This paper forwards the view that some aspects of African culture enhance economic development on the continent while other aspects tend to constrain development. By drawing on the extant literature on culture and development, the paper discusses the manner in which economic activities are...

There have been significant changes in the financing of early-stage innovative companies since the beginning of this decade. The importance of institutional venture capital funds' investments declined in financing startups and early-stage ventures. At the same time, alternative sources of...

The paper discusses state, regulative framework, and recent developments in leveraging access to finance for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the Kyrgyz Republic through global value chain (GVC) examples in the Kyrgyz Republic. Access to finance in the Kyrgyz Republic is...

Over the last decade, low economic growth rates resulted in intensified competition between nations, regions, and towns in trying to attract new firms and inhabitants. In particular, the establishment of new firms has become one of the most vital objectives of governments and public authorities...

Digitization not only makes it possible to expand existing business models with digital service functions, digitization also enables completely new business models. The digital technologies can be existential for a business model or support you in achieving a new cost / benefit ratio through an...

We conducted a field experiment in Burkina Faso to investigate the impact of sharing obligations within kin networks on entrepreneurial effort. The overall treatment effect we find is insignificant and goes in the opposite direction than previous literature suggests. Ex-post explorative analysis...

The relationship between firms and inequality has been a focus of recent attention globally. This chapter summarizes basic facts about this relationship for Latin America. Unlike advanced economies where superstar firm growth has prompted concerns over disproportionate income growth at the top,...

One of the major issues for SME development has been access to finance. This paper examines the current state of SME development and financing in Kazakhstan. It also examines the current state of the development of value chains and discusses barriers for agriculture value chain financing. The...