@techreport{IacovoneFuchsJaeggietal., type = {Working Paper}, author = {Iacovone, Leonardo and Fuchs, Michael and Jaeggi, Thomas and Napier, Mark and Pearson, Roland and Pellegrini, Giulia and Villegas Sanchez, Carolina}, title = {Financing small and medium enterprises in the Republic of South Africa}, publisher = {World Bank}, abstract = {Numerous studies worldwide have highlighted the important contribution made by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to employment, income and economic growth. In a study of 76 developed and developing economies, Ayyagari and others (2007) found that SMEs account for more than 60 percent of total manufacturing employment and that SMEs contributed significant proportions of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). SME growth requires external financing, but constraints to accessing credit, consistently rated as some of the greatest barriers to the operation and growth of firms, affect SMEs more severely than large firms (Beck and Demirguc-Kunt 2006; Beck and others 2006). The purposes of this report are to: a) analyze the availability of bank finance to SMEs in South Africa and how availability might be enhanced in the context of the economic downturn; and b) offer concrete policy recommendations on how to lessen obstacles to bank SME financing and reduce the negative effects of the economic downturn (or of a similar downturn in future) on access to finance. The report is structured in 5 sections: section two provides a short overview of existing studies and data on SME finance in South Africa. Section three presents the main results of the surveys. Section four provides policy considerations. Section five concludes.}, language = {en} } @techreport{IacovoneKellerRauch, type = {Working Paper}, author = {Iacovone, Leonardo and Keller, Wolfgang and Rauch, Ferdinand}, title = {Innovation When The Market Is Shrinking: Firm-level Responses To Competition From China}, abstract = {How does trade liberalization that raises a country's import competition affect the innovative activity of its firms? We exploit the strong growth of Chinese exports resulting from China's entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001 as a competitive shock to, specifically, Mexican manufacturing firms. Innovation is captured through information on the adoption of specific production techniques such as just in time inventory methods, quality control, and job rotation. Our results indicate that China's rise in global trade did not affect by much Mexico's rate of innovation, which contrasts with the substantial gains that others have found in the case of bilateral liberalization. At the same time, there is a striking heterogeneity in the responses across firms: productive firms innovate more while less productive firms innovate less. This leads to positive selection in that initial differences in firm performance are sharpened by the advent of new competition. We discuss the implications of these findings for theories of trade and innovation.}, language = {en} } @article{IacovoneCrespi, author = {Iacovone, Leonardo and Crespi, Gustavo A}, title = {Catching up with the technological frontier: Micro-level evidence on growth and convergence}, series = {Industrial and Corporate Change}, volume = {10}, journal = {Industrial and Corporate Change}, number = {6}, doi = {10.1093/icc/dtq057}, pages = {2073 -- 2096}, abstract = {In this article, we study how firm heterogeneity influences productivity catching up using plant-level data from Mexico. The article addresses three issues: first, it evaluates the process of convergence towards the global versus the local technological frontier in a middle-income country such as Mexico. Second, it systematically evaluates the role of technological efforts in determining the speed of convergence towards each of these technological frontiers. Third, it assesses the role of openness and trade integration in determining the speed of convergence and presents a horse race between integration and technological effort in explaining the determinants of heterogeneity in influencing the process of convergence toward both the domestic and the global technological frontier. Our results suggest that building firm-level technological capabilities is important for catching up with the global frontier. A policy focused on trade alone will facilitate convergence towards the best technological practices available locally, but it will fall short of encouraging convergence with the global frontier.}, language = {en} } @techreport{IacovoneMaloneyTsivanidis, type = {Working Paper}, author = {Iacovone, Leonardo and Maloney, William F. and Tsivanidis, Nick}, title = {Family Firms and Contractual Institutions}, edition = {no. WPS 8803}, pages = {59}, abstract = {This paper offers new evidence on the relationship between contractual institutions, family management, and aggregate performance. The study creates a new firm-level database on management and ownership structures spanning 134 regions in 11 European countries. To guide the empirical analysis, it develops a model of industry equilibrium in which heterogeneous firms decide between family and professional management when the latter are subject to contracting frictions. The paper tests the model's predictions using regional variation in trust within countries. Consistent with the model, the finding show that there is sorting of firms across management modes, in which smaller firms and those in regions with worse contracting environments are more likely to be family managed. These firms are on average 25 percent less productive than professionally managed firms, and moving from the country with the least reliable contracting environment to the most increases total factor productivity by 21.6 percent. Family management rather than ownership drives these results.