Summary Small and medium-sized enterprises are considered to be the principal generator of new jobs in the industrialised countries at least since the Birch (1979) study. According to this image, they are also stabilising the economy during the business cycles because of the lower volatility of...

Summary This paper focuses on the question whether West German firms have experienced an increase in their financial risk position with due implications for the macroeconomy. The investigation is based on a special evaluation of the balance sheet statistics by the Deutsche Bundesbank broken down...

Summary The main purpose of this paper is to evaluate corporate debt ratios by size classes in Continental Europe. Evidence is given on a sample of firms in manufacturing industry for ten European countries, all of them being in Euroland apart from Denmark (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland,...

Zusammenfassung Die CSR-Forschung hat unterschiedliche Arten von Motiven für die Übernahme sozialer Verantwortung in den Unternehmen herausgearbeitet. Allerdings wurde dabei bisher kaum Aufmerksamkeit auf das CSR in klein- und mittelständischen touristischen Unternehmen gelegt. Der...

Summary Statements emphasizing the major contribution of the small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) for net job creation are quite frequent. Concerning the current definition of SMEs provided by the European Commission (EC), this paper makes a first attempt to approximate SMEs’ contribution...

Purpose – This paper aims to explore how banks have modified their behaviours since the subprime crisis and their influence on credit access for SMEs. Design/methodology/approach – This paper aims to explore how banks have modified their behaviours since the subprime crisis and their...

Purpose The exchange of knowledge in social networks is fundamental to innovation. Open, interactive, innovation requires collaboration through social networks. This social networking is increasingly carried out across the Internet through social media applications. The purpose of this study is...

Purpose – This paper aims to identify and empirically test whether growth preparedness and success perceptions are important, discriminating small business owner (SBO) characteristics that influence strategic direction. The intended outcome was to create a strategic typology that resonates...