Journal of the Knowledge Economy

This article complements existing literature by assessing determinants of property rights protection with particular emphasis on history, geography and institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa. The empirical evidence is based on a sample of 47 countries for the period 2000–2007. Random effects GLS regressions are employed using property rights measurements from the Mo Ibrahim and Heritage Foundations. The results broadly show that ethnic fractionalisation, Polity IV and GDP per capita have positive effects on property rights institutions while the following have negative effects: military rule, the Protestant religion, maturity from colonial independence and population density. The findings have relevant policy implications for countries in the sub-region currently on the path to knowledge-based economies.

In this paper, we assess the effect of institutional similarity on foreign direct investment. In a large panel of bilateral FDI stocks that covers roughly 190 countries both as host and source countries of FDI, we demonstrate that it is not similar in general, but similar with respect to government involvement in markets and with respect to corruption that matters. Our finding is robust to a large set of different panel estimators and specifications of the gravity model that is underlying our estimation.

The purpose of this paper is to provide comparative analyses of the indicators of knowledge-based economy (KBE) in the Cooperation Council of Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) contribute to improve such indicators in one member taking comparative advantages from another member country and vice versa. Furthermore, the study also intends to develop a model of integrating the indicators of KBE in the GCC integration process and the spiral of knowledge conversion model. The paper applies comparative analyses of the indicators of KBE in the GCC. The study applied 26 indicators in five categories. Such categories include: education/talent, economic and institutional regime, innovation, digital economy, and globalization. This study performs analysis of variance (ANOVA) to calculate standard deviation, mean, and confidence interval. The study also carries out ANOVA to compare between and within countries. The required secondary data are obtained from publications, country reports, and existing reports of the international organizations. The ANOVA reveals significant differences in almost all the indicators among the member countries in the GCC. As a result, most of the indicators of KBE outperform in one member country compared to another. Such phenomenon provides GCC countries with an opportunity to gain comparative advantages of one member’s outperforming indicators to improve another member’s poor performing indicators and vice versa considering the privileges of the “GCC Common Market”. The study revealed that the GCC should forward localized and collective microdynamics in education, research, and innovation will contribute to understanding and formulating macrodynamics that positively affect local community, sectors, institutions, and governance arrangements improving the sector-specific indicator of KBE. The GCC also should review the experience of others countries such as Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas helps adjusting local as well as GCC level policies of education, research, and innovation-enhancing knowledge considering its growth orientation, culture, and tradition.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a complementarity view of the heterogeneous knowledge archetypes. The study first employed a psycho-cognitive perspective to provide theoretical backing for the emergence of knowledge types. Then, a complementarity methodology was employed to synthesize the co-created, heterogeneous knowledge resources into an operation-friendly model. The study shows that, by using the psycho-cognitive lens, the explicit, implicit, and tacit knowledge types are co-created. And that knowledge is actually created as a bundle of heterogeneous but complimentary resources. The complementary view is built off the assumption that a bundle of resources grants a higher value and that a separate use of resource may produce zero value. This paper highlights the capability of the knowledge-as-a-bundle to offer higher values to organizations when deployed jointly rather than the separate use propagated with the dichotomous view of the knowledge resources (types). This paper, therefore, adds, to the existing literature in the knowledge management field, a complementarity lens of knowledge typologies.

This study seeks to identify and measure the association linking sustainable entrepreneurship and social innovation, through corporate social performance as a mediating variable. To assess the research model, five determinants of sustainable entrepreneurship are identified which can generate social innovation. The hypothesis test is based on a quantitative approach in which data was gathered through a questionnaire distributed to 180 SMEs in Saudi Arabia. The study applies a structural equation model in order to verify the relative importance of corporate social performance, alongside its mediating effect. The results demonstrate a mediating effect from corporate social performance between sustainable entrepreneurship extrinsic motivation and sustainable entrepreneurship outcome as determinants, and social innovation. This mediating effect seems to be less important for other determinants such as knowledge resource acquirement. The results define a critical pathway for social innovation in order to facilitate its definition and try to operationalize the process of its generation. In fact, this study provides an operationalized approach for social variables.

For improved and sustained growth, world economies are now moving towards innovation systems. However, the impact of these innovation systems on economies within the economic paradigm is still unknown. This study aims to investigate how innovation systems in various economies influence E-commerce capacity. However, various policymakers plan to design and implement policies that meet the changing dynamics of innovation systems. However, the fact that these policies have an impact on E-commerce is mostly not taken into consideration. This study further aims to understand whether policymakers should consider the enabling side effects and the impact assessment derived from innovation systems when they design E-commerce policies? By utilizing quantitative analysis, the study evaluates the innovation enabling factors for E-commerce advancement. The innovation system factors, institutions, human capital, infrastructure, market sophistication, knowledge, and creative outputs construct the set of independent variables that evaluated against the dependent variable that is E-commerce capacity. Through structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis of the Global Innovation Index data, the study concludes that human capital and market sophistication are significant enabling factors to E-commerce when innovation system policies are applied. In addition, infrastructure and information communication technology are essential factors in advancing E-commerce capacity. This work recommends that policymakers should assess the impact of existing innovation policies related to human capital, empowerment, and market sophistication on E-commerce capacity.

Several studies have focused on analyzing the effect of public investments in education on economic growth. However, little is known about the analysis of the effect of the efficiency of these investments on economic growth. The aim of this article is to fill this gap by analyzing the effect of the efficiency of public investments in education on economic growth in the countries of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) during the period 2000–2018. The empirical evidence is based on the pooled mean group method. The results show that the efficiency of public spending in education has no effect on short run economic growth. However, it promotes long run economic growth. In addition, the analysis of the efficiency gap shows a shortfall for the economies concerned.

This study investigates the nexus between political instability, corruption, and environmental degradation for the selected South Asian countries over the time 1996 to 2019. After confirming cross-sectional dependency by using Breusch and Pagan (LM) test and Pesaran (CD) test, the second generational panel unit root test (CADF) of Pesaran is used to test the stationarity of variables and results reveal mixed order of integration. Furthermore, Westerlund (2007) test indicates that the variables are cointegrated and the panel ARDL approach is used to find the long-run and short-run relationship among the variables. Corruption and political instability have a positive and significant impact on carbon footprint and ecological footprint in the long run and short run except for corruption that has a negative effect on carbon footprint in the short run. Urbanization, foreign direct investment, and energy use have a significant positive impact on environmental degradation. The study also validates the existence of the Environment Kuznets curve (EKC) for South Asian countries. The findings suggest that to improve environmental quality, South Asian countries must enhance political stability and control of corruption.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the existing literature on corporate disclosure by exploring the quality of information on financial risks contained in the annual reports of a sample of non-financial companies listed on the Italian Stock Exchange. The analysis is based on a manual content analysis approach, used to measure the level of financial risk information presented in the annual reports of 50 companies and build a Grid Risk Report. The findings of this paper show the degree of financial risk disclosure, as well as what companies actually disclose in terms of financial risk indices in their Management Reports (in the section covering information on risks and uncertainties), in their Notes to the Financial Statements (in the section on risk management) and, possibly, in their Notes on the Financial Instruments, they hold for to cover risk, for the period between 2008 and 2013. The paper’s findings have practical implications for both stakeholders and managers, giving investors facts about the sort of Italian companies that disclose financial risk information as part of the risk information presented in their annual reports and managers information about the degree of financial risk disclosure that will satisfy their stakeholder disclosure demands.