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Disruptive innovations can solve major global challenges. However, the system in Germany does not sufficiently favor the development of such innovations. The disruptive output of leading nations like the United States puts increasing pressure on Germany’s innovation leadership. The German innovation agency SPRIND was founded in 2019 and is a suitable instrument to promote disruptive innovations. The SPRIND itself cites the American innovation agency DARPA, which has been promoting disruptive innovations since 1958, a role model. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to conduct a comparative analysis of DARPA and SPRIND. To answer the research question, secondary sources were used. In addition, two expert interviews were conducted with employees of SPRIND. The result of this paper is a systematic comparison that identifies the key differences and similarities between the two agencies. SPRIND is based on DARPA in key success factors, such as the person-centered approach, funding instruments or risk management. However, compared to DARPA, SPRIND has a major disadvantage; namely several administrative hurdles which inhibit agile action.
This paper gives an overview of the impact that the corona pandemic has on the export industry in Canada and analyzes the different Canadian government measures for exporters. In addition, the measures are subsequently evaluated in order to identify if the support measures can help Canadian exporters to overcome the crisis. The basis of this paper are semi-structured expert interviews with experts from the financial sector, scientific literature and studies. The results have shown that the COVID-19 pandemic has a major impact on Canada’s export economy and it’s GDP. Trade is only possible to a limited extent, as many borders are closed. The Canadian government reacted with an economic response plan to support Canadian individuals and businesses. This paper depicts and assesses the most eligible measures for export companies.
The Future of FDI: Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 through Impact Investment
(2019)
Publicized as a global call for action in 2015, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution on the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDGs). Before issuing the SDGs in 2015, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has already identified in 2014, as part of their World Investment Report, that especially developing countries are facing an estimated USD 2.5 trillion funding gap annually in the efforts to achieve the SDGs. Yet, the investment opportunities and challenges for investors, when contributing to the closure of this funding gap while benefiting from its economic potential have not been widely discussed. Despite that Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) are a key driver to sustainable economic growth and prosperity of a nation, policies and a holistic framework linking the 2030 Agenda to actionable investment opportunities for private investors are missing. Furthermore, a global platform capturing, channeling and promoting investment projects aiming to achieve the SDGs through impact investment has not been established. Utilizing global financial resources more effectively while developing new approaches and tools to promote impact investments, which demonstrate the benefits for investors to tap into the funding gap of the 2030 Agenda, will have the potential to significantly shape and influence the future of FDI.
Africa was the last region to witness significant spread of the COVID-19. Nonetheless, it was expected that the continent would be hardest hit due to the fragility of its health and social infrastructure as well as the vulnerability of its economies. While the rates of infection and death were initially relatively low and contained economically, the continent was hard hit early on. Cuts in credit and trade services by international banks, along with a decline in export earnings, tourism receipts, and inward remittances, have severely constrained the ability of African countries to finance imports of essential goods and to service maturing debt obligations.
However, Africa has over time created mechanisms and institutions to help cushion its economies from the adverse consequences of global shocks. Among these institutions is Afreximbank, which emerged out of the debt crisis of the 1980s. This paper presents an overview of the Bank’s support to African countries in dealing with two major derivatives of the COVID-19 pandemic: the trade finance challenges resulting from cuts in international financial flows to the continent, and the health consequences of the pandemic.
Purpose
Although recent literature has examined diverse measures adopted by SMEs to navigate the COVID-19 turbulence, there is a shortage of evidence on how crisis-time strategy creation behaviour and digitalization activities increase (1) sales and (2) cash flow. Thus, predicated on a novel strategy creation perspective, this inquiry aims to investigate the crisis behaviour, sales and cash flow performance of 528 SMEs in Morocco.
Design/methodology/approach
Novel links between (1) aggregate wage cuts, (2) variable operating hours, (3) deferred payment to suppliers, (4) deferred payment to tax authorities and (5) sales performance are developed and tested. A further link between sales performance and cash flow is also examined and the analysis is conducted using a non-linear structural equation modelling technique.
Findings
While there is a significant association between strategy creation behaviours and sales performance, only variable operating hours have a positive effect. Also, sales performance increases cash flow and this relationship is substantially strengthened by e-commerce digitalization and innovation.
