This study is aimed at uncovering the capital constraints of emerging agribusinesses in South Africa. The goal of the research is to provide South African policy makers, programme administrators and development practitioners with information to make sound policy and programme decisions for the reduction of such constraints. The research also aims to make potential entrepreneurs aware of the importance of considering capital constraints to the start-up and growth of their businesses. This research was informed by the principles of qualitative research and is both exploratory and interpretative in nature. The research process comprised of two phases. The first phase constituted a sample of five experts from the finance-enabling environment (financial institutions); and the second phase was made up of twenty start-up entrepreneurs in the emerging agribusiness industry. The research found that barriers to accessing finance are largely due to lack of collateral, a poor credit record, inadequate business skills and communication problems between financiers and entrepreneurs. On the issue of what role the finance-enabling environment should play in reducing barriers to finance, findings from the research suggested more risk-taking by the financiers, relaxing the stringent credit assessment criteria, increasing the risk appetite and providing more for impairments or bad debts. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

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Problem: High wage countries depend on SME's to lower unemployment, to trigger economic growth and to utilize the 'knowledge waste' created by large investments in human capital. However, due to their limited access to capital markets SME's are seen as unfavourably dependent on their own generation of internal funds to grow. Among SME's, IT firms are seen as most representative for this struggle, since they have i) a bad reputation within the public and institutional sector due to the dot-com era, and ii) assets with low collateral value (e.g. immaterial assets, human capital, knowledge, prototypes and ideas that all have unknown, unsecure and hard to predict second-hand or future values). Despite these unfavorable characteristics, some IT firms are growing considerably fast. What can we learn from them?  Purpose: Describe the financial situation of IT SME's. Investigate how those IT firms that are fast growing have grown and financed their growth, and how they have managed the effects of growth. Method: Due to the nature of the purpose a mixed method research approach was adopted. The quantitative investigation aimed at describing their fi-nancial situation and took the form of a statistical analysis of the entire IT firm population, using data from the Swedish database 'Affärsdata'. The qualitative approach took the form of telephone interviews with a sample of fast growing IT firms, to get closer to the reasoning behind their growth and it’s financing. This research approach enabled cross referencing, strengthening some of the empirical evidence found. Conclusion: Evidence was found on IT firms growing with assets of less collateral value resulting in low amounts of long term debt. Indications were found on the traditional life cycle perspective regarding SME finance has to be changed to fit IT firms; after surviving the first years of internal funding and years of overdependence on short term debt, they reach a stage (e.g. in a financial crisis, facing international expansion, or substantial R&D costs) when financial assistance is needed. Indications were also found on IT firms operating in a highly unpredictable environment demanding advanced cash management routines that today are not prioritized in favor of growth. To handle this, and to reach financial assistance when needed (most likely by involving a risk capitalist in exchange for firm ownership), those firms showing stability (i.e. through low personnel turnover, high profitability or a large cash buffer) seem to have been more successful.

