Mariyan Iliev Rizov

• Qasim, Saira; Rizov, Marian & Zhang, Xufei (2026). The culture of political connections, financing constraints, and performance: firm-level evidence from Pakistan. Socio-Economic Review. ISSN 1475-1461. doi: 10.1093/ser/mwag049. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This article examines how firm political connections affect the financing constraints of Pakistani firms, and how these are related to firm performance. Using panel data for the listed, non-financial, Pakistani firms, over the 2007–15 period, our empirical analysis shows that in Pakistan formal political connections affect significantly firm financial status: politically connected firms are less financially constrained. The results are consistent across various measures of financial status. We find, however, evidence that politically connected firms perform worse than unconnected firms. The results are robust to three different measures of firm performance. We also find some evidence that the effects of political connections on firm performance vary across groups of Pakistani firms by the level of financing constraint. Our results suggest financial resource misallocation in Pakistan consistent with the soft-budget constraint theory.

• Pham, Tien‐Minh; Rizov, Marian & Vo, Xuan Vinh (2026). Board Gender Diversity and CSR in an Emerging Market: Do Ownership Structure and Female Directors' Attributes Matter? Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management. ISSN 1535-3958. doi: 10.1002/csr.70855. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This research examines the impact of board gender diversity (BGD) on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in large, listed Vietnamese companies from 2014 to 2020. We discover that BGD positively influences CSR performance in both social and environmental aspects, evaluated through content analysis aligned with Global Reporting Initiative requirements. Furthermore, the ownership structure moderates the impact of female directors, with state ownership amplifying their influence across both CSR aspects, whereas foreign ownership enhances their effect solely in relation to social CSR. Further analysis reveals that female directors contribute to CSR mostly through executive roles rather than independent ones. Older female directors mostly enhance social CSR, while highly educated female directors contribute to both social and environmental CSR, but with a lagged effect. These findings provide a deeper understanding of how ownership structure and the female director qualities influence CSR dimensions, with important implications for policymakers and stakeholders in emerging economies.

• Li, Yinghui; Sun, Xinying; Rizov, Marian & Jian, Miao (2025). Impact of industrial integration on agricultural sustainable development : dynamic marginal effects and impact mechanism. Environment, Development and Sustainability. ISSN 1387-585X. doi: 10.1007/s10668-025-06770-8. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Achieving Sustainable agricultural development is a persistent theme, and industrial integration is a crucial pathway to ensuring a stable and efficient agricultural Supply. Drawing on theoretical insights into industrial integration and using panel data from 30 Chinese provinces from 2011 to 2022, this study applies econometric models to systematically investigate its effects and underlying mechanisms. The main findings are as follows: (1) Industrial integration significantly improves the level of sustainable agricultural development, with the impact stronger for production output sustainability than for resource use or industrial system aspects. (2) Mechanism tests confirm that industrial integration promotes agricultural sustainability mainly by advancing industrial upgrading and driving technological innovation in agriculture. Meanwhile, green tax policies play a positive moderating role in this process. (3) Regional heterogeneity analysis reveals that the impact varies notably across eastern, central, and western regions, mainly due to differences in economic development, infrastructure, and rural human capital. Overall, these findings offer empirical evidence and practical guidance for developing targeted strategies to promote sustainable agriculture.

• Brokešová, Zuzana; Cupak, Andrej; Lepinteur, Anthony & Rizov, Marian (2025). Real assets and subjective well-being : using a novel measure for relative effects. Social Indicators Research. ISSN 0303-8300. 180, p. 1567–1591. doi: 10.1007/s11205-025-03717-4. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Abstract This paper examines the relationship between household real assets and life satisfaction in Slovakia, using microdata from the 2017 wave of the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS). We find a robust positive association between the value of real assets and life satisfaction. To assess whether this relationship is driven by relative, rather than purely absolute, effects, we make use of a unique feature of the Slovak HFCS: interviewer paradata. Specifically, we use interviewers’ assessments of the respondent’s dwelling quality relative to that of nearby homes. These paradata provide a new locally grounded reference point for evaluating positional effects – arguably with greater validity than conventional approaches based on arbitrarily defined comparison groups. We show that real assets function as positional goods, with downward comparisons exerting a stronger influence on well-being than upward ones. We estimate that approximately 7% of the total relationship between real assets and life satisfaction can be attributed to relative concerns.

• Einarsdóttir, Arney; Bévort, Frans; Sandvik, Alexander Madsen; Rizov, Marian; Smale, Adam & Tengblad, Stefan (2025). Sometimes collaboration is the better strategy: institutional context and the calculative and collaborative HRM-performance relationship in the Nordics, 1999–2021. International Journal of Human Resource Management. ISSN 0958-5192. 36(12), p. 2051–2082. doi: 10.1080/09585192.2025.2483745. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This study challenges widespread universalist, or best practice, assumptions about HRM. To do this, we analyze the relationship between collaborative and calculative HRM and organizational performance, comparing Nordic CME countries to other institutional contexts and testing for the effect of time on the relationship. We first replicate a study by Rizov and Croucher (Citation2009), showing that collaborative HRM has a stronger relation to performance, using the 1999 European Cranet survey. The result remains the same in 2021. We find that the Nordic context positively moderates the collaborative HRM performance relationship. The study is then extended by examining the same relationships for 1999 and 2021 in a more contrasting and theory-guided sample including five Nordic-CME countries and five liberal market economies (LMEs) from four continents. Results confirm that collaborative HRM practices are still more important for organizational performance than calculative practices. Furthermore, the Nordic institutional CME context moderates the relationships between collaborative HRM practices and organizational performance in 1999 and 2021 in both the European and the Nordic-LME samples. Finally, we found no change in the effects of collaborative and calculative HRM practices on performance 22 years later. The study contributes to institutional theory and to comparative and international HRM.

• Pham, Tien-Minh; Rizov, Marian & Vo, Xuan Vinh (2024). Board Gender Diversity and Firm Performance in an Emerging Economy: The Role of Women Directors' Attributes. International Journal of Finance and Economics. ISSN 1076-9307. 30(2025)(4), p. 4063–4081. doi: 10.1002/ijfe.3107. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Despite the extensive research on board gender diversity (BGD), questions persist regarding its impact on firm performance and the mechanisms through which it operates, especially in emerging economies. This research enhances our understanding of how the attributes of female directors contribute to firm performance. Using data from large, listed firms in Vietnam over the period 2014–2020, we find a positive effect of BGD on firm performance, with a significant impact when at least two women serve on the board. Notably, our results show that women executive directors exert a stronger positive influence than women independent directors. We also demonstrate the importance of women directors' age, rather than their education level, in shaping firm performance. Our findings are robust across various tests. Overall, this study provides compelling evidence that, in the context of emerging economies, BGD's impact on firm performance is driven by older (more experienced) women executive directors.

• Croucher, Richard; Chit, Myint Moe; Osabutey, Ellis & Rizov, Marian (2024). Surviving the COVID-19 pandemic: European and African SMEs and domestic public policies compared. Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy. ISSN 2045-2101. 14(1), p. 149–170. doi: 10.1108/JEPP-06-2024-0103. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Purpose The paper investigates factors that contribute to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) surviving major exogenous shocks. Global crises such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have increasingly heightened scholarly interest in post-crises responses. However, studies that compare the relative responses to external shocks and the outcomes for SMEs operating in different institutional settings are limited. We examine the relative degrees of success European and African SMEs experienced in avoiding the worst consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach We use the resource dependency theory (RDT) with variants of institutional theory since the RDT has been shown in practice to have greater explanatory power when used in this way. We augment our framework with a feminist theory dimension. To test our hypotheses, we apply regression analyses using cross-sectional data from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys (WBES), which include responses from private enterprises in 26 European and eight African countries. We construct our data by combining the COVID-19 follow-up surveys with relevant firm-specific characteristics from the WBES conducted in 2020–2021 using firm-specific unique IDs. After removing the firms with missing observations, the sample number of SMEs is 15,178. Findings Our empirical findings support the theoretically posited positive effects of innovativeness, institutional connectedness and governance capability on SMEs’ survival in the face of external shocks. Further, we confirm the importance of firm-specific characteristics (financial status, size and age) for SMEs’ survival. Female-owned SMEs are more likely to suffer during COVID-19, especially in Africa. The results are more nuanced when we consider industry specificity and heterogeneity of government support. Originality/value Our article helps answer the theoretical (and policy-relevant) question of whether SMEs that are resilient to major exogenous shocks may share certain characteristics despite operating in different institutional environments. If that is so, then it may be that lessons from one continent may have at least some relevance for the other. Our approach’s broad value lies in its capacity to test the degree to which established bodies of theory developed in the Northern Hemisphere may be deployed in Africa, well beyond the contexts which provided their initial empirical basis. This paper also contributes to the literature on the effect of environmental-change shocks on entrepreneurship performance outcomes.

