Impact evaluations of business development grants targeting young firms have been somewhat neglected in the literature. While most research studies focus on the impact of research and development ...grants, a larger percentage of young firms would benefit from grants that assist them in business development activities. In this paper, we examine the impact of small business development grants on young small firm survival, turnover growth, labor growth, and access to external finances. We study this topic in the context of a long recession in Croatia (2009 to 2014), which makes it possible to better observe the effect of the public instrument intervention. Results show positive effect on firm survival and on obtaining long-term bank loans and no significant effects on firm performance. The grant scheme was most successful for firms newest to the market.
Resilience is a multifaceted concept used to explain both system and individual behavior across disciplines. Although definitions and research concepts of resilience vary significantly, resilience ...has become a boundary object in diverse academic fields calling for a holistic approach. This work aims to elaborate the theoretical concepts that might be applied in the research of consumer resilience to online privacy violation, a new and unexplored aspect of consumer behavior in the digital environment. The purpose of the research is to develop the future research frontiers in investigating consumer resilience to online privacy violation. It contributes to the privacy resilience debate and lays the groundwork for developing a conceptual model of online consumer resilience that would explore how individual behavior is affected after online privacy violation occurrence. Developing a conceptual model of consumer resilience to online privacy violation that would include a set of individual and environmental variables, will contribute to the existing understanding of resilience at the intersection of psychology, economics, and privacy studies. Furthermore, it will also contribute to the understanding of adaptive responses of resilient individuals to privacy breaches in an online environment, as well as to the understanding of processes by which resilience affects adaptive responses of consumers in the specific context of online privacy breaches.
Abstract
With an increasing pace of digitalization, automatization, and robotization, firms need to quickly anticipate new consumer values, trends, and needs and adjust their production, thus ...requiring constant adaptation of competences and competence-based models. This review: (1) briefly outlines the development of competence-based models; (2) presents difficulties when defining and delineating differences between competences, skills, and abilities; (3) presents the main challenges of competence measurement; (4) presents recent findings of competence-based models in organizational and individual context; and (5) highlights challenges these models are likely to encounter in the future. To this end, a non-systematic literature review was carried out to summarize relevant published research studies and to define future research directions. Results show that further competence-based research should focus on generalizing the findings by looking at various groups of workers and industries, expanding the set of competences used in the analyses, using different definitions of key competences, and developing alternative models to assess their impact on performance. Such research would allow to better assess employees’ preparedness in terms of competence requirements, as well as to identify the most critical gaps and opportunities for the formal educational system and as part of on-the-job training.
This research concentrates on Croatia with threefold aims: (1) to identify and quantify key competences developed by economics-and-business graduates; (2) to assess the degree of proximity between ...competences acquired at universities and those required on the labour market; and (3) to investigate how this proximity translates labour market outcomes for graduates. This research is based on primary data, collected through two questionnaires, one for graduates and one for firms. Key competences were identified using factor analysis. Proximity between employers-required and graduates-acquired competences were then used as covariates in explaining differences in graduates’ employability and wage premiums using standard regression model, Heckman selection model and instrumental variables approach. Results show that university education is highly skewed towards the acquisition of economics-and-business practical competences, while employers put greater emphasis on generic competences. Results also point to a penalty of having a competence gap on graduates’ probability of being employed and on their wages.
Purpose
Industry 4.0 processes brought dramatic changes in skills and competences needed at the firm level. The purpose of this paper is: to identify and quantify key competences required for workers ...with economics-and-business background; to evaluate development level of those competences among the currently employed workforce; to investigate degree of match between required and currently developed competences; and finally to assess how this (mis)match translates to firm performance.
Design/methodology/approach
This research is based on primary data, collected through questionnaires, and secondary data of firms’ financial and structural characteristics. Key competences were estimated using factor analysis and were then used as covariates in explaining differences in firms’ performance in both static and dynamic production function specifications using standard regression model, Heckman selection model and Arellano–Bond estimation.
Findings
Results show that mismatches in competences basic algebra; collectedness, conflict resolution and presentation; and motivation and organization are all negatively associated in explaining the variation of firm performance, with motivation and organization having the most significant effect.
Originality/value
This paper focuses on competence mismatch by including both sides of the labor market (employers and employees) in the analysis. This paper offers: a theoretical structure for understanding and investigating existing competence mismatches; a step-by-step industry-driven method for deriving key required competences, including an initial exploratory phase (combination of literature review, exploratory interviews and pilot study) followed by a descriptive and implementation phases (design, implementation and analysis of nationally representative survey); and finally, analysis phase (associating competence mismatches to firm performance).
