some policy implications are discussed alongside avenues for future research. The paper contributes to the rural enterprise, agriculture and veterinary business literatures.Originality/value– This is one of the few rural enterprise studies contextualized in the veterinary sector. The findings should be of value to both practitioners and policy makers concerned with ensuring future sustainability in this important sector.
Discovering opportunities in necessity: the inverse creative destruction effect
Authors: Monllor Javier , Altay Nezih 
Published: February 2016

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the changes in perceptions and actions taken on post-disaster entrepreneurial opportunities.Design/methodology/approach– Utilizing worldwide data on natural disasters (EMDAT) and entrepreneurial perceptions (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM)), the authors apply analysis of covariance to compare entrepreneurial opportunity perceptions and actions before and after a disaster took place.Findings– The study found that natural disasters have a significant and positive impact on entrepreneurial opportunity perceptions and actions but not on perceptions of self-efficacy, fear of failure and entrepreneurial intentions.Research limitations implications– One limitation of the study is the use of the secondary data. While the GEM data as well as the EMDAT data are country specific, disasters usually have a direct impact on a region of a country rather than affecting the whole country’s behavior.Practical implications– The results hold important policy implications. The fact that disasters increase entrepreneurial action implies that local government institutions should include entrepreneurial action as part of the post-disaster recovery process. By providing assistance and access to resources, government institutions could further increase entrepreneurial action and could increase the number of opportunities perceived by individuals which would lead to new and innovative businesses, in addition to the rebuilding of pre-existing firms.Originality/value– Natural disasters are frequently considered to be the cause of small business failures or an obstacle to their performance, while simultaneously thought to be a vital component of post-disaster reconstruction. To date, few researchers have attempted to understand the impact of these events on entrepreneurial tendencies, behaviors and activities, even though the authors barely understand how they could serve as a source of entrepreneurial opportunity and innovation. This research is one of the first attempts to shed some light into this interesting and important phenomenon.
How to strengthen the social media interactivity of e-government
Authors: Hao xiaoling , Zheng Daqing , Zeng Qingfeng , Fan Weiguo 
Published: February 2016

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to explore how to use social media in e-government to strengthen interactivity between government and the general public.Design/methodology/approach– Categorizing the determinants to interactivity covering depth and breadth into two aspects that are the structural features and the content features, this study employs general linear model and ANOVA method to analyse 14,910 posts belonged to the top list of the 96 most popular government accounts of Sina, one of the largest social media platforms in China.Findings– The main findings of the research are that both variables of the ratio of multimedia elements, and the ratio of external links have positive effects on the breadth of interactivity, while the ratio of multimedia features, and the ratio of originality have significant effects on the depth of interactivity.Originality/value– The contributions are as follows. First, the authors analyse the properties and the topics of government posts to draw a rich picture of how local governments use the micro-blog as a communications channel to interact with the public. Second, the authors conceptualize the government online interactivity in terms of the breadth and depth. Third, the authors identify factors that will enhance the interactivity from two aspects: structural features and content features. Lastly, the authors offer suggestions to local governments on how to strengthen the e-government interactivity in social media.
The role of trust management in reward-based crowdfunding
Authors: Zheng Haichao , Hung Jui-Long , Qi Zihao , Xu Bo 
Published: February 2016

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of trust management on the fundraising performance in reward-based crowdfunding.Design/methodology/approach– A research model was constructed based on elaboration likelihood model (ELM) and literatures with five hypotheses developed. Data were collected fromwww.demohour.com- the first and one of the largest reward-based crowdfunding platforms in China. In total, 829 reward-based crowdfunding projects were analyzed to test hypotheses. To test the hypotheses, partial least squares was used to analyze data of entrepreneur/sponsor profiles, entrepreneur/sponsor behaviors, and crowdfunding projects.Findings– Results indicated trust management significantly promoted fundraising performance via central (entrepreneur’s creditworthiness) and peripheral (entrepreneur-sponsor interactions) routes. The peripheral route (entrepreneur-sponsor interaction) showed significantly higher effects than the central route (entrepreneur’s creditworthiness). The finding aligns with authors’ assumptions derived from unique characteristics of reward-based crowdfunding – community and collaboration because personal, dynamic message interactions were more effective than static, historical success records on the trust establishment. In addition to the main effects, the results also showed entrepreneur’s prior success crowdfunding records positively moderated the effect of entrepreneur-sponsor interaction on fundraising performance.Originality/value– This study is the first paper that reveals the value of trust management in reward-based fundraising, especially the effect of dynamic entrepreneur-sponsor message interactions. Entrepreneur-sponsor interactions not only promoted community benefits in crowdfunding, but also cultivated trust relationships between entrepreneurs and sponsors. Previous studies mainly focussed on the entrepreneur’s popularity level on third-party social media (such as Facebook) toward fundraising performance. This study examines the effect of direct entrepreneur-sponsor interactions on the crowdfunding platform. Additionally, this study found one moderating effect from the central route to the peripheral route. It is a rare case in studies based on ELM. Finally, this study demonstrates how to incorporate a theoretical framework guiding the analysis of structured and unstructured data for in-depth analysis, result interpretation, and corresponding intervention strategy development.
Deconstructing the glass ceiling: gender equality in the Australian property profession
Authors: Warren Clive M J , Antoniades Hera 
Published: February 2016