• Chit, Myint Moe; Croucher, Richard & Rizov, Marian (2023). Surviving the COVID-19 pandemic : the antecedents of successamong European SMEs. European Management Review. ISSN 1740-4754. 20(1), p. 113–127. doi: 10.1111/emre.12525. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  We research the antecedents of relative success among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in avoiding temporary or permanent closure during the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigate the roles of firm-specific resources and state support policies in influencing SME fortunes, in a sizeable group of European countries covered in the World Bank Enterprise Survey. Using resource dependency, Varieties of Capitalism and Systems theories, we find that innovative capacities, institutional connectedness, governance, and management experience were major antecedents of success across all SMEs. Significant differences in outcomes were found between SMEs operating in old and new EU member states, and non-EU countries.

• Croucher, Richard; Morrison, Claudio & Rizov, Marian (2023). Pay and employee intrapreneurialism in Russia, 1994–2015 : a longitudinal study. European Management Review. ISSN 1740-4754. 20(2), p. 245–259. doi: 10.1111/emre.12524. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  We examine whether a high wage–high employee intrapreneurial inputs model remains a significant feature of the Russian economy. We do so by estimating the evolution of employee ‘intrapreneurial’ contributions to companies in Russia, 1994–2015, using Akerlof's theory of ‘partial gift exchange’. Akerlof (1982) suggests that employee discretionary contributions to organizational capacities rise when pay exceeds employee perceptions of ‘fair’ pay in comparable employment. Using the extensive Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS), we find that overall employee intrapreneurial contributions significantly declined, 1994–2015, mirroring the declining Akerlof wage premium. Intrapreneurialism in highly informalized sectors was associated with labour market pressures. We extend Akerlof's theory to recognize intrapreneurial activity associated with coercive labour market pressures in the secondary labour market.

• Bournakis, Ioannis; Rizov, Marian & Christopoulos, Dimitris (2023). Revisiting the effect of institutions on the economic performance of SSA countries : do legal origins matter in the context of ethnic heterogeneity? Economic Modelling. ISSN 0264-9993. 125(August), p. 1–18. doi: 10.1016/j.econmod.2023.106332. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Our knowledge about the role of legal institutions in the developing world is limited. The present paper fills this gap in the literature by estimating, in a production function framework, how legal origins interact with ethnic heterogeneity in determining GDP-per-capita in 35 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries over the period 1970–2013. The countries in our sample follow either the Common (British) law or the Civil (French) law system and exhibit a wide range of ethnic heterogeneity. Our findings show that in the context of low ethnic heterogeneity, Common law is associated with better economic outcomes. Nonetheless, in the presence of high ethnic heterogeneity, countries under Civil law experience higher levels of political stability and coordination resulting in a higher level of GDP-per-capita. In SSA countries, stability and coordination are also essential factors in the efficient use of natural resources, which are abundant in Africa, and can substantially contribute to prosperity.

• Chit, Myint Moe & Rizov, Marian (2023). SMEs' diversification of financing sources : strategy or desperation? International Journal of Finance and Economics. ISSN 1076-9307. 29(2024)(3), p. 3123–3146. doi: 10.1002/ijfe.2822. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The paper's objective is to provide a large sample evidence on small and medium enterprises' (SMEs) financing source diversification patterns. We use the large World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES) sample of SMEs from 135 developing and emerging economies. We find that the extent of financing source diversification is significantly affected by firm-specific and country-specific characteristics. Commonly, (unconstrained) SMEs specialise their financing in retained earnings. However, SMEs experiencing financial constraints often rely on diversified financing sources. We provide theoretical justification and empirical evidence of a quadratic relationship between financial constraints and financing source diversification: SMEs experiencing a moderate degree of financial constraints use the most diversified sources of financing. This finding, combined with the evidence that financially unconstrained SMEs use fewer financing sources, suggests that diversification of financing sources by SMEs is a strategic choice based on the optimal complementarity of financing sources achieved through the credit multiplier channel.

• Korir, Lilian; Rizov, Marian & Ruto, Eric (2023). Diet diversity, malnutrition and health : evidence from Kenya. Journal of Agricultural Economics (JAE). ISSN 0021-857X. 74(2), p. 534–550. doi: 10.1111/1477-9552.12519. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  We investigate the effects of diet diversity on health outcomes indicated by the body-mass index (BMI) of Kenyan women in their reproductive age (15–49 years). We estimate the demand for diet diversity (which is a proxy for diet quality) and analyse its relationship with BMI by allowing the effect of diet diversity to vary along the conditional BMI distribution. Results show that diet diversity is associated with a beneficial effect on the lower and upper tails of the BMI distribution, that is, dietary diversity improves BMI for underweight individuals while, at the same time, it reduces BMI for overweight/obese individuals. Specifically, doubling the diet diversity is associated with a 14.7% increase in BMI for underweight women and a 7.0% reduction in BMI of obese women. These results support the hypothesis that diet diversity is associated with optimal BMI and, thus, better health, contributing to the policy discourse concerning the double burden of malnutrition in developing countries.

• He, Xinming; Rizov, Marian & Zhang, Xufei (2022). Workforce size adjustment as a strategic response to exchange rate shocks : a strategy-tripod application to Chinese firms. Journal of Business Research. ISSN 0148-2963. 138(January), p. 203–213. doi: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.09.013. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  How firms use workforce size adjustment as a strategic response to external shocks such as exchange-rate fluctuations is an important but not yet fully understood topic. To address the void in the literature, we apply the strategy tripod theoretical framework, which sees the external shocks as an industrial impact, the budget constraint as an institutional force, and the firm leverage as an organisational capability to examine the firms’ strategic response in terms of workforce size adjustment in the Chinese economy context. Based on longitudinal data of Chinese manufacturing firms, our analysis finds that facing exchange rate shocks, firms with hard budget constraint are more responsive in adjusting their workforce than firms with soft budget constraint. Furthermore, highly levered firms, with hard budget constraint, will adjust their workforce more aggressively than firms with less debt in their financial structure.

• Rizov, Marian; Vecchi, Michela & Domenech, Josep (2022). Going online : forecasting the impact of websites on productivity and market structure. Technological Forecasting and Social Change. ISSN 0040-1625. 184(November), p. 1–14. doi: 10.1016/j.techfore.2022.121959. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  We develop a unifying framework to investigate the effects of firms' internet presence on productivity and market structure. Using information on website adoption as an indicator of online trading, we treat the decision of entering an e-commerce market equivalent to the decision of entering a foreign market. Our theoretical framework draws from a dynamic model of international trade, which accounts for firms' heterogeneity in productivity levels and in the returns to productivity enhancing investments. We test the predictions of our model using UK and Spanish company account data, over the 1995–2010 period merged with information of companies' online status. The period analysed is associated with the early stage of internet diffusion and our sample countries represent fast (the UK) and slow (Spain) diffusion. Our results show that website adoption is associated with higher productivity growth and with a reduction in market concentration in both countries. The increase in competition operates via a negative selection mechanism, whereby productivity growth is inversely related to the pre-entry productivity levels. We also find that productivity gains decline over time.

• Pan, Yanfei & Rizov, Marian (2022). Consumer behaviour in sourcing meals during COVID-19 : implications for business and marketing. Sustainability. 14(21), p. 1–20. doi: 10.3390/su142113837. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The subject of this study is consumer behaviour in sourcing meals and the manifestation of different behavioural patterns before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The natural experiment, which COVID-19 represents, provides fertile ground for studying consumer behaviour and identifying important factors influencing consumer attitudes in sourcing meals and accessing food. To achieve its aim, this study draws from theories of social psychology and economics as a background for understanding the factors and processes affecting attitudes. Using survey data and qualitative and quantitative analysis the study established that the attitudes of sourcing meals remained quite stable since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Contemporary consumer experiences are primarily associated with health and safety concerns and are conditional on financial affordability. Nevertheless, advertisements and marketing campaigns remain an important factor during COVID-19. Social media platforms have grown in importance as a channel through which consumers can be reached for their food access behaviours.

• Tóth, Peter; Cupák, Andrej & Rizov, Marian (2021). Measuring the efficiency of VAT reforms : a demand system simulation approach. Oxford Economic Papers. ISSN 0030-7653. 73(3), p. 1218–1243. doi: 10.1093/oep/gpaa052. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Using an estimated demand model, we simulate household-level demand responses to the recent Slovak value added tax (VAT) reform and its hypothetical alternatives. We use simulation results, instead of the standard approximate measures, for constructing an improved efficiency indicator of tax reforms as a ratio of welfare and fiscal revenue effects and call it marginal welfare gain (MWG). We also contribute to the literature on optimal structure of indirect taxes and on marginal tax reforms with new evidence of actual and hypothetical reforms that could increase the welfare of households at zero fiscal costs. Regarding the general policy implications of our results, we conclude that using a demand model to rank commodities according to their MWGs can be helpful for designing both efficient and equitable VAT reforms.

