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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (24 January 2023) | Viewed by 13385

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Cristian Barra

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Guest Editor

Department of Economics and Statistics (DISES), University of Salerno, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Interests: productivity and efficiency analysis; financial economics; education economics; economics of innovation; economics of institutions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Nazzareno Ruggiero

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Guest Editor

Department of Economics and Statistics (DISES), University of Salerno, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Interests: macroeconomics of labour markets; economics of institutions; economics of innovation; environmental economics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable transitions are assumed to drastically shape our societies and affect human behaviour. In particular, the economic literature argues that sustainable transitions are not limited to changes in terms of the adoption of new technologies but also determine significant transformations in the sociopolitical structure of our societies. Indeed, as notably argued by Grin, Rotmans and Schot (2011, pp. 79-80), “the transition to a sustainable society is but one possible outcome of changes in ‘the institutional rectangle’ of the realms of market, government, science and technology, and civil society and their mutual alignment, created by trends such as individualization, globalisation and what Beck has called the politicization of side effects: the fact that particular ecological, human and societal unintended effects of social-economic development are now problematised rather than tacitly accepted by society”.

It turns out that a full understanding of how the sustainable transition will affect economic growth

And enterprise productivity, with special emphasis on firms’ efficiency and innovation, and labour market outcomes and the role played by science and academic institutions is a major challenge for researchers and scholars interested in sustainable development. It also seems necessary to assess the role of governmental institutions in affecting the adoption of new technologies and to investigate whether sustainable development impacts the institutional structure of countries. Finally, the adoption of new and cleaner technologies also requires the presence of efficient financial markets, which are able to evaluate the potential profitability of enterprise projects aiming to favour the sustainability of enterprises. All these aspects therefore need to be deeply investigated and seem to be particularly relevant at present, with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has significantly accelerated sustainable transition and the adoption of new and cleaner technologies. With this premise, we welcome contributions on:

Sustainable transition, enterprise productivity and economic growth;
Enterprise innovation and sustainable transition;
Enterprise size in terms of their ability to introduce green technologies;
Labour market impact of sustainable transition, with a particular focus on how it affects job creation, job destruction, job reallocation and employment/unemployment;
The role of both national and regional policies in driving sustainable transition;
Institutional factors in affecting the sustainable transition;
Financial market in stimulating the adoption of new technologies;
Universities’ technology and new technologies;

Dr. Cristian Barra
Dr. Nazzareno Ruggiero
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

sustainable transition
economic growth
enterprise productivity and innovation
labour and financial market
institutional factors

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 262 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Operating Leverage, Equity Incentive, and Enterprise Research and Development Investment

by Hui Tan, Xinhua Zhang and Lili Zeng

Sustainability 2023, 15(9), 7023; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15097023 - 22 Apr 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1497

Abstract

Science and technology innovation plays a vital role in the sustainable development of enterprises, and even in the security and sustainable development of a nation. Against the background of China’s structural “deleveraging” macro policy, the following two aspects are considered in this research: First, should operating leverage be removed, and how does it affect the innovation investment of enterprises? Second, what will be the impact of the implementation of equity incentives on the relationship between operating leverage and innovation investment? Using a longitudinal panel dataset of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2020, this study empirically tested the impact and mechanism of operating leverage on enterprise innovation investment. The findings show that operating leverage significantly contributes to an increase in enterprise innovation investment in general, but the positive correlation trend decreases with the increase in operating leverage. The implementation of equity incentives plays a positive role in moderating the relationship between operating leverage and innovation investment. Further heterogeneity analysis shows that the promotion effect of operating leverage on innovation investment is significant only in non-state owned enterprises (SOE), and the positive regulating effect of equity incentives in non-SOEs is more significant than that of the overall sample. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Enterprise Productivity and Innovation)

22 pages, 933 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Technology Gap Efficiency of Small-Scale Rice Processors in Anambra State, Nigeria

by Chukwujekwu A. Obianefo, Ike C. Ezeano, Chinwe A. Isibor and Chinwendu E. Ahaneku

Sustainability 2023, 15(6), 4840; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15064840 - 09 Mar 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2081

Abstract

This paper aims to examine the technology gap efficiency of small-scale rice processors in Anambra State, Nigeria. The research was conducted through a survey of 100 small-scale rice processors in Anambra State. Data were collected with structured questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive, stochastic frontier analysis, stochastic meta-frontier model, and inferential statistical techniques. The study revealed that important variables to rice processing present in the state are paddy, firewood, water, and huller. Concerning the economic-specific factors, the cost of grading and other processing assets contributes to inefficiency. The results equally showed that the technology gap efficiency of small-scale rice processors in the industry is tied to or tangential to the frontier output, meaning that the processors in Anambra State are making use of the best technology available. The average efficiency index for the processors in the industry was 0.506, implying that their output is below potential by 49.4%. The results also revealed the technology gap efficiency for the participating and non-participating processors as 0.924 and 0.983, respectively, meaning that the participants need to close an 8.0% gap, and the non-participants need to close a 2.0% gap. These gaps are caused by the high cost of processing equipment, high cost of input, and inadequate infrastructure, among others contributing factors. The paper concluded that the average meta-technical efficiency (0.498) of small-scale rice processors in Anambra State is low and needs to be improved through the provision of adequate technology, training, and infrastructure to bring the current industrial production capacity to 100.0%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Enterprise Productivity and Innovation)