Originality/value
Theoretically, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first inquiries to espouse the strategy creation view to explain SMEs' crisis-time behaviour and digitalization. For practical purposes, to supplement Moroccan SMEs' propensity to seek tax deferrals, it is argued that debt and equity support measures are also needed to boost sales performance and cash flow.
The utilisation of artificial intelligence (AI) is progressively emerging as a significant mechanism for innovation in human resource management (HRM). The capacity to facilitate the transformation of employee performance across numerous responsibilities. AI development, there remains a dearth of comprehensive exploration into the potential opportunities it presents for enhancing workplace performance among employees. To bridge this gap in knowledge, the present work carried out a survey with 300 participants, utilises a fuzzy set-theoretic method that is grounded on the conceptualisation of AI, KS, and HRM. The findings of our study indicate that the exclusive adoption of AI technologies does not adequately enhance HRM engagements. In contrast, the integration of AI and KS offers a more viable HRM approach for achieving optimal performance in a dynamic digital society. This approach has the potential to enhance employees’ proficiency in executing their responsibilities and cultivate a culture of creativity inside the firm.
This essay is about Estonia’s measures to help its exporters responding to COVID-19. The purpose is to analyse the companies’ need for help measures and the governmental objectives behind the measures and finally to analyse the possible effects. We used the two latest surveys dealing with the entrepreneurship situation and conducted two inter-views with governmental representatives exposing their objectives. The outcomes show that more than half of Estonian companies are asking for governmental help mainly as a consequence of a drop of demand. Limiting the increase of unemployment and bankrupt-cies as well as strengthening the economic recovery were identified as the main govern-mental objectives while restraining fiscal costs is a subordinated objective but becomes more important the more money will be spent. The help measures offered by KredEx are in line with these objectives. After the crisis the implications of the established measures should be analysed so that others can learn from the Estonian Government’s approach.
This essay deals with the Spanish economy and especially with the Spanish governmental measures for SME exporters in times of COVID-19. The focus was set on SMEs, as they are an essential part of trade for the government and are particularly affected by the pandemic. Since the financial crisis, the Spanish economy has become highly diversified, with a greater focus on exports. Competitiveness, productivity and efficiency have increased significantly. The Spanish government measures largely affect the areas liquidity and financing, taxes and protection of the employment. One of the most important measures is the 100-billion-euro credit line and the policies on unemployment. The Spanish government is dependent on further aid packages and is criticized for the measures.
The aim of this essay is to give a systematic review of the literature. Climate change is omnipresent and manifests itself in a steady increase in global warming. This trend was triggered as a reaction to increasing emissions in the course of industrialization. Climate finance is generally understood to be the provision of public, private, and alternative sources of finance that represent measures to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Significant commitments to support developing countries by developed countries have been manifested in the UNFCC climate framework and the Paris Climate Agreement. Funding from public and private sources increased to a total of $540 billion in 2019. Whether multilateral or bilateral, the largest share is provided in the form of loans to the target countries.
This paper examines and evaluates the challenges and opportunities of export credit agencies (ECA) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Political risks, unrest and instability made exports in the MENA region arduous. Further challenges are demonetization, the lack of reliable information and the acquisition of skilled employees. Access to financial resources can be quite challenging and several ECAs in the MENA region struggle from having no economies of scale. The global trend of globalisation and digitalisation has proved to be both a challenge and an opportunity. Nevertheless, the ECAs are becoming progressively important and needed in the MENA region. ECAs can benefit from this by working closely with financial institutions, banks and stakeholders. Other opportunities are infrastructure, renewable energies, international events and the diversification of the product portfolio. Through research on the ECAs EGE, ECI, Credit Oman and ICIEC, differences of multilateral and national export credit agencies have been analysed as well.
The global pathway to net zero emissions by 2050 requires governments to implement and strengthen climate policies as global emissions are reaching record level. Climate finance plays a crucial role in the net zero transition. It refers to local, national or transnational financing seeking to support mitigation and adaptation actions that address climate change. Public export-import banks (EXIMs) and government export credit agencies (ECAs) are highly influential actors for climate action. Although there is no consensus among EXIMs and ECAs on how to define climate finance, 20 institutions assessed in this report give evidence that they significantly support climate action related transactions: EXIM and ECA financing and insurance amounted to EUR 6.7-8.4 billion in 2020, much more than estimated by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI). However, the results also show that EXIM and ECA lending and insurance activities must rise substantially in order to contribute to the climate finance volumes required by 2030 as estimated by CPI. To retain their current proportion relative to other climate finance flows, assessed institutions would need to increase their climate financing 6.8 times to between EUR 45.3 billion and EUR 57.4 billion by 2030.