<p><strong>Problem: </strong>High wage countries depend on SME's to lower unemployment, to trigger economic growth and to utilize the 'knowledge waste' created by large investments in human capital. However, due to their limited access to capital markets SME's are seen as unfavourably dependent on their own generation of internal funds to grow. Among SME's, IT firms are seen as most representative for this struggle, since they have i) a bad reputation within the public and institutional sector due to the dot-com era, and ii) assets with low collateral value (e.g. immaterial assets, human capital, knowledge, prototypes and ideas that all have unknown, unsecure and hard to predict second-hand or future values). Despite these unfavorable characteristics, some IT firms are growing considerably fast. What can we learn from them?  <strong></strong></p><p><strong>Purpose:</strong><strong> </strong>Describe the financial situation of IT SME's. Investigate how those IT firms that are fast growing have grown and financed their growth, and how they have managed the effects of growth.<strong></strong></p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Due to the nature of the purpose a mixed method research approach was adopted. The quantitative investigation aimed at describing their fi-nancial situation and took the form of a statistical analysis of the entire IT firm population, using data from the Swedish database 'Affärsdata'. The qualitative approach took the form of telephone interviews with a sample of fast growing IT firms, to get closer to the reasoning behind their growth and it’s financing. This research approach enabled cross referencing, strengthening some of the empirical evidence found.<strong></strong></p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Evidence was found on IT firms growing with assets of less collateral value resulting in low amounts of long term debt. Indications were found on the traditional life cycle perspective regarding SME finance has to be changed to fit IT firms; after surviving the first years of internal funding and years of overdependence on short term debt, they reach a stage (e.g. in a financial crisis, facing international expansion, or substantial R&D costs) when financial assistance is needed. Indications were also found on IT firms operating in a highly unpredictable environment demanding advanced cash management routines that today are not prioritized in favor of growth. To handle this, and to reach financial assistance when needed (most likely by involving a risk capitalist in exchange for firm ownership), those firms showing stability (i.e. through low personnel turnover, high profitability or a large cash buffer) seem to have been more successful.</p>

Submitted by Ramon Frigi Rigoni (ramon.rigoni@fgvmail.br) on 2015-06-24T23:30:36Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_Final_posdefesa.pdf: 561087 bytes, checksum: c691979c21b91a8050acfbbf11b4b56c (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by GILSON ROCHA MIRANDA (gilson.miranda@fgv.br) on 2015-06-30T20:13:12Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_Final_posdefesa.pdf: 561087 bytes, checksum: c691979c21b91a8050acfbbf11b4b56c (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marcia Bacha (marcia.bacha@fgv.br) on 2015-07-03T16:58:51Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_Final_posdefesa.pdf: 561087 bytes, checksum: c691979c21b91a8050acfbbf11b4b56c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-03T16:59:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_Final_posdefesa.pdf: 561087 bytes, checksum: c691979c21b91a8050acfbbf11b4b56c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-05-29 / The present study has a twofold objective: (i) evaluate determinants of the franchising option as a company´s strategy growth model and, (ii) analyze how franchising contract terms are affected by risk sharing, incentive problems related to moral hazard and financial constraints problems. The discussion is based on the empirical approach proposed by Lafontaine (1992). The models are estimated using a database containing information on 350 Brazilian franchisors. The results suggest that moral hazard problems from franchisee side as well as risk sharing are relevant to the definition of royalty rate value. Particularly, in business where the franchisee effort has significant influence on the input quality of the services provided, the royalty rate tends to decrease. Our results fails to identify a negative tradeoff between risk and incentives. CConcerning the expansion strategy option, as expected by the theory, results indicate that firms tend to expand through franchising when agent effort is relevant. However, opposed to the capital constraint hypothesis, our findings suggests that decisions to adopt franchising as a growth strtategy are not related to capital restrictions. / O presente estudo tem um duplo objetivo: (i) analisar os determinantes da escolha das firmas por um modelo de franchising na estratégia de expansão de seus negócios, e (ii) analisar como os termos de um contrato de franchising podem potencialmente ser influenciados por questões relativas a compartilhamento de risco, problemas de incentivo relacionados ao risco moral (moral hazard) e restrições de recursos financeiros. Essa discussão se dará seguindo a abordagem empírica proposta por Lafontaine (1992). Os modelos são estimados a partir de dados para uma amostra de 350 redes de franquias brasileiras relativas ao ano de 2011. Os resultados sugerem que a definição do valor da taxa de royalties leva em conta os problemas decorrentes do risco moral por parte dos franqueados e do compartilhamento de risco. Em particular, nos negócios onde o esforço dos franqueados afeta significativamente a provisão dos serviços prestados, observa-se uma tendência de cobrança de menores taxas de royalties e uma relação positiva entre risco e incentivos, com a cobrança de menores taxas de royalties em setores de atividade com maior risco. Em relação ao percentual de unidades franqueadas, obteve-se resultados coerentes com a expectativa teórica para o problema de risco moral do franqueado, de modo que quanto mais importante o trabalho do agente, maior o índice. Entretanto, para a restrição de capital, contrário a expectativa teórica, quanto maior a disponibilidade de recursos maior o número de franquias.