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to export the role of professional bodies within the property industry in Australia in bringing about gender equality. In particular the policy objectives of the various professional bodies is analysed and contrasted with the level of genres equality demonstrated within the governance structures of the organisations at national and regional level.

Design/methodology/approach
– The paper analyses the annual reports of the leading property professional bodies in Australia to identify any gender equity policy objectives and to identify the balance between male and female representation in the governing boards of the associations.

Findings
– The research shows that while a few organisations have made some statements regarding the need for change to a more inclusive property industry these objectives are not reflected within the governance structure of the organisations. It is therefore evident that significant attitudinal and structural change will be required to bring about equality within the property industry.

Research limitations/implications
– The research is limited to the Australian property and construction industry and the relevant boards at national and state level.

Practical implications
– The paper highlights the need to address gender inequality at the senior management level within the professional associations that govern the property profession. The professional associations are uniquely placed to show leadership in promoting gender equality and should be adopting policy within the organisations charter to being about a shift in attitudes to women within management roles in the property industry.

Social implications
– The issue of gender equity is highly topical and this paper adds to the research in this area. It highlights the important role that professional associations could take in bringing about change, but reveals that many professional bodies have a worse gender balance at the governance level than many of their member firms.

Originality/value
– The paper is the first to analyse the gender mix within the professional bodies in Australia which govern and advise the property and construction industries. As such it reveals that little progress has been made in bringing about gender equality in the profession.
Representations of gender in annual reports in the real estate industry in Sweden
Authors: Staffansson Pauli Karin Maria 
Published: February 2016

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to clarify how annual reports of public housing and commercial real estate companies contribute in “doing gender” of the real estate industry in Sweden. How the issue of gender is dealt with in photographs, in two different types of organizations, with different corporate and business strategies, is important as they play a significant role in constructing the industry itself. Are there any differences in how they perceive gender, and what constitutes gender of the industry?Design/methodology/approach– Analysis of photographs in annual reports, 14 public housing companies and eight commercial real estate companies, in the year of 2011.Findings– The paper provides empirical insights about how “gender is done” in annual reports, men alone are shown more often as employees and both women and men are portrayed in stereotypical positions. Women are depicted more often as young and also presented in “token positions”.Research limitations/implications– Because of the chosen research approach, in studying only one year, a longitudinal study would be recommended for future studies.Practical implications– The paper includes implications for the development of gender symbols and images representing the industry, in how gender is done in public situations as in annual reports. This is not only important for the industry itself but also to stakeholders involved with the industry.Originality/value– This paper fulfils an identified need to study how photographs shown in annual reports reveal gender structure.
Australian Real Estate Management and Development companies and women directors
Authors: Dimovski Bill , Lombardi Luisa , Ratcliffe Christopher , Cooper Barry John 
Published: February 2016

Purpose
– There is a large literature advocating the importance of a greater proportion of women directors on boards of publicly listed firms. The purpose of this paper is to examine the numbers and proportions of women directors, including women executive directors, on listed Australian Real Estate Management and Development (REMD) companies to identify how prevalent women directors are on such boards.

Design/methodology/approach
– The study examines the numbers and proportions of women directors for 35 REMDs in 2011 and compares this to the broad board composition data on 1,715 Australian Stock Exchange listed entities. Statistically significant findings are evident due to the identified low proportions.

Findings
– The study finds that of all the Financials Sub Industry sector groups, REMDs have the lowest proportion of female directors on theirs boards – eight women on each of 35 company boards compared to 159 men on these 35 boards at 2011. Of the eight, there were only two women executive directors on boards compared to 50 men. Statistically, it appears that having women directors on REMD boards is not considered important. Even at December 2014, there are only ten women on seven company boards and only one remaining executive director of an REMD company.

Practical implications
– Given that female board representation is positively related to accounting returns and that there is a growing voice for legislation to impose mandatory proportions of women directors on boards around the world, it may be in the interests of REMD boards to consider appointing more women more quickly.

Originality/value
– The study is the first to examine the numbers and proportions of women directors amongst REMD companies to identify the paucity of such women directors.