Corruption and informality in business are research topics that have previously received less attention among scholars, especially in Southeast Europe. To fill this gap, and to bring some clarity to ...the phenomena of corruption and informality in the private sector, this article addresses the extent and manifestations of corrupt and informal practices in business in two post-socialist countries of ex-Yugoslavia, Serbia and Croatia. Analysis is performed on primary data from surveys of businesspeople in both countries, with the main aim of revealing their understanding and acceptance of illicit practices and determinants of businesspeople informal behaviour in the SME sector. The acceptance of four types of informal practices, namely: treating, giving and receiving gifts, networks, and favouring, is modelled using Probit estimation technique. The results reveal that the corrupt behaviour of businesspeople in two observed countries is related to their acceptance of informal practices. Additionally, the manifestations of these practices in real business-to-business and business-to-government relations are shown.
During the economic slowdown caused by the financial crisis in 2008, grants for entrepreneurs were made available to support economic development. Whether such a policy instrument is effective for ...business development is a highly relevant question in the aftermath of the COVID-19. We evaluate the causal effects of small business development matching grants using a quasi-experimental approach. The grants were exclusively targeted to women entrepreneurs and provided during the recession after the financial crisis. Our findings demonstrate an increase in bank loans and a positive impact on turnover, value-added, capital, employment, and overall factor productivity for more experienced women entrepreneurs. As the grants are too small to have direct economic effects or indirect effects via the certification effect, they alleviate time and information constraints of women entrepreneurs. The cost-benefit analysis shows an increase in value-added that outweighs the scheme-related costs.
Plain English Summary
This study evaluates the effect of small public grants for women entrepreneurs. Grants were used for childcare and business consultancy costs to alleviate time and information constraints of women entrepreneurs. Benefiting from these grants resulted in higher bank loans. The women entrepreneurs on average invested more money in capital and had better performance measures like turnover and value-added. The effect was particularly evident among more experienced women entrepreneurs. The cost-benefit analysis shows grant-induced increase in value-added outweighs the scheme-related costs. The study implies small public grants for women entrepreneurs increase small firms’ growth, and these grants are in addition a cost-effective policy tool.
This study examines which segments of population with similar resilience to online privacy violation, severity of online privacy violation, and attitudes towards online privacy concern exist in ...Croatia, and whether they can be differentiated by demographic characteristics and attitudes towards other online constructs. Research is performed on a representative sample of Croatian Internet users who experienced online privacy violation. The survey data were analyzed using factor analysis, k-means cluster analysis, chi-square test and ANOVA. The findings indicate three groups of consumers with: (1) low-resilience, (2) moderate-resilience, and (3) high-resilience; who differ in age, income, and online buying habits.
Aim of study: This paper evaluates the effect of pre-accession EU grants on beneficiaries in the agri-food sector using a quasi-experimental approach on the case of Croatia. An insight into the ...available literature reveals a lack of rigorous research and evaluation of the results of using these funds in Croatia as well as in other beneficiary countries.Area of study: Republic of Croatia, Europe (2006–2017).Material and methods: Two datasets were used: (1) financial and structural data on the population of Croatian enterprises for the 2003–2017 period, and (2) data on SAPARD and IPARD grants in the 2007–2016 period. Data were analyzed using counterfactual impact analysis, i.e., a combination of difference-in-difference approach and propensity score matching.Main results: The grants showed to have a positive effect on firm survival, as well as positive effects on obtaining bank loans and increasing turnover, value added, employment, and total factor productivity. Heterogeneous treatment effects show that the grants resulted in the greatest additionality for micro-sized firms located in Central Croatia. Cost-benefit analysis estimates an increase in the value added, which outweighs scheme-induced costs by 120% in the short run and 90% in the mid run.Research highlights: Pre-accession programs in Croatia had a positive impact on the beneficiaries’ growth and business performance indicators in both short and mid term. This paper also promotes the application of similar research in other EU candidate countries where the same or similar funds are implemented.
This research assesses perception of corruption in business-to-business and business-to-government interactions by using empirical evidence from Serbia. Based on the survey data, it captures the ...perceptions of corruption of business owners and managers of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and examines their attitudes towards informal, licit, or illicit, business practices. The typology of SMEs according to their opinion on corruption- and institutional-related obstacles resulted in three different clusters, based on several variables. Moreover, empirical findings show that business is not much hindered by regulations but with a common lack of trust in institutions, crime, and perceived corruption. SMEs are perceived as particularly affected by a negative corrupt environment where large companies are seen as the source of corruption. The findings allow for the creation of lawful and incorruptible business policies, as well as ideas on preventing the common practice of illicit trading with job positions in the public sector.
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