• Qasim, Saira; Rizov, Marian & Zhang, Xufei (2021). Financial constraints and the export decision of Pakistanifirms. International Journal of Finance and Economics. ISSN 1076-9307. 26(3), p. 4557–4573. doi: 10.1002/ijfe.2030. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The payment of sunk costs associated with the entry to foreign export markets highlights the significance of financial dimension in the firm decision. The sunk costs become a challenge for the financially constrained firms. In this paper, we study the relationship between financial constraints and the export entry decision of the firms in a lower-middle income country context. We use new measures of financial constraints in finance literature alongside widely used measures of financial health in trade literature to scrutinise the relationship for Pakistani listed manufacturing firms. We find that being less financially constrained is a vital determinant of the Pakistani firms' export participation decision irrespective the high firm leverage before entry. The undeveloped financial system and heavy reliance on bank loans for external finance in Pakistan may be the plausible explanations for our findings. Our results suggest that measures of financial constraints are more appropriate than the widely used measures of financial health in studying the determinants of the export participation decision. In addition, we find evidence that future exporters improve their financial conditions prior to entering the export markets. However, we do not find any evidence that exporting improves financial conditions of the firms after entry.

• Fredriksson, Lena; Rizov, Marian; Davidova, Sophia & Bailey, Alastair (2021). Smallholder farms in Bulgaria and their contributions to food and social security. Sustainability. 13(14), p. 1–14. doi: 10.3390/su13147635. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Bulgaria has a long tradition of smallholder farming, predominantly producing for self-consumption. As a result of land reform and farm restructuring, many rural households received agricultural land. Some developed commercial farms but most households stayed as subsistence farmers and used their small pieces of land to produce for self-consumption and market the excess output to top up their non-farm incomes or meagre pensions. They had little capital and insecure access to markets. The paper employs semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 10 smallholders for obtaining detailed information about individuals’ behaviour and exploring issues in greater detail. In particular, the study looks at the drivers of the diverse strategies pursued by smallholder farms, their importance for household food security and incomes, and the prospects of smallholder farms in the future, especially the possibilities for productivity increases. The Bulgarian study on contemporary smallholder farms shows that subsistence production constitutes a valuable safety net for households with low incomes, and therefore, it acts as an extension of the limited social security system of the country. Despite all the challenges faced by smallholders, half of the interviewed households succeeded to commercialise and increase marketable surplus. Policies for increased commercialisation of smallholder farms and a structural change in agriculture should address, besides market factors, the socioeconomic aspects which contribute to the persistence of subsistence farming. Furthermore, when prioritising different policies, the chosen livelihood strategies of the households should be taken into account.

• Korir, Lilian; Rizov, Marian; Ruto, Eric & Walsh, Patrick Paul (2021). Household vulnerability to food insecurity and the regional food insecurity gap in Kenya. Sustainability. 13(16), p. 1–18. doi: 10.3390/su13169022. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Food insecurity remains a vital concern in Kenya. Vulnerable members of the population, such as children, the elderly, marginalised ethnic minorities, and low-income households, are disproportionately affected by food insecurity. Following the pioneering work of Sen, which examined exposure to food insecurity at a household level using his “entitlement approach”, this paper estimates households’ vulnerability to food insecurity. In turn, the outcome variable is decomposed in order to explain the food insecurity gap between households classified as “marginalised” and “non-marginalised”. We applied the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition method to examine vulnerability to food insecurity and, in particular, contributions of observed differences in socio-demographic characteristics (endowments) or differences in the returns to these characteristics, which, in our context, is associated with poor public services and infrastructure in the vicinity of the household. The results indicated that differences in vulnerability to food insecurity were mainly attributable to observed differences in socio-demographic characteristics such as education, age, and household income. Therefore, policies seeking to attain equity by investment into targeted household characteristics in terms of access to food and other productive resources could effectively combat food insecurity. For example, policymakers could develop programs for household inclusiveness using education and social protection programs, including insurance schemes against risk of endowment loss.

• Korir, Lilian; Rizov, Marian & Ruto, Eric (2020). Food security in Kenya: insights from a household food demand model. Economic Modelling. ISSN 0264-9993. 92(November), p. 99–108. doi: 10.1016/j.econmod.2020.07.015. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper evaluates the household food security situation in Kenya in terms of access to food. We apply a quadratic almost ideal demand system (QUAIDS) model to nationally representative household survey data from Kenya, and estimate and interpret price and expenditure elasticities as indicators of household sensitivity to market shocks. Our estimation results show positive expenditure elasticities, close to unity, while all compensated and uncompensated own-price elasticities are negative and smaller in magnitude. A complementary welfare analysis shows high compensated variations in the long run, ranging between 34% and 131% across food groups. This suggests that rising relative food costs have led to deterioration of the food security situation in Kenya, and the most severely affected households seem to be those that rely on informal markets and reside in rural areas. To improve food security, targeted income support could be a more effective policy than price support, given the much higher estimated expenditure elasticities.

• Rizov, Marian (2020). A vision of the farming sector’s future : what is in there for farmers in the time of the Second Machine Age? Local Economy. ISSN 0269-0942. 35(8), p. 717–722. doi: 10.1177/02690942211010151. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Recent technological advances both on the farm and in the lab are boosting not only the efficiency of modern farming but have made it also more independent from nature than ever before. Increasingly affordable and accessible new technologies are helping us to better understand and ‘manage’ nature and thus, for first time in history farming is becoming as any other industry – susceptible to specialisation and economies of scale. This in turn, besides increases in productivity and the minimum efficient scale, leads to fundamental organisational change, away from traditional family farms and towards corporate forms with the associated implications for employment and rural livelihoods. Recent evidence from the digitalisation in agriculture suggests that new technologies require developing capabilities in abstract and analytical skills substituting skills in routine tasks. However, this is not the end game for farmers; new partnerships between technology providers and agribusiness players emerge as digitalisation and connectivity become a strategic issue. Thus, while the first Industrial Revolution led to machines replacing ‘muscles’ the new Digital Revolution is leading to machines replacing ‘brains and souls’, and it may eventually end family farming as we know it.

• Croucher, Richard; Glaister, Keith W.; Rizov, Marian; Rofcanin, Yasin & Wood, Geoffrey (2020). Challenges and resilience : managers’ perceptions of firm performance following M&As. Applied Psychology. ISSN 0269-994X. 69(4), p. 1470–1505. doi: 10.1111/apps.12228. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  We study mergers and acquisitions (M&As), resilience and performance, identifying links between managers’ perceptions of performance and resilience, using trans-national organisational-level survey evidence (N = 3,613) and follow up semi-structured in-depth interviews with managers involved in M&As and demerger. Drawing on the resilience and M&A literature, we identify reasons why employees in acquired firms may be less resilient in coping with the resultant changes than those of the acquirer and why this will negatively impact perceptions of performance. We explore the causes and consequences of variations in resilience and performance within firms that acquire others, and in those that have been demerged. As anticipated, we find that although managers in acquired firms tended to report worse performance than those in acquiring firms, both tended to be more positive than firms that had not taken part in an M&A at all. We draw out implications for theory and practice.

• Rizov, Marian; Bailey, Alastair & Davidova, Sophia M. (2019). Employment effects of CAP payments in the UK non-farm economy. In Davidova, Sophia M.; Thomson, Kenneth J. & Mishra, Ashok K. (Ed.), Rural policies and employment transatlantic experiences. World Scientific. ISSN 9781786347084. p. 147–161. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The effects of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) payments on indirectly generated non-farm jobs in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are central to job creation. This chapter examines whether there are differences in these effects according to business location (rural or urban), the agricultural supply chain, and according to CAP pillars, using both static and dynamic models of employment. The results suggest positive net spillovers of CAP payments to non-farm employment. Although their magnitudes are small, they are economically significant. In general, Pillar 1 has a stronger positive employment effect than Pillar 2, but Pillar 2 payments have a stronger positive effect per Euro spent in rural areas and within the agricultural supply chain.

• Huffman, Sonya K. & Rizov, Marian (2018). Life satisfaction and diet in transition : evidence from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey. Agricultural Economics. ISSN 0169-5150. 49(5), p. 563–574. doi: 10.1111/agec.12442. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This article develops a theoretical framework and provides empirical evidence on the impacts of diet and lifestyles on life satisfaction in Russia using 1995–2005 data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey. Our results suggest that diet measured as calories, fat, protein, and diversity of food consumption has a statistically significant effect on life satisfaction levels of the Russian population. In addition, living in a region with higher per capita income increases population's life satisfaction. While living in a rural area, having health problems, and having young children affect individual life satisfaction in Russia in a negative and statistically significantly way. Life satisfaction is also positively correlated with education and income, and negatively with unemployment. Better understanding of the drivers of life satisfaction and more generally of subjective well-being in Russia can assist in the government decision-making processes, including the allocation of scarce resources and the design of public health policies.

• Ciaian, Pavel; Cupák, Andrej; Pokrivčák, Ján & Rizov, Marian (2018). Food consumption and diet quality choices of Roma in Romania : a counterfactual analysis. Food Security. ISSN 1876-4517. 10(2), p. 437–456. doi: 10.1007/s12571-018-0781-8. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper analyses the diet quality aspect of food security of Roma in Romania. We employed a modified Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition technique using Household Budget Survey data for the period 2004–2011. The estimates suggest that Roma have inferior diet diversity compared to the non-Roma. Around one-third of the diet diversity gap is explained by the differences in observed socio-economic factors, whereas the remaining part of the gap is attributed to unobserved factors. We argue that the unexplained component of the diet diversity gap is caused by the discrimination of the Roma on the labour market and by their specific informal institutions.