}, language = {en} } @techreport{IacovoneMaloneyMcKenzie, type = {Working Paper}, author = {Iacovone, Leonardo and Maloney, William F. and McKenzie, David John}, title = {Improving Management with Individual and Group-Based Consulting: Results from a Randomized Experiment in Colombia}, pages = {69}, abstract = {Differences in management quality are an important contributor to productivity differences across countries. A key question is then how to best improve poor management in developing countries. We test two different approaches to improving management in Colombian auto parts firms. The first uses intensive and expensive one-on-one consulting, while the second draws on agricultural extension approaches to provide consulting to small groups of firms at approximately one-third of the cost of the individual approach. Both approaches lead to improvements in management practices of a similar magnitude (8-10 percentage points), so that the new group-based approach dominates on a cost-benefit basis. Moreover, authors find some evidence that the group-based intervention led to increases in firm size over the next 1.5 years, including a statistically significant increase in employment, while the impacts on firm outcomes are smaller and statistically insignificant for the individual consulting. The results point to the potential of group-based approaches as a pathway to scaling up management improvements.}, language = {en} } @techreport{IacovoneMcKenzie, type = {Working Paper}, author = {Iacovone, Leonardo and McKenzie, David}, title = {Shortening Supply Chains : Experimental Evidence from Fruit and Vegetable Vendors in Bogota}, series = {World Bank Group: Policy Research Working Paper 8977}, journal = {World Bank Group: Policy Research Working Paper 8977}, pages = {49}, language = {en} } @techreport{IacovoneMaloneyMcKenzie, type = {Working Paper}, author = {Iacovone, Leonardo and Maloney, William and McKenzie, David}, title = {Improving Management in Colombian Firms Through Individual and Group Consulting}, series = {Finance \& PSD Impact}, volume = {53}, journal = {Finance \& PSD Impact}, number = {June 2019}, pages = {2}, language = {en} } @techreport{GroverIacovoneChakraborty, type = {Working Paper}, author = {Grover, Arti and Iacovone, Leonardo and Chakraborty, Pavel}, title = {Management Practices in Croatia : Drivers and Consequences for Firm Performance}, series = {World Bank Group: Policy Research Working Paper 9067}, journal = {World Bank Group: Policy Research Working Paper 9067}, pages = {33}, language = {en} } @techreport{IacovoneMaloneyMcKenzie, type = {Working Paper}, author = {Iacovone, Leonardo and Maloney, William and McKenzie, David}, title = {Improving Management with Individual and Group-Based Consulting Results from a Randomized Experiment in Colombia}, series = {World Bank Group: Policy Research Working Paper 8854}, journal = {World Bank Group: Policy Research Working Paper 8854}, pages = {72}, language = {en} } @techreport{CaliCantoreIacovoneetal., type = {Working Paper}, author = {Cali, Massimiliano and Cantore, Nicola and Iacovone, Leonardo and Pereira-L{\´o}pez, Mariana and Presidente, Giorgio}, title = {Too Much Energy The Perverse Effect of Low Fuel Prices on Firms}, pages = {47}, language = {en} } @techreport{IacovoneAteridoBeck, type = {Working Paper}, author = {Iacovone, Leonardo and Aterido, Reyes and Beck, Thorsten}, title = {Gender and finance in Sub-Saharan Africa : are women disadvantaged ?}, series = {World Bank Policy Research Working Paper}, volume = {5571}, journal = {World Bank Policy Research Working Paper}, pages = {48}, language = {en} } @techreport{MolinaBussoloIacovone, type = {Working Paper}, author = {Molina, Ana Cristina and Bussolo, Maurizio and Iacovone, Leonardo}, title = {The DR-CAFTA and the extensive margin : a firm-level analysis}, series = {World Bank Policy Research Working Paper}, volume = {5340}, journal = {World Bank Policy Research Working Paper}, pages = {33}, language = {en} } @techreport{IacovoneJavorcik, type = {Working Paper}, author = {Iacovone, Leonardo and Javorcik, Beata S.}, title = {Multi-product exporters: diversification and micro-level dynamics}, series = {World Bank policy Research Working Paper}, volume = {4723}, journal = {World Bank policy Research Working Paper}, pages = {35}, language = {en} } @article{IacovoneJavorcik, author = {Iacovone, Leonardo and Javorcik, Beata S.}, title = {MULTI-PRODUCT EXPORTERS: PRODUCT CHURNING, UNCERTAINTY AND EXPORT DISCOVERIES}, series = {The Economic Journal}, volume = {120}, journal = {The Economic Journal}, number = {544}, doi = {10.1111/j.1468-0297.2010.02356.x}, pages = {481 -- 499}, abstract = {Recent research on international trade focuses on firm-product-level heterogeneity and the role of uncertainty in shaping international trade. This article contributes to the literature by examining product-level dynamics within firms in the context of Mexican trade integration under NAFTA. The data show intense product churning within firms and confirm the existence of within-firm product heterogeneity. The data indicate that new exporters enter foreign markets with a small number of varieties, most of which were previously sold at home, and with a small export small volume. The data also suggest that export discoveries are relatively rare and are imitated within a short period of time.}, language = {en} } @incollection{IacovoneDyker, author = {Iacovone, Leonardo and Dyker, David A.}, title = {Introduction: Productivity And Social Capability — A Historical And Analytical Framework}, series = {Closing the EU East-West Productivity Gap Foreign Direct Investment, Competitiveness and Public Policy}, booktitle = {Closing the EU East-West Productivity Gap Foreign Direct Investment, Competitiveness and Public Policy}, publisher = {World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.}, doi = {10.1142/9781860948015_0001}, publisher = {Hertie School}, pages = {1 -- 17}, language = {en} } @incollection{IacovoneDykerStolberg, author = {Iacovone, Leonardo and Dyker, David A. and Stolberg, Cordula}, title = {Identifying the channels and mechanics of FDI-induced technology transfer}, series = {Closing the EU East-West Productivity Gap Foreign Direct Investment, Competitiveness and Public Policy}, booktitle = {Closing the EU East-West Productivity Gap Foreign Direct Investment, Competitiveness and Public Policy}, publisher = {World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.}, doi = {10.1142/9781860948015_0002}, publisher = {Hertie School}, pages = {19 -- 33}, language = {en} } @incollection{IacovoneKofoed, author = {Iacovone, Leonardo and Kofoed, Neils}, title = {Checking The Results Of The Case Study Interviews— An Essay In Triangulation}, series = {Closing the EU East-West Productivity Gap Foreign Direct Investment, Competitiveness and Public Policy}, booktitle = {Closing the EU East-West Productivity Gap Foreign Direct Investment, Competitiveness and Public Policy}, publisher = {World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.}, doi = {10.1142/9781860948015_0005}, publisher = {Hertie School}, pages = {93 -- 133}, language = {en} }