Jorge Mota

Purpose: This study aims to examine how mechanisms of coopetition and governance facilitate the construction of a collective brand identity in fragmented agri-food sectors, focusing on the emerging Portuguese sparkling wine industry. It aims to understand how coordination, authenticity and storytelling contribute to the formation of a coherent yet plural identity in a competitive global market. Design/methodology/approach: The research draws on eleven semi-structured interviews with producers, cooperatives and institutional actors. Through qualitative thematic analysis, it explores perceptions of quality, heritage and coordination to identify the institutional and communicative factors shaping collective branding processes in Portugal’s sparkling wine sector. Findings: The results reveal a shared understanding of quality and heritage among stakeholders but also highlight the absence of a unified strategy and a coherent narrative. Regulatory fragmentation, limited institutional coordination and communication asymmetries hinder the translation of symbolic capital into global market recognition. The findings also demonstrate the coexistence of cooperative and competitive dynamics, as stakeholders jointly develop collective narratives while pursuing individual market positions. Despite these challenges, participants emphasise the potential of collective branding, grounded in authenticity, regional diversity and shared storytelling, to strengthen competitiveness and visibility. Originality/value: This study advances literature on collective branding and coopetition by introducing the concept of symbolic governance, in which shared storytelling functions as a coordination mechanism alongside formal institutions. By comparing Portugal’s current trajectory with Italy’s pre-Prosecco experience, the research offers broader insights into how emerging wine regions can balance cooperation, authenticity and communication to build cohesive collective identities in global markets.

This study examines how the COVID-19 crisis reshaped the determinants of capital structure among Portuguese industrial small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Using firm-level and macroeconomic data from 7,006 SMEs over 2016–2023, we estimated a fixed-effects panel model with robust standard errors. Before the pandemic, profitability, liquidity, and maturity were negatively associated with leverage, whereas size and asset tangibility increased debt financing, broadly supporting Pecking Order Theory. The findings show that the pandemic reshaped the determinantsof SME financing rather than aggregate debt levels, revealing an adaptive response to systemic uncertainty. The study extends capital structure research in bank-based economies and provides implications for financial and regulatory policies supporting SMEs during systemic crises.

Purpose: This study examines within-firm associations between factoring use and firms' financial ratios, with the aim of understanding its accounting implications for corporate financial statements. Design/methodology/approach: Using a unique, large panel dataset of Portuguese firms (2009–2022) comprising 926,593 firm-year observations, we estimate fixed-effects models to document how the use of factoring is associated with changes in liquidity, solvency, and profitability indicators. Firm-level controls and year fixed effects are included to account for observable and unobservable heterogeneity. Findings: The results suggest that factoring use is consistently associated with higher liquidity and solvency ratios, alongside lower net profitability (ROA and ROE), but higher operating return on sales. These patterns point to a systematic tension between improvements in balance-sheet indicators and costs reflected in the income statement. This tension helps explain the continued use of factoring despite its adverse association with net profitability. Research limitations/implications: The analysis is descriptive and does not identify causal effects, as firms self-select into factoring. The relatively low share of firms using factoring may also limit generalizability. Future research could explore identification strategies and sectoral heterogeneity. Practical implications: The findings suggest that factoring is associated with improvements in financial statement presentation, particularly in liquidity and solvency, but also involves costs that affect profitability. This trade-off is relevant for managers evaluating short-term financing strategies. Policymakers may also consider promoting factoring as a viable financing channel for SMEs facing credit constraints. Originality/value: This study contributes by providing large-scale evidence on the accounting consequences of factoring, documenting and interpreting the trade-off between balance-sheet improvements and income-statement costs rather than identifying causal effects.