• Croucher, Richard; Ramakrishnan, Sumeetra; Rizov, Marian & Benzinger, Diana (2018). Perceptions of employability among London’s low-paid : ‘self-determination’ or ethnicity? Economic and Industrial Democracy: an international journal. ISSN 0143-831X. 39(1), p. 109–130. doi: 10.1177/0143831X15609672. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This article investigates how ethnicity, gender and other characteristics affect low-paid workers’ perceptions of their employability in London’s labour market, examining self-efficacy, ethnic and dual labour market theories. The authors find that perceptions vary considerably, both between genders and ethnicities and in the extent to which they are ‘justified’ by human capital attributes. Optimism varies between genders and ethnic groups but individuals’ perceptions vary to an even greater extent within genders and ethnic groups. Hence, individual-level ‘self-determination’ explanations of these perceptions appear to have greatest explanatory power in this specific context, although ethnic theories also have utility.

• Brookes, Michael; James, Philip & Rizov, Marian (2018). Employment regulation and productivity : is there a case for deregulation? Economic and Industrial Democracy: an international journal. ISSN 0143-831X. 39(3), p. 381–403. doi: 10.1177/0143831X16631029. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This article explores empirically the economic validity of the relatively limited approach to the regulation of employment protection pursued in the UK over the last three decades and within the European Union more recently. It does so by comparing the UK’s manufacturing labour productivity performance with those of three countries – France, Germany and Sweden – that possess more stringent employment protection laws. The findings reveal that while productivity growth in the UK was superior to France and Sweden, it was lower than in Germany. More generally, the study’s findings fail to support the existence of a straightforward negative relationship between regulatory stringency and productivity growth.

• Rizov, Marian; Davidova, Sophia & Bailey, Alastair (2018). Employment effects of CAP payments in the UK non-farm economy. European Review of Agricultural Economics. ISSN 0165-1587. 45(5), p. 723–748. doi: 10.1093/erae/jby008. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper investigates the effects of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) payments on the indirectly generated non-farm jobs in small and medium-sized enterprises, which are central to job creation. It examines whether there are differences in the effect according to business location – rural or urban, the agricultural supply chain and according to CAP Pillars. A microeconomic approach is employed, based on firm data from FAME dataset combined with detailed subsidies information from Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The generalised method of moments (system GMM) is used to estimate the effect of CAP payments in both static and dynamic models of employment. The results suggest positive net spillovers of CAP payments to non-farm employment. Although the magnitude of the effect is small, it is economically significant. In general, Pillar 1 has a stronger positive employment effect relative to Pillar 2. However, Pillar 2 payments have a stronger positive effect per Euro spent in rural areas and within agricultural supply chain.

• Braha, Kushtrim; Cupák, Andrej; Pokrivčák, Ján; Qineti, Artan & Rizov, Marian (2017). Economic analysis of the link between diet quality and health : evidence from Kosovo. Economics and Human Biology. ISSN 1570-677X. 27A(November), p. 261–274. doi: 10.1016/j.ehb.2017.08.003. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  We analyse the link between diet diversity, (which is a proxy of diet quality) and health outcomes measured by body-mass index (BMI) in a representative sample of Kosovar adults using household expenditure micro-data. Building on a household model of health production we devise a two-stage empirical strategy to estimate the determinants of diet diversity and its effect on BMI. Economic factors and demographic characteristics play an important role in the choice of balanced diets. Results from the BMI analysis support the hypothesis that diet diversity is associated with optimal BMI. One standard deviation increase in diet diversity leads to 2.3% increase in BMI of the underweight individuals and to 1.5% reduction in BMI of the obese individuals. The findings have important implications for food security policies aiming at enhancing the public health in Kosovo.

• Croucher, Richard; Gooderham, Paul N. & Rizov, Marian (2017). Research performance and the organizational effectiveness of universities. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance. ISSN 2051-6614. 5(1), p. 22–38. doi: 10.1108/JOEPP-06-2017-0057. Full text in Research Archive
• Mustafa, Ghulam; Rizov, Marian & Kernohan, David (2017). Growth, human development, and trade : the Asian experience. Economic Modelling. ISSN 0264-9993. 61(February), p. 93–101. doi: 10.1016/j.econmod.2016.12.007. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This study looks at the three-way relationship between economic growth, human development, and openness to trade in a large panel of developing Asian economies. Using a theoretically motivated simultaneous equations system, we find that although human development contributes positively to economic growth, in the case of our Asian sample growth does not appear to have had a positive influence on human development. Uneven growth accompanied by lagging institutional development, preventing human capital formation, might have inhibited human development in the short to medium run. Complementary to the literature showing that growth is sustainable only when accompanied by human development, we confirm a role for trade liberalisation policies in achieving higher growth as well as human development.

• Cupák, Andrej; Pokrivčák, Ján & Rizov, Marian (2016). Diverzifikácia spotreby potravín na Slovensku. Politická ekonomie. ISSN 2336-8225. 64(5), p. 608–626. doi: 10.18267/j.polek.1082. Full text in Research Archive
• Cupák, Andrej; Pokrivčák, Ján & Rizov, Marian (2016). Demand for food away from home in Slovakia. Finance a úver. ISSN 0015-1920. 66(4), p. 354–369. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  e analyze demand for food away from home (FAFH) in Slovakia by means of a double-hurdle model using recent Slovak Household Budget Survey data covering the period 2006–2012. The estimated unconditional income elasticity of FAFH demand (1.37) demonstrates that away-from-home eating is still perceived as a luxury by Slovak households. An important feature of our applied theoretical framework is measurement of the effect of a wifeʼs opportunity cost of time. Results indicate that households where the wife is employed have significantly higher expenditure on FAFH compared to households where the wife is unemployed or a housewife. Further FAFH market growth can be expected in Slovakia in the future, driven by rising GDP, increasing participation of women in the job market, demographic changes towards an increase in the proportion of single-person households, and adoption of more individualistic lifestyles.

• Rizov, Marian; Croucher, Richard & Lange, Thomas (2016). The UK national minimum wage's impact on productivity. British Journal of Management. ISSN 1045-3172. 27(4), p. 819–835. doi: 10.1111/1467-8551.12171. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Low pay poses issues for managers internationally. We examine productivity in low-paying sectors in Britain, since the introduction of the National Minimum Wage (NMW). We use a multiple channel analytical strategy, emphasizing the wage incentives channel and linking it to a model of unobserved productivity. We estimate firm-specific productivity measures and aggregate them to the level of low-paying sectors. Difference-in-differences analysis illustrates that the NMW positively affected aggregate low-paying sector productivity. These findings highlight increased wage incentive effects with implications for management practice and public policy since ‘living’ wages may be productivity enhancing.

• Cupák, Andrej; Pokrivčák, Ján & Rizov, Marian (2015). Food demand and consumption patterns in the new EU member states : the case of Slovakia. Ekonomický časopis. ISSN 2729-7470. 63(4), p. 339–358. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  We estimate a food demand system for Slovakia using a recent Household Budget Survey data collected by the Slovak statistical office covering the period 2004 – 2010. The Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System (QUAIDS) augmented with demographic, regional and expenditure controls is employed based on preliminary non-parametric Engel curve analysis. Results indicate that demand for dairy products and fruits and vegetables is expenditure and own-price elastic indicating that such goods are perceived as luxuries. On the other hand, commodity bundles such as cereals, meat and fish and other food are found to be normal goods with positive budget elasticity smaller than one and price inelastic demand. Rural and low-income households appear more expenditure and, especially, price sensitive compared with the urban and high-income ones. Overall the food consumption patterns changed and food security situation improved in Slovakia between 2004 and 2010.

• Minns, Chris & Rizov, Marian (2015). Institutions, history and wage bargaining outcomes : international evidence from the post-World War Two era. Business History. ISSN 0007-6791. 57(3), p. 358–375. doi: 10.1080/00076791.2014.983480. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This article uses international evidence to assess the impact of tripartism and other forms of government involvement in bargaining on wage moderation and wage dispersion. We find that government involvement in wage bargaining leads to a modest increase in wage moderation and reduction in wage dispersion. Historic differences in bargaining institutions between countries have greater moderating effects.

• Croucher, Richard & Rizov, Marian (2015). MNEs and flexible working practices in Mauritius. International Journal of Human Resource Management. ISSN 0958-5192. 26(21), p. 2701–2717. doi: 10.1080/09585192.2014.934898. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  We compare how far companies based in Africa, India and the ‘global North’ operating in Mauritius adopt high-trust flexible working practices and how these are linked to different clusters of wider labour management practice. Using comprehensive firm-level data collected in late 2011, we find that African/Indian company practices are closer to those of indigenous firms than to those of Northern companies. The different company groups operate in quite different ways but regional multi-national enterprises operate in a similar way to indigenous companies. We therefore conclude that Rugman and Verbeke's ‘regionalization’ theory also applies to the HR field. We further find that both a relatively strategic approach to HRM and measures to develop employer–employee interdependence are, respectively, linked directly and indirectly to flexible working incidence.

