In this paper, we adopt the vertical differentiation duopoly framework to give a full description of firms' relocation decisions, when the removal either of trade barriers or of restrictions on capital outflows/inflows (globalization) allows them to serve the domestic market through foreign...

This paper uses an Eclectic Framework explaining entrepreneurship incorporating different streams of literature and spanning different disciplines. The Eclectic Framework integrates factors shaping the demand for entrepreneurship on the one hand, with those influencing the supply of...

In a context of vertical product differentiation we analyze the effect of delegation on quality levels. We consider a duopoly where firms can delegate the quality-determining activities to an agent. The realization of the random cost associated with the quality level is known, at no cost, by the...

The promotion and support of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) forms an essential ingredient of the policies designed to help improve Europe's economic performance. A key issue is whether SMEs face difficulty obtaining bank loans. Using pre-crisis survey data from 2005 and 2006 for...

This paper investigates why women's self-employment rates are consistently lower than those of men. It has three focal points. It discriminates between the preference for self-employment and actual involvement in self-employment using a two (probit) equation model. It makes a systematic...

Subsidiarity in the European Union, as the guiding principle of decision-making 'close to the people', is often motivated and discussed from a predominantly political perspective. In this book, experts draw the demarcation between national and European policies from an economic viewpoint....