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25 pages, 1681 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Food Culture and Sustainable Development: Evidence from Firm-Level Sustainable Total Factor Productivity in China

by Guangfan Sun, Xiangyu Cao, Junyi Chen and Hanqi Li

Sustainability 2022, 14(14), 8835; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14148835 - 19 Jul 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1864

Abstract

This article studied whether food culture plays an important role in affecting the firm-level sustainable development. We linked firm-level sustainable total factor productivity to spicy-taste related food culture in China and found that firms in regions in which spicy culture plays a more prominent role showed higher sustainable productivity. Tests using the regional sunshine as an instrument suggested a causal interpretation. Moreover, firms more exposed to spicy culture showed more frequent equity incentive behavior, higher equity incentive intensity, and higher proportion of female executives, which suggests that the more proactive management behavior can be led by regional spicy culture. We also found that, compared with small-size firms, non-state-owned firms, and non-export firms, regional spicy culture has a stronger impact on large firms, state-owned firms, and export firms. Our results reveal the impact of food culture on the firm-level sustainable development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Enterprise Productivity and Innovation)

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13 pages, 592 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Relationship between Human-Capital Variables and Innovative Performance: Evidence from Colombia

by Orly Carvache-Franco, Mauricio Carvache-Franco, Wilmer Carvache-Franco and Miguel A. Bustamante-Ubilla

Sustainability 2022, 14(6), 3294; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14063294 - 11 Mar 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2752

Abstract

The objective of the research is to analyze the variables of human capital and its relationship with innovation in manufacturing companies. The study is quantitative, nonexperimental, cross-sectional data obtained from Colombia, an emerging country, collected from a national survey of innovation activities. The regression used is bivariate probit. The findings show that the variable “R&D workers” is related to product and process innovation and the variable “workers with higher education” is related to product innovation. The theoretical implication is that the “R&D workers” variable is an important predictor for product and process innovation because it represents skills, abilities, and worker’s experience, and enables finding new uses for knowledge or combining knowledge to achieve innovation. Furthermore, in these companies, the human capital acquired through education develops the skills and abilities that enable product innovation to be achieved, while low investment in training means that the skills achieved by this means are not significant for innovation. The study has practical implications for managers in emerging countries who want to increase the companies’ innovative potential by increasing investment in education and training of its workers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Enterprise Productivity and Innovation)

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12 pages, 6662 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of the Growth in the Number of Patents Granted and Its Effect over the Level of Growth of the Countries: An Econometric Estimation of the Mixed Model Approach

by Rolando Rubilar-Torrealba, Karime Chahuán-Jiménez and Hanns de la Fuente-Mella

Sustainability 2022, 14(4), 2384; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14042384 - 19 Feb 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1959

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to identify and measure the impact of the variables affecting the increase in the number of patents as a way to advance the development of policies in countries in terms of sustainable development based on innovation. An econometric estimation of a mixed model was used to measure the impact of patent development on the countries analyzed in this research. The findings suggest that economies that have some relevance in research and development have increasing numbers of patents. Thus, the empirical findings relate to the theoretical models that state that comparative advantages may be dynamic due to technological innovation. Finally, this paper shows that innovation is a central parameter to engage in research and develop a knowledge-based economy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Enterprise Productivity and Innovation)

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17 pages, 5120 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Underrated Innovativeness of Micro-Enterprises Compared to Small to Medium Enterprises in the Slovenian Forest-Wood Sector

by Ana Slavec

Sustainability 2022, 14(4), 1991; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14041991 - 10 Feb 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1969

Abstract

Although micro-enterprises represent most of the enterprises across different sectors, they are excluded from official statistics on innovation activities. What we know about micro-enterprises is based on smaller quantitative and qualitative studies that are country- and sector-specific. To understand the innovation activities of Slovenian enterprises in the forest-wood sector, we conducted our own quantitative study in 2019 based on the Eurostat’s Community Innovation Survey (CIS) questionnaire. Based on responses from 294 enterprises, we compare how micro-enterprises and small to medium enterprises (SMEs) differ in innovation strategies, product, and process innovations, co-operation with other organisations, innovation activities, and innovations with environmental benefits. The results indicate that, in some respects, enterprises with two to nine employees are at least as innovative as small to medium enterprises, or even more so. We argue that innovation surveys should lower the employee count threshold to attain better representative insight into the innovation landscape. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Enterprise Productivity and Innovation)

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