• Mazhikeyev, Arman; Edwards, T. Huw & Rizov, Marian (2015). Openness and isolation : the trade performance of the former Soviet Central Asian countries. International Business Review. ISSN 0969-5931. 24(6), p. 935–947. doi: 10.1016/j.ibusrev.2015.03.001. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Previous studies divide the former Soviet Central Asian countries (CACs) into “more open” (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan) and “more isolationist” (Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) depending on their trade-to-GDP ratio. We investigate this by gravity analysis measuring contributions of country-specific properties and networking factors in 185 bilateral CACs trade flows over the period 1995–2011. Our findings suggest that while all CACs have experienced growing trade over the period, they show considerable variety in initial conditions and transition reforms. The more isolationist countries have mostly relied on fortuitous factors such as hikes in natural resource prices to boost their trade, whereas the more open, reform-minded states have achieved considerable trade growth through reducing trade costs. Being an open or isolationist economy has resulted, respectively, in more or less suitable environment for business and investment.

• Herzfeld, Thomas; Huffman, Sonya & Rizov, Marian (2014). The dynamics of food, alcohol and cigarette consumption in Russia during transition. Economics and Human Biology. ISSN 1570-677X. 13(March), p. 128–143. doi: 10.1016/j.ehb.2013.02.002. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper presents evidence on the impact of individual as well as regional characteristics on the dynamics of fat, protein, alcohol and cigarette consumption, and on the diversity of the diet in Russia between 1994 and 2005. All those aspects of nutritional behavior are important inputs to the production of health. A dynamic panel data model is used to estimate demand functions for fat, protein, alcohol, cigarettes and diversity of the diet. The results suggest the existence of strong habits in drinking and smoking, and the absence of habits in fat and protein consumption. We also found evidence of habit formation for food diversity. Comparing nutritional behavior of younger and older consumers, we find significant differences in the demand for fat and cigarettes. Older consumers seem to be more persistent in their drinking and smoking behavior. Similarly, men show higher habit persistence for alcohol and cigarette consumption. The results also suggest that among individual determinants, especially education, income and employment have statistically significant impacts on consumption behavior. Regarding the macroeconomic variables, economic growth is negatively related to protein consumption, while regional unemployment rate is negatively affecting the demand for protein and food diversity. Finally, Russian consumers react to the price changes of alcohol, cigarettes, fat and protein as suggested by theory. Consumer demand for food diversity responds negatively to price changes of alcohol and cigarettes, but positively to the price of fat.

• Croucher, Richard & Rizov, Marian (2014). Institutions, labour management practices and firm performance in Europe. In Wood, Geoffrey; Brewster, Chris & Brookes, Michael (Ed.), Human resource management and the institutional perspective. Routledge. ISSN 9781315796079. p. 157–178. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This chapter discusses how different institutional environments and associated collaborative types of labour management practices (LMPs) at firm level improve firm performance in European countries. The European 'social model' suggests that the existence of a collaborative approach to companies' relations with employees has historic political origins. The chapter reviews literature on the link between institutional settings and LMPs and develop a theoretical framework to analyses relationships in different national institutional environments. It also develops hypotheses for evaluating relationships between LMPs and institutional settings. The chapter shows that resolving the inherent employer-employee conflict of interest by adopting optimal LMPs at organizational level corresponding to the national institutional setting is efficient and ultimately can be welfare-improving. It also describes the data used and the scaling procedures employed in order to create LMP measures. The chapter has tested the theoretically derived hypothesis (H1) that collaborative forms of LMPs are more likely to enhance the labour extraction process and firm performance than calculative alternatives.

• Lin, Qiaoyuan; Rizov, Marian & Wong, Marie (2014). Residential Electricity Pricing in China. The Chinese Economy. ISSN 1558-0954. 47(2), p. 41–74. doi: 10.2753/CES1097-1475470203. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This article evaluates the new residential pricing system for electricity in China by examining price and income elasticity of demand by household type. We used prereform annual panel data for 29 provinces from 1998 to 2011, applying feasible generalized least squares models. The price and income elasticities for household sectors are -0.412, and 1.476 at the national level, -0.300 and 1.550 in urban areas, and -0.522 and 1.093 in rural areas. With regional effects, the price and income elasticities are -0.146 and 1.286 for urban households in coastal provinces and -0.772 and 1.259 for urban households in inland provinces. The empirical results reveal that there is important heterogeneity in the responsiveness to electricity price changes by household income level and location.

• Rizov, Marian & Zhang, Xufei (2014). Regional disparities and productivity in China: Evidence from manufacturing micro data. Papers in Regional Science. ISSN 1056-8190. 93(2), p. 310–339. doi: 10.1111/pirs.12051. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In this paper we first estimate firm-specific total factor productivities within 2-digit manufacturing industries using a semi-parametric algorithm and micro data for the period 2000–2007. Next, to characterize regional disparities in China we compute aggregate productivity by the categories of three regional typologies, based on population density, coastal-inland, and rural-urban criteria. We analyse the productivity differentials across the categories of the typologies by decomposing regional productivity level and growth into productivity effect and industry composition effect. We find clear evidence of regional convergence. Besides density of economic activity, recent policy and structural factors seem to affect regional productivity level and growth differentials.

• Croucher, Richard; Rizov, Marian & Goolaup, Ram (2014). The antecedents of direct management communication to employees in Mauritius. International Journal of Human Resource Management. ISSN 0958-5192. 25(17), p. 2420–2437. doi: 10.1080/09585192.2014.880153. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Introduction The Mauritian context Theoretical framework and hypotheses Methodology Estimation and findings Discussion and conclusion References Appendixes Full Article Figures & data References Citations Metrics Reprints & Permissions View PDF Abstract We measure whether, in a developing country, existence of a ‘hard’ strategic human resource management (SHRM) strategy developed at high organizational levels or one designed to enhance employee knowledge inputs and thereby promote employer–employee interdependence (EEIN) is a stronger antecedent of direct communication to employees. We use data from a comprehensive survey of HR practices in Mauritius, one of Africa's most open and successful economies. We find that both SHRM and EEIN are antecedents, but that the latter is stronger in public organizations and in smaller and older companies. We conclude that EEIN is a significant analytic category for explaining management practices especially in a historic sense in this and possibly other developing country contexts.

• Huffman, Sonya & Rizov, Marian (2014). Body weight and labour market outcomes in Post-Soviet Russia. International journal of manpower. ISSN 0143-7720. 35(5), p. 671–687. doi: 10.1108/IJM-01-2013-0009. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to focus on the impacts of overweight and obesity on the probability of employment, wages, and the incidence of sick-leave days by gender, in Russia, over the transition period, 1994-2005. Design/methodology/approach: The authors uses panel data and appropriate instrumental variables techniques to estimate a set of three models. Findings: The results show a linear negative effect of body mass index (BMI) on probability of employment for women and positive effect for men. The authors did not find evidence of wage penalty for higher BMI, a result different from findings of several studies on developed market economies. There is also positive impact of BMI on the number of work days missed due to health problems for women. Originality/value: The results derived in transition context add evidence to the growing obesity and labour market outcomes literature emphasising the relative importance of the labour supply side compared to the demand side. The policy implications of our study are gender specific.

• Rizov, Marian; Pokrivčák, Ján & Ciaian, Pavel (2013). CAP subsidies and productivity of the EU farms. Journal of Agricultural Economics (JAE). ISSN 0021-857X. 64(3), p. 537–557. doi: 10.1111/1477-9552.12030. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The paper investigates the impact of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) subsidies on farm total factor productivity (TFP) in the European Union (EU). We employ a structural semi-parametric estimation algorithm directly incorporating the effect of subsidies into a model of unobserved productivity. We empirically study the effects using the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) samples for the EU-15 countries. Our main findings are clear: subsidies impact negatively on farm productivity in the period before the decoupling reform was implemented; after decoupling the effect of subsidies on productivity is more nuanced and in several countries it turned positive.

• Rizov, Marian; Pokrivčák, Ján & Ciaian, Pavel (2013). The impact of CAP reform on the productivity of EU farms. In Swinnen, Johan F. M. & Knops, Louise (Ed.), Land, labour and capital markets in European agriculture : diversity under a common policy. Centre for European Policy Studies . ISSN 9789461383518. p. 334–346. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Well-functioning factor markets are an essential condition for the competitiveness and sustainable development of agriculture and rural areas. At the same time, the functioning of the factor markets themselves is influenced by changes in agriculture and the rural economy. Such changes can be the result of progress in technology, globalisation and European market integration, changing consumer preferences and shifts in policy. Changes in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) over the last decade have particularly affected the rural factor markets. This book analyses the functioning of factor markets for agriculture in the EU-27 and several candidate countries. Written by leading academics and policy analysts from various European countries, these chapters compare the different markets, their institutional framework, their impact on agricultural development and structural change, and their interaction with the CAP. As the first comparative study to cover rural factor markets in Europe, highlighting their diversity − despite the Common Agricultural Policy and an integrated single market − Land, Labour & Capital Markets in European Agriculture provides a timely and valuable source of information at a time of further CAP reform and the continuing transformation of the EU’s rural areas.