: I denna studie undersöker vi om CSR-strategier påverkar företagets möjligheter att få tillgång till externt kapital genom att sänka dess kapitalbegränsningar. Förtydligat syftar studien till att förklara hur sambandet mellan CSR-arbete och kapitalbegränsningar samt mellan CSR:s dimensioner och kapitalbegränsningar ser ut. Kan ett ökat CSR-arbete minska kapitalbegränsningar, ge ökad tillgång till kapital som i sin tur leder till större möjligheter att göra lönsamma investeringar och därmed skapa värde för företaget? Tidigare forskning har stannat vid att konstatera att CSR är värdeskapande och ökar företagets finansiella prestation men få rapporter går vidare och förklarar på vilket sätt värdet skapas eller varför den finansiella prestationen ökar. Vi tar ett steg till och ställer oss frågan varför värde skapas. / In this study, we investigate whether CSR strategies affect the company's ability to access external capital by reducing its capital constraints. Explained, the study aims at explaining the relationship between CSR performance and capital constrains, as well as between CSR dimensions and capital constrains. Can an increased CSR performance reduce capital constrains, increase access to capital, which in turn leads to greater opportunities to make profitable investments and thus create value for the company? Previous research has stopped finding that CSR is creating value and increases the company's financial performance, but few reports go further and explain how the value is created or why the financial performance is increasing. We take a further step and ask why value is created.

Sammanfattning Titel: CSR-prestations påverkan på tillgång till kapital Nivå: Examensarbete på Grundnivå (kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi Författare: Erika Sörell och Johanna Svarfvar Handledare: Jan Svanberg Datum: 2020 – juni  Syfte: Företags sociala ansvarstagande (CSR) blir en allt viktigare fråga i samhället och olika intressenter ställer högre krav på företagen. Det finns olika åsikter om CSR-aktiviteter är en onödig kostnad för företag. Att ha tillgång till kapital är dock av stort värde för alla sorters företag och påverkas av huruvida företag upplever kapitalbegränsningar eller inte, vilket kan mätas på olika sätt. Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka om CSR-prestationer kan påverka företags tillgång till kapital, med avseende på kapitalbegränsningar inom EU. Metod: Studien utgår från en positivistisk forskningsfilosofi med en hypotetisk-deduktiv ansats. Studien har en kvantitativ design med sekundärdata inhämtad från databasen Thomson Reuters Eikon. Urvalet består av 272 publika bolag inom EU med data för åren 2010–2019. Data har analyserats genom multipla regressionsanalyser i statistikprogrammet SPSS. Resultat och Slutsats: Resultatet påvisar inga tydliga samband mellan CSR-prestationer och de tre undersökta måtten på kapitalbegränsningar: KZ-index, WW-index och SA-index. Gemensamt för dessa är dock att sambanden är svaga. Det finns därmed inga bevis för att bra CSR-prestation skulle ha en positiv påverkan på företags tillgång till kapital, utan kapitalbegränsningar verkar yttra sig olika i olika företag och är därför svårt att mäta.  Examensarbetets bidrag: Studien bidrar till att utöka forskningen kring CSR-prestation och tillgång till kapital, och signalerar att kapitalbegränsningar är ett komplext mått och att det finns brister i hur kapitalbegränsningar mäts. Studien ger också ett praktiskt bidrag i form av stöd för företag i att engagera sig i CSR eftersom det kan ge positiva effekter för företaget.  Förslag till framtida forskning: Ett förslag till framtida forskning är att utöka studien till att omfatta andra delar av världen men också att undersöka andra mått på CSR-prestation, eller att dela upp ESG-måttet och studera de olika dimensionerna var för sig.  Nyckelord: CSR, ESG, tillgång till kapital, kapitalbegränsningar, KZ-index, WW-index, SA-index / Abstract Title: CSR performance affect on access to capital Level: Student thesis, final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration  Author: Erika Sörell and Johanna Svarfvar Supervisor: Jan Svanberg Date: 2020 – June  Aim: Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is becoming an increasingly important issue in the society and various stakeholders place higher demands on companies. There are different opinions about whether CSR activities are an unnecessary expense. Having access to capital is of great value to all kinds of companies and is affected of whether or not the company experiences capital constraints, which can be measured in different ways. The aim of this thesis is to investigate if CSR performance can affect companies’ access to capital, with regard to capital constraints within the EU. Method: The study applies a positivistic research philosophy with a hypothetical-deductible approach. The study has a quantitative research design with secondary data retrieved from the database Thomson Reuters Eikon. The sample consists of 272 public companies within the EU with data for the years 2010–2019. Data has been analyzed in the SPSS statistics program. Result och Conclusion: The results show no obvious relationship between CSR performance and the three measures of capital constraints examined: KZ-index, WW-index and SA-index. A shared characteristic is that the relationship is weak. There is thus no evidence that a good CSR performance would have a positive impact on companies’ access to capital. Capital constraints appear different in all companies and are therefore difficult to measure. Contribution of the thesis: The study contributes to expanding the research on CSR performance and access to capital, and signals that capital constraints are a complex measure and that there are shortcomings in how they are measured. The study also makes a practical contribution in form of support for companies in engaging in CSR as it can have positive effects. Suggestion for future research: One suggestion for future research is to extend the study to other parts of the world but also to study other ways of measuring CSR performance, or to split the examined ESG Score and study the different dimensions of CSR separately. Keywords: CSR, ESG, access to capital, capital constraints, KZ-index, WW-index, SA-index

