In the current turbulent market, firms spend lots of tangible and intangible resources to gain competitive advantage and superior performance. Prior studies have discussed several determinants of competitive advantage and performance, particularly in developed economies, whereas small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging economies have received minor attention. This study examines the mediating role of competitive advantage between enterprise risk management practices and SME performance and the moderating role of financial literacy between enterprise risk management practices and competitive advantage. A structured questionnaire is used to collect data from 304 SMEs operating in the emerging market of Pakistan. The hypotheses of the proposed study are tested through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) in Analysis of a Moment Structures (AMOS). The results indicate that enterprise risk management practices significantly influence competitive advantage and SME performance. Competitive advantage partially mediates the relationship between enterprise risk management practices and SME performance. Additionally, financial literacy significantly moderates the relationship between enterprise risk management practices and competitive advantage. Firms are advised to implement formal enterprise risk management practices to gain competitive advantage and superior performance. Top managers need to have enough financial education that they will be able to perform risk management practices in an efficient way to gain a competitive position in the market. Implications for practices have been discussed in detail.

Achievement of sustainable competitive position and superior performance is the first priority of business organizations. However, small firms, due to fairly known reasons; lack of resources, financial capabilities and lack of managerial skills are often unable to succeed in their mission. Hence, they often look for less risky and convenience sources to compete in the market. A variety of factors has been tested towards a firm competitive position and performance but the role of government support in this perspective has received minor attention. The present study examines the influence of government financial support and nonfinancial support on firm performance with mediating role of the sustainable competitive position. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling in Analysis Moment of Structure (AMOS) on a data set of 326 Pakistani Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs). The results indicate that government financial and nonfinancial support have a significant influence on sustainable competitive position and firm performance. Additionally, a sustainable competitive position partially mediates the relationship between government support and firm performance. Government bodies and policy makers are advised to provide financial and nonfinancial support to SMEs which in turn can upsurge economic growth and sustainability.

In the developing economy, tourism is the most visible and steadiest growing facade. Tourism is considered one of the rapidly increasing elements for economic development from the last two decades. Therefore, the proposed study used vector autoregression (VAR) model, error correction model (ECM), and the Granger causality to check the relationship between the tourism industry and economic growth based on the data of the Beijing municipal bureau of statistics from 1994 to 2015. Gross domestic product (GDP) is used as a replacement variable for the economic growth index, while internal tourism revenue is used as a tourism industry indicator. The study supports the tourism-led growth hypothesis proposed in the existing literature in a different survey of tourism and economic development. The results show that there is a strong relationship in the tourism industry and economic growth in the context of Beijing, and at the same time, tourism creates a more significant increase in long run local real economic accomplishments. The results of the VAR model confirm that in the long run, Beijing’s economic growth is affected by domestic tourism, while the ECM model shows unidirectional results in the short term. Similarly, there is a one-way causal relationship between the tourism industry and economic growth in Beijing, China. The empirical results are in strong support of the concept that tourism causes growth.

We adopt a multilayer networks approach to assess how network structural embeddedness affects corporate technological innovation. Our findings indicate an annual increase in both single-layer and multilayer networks, although adoption of the latter by Chinese listed companies is comparatively low. We found that structural embeddedness of multilayer networks positively impacts corporate technological innovation. By reducing uncertainty within the internal environment, these networks bolster technological innovation. Moreover, such embeddedness notably spurs innovation in non-state-owned companies and those with greater internal transparency and robust external oversight. Our analysis reveals an intermediate effect where structural embeddedness in multilayer networks influences innovation. Our work provides new insights into enhancing innovation capacity via network embeddedness and supplies empirical data on utilizing network resources for innovation. We also offer actionable guidance and policy advice for managers, investors, and policymakers, especially relevant amidst economic transformation and pursuit of technological self-reliance of China.