• Rizov, Marian; Herzfeld, Thomas & Huffman, Sonya K. (2012). The Russian food, alcohol and tobacco consumption patterns during transition. Collegium Antropologicum. ISSN 0350-6134. 36(4), p. 1143–1154. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The paper presents evidence on the impact of individual characteristics as well as regional macroeconomic factors on changes in fat, protein, alcohol and tobacco consumption, and on diet's diversity during the transition period 1994 - 2004 in Russia. The results from estimating first difference demand functions using Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) data suggest that individual characteristics such as initial consumption patterns, gender, education, household income, and access to a garden plot all have a significant impact on the consumption behaviour. Regarding the macroeconomic variables, inflation has a significant impact on alcohol and tobacco consumption, while unemployment significantly impacts only smoking behaviour. Russian consumers respond to own prices of fat and protein as well as to own prices of alcohol and tobacco but to a lesser extent. Analysis of subsamples based on different initial consumption patterns reveals significant heterogeneity in consumption responses.

• Croucher, Richard & Rizov, Marian (2012). Union influence in post-socialist Europe. Industrial & labor relations review. ISSN 0019-7939. 65(3), p. 630–650. doi: 10.1177/001979391206500307. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Examining enterprise-level union influence in post-socialist countries, the authors hypothesize that calculative human resource management (HRM) is more strongly associated with low levels of union influence than collaborative HRM. Using the United Kingdom as a benchmark, they find that in the countries under study, calculative HRM is indeed more damaging to union influence than collaborative, although to a much lesser extent than in the United Kingdom. They also find that union influence corresponds to enterprise union density and is most apparent when the business cycle is unfavorable; they explain their findings by reference to East European members' continued attachment to unionism for nonbargaining reasons.

• Rizov, Marian; Oskam, Arie & Walch, Paul (2012). Is there a limit to agglomeration? : evidence from productivity of Dutch firms. Regional Science and Urban Economics. ISSN 0166-0462. 42(4), p. 595–606. doi: 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2012.02.006. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  We compute aggregate productivity of three categories of regions, classified by the level of urbanization and density of economic activity in the Netherlands, from firm-specific total factor productivity (TFP) measures. TFP measures are estimated by a semi-parametric algorithm, within 2-digit industries, covering agriculture, manufacturing, construction, trade and services, using AMADEUS data over the period 1997–2006. We analyse the productivity differentials across urbanization categories by decomposing them into industry productivity effect and industry composition effect. Our analysis indicates that there is non-linear net effect of agglomeration on productivity growth but in levels agglomeration is associated with higher productivity.

• Croucher, Richard & Rizov, Marian (2011). Employees' entrepreneurial contributions to firms in Russia, 1995–2004. Human Resource Management Journal. ISSN 0954-5395. 21(4), p. 415–431. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-8583.2011.00184.x. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This article examines how employee self-reported entrepreneurial contributions evolved in firms operating in Russia in 1995–2004 and whether changes can be explained by Akerlof's theory of implicit gift exchange in labour contracts. We find that these contributions were indeed influenced by wage premia and shifting work norms, declining by about a half during the period and with a particularly marked fall in contributions by manual workers. The trend was found among foreign-owned, private Russian-owned and state-owned companies. Akerlof's model therefore helps explain Russian workers' changing behaviour.

• Rizov, Marian & Walsh, Patrick Paul (2011). Is there a rural–urban divide? : location and productivity of UK manufacturing. Regional studies. ISSN 0034-3404. 45(5), p. 641–656. doi: 10.1080/00343401003713449. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Rizov M. and Walsh P. P. Is there a rural–urban divide? Location and productivity of UK manufacturing, Regional Studies. Aggregate productivity of manufacturing industries by urban, rural less sparse, and rural sparse locations in the UK is computed from firm-specific total factor productivities, which are estimated by a semi-parametric algorithm, within four-digit manufacturing industries, using the FAME data set over the period 1994–2001. The productivity differentials across location categories are analysed by decomposing them into industry productivity effect and industry composition effect. The analysis indicates that at the end of twentieth century, a rural–urban divide in manufacturing productivity still remains, but there is a tendency for convergence between rural and urban location categories, possibly due to increased competitive pressure. The industry composition effect is positively correlated with the industry productivity effect, suggesting that locations with high productivity are also characterized by industrial structure enhancing productivity.

• Chit, Myint Moe; Rizov, Marian & Willenbockel, Dirk (2010). Exchange rate volatility and exports : new empirical evidence from the emerging East Asian economies. The World Economy. ISSN 0378-5920. 33(2), p. 239–263. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9701.2009.01230.x. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper examines the impact of bilateral real exchange rate volatility on real exports of five emerging East Asian countries among themselves as well as to 13 industrialised countries. We recognise the specificity of the exports between the emerging East Asian and industrialised countries and employ a generalised gravity model. In the empirical analysis we use a panel comprising 25 years of quarterly data and perform unit-root and cointegration tests to verify the long-run relationship among the variables. The results provide strong evidence that exchange rate volatility has a negative impact on the exports of emerging East Asian countries. In addition, the results suggest that the pattern of bilateral exports is influenced by third-country variables. An increase in the price competitiveness of other emerging East Asian countries has a negative impact on a country’s exports to a destination market, but the magnitude of the impact is relatively small. These results are robust across different estimation techniques and do not depend on the variable chosen to proxy exchange rate uncertainty. The results of the GMM-IV estimation also confirm the negative impact of exchange rate volatility on exports and suggest that this negative relationship is not driven by simultaneous causality bias.

• Huffman, Sonya K. & Rizov, Marian (2010). The rise of obesity in transition : theory and empirical evidence from Russia. Journal of Development Studies. ISSN 0022-0388. 46(3), p. 574–594. doi: 10.1080/00220380903383230. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper integrates theoretical and empirical models to study the rise of human obesity in Russia during the transition from a planned to a market economy. To test our hypotheses we use recent individual-level data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey for 1995 and 2004 capturing representative periods of early and late transition. Estimation results strongly support our model of production and supply of BMI (body-mass index) and weight. The analysis indicates strong links between dietary patterns, individual characteristics, environmental factors and obesity in Russia. Understanding these relationships is important for designing effective public policies aiming to improve overall nutritional wellbeing and reduce obesity and mortality of the Russian population. Interventions, which enhance education and awareness of healthy lifestyles and healthy diet, could play a vital role in preventing obesity in Russia.

• Rizov, Marian & Walsh, Patrick Paul (2009). Productivity and trade orientation in UK manufacturing. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics. ISSN 0305-9049. 71(6), p. 821–849. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-0084.2009.00564.x. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  We show that improvements in aggregate productivity in UK manufacturing during the first years after the implementation of the Euro, by the UK's main trading partners in Europe, are determined by both market share reallocation and within-company productivity growth. Furthermore, we outline a structural methodology for estimating parameters of a production function linking the unobservable productivity to endogenous company-level trade orientation, investment and exit decisions. This allows us to back out consistent and unbiased estimates of productivity dynamics by trade orientation of companies within four-digit UK manufacturing industries using FAME data over the period 1994–2001. Our estimates of productivity dynamics indicate that improvements in aggregate productivity were mainly driven by market share reallocations away from inefficient and towards efficient exporting companies alongside productivity improvements within non-exporting companies.

• Rizov, Marian & Croucher, Richard (2009). Human resource management and performance in European firms. Cambridge Journal of Economics. ISSN 0309-166X. 33(2), p. 253–272. doi: 10.1093/cje/ben037. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  We develop a theoretical framework to examine three hypotheses on the relationship between human resource management (HRM) practices and organisational performance in European firms. The first is that collaborative forms of HRM practice are more strongly associated with superior firm performance than calculative forms. The second is that these associations are strongest where national institutional and normative settings support them. The third is that employer–employee consultative committees and collective payment methods are also associated with superior firm performance. The first two propositions are strongly empirically supported, as is the third, albeit more weakly. The implications of the findings for European policy and Varieties of Capitalism theory are discussed.

• Rizov, Marian (2008). Corporate capital structure and how soft budget constraints may affect it. Journal of economic surveys. ISSN 0950-0804. 22(4), p. 648–684. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6419.2007.00545.x. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This survey paper examines existing theories of capital structure and related empirical tests with the aim to derive theoretical as well empirically testable predictions about the implications of the soft budget constraint for corporate capital structure. We show that the soft budget constraint syndrome is relevant for a variety of institutional environments, from central planning to capitalist economic systems, and consider features of company financing patterns in various institutional contexts. Special attention is paid to emerging and transition economies where, with the development of financial markets, companies reduce their financial dependence on the state and begin to borrow from a variety of sources. However, due to the persistence of soft budget constraints, corporate capital structure in transition and emerging economies may still deviate significantly from the capital structure of companies operating under hard budget constraints.

• Rizov, Marian (2008). Institutions, reform policies and productivity growth in agriculture : evidence from former communist countries. NJAS - Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences. ISSN 1573-5214. 55(4), p. 307–323. doi: 10.1016/S1573-5214(08)80023-1. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  There are important differences among former communist countries in performance of their agricultural sectors that are commonly attributed to variation in inherent institutions and reform policy choices. In this paper the link between institutions, reforms and (labour) productivity growth in agriculture is analysed within an augmented neo-classical growth model framework derived from a production function. For the empirical analysis panel data over the transition period (1990–2001) were used that cover 15 former communist countries, applying a GMM-IV estimator. Estimation results strongly support the view that the shift to individual land use, measuring farm restructuring, as well as the overall economic reforms, supported by democratic institutions, have positively contributed to the (labour) productivity growth in former communist countries' agriculture.