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This study examines human capital constraints in the South African economy, and the austerity these constraints have on firms in the country. The first part of the study identifies the main human capital constraints facing South Africa, and explains how these constraints influence an economy. An inadequately educated workforce along with restrictive labour regulations makes out the central components of these constraints. The second part explores all the relevant constraints individually, and determines the cause of their existence. The final part of this study consists of a firm level analysis that describes human capital constraints experienced by firms in South Africa. Regression analysis examines the determinants of increased output per worker in manufacturing firms. These determinants also indicate the cause of growth in output per worker. Human capital aspects such as education, labour regulation, compensation and competition are all shown to have a considerable influence on output per worker. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) on the explanatory variables achieved similar results. For this analysis, latent variables that incorporated education, training, region and Sector Education Training Authority (SETA) support and effectiveness explained the highest percentage of the total variance. However, this study found no evidence to suggest that human capital development initiatives like training programmes and SETA support have a positive relationship with increased levels of productivity. / Thesis (M.Com. (Economics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

This study examines human capital constraints in the South African economy, and the austerity these constraints have on firms in the country. The first part of the study identifies the main human capital constraints facing South Africa, and explains how these constraints influence an economy. An inadequately educated workforce along with restrictive labour regulations makes out the central components of these constraints. The second part explores all the relevant constraints individually, and determines the cause of their existence. The final part of this study consists of a firm level analysis that describes human capital constraints experienced by firms in South Africa. Regression analysis examines the determinants of increased output per worker in manufacturing firms. These determinants also indicate the cause of growth in output per worker. Human capital aspects such as education, labour regulation, compensation and competition are all shown to have a considerable influence on output per worker. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) on the explanatory variables achieved similar results. For this analysis, latent variables that incorporated education, training, region and Sector Education Training Authority (SETA) support and effectiveness explained the highest percentage of the total variance. However, this study found no evidence to suggest that human capital development initiatives like training programmes and SETA support have a positive relationship with increased levels of productivity. / Thesis (M.Com. (Economics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.