Suchergebnisse

Sustaining the physical environment requires sustenance of the associated institutional environment. Questions are raised about this, based on the observation of a day in each of the lives of two headquarters managers at Greenpeace, the Executive Director and a Director of certain of the central units. In our analysis, we look beyond the obvious doing and the obvious planning, beyond the obvious acting and the obvious politicking.

Sustaining the physical environment requires sustenance of the associated institutional environment. Questions are raised about this, based on the observation of a day in each of the lives of two headquarters managers at Greenpeace, the Executive Director and a Director of certain of the central units. In our analysis, we look beyond the obvious doing and the obvious planning, beyond the obvious acting and the obvious politicking.

Derlytsia A.Yu. INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT OF PUBLIC FINANCEPurpose. The aim of the article is research of the institutional environment of public finance and its components in the light of achievements of foreign and domestic economic science.Methodology of research. The following general and special methods are used to achieve this goal: comparative analysis – in assessing alternative approaches to the interpretation of the concept of institution; method of scientific abstraction – in highlighting the essential features of financial institutions and their differences from fiscal institutions; systemic, structural analysis, grouping – in identifying the components of the institutional environment of public finance and structural features of the public sector. Findings. Alternative approaches of institutional theory to the interpretation of the concept of institution are considered. A compromise application the interpretation of institutions in the approaches of D. North and O. Williamson to the sphere of public finance has been made. The components of the institutional environment of public finance are distinguished: institutions (norms, rules), institutional units (organizations, structures), transactions (interaction, relations). The institutional structure of the public sector is considered. The principle of "presumption of inefficiency" as a key one in the institutional analysis of the sphere of public finance is outlined.Originality. The paper substantiates the components of the institutional environment of public finance by clearly outlining the semantic use of the terms "institution" and "institutions" in relation to this area.Practical value. The approaches to the interpretation of the concepts "financial institutions", "institutional environment", "public sector" proposed in the research, will contribute to the development of a unified approach in the domestic institutional theory.Key words: public finance, financial institutions, fiscal institutions, institutional environment, institutional units, public sector, transactions.

We study subsidiaries of a MNC and research why they implement initiatives that deviate from organizational values of headquarters. Initially we relied only on the concept of institutional duality and expected that pressures in the institutional environment and values of headquarters explain the agency of the subsidiaries. But the results of our extensive participatory observation showed that the organizational values of subsidiaries (rather than those of headquarters) helped explain the subsidiaries' actions. In conclusion, we find that there are limits to the predictive power of the concept of institutional duality. Our study shows that a distinction between values of headquarters and values of subsidiaries is necessary in order to understand the agency of subsidiaries. We suggest a concept of 'institutional trinity' that distinguishes between these two values as well as pressures in the institutional environment. Our research demonstrates that an MNC can benefit from a subsidiary that develops its own organizational values. If headquarters is subsequently ready to adopt some of these subsidiary values, it may be able to adapt more easily to a changing institutional environment. ; ISSN:0938-8249 ; ISSN:0025-181X ; ISSN:1861-8901

The paper examines the current state of Russia's entrepreneurial institutional environment built on W.R. Scott's concept of a three-dimentinal institutional environment (regulatory, normative, and cognitive). The study aims to evaluate the perception of these three dimensions by three groups of respondents: entrepreneurs, non-entrepreneurs and those with entrepreneurial intentions, including the assessment of value profiles of these groups using Schwartz's value inventory. The results of the study support the assumption that the three groups of respondents have different perceptions of institutional environment, and also suggest that value priorities differ depending on individuals' entrepreneurial activity or intentions. Specifically, for current or former entrepreneurs self-sufficiency is of much higher value than security.

Purpose
Country institutions have become of heightened importance for firms' international strategies in recent years. Herein, I review the reasons for the growing importance of institutional environments and examine how they influence the international strategies of multinational enterprises (MNEs). There have been significant changes in the global, economic and competitive landscapes in recent years. These changes are examined.


Design/methodology/approach
Three critical and interrelated changes in the global competitive landscape are identified. They include (1) more interconnected (interdependent) national economies, (2) a significantly larger number of multinational firms and (3) growing importance of emerging economies (and their MNEs). These changes have increased the importance of countries institutional environments. Country institutions, both formal institutions (codified and explicit rules and standards that shape behavior) and informal institutions (Shared norms that guide cohesive behaviors) are examined. I explain the influences of institutional complexity, institutional distance and geographic regions on firms' international strategies.


