No abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify a function for the profitability of Swedish micro firms in the sectors of health, transport, trade and metal. In order to understand how micro firms relate to key variables, such as firm size, growth of sales, productivities, lagged profits, asset turnover and firm's age, OLS (Ordinary Least Squares), and the more robust quantile regression techniques, are used to estimate micro-firm profitability. Data from 2007 is used for this purpose. The results show that growth (competitive condition) and total factor productivity (comparative advantage) have a significant positive effect on micro-firm profitability, and that size (diminishing returns states) is found to have a rather significant negative effect on micro-firm profitability. The results also indicate a strong relationship between microeconomic theory suggestions and micro-firm profitability for the all micro firms except those in the metal sector. Moreover, the quantile regression approach provided a better understanding, regarding the dynamics of the factors that affect profitability, and provided more interesting results than OLS normally do.

Purpose China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects are widely spread throughout Pakistan with the potential to have a massive impact on Pakistan’s economic future. CPEC projects have, therefore, made it imperative that green practices are adapted to provide sustainability to the CPEC projects. The adoption of green supply chain management (GSCM) framework will significantly increase the value attained from CPEC projects through the increased benefits to the socio-cultural and economic conditions of Pakistan without causing harm to the environment. The purpose of this paper is to identify and rank the GSCM practices for implementation in the construction industry of Pakistan according to expert opinion. Design/methodology/approach This study targets the experts who are employed as supply chain managers in the different construction industries of Pakistan. The opinions of these experts have been extracted through an online questionnaire that was based on six alternatives along with four criteria. The tool of multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) that is a Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) has been used to analyze the results. Findings Six alternatives that have been used for this study are green design, green procurement, green production, green warehousing, green transportation and green recycling. The top-ranked alternative as a practice for GSCM is green warehousing followed by green production. The lowest ranked alternative in this study is green recycling. The alternatives have been ranked on the basis of “cc” values derived through TOPSIS. Practical implications As the advancement in the construction industry will definitely going to impact the environmental sustainability of the country, the results derived through this research will assist the managers of the construction industry of Pakistan to adopt best practices among green supply chain in order to lower their impact. Originality/value Framework using TOPSIS in order to find the best GSCM practice in Pakistan has not been reported before this study.

No abstract

No abstract