Public export credits and trade insurance require a global framework of institutions, rules and regulations to avoid subsidies and a race to the bottom. The extensive modernisation of the Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits (Arrangement) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development intends to re-level the playing field. This Practitioner Commentary describes the demand for adequate government interventions, considers the need for the reform and discusses key aspects of the new Arrangement. We argue that there is a breakthrough in several important areas such as tenors, repayment terms and green finance. However, we also find that the modernisation falls short in areas such as the interplay between different rulebooks, pre-shipment instruments' regulations and climate action.
In an extensive research project, we have assessed the application of different service models by export credit agencies (ECAs) and export-import banks (EXIMs). We conducted interviews with 35 representatives of ECAs and EXIMs from 27 countries. The question guiding this study is: How do ECAs and EXIMs adopt public service models for supporting exporters? We conducted a holistic multiple case study, investigating if and how these organisations apply public service models developed by Schedler and Guenduez, and which roles of the state are relevant. We find that there is a variety of different service models used by ECAs and EXIMs, and that the service model approaches have great potential to learn from each other and innovate existing services.
This report examines exporters’ challenges and possible solutions for public intervention to promote foreign trade. Based on fieldwork conducted in Georgia, we explore which policy approaches can help to stimulate Georgian exports further. Our outcomes show that exporters face substantial barriers such as navigating complex trade regulations, lack of knowledge about target markets, trade finance gaps, as well as new export promotion programs (EPPs) in competitor countries. Other upper-middle-income countries can learn from our results that exporters can significantly benefit from a comprehensive export promotion strategy combined with an ecosystem-based “team” approach. EPPs related to awareness and capacity building in Georgia should be part of this strategy, focusing on challenges such as a lack of knowledge about trade practices and international business skills. Other EPPs must help to mitigate related market failures, as information gathering is costly, and firms have no incentive to share this information with competitors. Furthermore, targeted marketing support and customer matchmaking can answer Georgian exporters’ challenges, such as lack of market access and low sector visibility. Our results also show that public intervention through financial support and risk mitigation is essential for firms with an international orientation. The high-quality, rich outcomes provide significant value for other upper-middle-income countries by exploring the example of Georgia’s contemporary circumstances in an in-depth manner based on extensive interviews and document analysis. Limitations include that our work primarily relies on qualitative data and further research could involve a quantitative study with a diverse range of sectors.
Risk aversion, financing and real servicThe Global CEO Survey was launched in 2015 by researchers from Offenburg University, the University of Westminster and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) to better understand and discover what factors influence exporters’ demand for credit insurance. Although some scholars discussed aspects of corporate insurance demand with regard to exporters, there is limited research concerning the demand for export credit insurance associated with firm-specific factors. Only few empirical studies support existing theories on corporate insurance demand and export credits. This project investigates and fills the relevant gap of official export credit insurance demand.es
Staatliche Exportkreditagenturen und Export-Import-Banken finanzieren, versichern und garantieren jährlich fast 1 Bio. US-Dollar – mehr als 3 % der globalen Güterexporte. Ihre Interventionen sind an internationale Rahmenbedingungen gebunden, insbesondere an das WTO-Subventionsübereinkommen (ASCM) und den OECD-Konsensus. Das komplexe Zusammenspiel beider Rechtsrahmen sorgt seit langem für Herausforderungen, vor allem hinsichtlich des Anwendungsbereichs des “safe haven” des ASCM und des “Matching”-Mechanismus der OECD. In den vergangenen Jahren hinzugekommen ist die Problematik neuer Instrumente der Exportvor- sowie der Klimafinanzierung. Der folgende Beitrag erörtert Herausforderungen und Lösungsansätze. Er zeigt auf, dass der neue OECD-Konsensus trotz zahlreicher Verbesserungen zentrale rechtliche Probleme nicht behebt.
This paper aims to draw attention to an urgent need for reform of the regulatory framework of the broader export credit system to ensure a new and comprehensive "safe haven" for officially supported export credits. The purpose is to analyse the complex debate on disciplines of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), creating a point of reference for future analysis of and debates around the "carve-out clause" of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM) and a "safe haven" in a broader sense.