• Huffman, Sonya K. & Rizov, Marian (2007). Determinants of obesity in transition economies : the case of Russia. Economics and Human Biology. ISSN 1570-677X. 5(3), p. 379–391. doi: 10.1016/j.ehb.2007.07.001. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper examines human obesity, measured as weight and body mass index (BMI), and its determinants in Russia. Obesity increased dramatically during transition from a planned to a market economy, by 38%. We determine the factors contributing to rising obesity using individual level data from the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey for 1994 and 2004. We find a strong positive effect of diet/caloric intake and a strong negative effect of smoking on weight and BMI. Gender, education, and income are other major determinants of obesity. Our analysis provides information on dietary patterns and other determinants of obesity in Russia which is essential for formulation and implementation of effective policies designed to reduce the problem and improve the health of the population.

• Rizov, Marian (2006). Rural development perspectives in enlarging Europe : the implications of CAP reforms and agricultural transition in accession countries. European Planning Studies. ISSN 0965-4313. 14(2), p. 219–238. doi: 10.1080/09654310500418101. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The purpose of this paper is to put into an appropriate theoretical frame the rural development issues in enlarging Europe and to analyse the rural development perspectives in the European Union (EU) accession countries. Based on comparisons of developments in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and features of the rural areas in incumbent EU member states with the status of the rural sectors in accession countries, implications for the future of CAP are discussed. It is argued that despite coming from different development doctrines, the dominant rural sector—agriculture—in both eastern and western Europe is similarly characterized by dual structure. Thus, emphasis on rural development structural policies currently being promoted by the reforming CAP can be fruitful in both new and incumbent member states.

• Rizov, Marian (2005). Human capital and the agrarian structure in transition : micro-evidence from Romania. Economic and Industrial Democracy: an international journal. ISSN 0143-831X. 26(1), p. 119–149. doi: 10.1177/0143831X05049405. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This article examines determinants of the agrarian structure in transition economies with an emphasis on the role of rural households’ human capital. Land reform and enterprise restructuring have resulted in a broad range of farm types, such as cooperatives, partnerships, individual farms and combinations of these. In the theoretical model the fact that household resources are allocated to different organization modes is attributed to the utility maximization strategy of heterogeneous agents deriving income from uncertain sources in the face of incomplete factor markets. The empirical results from a multinomial logit model estimated with data from a two-year nationwide survey of Romanian rural households support the hypothesis that the current agrarian structure is importantly affected by the human capital characteristics of the households and the economic risks they face.

• Minns, Chris & Rizov, Marian (2005). The spirit of capitalism? : ethnicity, religion, and self-employment in early 20th century Canada. Explorations in economic history (EEH). ISSN 0014-4983. 42(2), p. 259–281. doi: 10.1016/j.eeh.2004.07.002. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper examines self-employment in Canada at the beginning of the 20th century. Self-employment 100 years ago was associated with greater human capital and negatively related to earnings in employee occupations in the local district. We also find strong evidence of immigrant assimilation in self-employment and modest evidence of higher self-employment in enclaves with greater concentration of immigrants. An analysis of recent immigrants supports the hypothesis that liquidity constraints were an important determinant of self-employment. Christian affiliation had little impact on self-employment outcomes.

• Rizov, Marian (2005). Rural development under the European CAP : the role of diversity. The Social Science Journal. ISSN 0362-3319. 42(4), p. 621–628. doi: 10.1016/j.soscij.2005.09.003. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Achieving optimal diversity at community level is a key in solving the rural development problem. In this essay rural development at community level and the impact of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reforms are analyzed in the framework of privately provided public goods models. It is shown that CAP support redistribution inducing diversification of community activities across households can potentially have important positive impact on rural development and household welfare.

• Rizov, Marian (2005). Transition and enterprise restructuring : the role of budget constraints and bankruptcy costs. Economics Letters. ISSN 0165-1765. 86(1), p. 129–134. doi: 10.1016/j.econlet.2004.05.004. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The focus of analysis is on the impact of financial leverage as a measure of bankruptcy costs on enterprise restructuring, based on budget constraints in the economy. Data of Bulgarian manufacturing firms allow comparison of firm behavior under soft and hard budget constraints as distinguished by the inception of a currency board in 1997. Controlling for change in sales, firm size and type of ownership, statistically significant relationship between financial leverage and firm restructuring through labor adjustments is found to exist under hard budget constraints only.

• Rizov, Marian (2005). Pull and push : individual farming in Hungary. Food Policy. ISSN 0306-9192. 30(1), p. 43–62. doi: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2004.11.002. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper is motivated by the fact that (part-time) individual farming is commonly observed among rural households in a number of transition economies but it is not clear prima facie if such resource allocation is optimal. A conceptual model of household labor allocation between individual farming and off-farm wage employment is developed. The model explicitly accounts for the role of household endowments in labor allocation as the analysis is conditioned on the status of factor markets. The hypotheses are empirically tested using 1998 data from a country-representative survey of rural households in Hungary, an advanced transition country, which only recently became EU member state. Results provide evidence that capital market imperfections still remain. Implications for the policies related to agricultural sector restructuring, employment and rural development are discussed.

• Rizov, Marian (2005). Does individualization help productivity of transition agriculture? Agricultural Economics. ISSN 0169-5150. 33(2), p. 215–227. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-0862.2005.00408.x. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  There are large differences across transition countries with respect to agricultural-sector performance and corresponding scope of farm restructuring and shift to individual farming. In this article we analyze the impact of individualization on productivity growth within an augmented neoclassical growth model framework. This approach allows us to circumvent criticisms on the grounds of lack of theoretical and objective criteria for inclusion of explanatory variables. Furthermore, in the empirical analysis using a panel data covering 15 transition countries over the period 1990–2001 and applying a generalized method of moments with instrumental variable estimator we are able to control for the impact of various factors and the potential endogeneity of variables. Our estimation results are robust and support the view that the shift to individual farming, as well as the overall economic reforms, has positively contributed to the productivity growth in agriculture during the first decade of transition.

• Rizov, Marian (2004). Rural development and welfare implications of CAP reforms. Journal of Policy Modeling. ISSN 0161-8938. 26(2), p. 209–222. doi: 10.1016/j.jpolmod.2004.03.003. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has been evolving from a sectoral policy of farm commodity support into an integrated policy for rural development and environmental enhancement. Rural development policy is closely linked to two concepts: diversity (multifunctionality) and sustainability as achieving optimal diversity at community level is a key in the rural development problem. In this paper rural development at community level and the impact of support redistribution, resulting from recent CAP reforms, are analyzed in the framework of privately provided public goods. It is shown that CAP support redistribution can importantly impact rural community development and household welfare, conditional on households’ technology (opportunity costs) of contributing to development, their current levels of contribution, and the form of community development function.

• Rizov, Marian & Swinnen, Johan F. M. (2004). Human capital, market imperfections, and labor reallocation in transition. Journal of comparative economics. ISSN 0147-5967. 32(4), p. 745–774. doi: 10.1016/j.jce.2004.08.002. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In this paper, we investigate the effects of human capital and factor market imperfections on household decisions regarding labor use and reallocation in transition countries. We develop a model that accounts explicitly for heterogeneity in the supply of labor and analyze its impact on the allocation of labor. Furthermore, the effects of imperfections in the capital and labor markets on the reallocation process are modeled. Using a dataset based on a countrywide representative survey of Hungarian rural households, we estimate the effects empirically and find them to be important.

• Rizov, Marian (2004). Credit constraints and profitability : evidence from a transition economy. Emerging markets finance & trade. ISSN 1540-496X. 40(4), p. 63–83. doi: 10.1080/1540496X.2004.11052580. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  A conceptual framework for analyzing credit rationing and the link between credit access and profitability is developed. The empirical analysis using data from manufacturing firms in Bulgaria, an economy with dramatically changing credit constraints during transition, provides direct estimates of credit rationing and its impact on profitability and reform policy outcomes. The results from switching regressions show that the presence of credit market imperfections does impinge on profitability of firms and hinders industry restructuring. Policies fostering sound financial intermediation are suggested and discussed.

• Rizov, Marian (2004). Firm investment in transition : evidence from Romanian manufacturing. Economics of Transition and Institutional Change (ETIC). ISSN 2577-6975. 12(4), p. 721–746. doi: 10.1111/j.0967-0750.2004.00200.x. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In this paper a model based on the Euler equation of optimal capital accumulation in the presence of convex adjustment costs is developed and estimated. The theoretical model explicitly allows for differential financial status across firms. The empirical analysis uses Romanian manufacturing firm panel data to estimate dynamic investment models with the generalized method of moments (GMM-IV) technique and tests the derived hypotheses. The results indicate that the model based on the perfect market assumptions is rejected. The version of the model that allows for differential financial status of firms by using a theoretically derived sample selection rule is not rejected by the data. Controlling for soft budget constraints, common for transition economies, further improves the performance of the model.

