Browsing by Author "Heredia, Jorge"
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Publication Effect of corruption and crime on growth‑oriented informal firms(2023) Heredia, Walter; Lecuna, Antonio; Heredia, Jorge; Geldes, Cristian; Flores, AlejandroTraditionally, informal firms have been perceived to be unproductive, lacking skills, and static by necessity, while low institutional quality has been shown to increase their prevalence. However, this research draws on institutional theory to explain the effect of corruption and crime on growth-oriented informal firms that emerge due to opportunities and make decisions voluntarily rather than out of necessity. We construct a logistic regression model using a unique representative dataset of informal firms from the 2019 Zambia Informal Sector Business Survey (ISBS). We find that growth-oriented informal firms pay bribes to remain unregistered (i.e., engage in corruption) and that crime decreases the number of these firms. Our research suggests that policymakers consider the particularities of growth-oriented informal firms when designing policies for entrepreneurs. Growth-oriented informal firms are more likely to consider formalization if they perceive the benefits of formality, and policymakers should be aware that crime could push these firms to subsistence or surveillance, thereby increasing inequality among all firms. Furthermore, researchers should explore the development process of these growth-oriented informal firms, managers in legal firms should consider collaborating with these firms, and the government should support such collaboration.Item How do digital capabilities affect firm performance? The mediating role of technological capabilities in the “new normal”(2022) Heredia, Jorge; Castillo-Vergara, Mauricio; Geldes, Cristian; Carbajal Gamarrad, Felix M.; Flores, Alejandro; Heredia, WalterThis study proposes a model to explain the effect of digital capabilities on firm performance in the “new normal” context from a firm-level perspective. Moreover, it analyzes the mediating role of technological capabilities and the Human Development Index (HDI) in explaining firm performance. Our study used data from the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys 2020, which included 999 firms from 27 countries. We applied the methodological approach, partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), to test the hypothetical model. The results show that digital capabilities positively influence firm performance only through technological capabilities. We also empirically demonstrate that digital skills in low HDI economies have a more significant indirect effect on firm performance than in high HDI countries. Finally, some promising avenues for future research and implications for managers and policymakers are suggested based on these findings.Item New Strategies to Explain Organizational Resilience on the Firms: A Cross-Countries Configurations Approach(2022) Heredia, Jorge; Rubiños, Cathy; Vega, William; Heredia, Walter; Flores, AlejandroOrganizations need to develop their resilience to foster future success to survive complex environments. This research conducts a comparative analysis to understand firms’ strategies in a “black swan” event. We use the “strategy tripod” to operationalize resilience theory and explain the configurations or pathways that lead to high organizational resilience in a crisis context. The data correspond to 1936 firms drawn from the “Enterprise Survey 2020 for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in China (ESIEC)”, and to 66 Central American firms drawn from the “World Bank 2020 Enterprise Surveys” are also analyzed. The methodological approach fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) is applied. We discuss and analyze the strategies of companies in this “new normal”; our results establish that in the case of emerging economies, organizational innovation seems to be a necessary condition for becoming an organizational resilience to a black swan crisis (finding from both cases). We also found that labor flexibility and emotional intelligence for the case of firms from China, and adequate control of the turbulence environment for the cases of Central America, were also necessary conditions for each region. We further argue that digitalization depends on access to government support for its success. China reinforces its strategies in an intensification of human resources flexibility. In addition, they are better prepared for the “black swan” crisis, allowing them to adapt quickly and generate business model innovation to mitigate the effects of the pandemic in this “new normal”. In contrast, Central America needs rapid organization for organizational resilience.