Findings
Research has shown that both culture (informal institution) and formal institutions are interrelated and affect firms' strategies. And, while specific institutions such as intellectual property protection (law and enforcement) are important, the collective influence of institutions has a critical influence on firms' international strategies. And, institutions are multilevel (national, regional and local-municipal). The institutional complexity (combined effects of multiple institutions and their diversity) is carefully considered in executives' strategic decisions. When firms consider entering a new foreign market, they also consider the institutional distance between the home and host countries. The differences in culture and in formal institutions compose the institutional distance and affect whether and how firms enter these markets. Greater institutional distance contributes to the liabilities of foreignness the challenges of which must be managed effectively to succeed in the new market. And the effects of institutional distance are asymmetric depending on whether the firm's home country institutions are stronger/more developed or weaker/less developed than the host country institutions. Finally, many firms follow regional international strategies in which they invest in selected regions of the world. Recent research suggests firms enter regions that have attractive institutional profiles and engage in institutional arbitrage across the countries in those regions.


Research limitations/implications
This essay provides the base for additional research by identifying a number of important research questions on institutions and international strategy.


Originality/value
This essay highlights the importance of institutions for firms' strategies. Understanding institutions and their influence contributes to more effective executives' strategic decisions and more effective national and international policies.

This work has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 645763. ; This conceptual paper is concerned with the outcomes of the financialization of non-financial firms, and particularly with the role of institutions in shaping these outcomes. It centers on the question of whether the institutional setting of economies can be expected to moderate the effects of financialization on companies' employment practices, investment decisions, R&D activities, and value chain. To approach this question, I first sketch out the concept of financialization and its meaning when considering its firm-level implications. I then draw on the literature on comparative institutional theory to identify two opposite institutional settings, liberal market economies and coordinated market economies. In a third step I combine empirical findings from the literature with theoretical reasoning, to hypothesize about how the outcomes of financialization on the firm-level differ between liberal and coordinated economies, developing two different scenarios about the trajectory of firm-level financialization in coordinated market economies. Finally, I discuss the implications of these scenarios for our understanding of financialization and its connection to institutional environments. Overall, the paper argues that taking an institutionally comparative perspective on financialization alerts us to the possibility that financialization does not represent a uniform process causing the same outcomes to manifest in non-financial corporations around the globe. Instead, as the financialization of firms takes place in diverse institutional settings, associated practices will have to be adapted to local institutions enabling and constraining them.

This work has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 645763. This conceptual paper is concerned with the outcomes of the financialization of non-financial firms, and particularly with the role of institutions in shaping these outcomes. It centers on the question of whether the institutional setting of economies can be expected to moderate the effects of financialization on companies' employment practices, investment decisions, R&D activities, and value chain. To approach this question, I first sketch out the concept of financialization and its meaning when considering its firm-level implications. I then draw on the literature on comparative institutional theory to identify two opposite institutional settings, liberal market economies and coordinated market economies. In a third step I combine empirical findings from the literature with theoretical reasoning, to hypothesize about how the outcomes of financialization on the firm-level differ between liberal and coordinated economies, developing two different scenarios about the trajectory of firm-level financialization in coordinated market economies. Finally, I discuss the implications of these scenarios for our understanding of financialization and its connection to institutional environments. Overall, the paper argues that taking an institutionally comparative perspective on financialization alerts us to the possibility that financialization does not represent a uniform process causing the same outcomes to manifest in non-financial corporations around the globe. Instead, as the financialization of firms takes place in diverse institutional settings, associated practices will have to be adapted to local institutions enabling and constraining them.

Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of network relationships and institutional environment on premium winegrowers' internationalization process.


Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a case study approach to examine two premium wine producers engaged in internationalization. The data sources consist of semi-structured interviews, observations at three major events and secondary data sourced from industry reports and materials that are available online.


Findings
Findings illustrate that both personal and inter-firm networks help wineries to internationalize. Inter-firm networks play a significant role in gaining international legitimacy. Personal networks were found to be more important in establishing brand authenticity that facilitates wineries in their internationalization process. Gaining international legitimacy and establishing brand authenticity are crucial in the successful internationalization of premium wineries.


Research limitations/implications
This study provides an explanation of how networks can be put into institutional context. Future studies could map out the formal and informal institutions within the wine industry and investigate the closer dynamics among the different actors in the whole network. A whole network is formally structured and governed, yet still built on the relationships among members, making it a very complex phenomenon. This would allow the evaluation of multilateral ties that link firms and actors within the network and how this affects the internationalization process.


Practical implications
This paper provides managers with insights on how they can capitalize on their inter-firm and personal networks to help them deal with domestic and international institutional environments when embarking on internationalization activities.


Originality/value
This paper adds to the existing literature on networks relationships and provides an important link between networks, institutions and internationalization.

We investigate the influence of the institutional environment on bank capital ratios. Using a sample of 149 banks operating in the Middle East and North Africa region for the period 2004 to 2014, we find that, when stock markets have little presence, institutional variables significantly affect risk-weighted regulatory capital ratios but not leverage ratios. Conversely, when stock markets are more developed, only leverage ratios are influenced by institutional factors. Our results also indicate that institutional variables affect non-weighted equity-to-asset ratios of banks that are listed on a stock exchange. Our findings contribute to the bank capital structure literature and have important policy implications for developing countries.