• Konings, Jozef; Rizov, Marian & Vandenbussche, Hylke (2003). Investment and financial constraints in transition economies : micro evidence from Poland, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Romania. Economics Letters. ISSN 0165-1765. 78(2), p. 253–258. doi: 10.1016/S0165-1765(02)00210-0. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  We investigate to what extent firm investment in transition countries is sensitive to internal finance. We find that firms in Bulgaria and Romania are less sensitive to internal financing constraints, in contrast to firms in Poland and the Czech Republic. A likely explanation is that Bulgaria and Romania experience a stronger persistence of soft budget constraints than the other two more advanced countries.

• Rizov, Marian (2003). Endogenous production organization during market liberalization : farm level evidence from Romania. Economic Systems. ISSN 0939-3625. 27(2). doi: 10.1016/S0939-3625(03)00038-4. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper analyzes the production organization structure of farm sectors in a transition country (TC) where a number of organization modes emerged. Under imperfect markets rural households make optimal organization mode choices by adjusting their physical resources according to the non-tradable managerial input that they allocate in farming. Empirical results for Romania strongly support the hypothesis that the optimal organization mode choice is influenced by household’s human and physical capital endowments as well as by the market environment. Policies providing access to capital and secure property rights would facilitate shift to individual farming modes and efficient resource reallocation.

• Rizov, Marian & Mathijs, Erik (2003). Farm survival and growth in transition economies : theory and empirical evidence from Hungary. Post-Communist Economies. ISSN 1463-1377. 15(2), p. 227–242. doi: 10.1080/14631370308093. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Our conceptual model states that new individual farms may begin at a small, even sub-optimal, scale of production and then those farms that are successful will survive and grow, whereas those that are not will remain small and may ultimately be forced to exit from production. The samples of individual farms analysed throughout this article are drawn from the 1998 Farm Survey in Hungary. Our estimation results show that older and larger farms are more likely to survive, farm growth decreases with farm age when farm size is held constant and that learning considerations are important. Beside these standard results, in transition economies farmers', market and industry characteristics have a significant impact on the survival and growth rates of individual farm enterprises.

• Rizov, Marian & Swinnen, Johan F. M. (2003). The growth of individual farming in Romania. In Davidova, Sophia & Thomson, Kenneth J. (Ed.), Romanian agriculture and transition toward the EU. Lexington Books. ISSN 9780739105184. p. 31–43. Full text in Research Archive
• Rizov, Marian (2003). An essay on the agricultural production organization in former communist countries. The Social Science Journal. ISSN 0362-3319. 40(4), p. 665–672. doi: 10.1016/S0362-3319(03)00078-8. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Abstract 1 Introduction 2 Information and the diversity of production organization 3 Entrepreneur’s role and production organization 4 Agricultural production organization—a transaction costs view 5 Conclusion Acknowledgements Footnotes References Full Article Figures & data References Citations Metrics Reprints & Permissions View PDF Abstract This paper reviews and interprets existing information and transaction costs theories of firm organization and entrepreneur’s role in order to provide a consistent explanation of the farm-sector dynamics in former communist countries. Important determinants of farm restructuring are economic factors, such as relative productivity of existing human and physical capital in different organizations, risk, terms of trade, transition specific distortions, and factor intensity of agricultural production. To a large extent, however, the phenomenon of various new enterprises being established represents not just general economic and policy conditions but also a diverse population of economic agents.

• Rizov, Marian; Gavrilescu, Dinu; Gow, Hamish; Mathijs, Erik & Swinnen, Johan F. M. (2001). Transition and enterprise restructuring : the development of individual farming in Romania. World Development. ISSN 0305-750X. 29(7), p. 1257–1274. doi: 10.1016/S0305-750X(01)00030-4. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Economic reforms have induced enterprise restructuring in transition countries. In agriculture, the most dramatic form of restructuring is the break-up of state and collective farms into individual farms. The development of individual farming varies strongly between countries, regions and households. This paper uses household-level data from a 1996 survey in Romania to analyze which household and regional characteristics determine the shift to individual farming. Individual farming is influenced by several household characteristics, such as the human capital (education, age, farming experience), physical capital endowments (ownership of land, buildings, machinery, livestock) and access to other finance sources (off-farm wages, pensions). Furthermore, environmental factors, such as infrastructure, local access to inputs, and the pre-reform importance of individual farming in the region, all affect the development of individual farming.

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• Rizov, Marian (2003). Human capital and the agrarian structure in transition economies : micro evidence from Romania. In ., Ukjent (Eds.), Proceedings of the 25th Conference of the International Association of Agricultural Economists. Event Dynamics. p. 973–988. Full text in Research Archive
• Bevan, Alan; Falcetti, Elisabetta; Mitchell-Thomson, Vanessa; Rousso, Alan; Steves, Franklin & Rizov, Marian (2002). Agriculture. In ., Ukjent (Eds.), Agriculture and rural transition : economic transition in central and Eastern Europe and the CIS. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. ISSN 9781898802211. p. 75–87. Full text in Research Archive
• Rizov, Marian (2001). Was the change in land ownership necessary? In Dixon-Gough, Robert W. & Mansberger, Reinfried (Ed.), Transactions in international land management : volume 2. Ashgate. p. 33–40. Full text in Research Archive
• Douch, Mustapha; Edwards, Huw & Rizov, Marian (2026). Do Multinationals and Domestic Firms Benefit Differently from Location? Evidence on Agglomeration and Value Chains. Lincoln International Business School . Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper studies how spatial proximity and value-chain access shape firm productivity, with emphasis on ownership and organizational scope. Using a 10-year panel of about 29,000 Belgian firms, we estimate models with rich fixed effects and instrument agglomeration, input access, and market access using pre-period shift–share exposure. Three findings emerge. First, within-municipality agglomeration raises total factor productivity, and the effect is larger when endogeneity is addressed. Second, foreign multinationals have a level premium but weaker ties to local externalities; gains from agglomeration and access concentrate among domestically owned single-plant firms, and multi-establishment structures also dampen sensitivity to local inputs and demand. Third, sectoral asymmetries are pronounced, with strong agglomeration and marketaccess premia in services and muted effects in manufacturing. Results are robust to restricting to predetermined locations and to alternative input–output measures. Placebased improvements in density and market access yield the largest productivity gains for domestic single-plant firms and services.

• Yen, Mahbub Hasan & Rizov, Marian (2025). Surviving the covid-19 pandemic: The antecedent of success among South Asian (Bangladesh, India, Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan) small and medium size enterprises. Høgskolen i Molde - Vitenskapelig høgskole i logistikk. Full text in Research Archive
• Brokešová, Zuzana; Cupák, Andrej; Lepinteur, Anthony & Rizov, Marian (2021). Wealth, assets and life satisfaction : a metadata instrumental-variable approach. National Bank of Slovakia. Full text in Research Archive
• Vranken, Liesbet; Tabeau, Ewa; Roebeling, Peter; Salhofer, Klaus; Leonhardt, Heidi & Rizov, Marian [Show all 31 contributors for this article] (2021). Agricultural land market regulations in the EU Member States : deliverable 3: final report on data and information on agricultural land market regulations across EU MS. European Commission. Full text in Research Archive
• Vranken, Liesbet; Tabeau, Ewa; Roebeling, Peter; Ciaian, Pavel; Rizov, Marian & Ratinger, Tomas [Show all 32 contributors for this article] (2021). Agricultural land market regulations in the EU Member States. European Commission. ISSN 9789276419907. Full text in Research Archive
• Brent, Margot; Coles, Kate; Conlon, Cliodhnagh; Lemaire, Juliette; Macias, Laura & Park, Jacob [Show all 11 contributors for this article] (2021). Keeping workers in the loop : preparing for a just, fair, and inclusive transition to circular fashion, BSR Technical Report. BSR. Full text in Research Archive
• Rizov, Marian; Pokrivčák, Ján & Ciaian, Pavel (2013). CAP subsidies and the productivity of EU farms. CEPS. Full text in Research Archive
• Croucher, Richard; Stumbitz, Bianca; Vickers, Ian; Quinlan, Michael; Banfield, Wendy & Brookes, Michael [Show all 12 contributors for this article] (2013). Can better working conditions improve the performance of SMEs? : an international literature review. International Labour Organization . ISSN 9789221275503. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This study reviews the literature on the link between working conditions, safety and health and skills development, on the one hand, and increased productivity on the other, with a specific focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The writers find research evidence of an association between good workplace practices and various types of positive enterprise-level outcomes. These positive outcomes include reduced employee turnover, improved profitability and higher levels of customer satisfaction. The literature surveyed consists in the main of studies of high-income economies and rather than unpacking the influence of different practices these studies serves to affirm that practices have best results when they are employed together. So, for example, a coherent ‘bundle of practices’ , combining good occupational safety and health and training with improved working hours and wages will generally improve productivity, innovation and employee retention. The review also finds evidence of a cause and effect, suggesting that better management practices lead to improved business outcomes rather than vice versa. Despite all of the above, the review highlights that more research is needed. In particular, the researchers note the lack of literature analysing the complexity of the relationship between working conditions, safety and health, skills development, and firm outcomes. They also note the need for research in this area in developing and emerging economies.

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