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The effect of social networking relationships, firm-specific managerial experience, and their interactions on performance between family owned and nonfamily firms are studied. Using data from 106 organizations in Ghana, the findings show that family owned firms benefit more from networking relationships with bureaucratic officials than do nonfamily firms. However, nonfamily firms benefit more from networking relationships with community leaders and firm-specific managerial experience than do family owned firms. Networking relationships with politicians impede performance for nonfamily firms. Nonfamily firms are better able than family owned firms to use their firm-specific managerial experience to manage the resources and capabilities obtained from networking relationships with community leaders to create value. Moreover, firm-specific managerial experience attenuates the detrimental effects of networking with politicians for both types of firms.

It is common for articles in the business and management field that employ China as a sample to still place that research in the stream of transition and/or emerging economies. Such a rendering was accurate 40 years ago as China’s economic reforms began. However, China no longer meets the definitional characteristics of “emerging economies” that of low income, rapid economic growth with institutional instability, and a reliance on low cost production to drive this growth. China is one of a number of upper middle-income countries seeking to move to high-income status that we define as “aspirant economies.” In this article, we discuss why China should be considered as having emerged and now aspiring, rather than emerging. We highlight how scholars still rely on a traditional view of China as an emerging economy despite its economic reality, and where research that examines China as an aspirant economy should move in the future.

Whether firms in transition economies undertake corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an important research topic in business ethics. Applying the middle-status conformity perspective, this study uses listed companies in the transition economy of China from 2010 to 2020 to assess the influence of social status on CSR conformity. The empirical findings revealed an inverted U-shaped relationship between social status and CSR conformity. That is, firms with low- or high-level status were less inclined to adopt CSR practices than the firms with a more middling status. Moreover, performance expectation gaps strengthened, while managerial ability flattened, the aforementioned inverted U-shaped relationship. This study sheds new light on the complicated motives for firms in transition economies to adopt CSR practices and further substantiates the boundary conditions of the curvilinear relationship between social status and CSR conformity.

Drawing upon the resource-based view and transaction cost economics, this study aims to examine how various types of managerial resources (i.e., political networking and functional experience) can be beneficial to new ventures in a transition economy. Using survey data from a sample of new venture in China's high-technology industries, we demonstrate that managers' political networking and functional experience are positively related to new venture performance. We also find that the positive relationship between functional experience and new venture performance is moderated by the type of ownership of the ventures and the level of dysfunctional competition in their environments. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

This study examines the impact of bribery within the home country on firm exports by developing two contrasting hypotheses. On the one hand, preferential treatment resulting from government officials in exchange for bribes may promote exports by enhancing efficiency and enabling bribing firms to better compete in foreign markets. On the other hand, preferential treatment resulting from bribes may decrease exports by providing firms with more established positions within the domestic market diminishing the incentive to explore foreign markets. Adopting the three-stage least squares method, we test these competing arguments using a sample of firms operating within transition economies. We find that bribery within the home country decreases rather than increases firm exports. The implications of our findings are discussed.

Intellectual capital has been grabbed the attention of researchers due to its momentous role in sustainable competitive advantage and organizational success. There is a growing catalog of related assessments, publications and reviews that display the direct and indirect role of intellectual capital in business success and profitability. Despite the bourgeoning literature, studies have not yet unleashed the influence of each dimension of intellectual capital; human capital, structural capital and customer capital on SMEs' efficiency with financial resources as a moderator. The present study fills the gap and assesses if financial resources strengthen the paths between the dimensions of intellectual capital and SMEs' efficiency. A survey method was used and collected evidence from 264 Chinese SMEs. The findings exhibit that human capital directly enhances SMEs' efficiency but the presence of financial resources as a moderator weakens the influence. However, social capital and customer capital do not directly improve SMEs' efficiency but financial resources reinforce the paths social and customer capital and SMEs efficiency. This research recommends that owners and managers of SMEs need to use their financial resources complementary with structural and customer capital while human capital should be used exclusively.

