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As with all start-ups, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a changing environment for migrant start-ups. These changes have posed many challenges to altering strategic behaviour and approaches to driving business. We explored migrant start-ups’ embeddedness in entrepreneurial ecosystems by analysing data from 14 semi-structured interviews with start-ups from Berlin's knowledge-intensive business services sector. We argue that the success of migrant start-ups during crises is dependent mainly on the embeddedness in the local entrepreneurial ecosystem. Thus, we expect entrepreneurs to utilise local networks, infrastructures and interactions to help them cope with the challenges and pave the way for local and international business activities. Our results indicate that embedding in local entrepreneurial ecosystems and a sense of belonging, especially during the business formation phase, play a vital role for migrant start-ups in general and crisis. Revitalising the concept of local embeddedness while considering business development stages, this study challenges the prevailing notion of transnational networks as the sole determinant of entrepreneurial success. Instead, we advocate for greater recognition of the significance of accessing local resources, including market knowledge, social relationships, and institutional support, as fundamental factors driving business development and crisis management within the host country. By recognising and nurturing these local resources, policymakers and support organisations can create an enabling environment that empowers migrant start-ups to thrive, adapt, and contribute to the local EE and economic wealth.

EN:

China’s increasing international prominence has prompted additional research on how Chinese firms manage organizational crises. The purpose of this paper is to identify patterns of concerns and experiences with crises in China. We report on a survey of 105 managers and non-managers in China about their experience and concern with crises in their firms. Our analysis underscores three key findings. First, one's concern about a crisis is strongly associated with one's experience involving that crisis. Second, views about crisis experience and concern differ between employees in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and non-SOEs. Finally, despite these differences, perspectives on crisis training among SOE and non-SOE firms are similar. This paper augments the literature by identifying relationships among crisis experience, crisis concern, and training in Chinese organizations.

EN:

This paper examines the cost efficiency and its determinants for Nepalese commercial banks by using semi-parametric methodology. We first estimate the efficiency and growth of productivity using Data Envelopment Analysis and then identify firm-specific attributes that potentially explain cost efficiencies. The first-stage results indicate a considerable level of cost inefficiency, which is largely caused by technical inefficiency. Additionally, there exists a low level of external (particularly regulatory) influence on the input mix, as indicated by a very low level of allocative inefficiency. The growth in productivity is low and even negative, mostly resulting from a lack of technological progress. The second-stage results indicate that state-owned banks are less cost-efficient than private banks (domestic and foreign), and size has a consistently inverse impact on cost efficiency. Banks with higher financial capital, larger loan ratios, and higher profits tend to be more cost efficient; however, banks with higher credit risk tend to be less cost efficient. Our findings have implications for policymakers, regulators, and bank managers as a better understanding of the level and sources of bank efficiency helps reduce inefficiencies, formulate regulations to enhance the overall efficiency of the banking system, and develop policies to promote competition and financial stability.

EN:

As in any organization, microenterprises owe their survival to their ability to adapt to changes in their environments. Informal microenterprises in Mali, particularly those run by women, also have to deal with the economic upheaval caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. This research is exploratory and aims to understand the adaptation of informal microenterprises run by women in a crisis context. To do so, a multiple case analysis is conducted. The results reveal the flexibility factors of the actions undertaken by informal women entrepreneurs to face the Covid-19 crisis. The perseverance of these women and their management style based on relational skills, as well as their mastery of the culinary arts linked to their role of "expert of the kitchen" in Malian society allowed their business to adapt to the context of the crisis. In addition to these individual characteristics and socio-cultural factors, women entrepreneurs adopted strategies such as adjusting working hours and diversifying into new activities. This research contributes to the literature by highlighting the combined effect of individual factors, gender-related socio-cultural factors, and management style on microenterprise flexibility in times of crisis.

EN:

This paper considers 15 major trading nations from 1996-2018 to assess the relationship between economic growth and trade. This relationship has been governed by the nature of exports as well as the stage of development of a nation. In the present paper key macro-economic variables as identified from literature, including scale of foreign direct investment, domestic investment, exchange rates and labour productivity. The study provides unique insights as it indicates a positive relationship of all variables vis a vis economic growth of the countries except foreign direct investment. Granger causality test however indicates growth causes exports, FDI, and trade. Furthermore, there exists a bi-directional causality between labour productivity and growth as well as imports and growth. Therefore, the findings of this paper provide a reference for future economic planning and policy formulation of the selected countries.