This study examines the relationship between quality of financial information (QFI) and the probability of corporate decline in the food manufacturing sector within the European Union (EU) controlled by a set of internal (age, size, liquidity, return on assets, and debt) and external (gross domestic product and unemployment rate) determinants. The study employs a logit regression model applied to a balanced panel dataset of 335 large food manufacturing firms in the EU from 2011 to 2021. Quality of financial information is estimated using discretionary accruals, based on the Jones model (1991), while corporate decline is measured by fluctuations in sales. The findings indicate that low-quality financial information (high discretionary accruals) is positively associated with corporate decline, highlighting the role of financial transparency in business sustainability. The results suggest that earnings management practices can increase business vulnerability, reinforcing the importance of accurate financial reporting in mitigating corporate failure. The study underscores the need for enhanced regulatory oversight and financial reporting transparency in the food manufacturing industry. Policymakers and stakeholders should strengthen financial disclosure requirements to curb earnings management practices and ensure better resource allocation for long-term sustainability. This research contributes to the limited literature on quality of financial information and corporate decline, particularly in the food manufacturing sector, which is crucial for economic stability and public welfare. By integrating financial reporting quality into corporate failure analysis, this study provides new insights into the role of earnings management in business deterioration.

1. The way firms present their financial performance through accounting choices may influence suppliers’ perceptions of creditworthiness and repayment capacity. In particular, discretionary accrual...

Purpose: This study examines how firms' alliance orientation impacts firm financial performance, varying across manufacturing and retail service industries and during the COVID-19 Crisis. Coopetition requires simultaneous competition and cooperation, sometimes competition-based coopetition, other times cooperation-based coopetition. In this study, alliance orientation was used as the observable construct, enabling us to interpret its implications within the broader literature on coopetition dynamics. Design/methodology/approach: We used a sample of 330 Portuguese and Spanish firms across different industries and employed an Ordinary Least Squares model. The study spans 2013–2022, encompassing pre-COVID-19 and during COVID-19 pandemic periods. Findings: Results show that alliance orientation positively influences financial performance in the retail services industry, particularly during COVID-19, where alliances mitigated the negative effects of firm age, sales growth opportunities and asset tangibility. No significant effect was observed in manufacturing firms, highlighting industry-specific dynamics. Originality/value: The study offers threefold novelties. First, it assesses the impact of strategic alliance engagement on financial performance through an econometric model that considers the effect of strategic alliances on return on assets and includes control variables to express organizational complexity. Second, it highlights that the benefits of alliance strategies, which can enable coopetition dynamics, vary across industries. Third, it provides evidence that alliance orientation can be a strategic risk and crisis management mechanism, particularly during disruptive events such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purpose: This study examines the influence of corporate governance, firm-level characteristics, external factors and risk-taking on bank credit ratings in three distinct regions: Africa, the EU13 and Latin America/Caribbean. Design/methodology/approach: This research analyzes a panel dataset comprising 752 banks from 95 countries from 2011 to 2020, using ordered logistic regression. Findings: The results reveal that corporate governance factors, including board size, board age, and board gender diversity, significantly impact credit ratings. Firm-specific characteristics, including age, market discipline, and opacity, negatively correlate with credit ratings. External factors, particularly the presence of the Big Four audit firms and economic growth, positively influence credit ratings. Institutional quality negatively impacts credit ratings, while risk-taking shows a significant positive association. Practical implications: This study encourages banks and policymakers to re-evaluate governance structures, risk management strategies, and region-specific approaches to credit assessment. A thorough understanding of credit rating determinants is essential for fostering a resilient and sustainable financial environment. Originality/value: This study underscores the critical role of robust corporate governance, institutional quality, and audit oversight in shaping credit ratings within the global banking sector. It challenges the prevailing one-size-fits-all approach to credit-rating assessments and supports the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8, Target 10, which aims to strengthen financial institutions. The findings also contribute to the ongoing discourse on credit ratings within the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa framework.

The struggle for gender parity (sustainable development goal 5) sustains a controversial debate among authors, leaders, and organizations. Studies connecting social dominance orientation, status threat, and attitudes towards gender parity initiatives are scant. This article investigates these relationships and their mediators, focusing on gender parity initiatives in three independent studies—Brazil, Canada, and Portugal—comparing data collected from professors and employees in public and private HEIs. Both social dominance orientation (SDO) and status threat influence employees' attitudes towards gender parity initiatives, with SDO being the most important and significant determinant. Canadian employees are more supportive of gender affirmative actions and share a preference for group‐based inequality. Employees in all three countries perceive their societies as egalitarian, with a gender parity agenda in place, and no longer requiring efforts for gender equity regardless of the respondents' gender. Intriguing insights on the perceptions and attitudes of those self‐identifying as “woman” and “man” were found.