The characteristics and importance of transnational diasporans as entrepreneurs for the economy and international business of emerging countries have remained underexplored. This paper addresses types of diaspora entrepreneurship (DE) theoretically and empirically in the context of Uzbekistan. Diaspora entrepreneurship is often seen as necessity-driven and less opportunity-driven. So far, emerging Central-Asian countries are considered countries of origin (COOs) of diasporans, but not yet as countries wherein diasporans want to invest and work, that is, countries of residence (CORs). Uzbekistan is also a post-Soviet economy with limited tradition on private entrepreneurship. Thus, the paper asks what makes people become entrepreneurs in emerging countries such as Uzbekistan when they have alternative opportunities in developed countries. It explores key drivers and socio-cultural reasons for the entry and establishment decision and introduces a typology of DE. This multiple case study presents implications and findings on culturally different entrepreneurs who have decided to enter Uzbek business elucidating their motivations and role in transition economies.

PurposeThis paper examines the relationship of entrepreneurial orientation (EO), new product development (NPD), legitimacy (political and market) and firm performance (FP). The authors investigate how and when EO improves FP in high-tech small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs).Design/methodology/approachThe paper formulates 5 hypotheses from literature review and theoretical deduction. The hypotheses are tested using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression with data collected from 219 randomly selected SMEs operating in high-tech industries of China.FindingsThe findings show that the mechanism of EO improve FP in high-tech SMEs by considering NPD as a mediator and legitimacy as moderators: (1) NPD plays a mediating role in the relationship between EO and FP, (2) market legitimacy (ML) positively moderating the effect of EO on FP and (3) both political legitimacy (PL) and ML positively moderating the effect of NPD on FP.Research limitations/implicationsFor the limitations, the firms the authors’ surveyed are SMEs that are not listed companies, which cause some limitations. For the implications, the authors propose some recommendations based on the findings to help Chinese SMEs to enhance performance.Originality/valueThe existing research on EO–FP linkage remains elusive findings. The paper reconciled the inconsistency by providing a nuanced mechanism of how EO promotes FP in high-tech SMEs of Chinese transition economy. By explain the important role of NPD in high-tech SMEs, the findings shed light on the mediators between EO and FP and the moderators. By emphasize the different role of ML and PL in determining EO–FP and NPD–FP linkages, the findings illustrate the peculiarity of contingency factors in a transition economy.

We perform an updated literature survey on pollution-growth nexus via the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis, both from theoretical and empirical standpoints. First, we conduct a literature review on the most well-known rationale behind the EKC prevalence and discuss the key components of the research design when estimating the EKC. Second, we bring together the most influential empirical papers published in the last decade, which focus on EKC estimation in developing and transition economies. Overall, succeeding to curtail some of the deficiencies suggested by theoretical contributions, the recent empirical studies might indicate a certain consensus regarding pollution-growth nexus, and EKC validity. On one hand, reinforcing the EKC nature, several studies reveal a long-run relationship between indicators. On the other hand, according to income coefficients’ signs, the traditional bell-shaped pattern seems to be at work for some developing and transition economies. However, in some cases, the estimated turning point lies outside the income sample range, calling into question not only the true pattern between pollution and growth but also the identification of EKC. Taken collectively, both the theoretical foundations and empirical evidence, could contribute to a better understanding of the pollution-growth nexus in the EKC context, and suggest some useful insights into the future works on the subject as well as the crucial policy implications in this group of countries.

What type of investment strategies are effective for foreign venture capital (VC) firms investing in transition economies? This is the research question we address in this paper by analyzing recent institutional developments and investment activities of foreign VC firms investing in China. We find that foreign VC firms identify China as lacking fully-developed institutions necessary to effectively support VC investing. We further find that foreign VCs have evolved unique proactive, hands-on investment strategies via a bumpy road of investing in China: initially dominating the Chinese VC industry, but since the great financial recession playing a still-significant but reduced and disadvantaged-role subservient to the rapidly increasing role of domestic VC firms. We developed a novel triangulation research methodology that allows us to provide significantly more depth in our analysis of how foreign VCs compete in transition economies. This research contributes to both the institutional theory and VC investing literatures. We suggest that foreign VCs can increase their competitive advantage by developing hands-on value-added investing strategies, when investing in transitioning markets.