http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/118 webs2002.uab.es/dep-economia-empresa/ Sat, 11 Feb 2012 21:02:03 GMT 2012-02-11T21:02:03Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/bitstream/id/35070/ http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/118 http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/97459 A cognitive attempt to understanding female entrepreneurial potential: the role of social norms and culture Santos, Francisco J.; Liñan, Francisco; Roomi, Muhammad A. This article analyzes the different perceptions of both male and female potential entrepreneurs from three European regions differing in their respective level of economic development and entrepreneurial culture. We use an extended cognitive model of entrepreneurial intentions based on the theory of planned behaviour, the theory of normative social behaviour and social capital literature. Results show females have lower self-efficacy and entrepreneurial attraction than males, thus leading to lower entrepreneurial intention. Differences between the three subsamples are small when males are studied. However, female entrepreneurial intentions and perceptions are more affected by the cultural context. Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/97459 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/97458 Nuevos y viejos criterios de rentabilidad que concuerdan con el criterio del valor actual neto Pasqual i Rocabert, Joan; Padilla, Emilio El análisis de criterios clásicos de rentabilidad, como la Tasa Interna de Rendimiento o el Cociente Beneficio/Coste, revela que, contra lo que se suponía, concuerdan con el criterio Valor Actual Neto si se aplican correctamente. Lo mismo ocurre con los viejos criterios Valor Final Neto y Anualidad Equivalente y los nuevos Demora Máxima de Beneficios y Plazo de Recuperación de Costes. Se demuestra, además, que para elegir entre dos proyectos mutuamente excluyentes, la aplicación de los criterios citados al proyecto diferencia o incremental es una condición suficiente para que exista concordancia con el criterio Valor Actual Neto. Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/97458 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/97457 Revisiting the size-R&D productivity relation: introducing the mediating role of decision-making style on the scale and quality of innovative output Lejárraga, José; Martínez Ros, Ester We develop a mediation model in which firm size is proposed to affect the scale and quality of innovative output through the adoption of different decision styles during the R&D process. The aim of this study is to understand how the internal changes that firms undergo as they evolve from small to larger organizations affect R&D productivity. In so doing, we illuminate the underlying theoretical mechanism affecting two different dimensions of R&D productivity, namely the scale and quality of innovative output which have not received much attention in previous literature. Using longitudinal data of Spanish manufacturing firms we explore the validity of this mediation model. Our results show that as firms evolve in size, they increasingly emphasize analytical decision making, and consequently, large-sized firms aim for higher-quality innovations while small firms aim for a larger scale of innovative output. Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/97457 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/97456 The Complementarity between segment disclosure and earnings quality, and its effect on cost of capital Blanco Peláez, Belén; García Lara, Juan Manuel; Tribó Giné, Josep A. We investigate the role of earnings quality in determining the levels of segment disclosure, and whether and how better quality earnings and segment disclosure influences cost of capital. Using a large US sample for the period 2001-2006, we find a positive relation between earnings quality and levels of segment disclosures. We also find that firms providing better quality segment information, contingent upon good earnings quality, enjoy lower cost of capital. We base our empirical tests on a self created index of segment disclosure. Our results contribute to a better understanding of (1) the incentives for providing segment disclosures, and (2) how accounting quality (quality of segment information and earnings quality) is related to the cost of capital. Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/97456 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/97455 Environmental factors and social entrepreneurship Ferri, Elisabet; Urbano, David Social entrepreneurship has been a subject of growing interest by academics and governments, however little still being known about environmental factors that affect this phenomenon. The main objective of this study is to analyze how these factors affect social entrepreneurial activity, in the light of the institutional economic theory as the conceptual framework. Using linear regression analysis for a sample of 49 countries, is studied the impact of informal institutions (social needs, societal attitudes and education) and formal institutions (public spending, access to finance and governance effectiveness) on social entrepreneurial activity. The findings suggest that while societal attitudes increase the rates of social entrepreneurship, public spending has a negative relationship with this phenomenon. Finally, the empirical evidence found could be useful for the definition of government policies on promoting social entrepreneurship. Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/97455 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/97454 Los Derivados financieros como herramienta para evaluar la reforma laboral: una aproximación binomial Bou Ysàs, Sílvia; Hernández Colom, Albert; Linares Pérez, Carlota Este artículo tiene como objetivo realizar un análisis de la reforma laboral del mercado español mediante la utilización de derivados financieros reales. El trabajo consiste en modelizar la función incentivo del contratador desde el punto de vista de una cartera de derivados con el fin de analizar el impacto sobre la creación de empleo indefinido de las distintas propuestas realizadas por los principales agentes participantes del debate. La principal aportación de este trabajo consiste en la creación de un simulador que nos permite analizar las sensibilidades de las principales variables suceptibles de ser modificadas en la Reforma Laboral para cada uno de los escenarios considerados. Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/97454 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/97453 Accounting conservatism and firm investment efficiency García Lara, Juan Manuel; García Osma, Beatriz; Penalva, Fernando Conservatism, through the timelier recognition of losses in the income statement, is expected to increase firm investment efficiency through three main channels: (1) by decreasing the adverse effect of information asymmetries between outside equity holders and managers, facilitating the monitoring of managerial investment decisions; (2) by increasing managerial incentives to abandon poorly performing projects earlier and to undertake fewer negative net present-value investments; and (3) by facilitating the access to external financing at lower cost. Using a large US sample for the period 1990-2007 we find a negative association between conservatism and measures of over- and under- investment, and a positive association between conservatism and future profitability. This is consistent with firms reporting more conservative numbers investing more efficiently and in more profitable projects. Our results add to a growing stream of literature suggesting that eliminating conservatism from accounting regulatory frameworks may lead to undesirable economic consequences. Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/97453 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/43836 Devolution dynamics of Spanish local government Balaguer-Coll, Maria Teresa; Prior Jiménez, Diego; Tortosa-Ausina, Emili Over the last few years, ther has been a devolutionary tendency in many developed and developing countries. In this article we propose a methodology to decompose whether the benefits in terms of effciency derived from transfers of powers from higher to municipal levels of government "the "economic dividend" of devolution) might increase over time. This methodology is based on linear programming approaches for effciency measurement. We provide anapplication to Spanish municipalities, which have had to adapt to both the European Stability and Growth Pact as well as to domestic regulation seeking local governments balanced budget. Results indicate that efficiency gains from enhaced decentralization have increased over time. However, the way through which these gains accrue differs across municipalities -in some cases technical change is the main component, whereas in others catching up dominates. Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/43836 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/43835 Start-up conditions and the performance of women – and men- controlled businesses in manufacturating industries Prior Jiménez, Diego; Driga, Otilia Recent research on the economic performance of women-controlled firms suggests that their underperformance may not result from differences in the managerial ability of women as compared to men, but it can be the result of different levels of start-up resources. Using accounting data, this paper examines the effects that selected start-up conditions have on the economic performance observed in a sample of 4450 Spanish manufacturing firms. The results indicate significant differences regarding the initial conditions, showing lower levels of assets and number of employees what have implications on the economic performance of women-controlled firms. Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/43835 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/43834 Assesing advertising efficiency: does the internet play a role? Pergelova, Albena; Prior Jiménez, Diego; Rialp Criado, Josep This research focuses on a major concern for marketers addressing the claims of inefficiency of the spending on advertising. We examine whether the Internet can help increase overall advertising efficiency. Using a sample from the Spanish automobile industry, we combine a nonparametric method - Data Envelopment Analysis - with recent important insights from statistics and econometrics studies, and we find that online advertising improves the efficiency levels and this effect is more pronounced in the long-term temporal framework. Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/43834 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/43833 Glocalization as a generic entrepreneurial strategy Johanisson, Bengt Nobody would deny that we today live in a globalized world. Our digitalized living daily revises our worldwide mindmaps. Thanks to free trade and travel our material and social worlds have become global as well. This radical sociocultural change has since the last decade been preached all over the world with public institutions and business-interest organizations as megaphones. Since those carrying the globalization message mainly represent nations or super-nations such as the EU, the viewpoints of lower-level actors such as regions, localities, firms and individual citizens have seldom been considered. Paternalistically (super-)national bodies have instructured its subjects, not the least the many small firms that populate the (private) economy, what action to take. The basic message is: submit to the global forces – local is not beautiful any longer. Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/43833 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/43832 Public policy for entrepreneurship and innovation: impact in managed and entrepreneurial economies Murdock, Karen Many of the most advanced economies of the world have undergone significant transformation in the last few decades. Globalization and technological changes, especially developments in information technologies, have helped to stimulate this transformation. These have contributed to changing institutional frameworks in many respects within the economies including adjustments to economic policies. The results of these transformations take many different forms and are manifested in different areas of an economy. At the heart of these changes however, has been the increasingly important role of entrepreneurship in the economy. The transformed ("new") economy stimulates and supports activities in innovation and entrepreneurship and is labelled the entrepreneurial economy. The "old" economy on the other hand restricts such activities and is referred to as the managed economy (Audretsch & Thurik, 2001). Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/43832 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/43831 Organizational configurations of strategic choices and strategic management accounting Cadez, Simon; Guilding, Chris This is the first study to adopt a configurational paradigm in an investigation of strategic management accounting (SMA) adoption. The study examines the alignment and effectiveness of strategic choice and strategic management accounting (SMA) system design configurations. Six configurations were derived empirically by deploying a cluster analysis of data collected from a sample of 193 large Slovenian companies. The first four clusters appear to provide some support for the central configurational proposition that higher levels of vertical and horizontal configurational alignments are associated with higher levels of performance. Evidence that contradicts the theory is also apparent, however, as the remaining two clusters exhibit high degrees of SMA vertical and horizontal alignment, but low performance levels. A particular contribution of the paper concerns its demonstration of the way that the configurational paradigm can be operationalised to examine management accounting phenomena and the nature of management accounting insights that can derive from applying the approach. Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/43831 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/43830 Agency cost of government ownership: a study of voluntary audit comitte formation in China Hillier, David; Cai, Charlie X.; Tiang, Gaoliang; Wu, Qinghua In this paper, we investigate the agency costs of government ownership and their impact on corporate governance and firm value. China is used as a laboratory because of the prevalent state shareholdings in exchange-listed firms. In this context, we specifically consider the trade-offs involved in the voluntary formation of an audit committee when the controlling shareholder is the state. The decision to improve corporate governance (in this case, introduce an audit committee) is shown to be value relevant and a function of existing agency relationships and non-trivial implementation costs. Our findings are robust to the level of pyramid groups, the ownership-control wedge, and financial leverage. The research adds to the debate regarding the effect of government shareholdings on corporate culture and performance - a topic that hastaken on renewed importance in recent times. Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/43830 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/43829 Narrating urban entrepreneurship: a matter of imagineering? Steyaert, Chris; Beyes, Timon The battle between cities with regard to their creative possibilities has evolved into a process of multiplying ever-new images and variegated stories of urban attractiveness and success. Engineering “cool” images and “hot” stories about one’s city is now a central endeavor in the narratives of urban policy-making that center more and more on the idea of the entrepreneurial city. The making of an entrepreneurial image is enacted through various narrative genres that lie somewhere between place making and place marketing, between branding and boosting, between restoration and revanchism, between iconic architecture and mega-spectacle. This “imagineering” is not only part of the way cities try to (re)present themselves as entrepreneurial to various audiences through a real “image inflation” (Zukin, 2008, p. xii) but is 1 Forthcoming in: B. Lange,.A. Kalandides, B. Stoeber, I. Wellmann (Hrsg.) (2009): Governance der Kreativwirtschaft. Diagnosen und Handlungsoptionen. Transcript-Verlag, Bielefeld. 2 also inscribed in the various ways urban creativity and entrepreneurship can be studied, researched and imagined. In this chapter we aim to differentiate the political narratives of the entrepreneurial city as we emphasize the need to understand the politics of narration and make a plea for critical reflexivity in our forms of researching and theorizing. We will thus try to investigate how the politics of narration is intertwined with the narration of political concepts and will argue that the narrating of urban entrepreneurship can raise very different images and discourses of city life beyond those that are currently engineered. We will distinguish between a grand narrative, a counter-narrative, and an assemblage of more ambivalent little narratives, which we call prosaic narration. While the distinction between these three types might be seen as a bit too simple and “straight”, we believe that by juxtaposing these different forms of narration and alternating between them, we can help problematize the engineering of the city as entrepreneurial and imagine alternative views both of city life and of what is understood as its creativity. Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/43829 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/43828 Gender effects on performance in Bulgarian private enterprises Yordanova, Desislava Many of the newly established private enterprises in transition economies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) are owned and managed by women (Degtiar, 2000). However, there are limited research and knowledge on gender, management, and organization in CEE (Metcalfe and Afanassieva, 2005) and, particularly, on the performance of female-owned companies. Sporadic empirical evidence shows that female-owned companies have worse performance than male-owned companies in transition economies (Drnovsek and Glas, 2006; Aidis, 2006). The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we study the factors that affect the performance of female-owned companies in a transition context. Second, we compare how performance varies between female and male-owned businesses in such a context. Combining the Feminist Theory, the Institutional Theory, and the literature on determinants of firm performance, we derive hypotheses about the determinants of the performance of female-owned companies and about gender differences in performance. The proposed hypotheses are tested in a sample of 501 private Bulgarian companies. Our results indicate that a number of individual, organizational, and environmental characteristics are significant determinants of the performance of both female and male-owned companies. Although there are gender differences in performance, they disappear when other factors are controlled for. We conclude with some recommendations for policy implications and place the current results in respect to future research. Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/43828 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/41820 Earnings management and cultural values Desender, Kurt A.; Castro, Christian E.; Escamilla de León, Sergio A. Using theory and empirical data from social psychology to measure for cultural differences between countries, we study the effect of individualism as defined by Hofstede (1980) and egalitarianism as defined by Schwartz (1994, 1999, 2004) on earnings management. We find a significant influence of both cultural measures. In line with Licht et al. (2004), who argue that individualistic societies may be less susceptible to corruption, we find that countries scoring high on individualism tend to have lower levels of earnings management. In addition, we find that egalitarianism, defined as a society's cultural orientation with respect to intolerance for abuses of market and political power, is negatively related with earnings management. Our results are robust to different specifications and controls. The main message of this paper is that besides formal institutions, cultural differences are relevant to explain earnings management behaviour. We think that our work adds to the understanding of the importance of cultural values in managerial behaviour across countries contributing to the literature on earnings management and law and institutions. Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/41820 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/12856 Why do convertible issuers simultaneously repurchase stock? An arbitrage-based explanation Dutordoir, Marie; Verwijmeren, Patrick We examine why firms combine convertible debt offerings with stock repurchases. In 2006, 33% of the convertible issuers in the US simultaneously repurchased stock. These combined transactions are inconsistent with traditional motivations for convertible issuance. We document that convertible arbitrage drives these stock repurchases. Convertible debt arbitrageurs simultaneously buy convertibles and short sell the issuer’s common stock, resulting in downward pressure on the stock price. To prevent such short-selling activity, firms repurchase their stock directly from arbitrageurs. We show that combined transactions exhibit lower short-selling activity and that convertible arbitrage explains both the size and speed of the stock repurchases. Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/12856 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/12855 Entrepreneurial intention, cognitive social capital and culture: empirical anaylisis for Spain and Taiwan Liñán, Francisco; Santos, Francisco J.; Roldán, José L. The main purpose of this paper is building a research model to integrate the socioeconomic concept of social capital within intentional models of new firm creation. Nevertheless, some researchers have found cultural differences between countries and regions to have an effect on economic development. Therefore, a second objective of this study is exploring whether those cultural differences affect entrepreneurial cognitions. Research design and methodology: Two samples of last year university students from Spain and Taiwan are studied through an Entrepreneurial Intention Questionnaire (EIQ). Structural equation models (Partial Least Squares) are used to test the hypotheses. The possible existence of differences between both sub-samples is also empirically explored through a multigroup analysis. Main outcomes and results: The proposed model explains 54.5% of the variance in entrepreneurial intention. Besides, there are some significant differences between both subsamples that could be attributed to cultural diversity. Conclusions: This paper has shown the relevance of cognitive social capital in shaping individuals’ entrepreneurial intentions across different countries. Furthermore, it suggests that national culture could be shaping entrepreneurial perceptions, but not cognitive social capital. Therefore, both cognitive social capital and culture (made up essentially of values and beliefs), may act together to reinforce the entrepreneurial intention. Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/12855 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/12854 From creative ideas to new emerging ventures: the process of identification and exploitation among finnish design entrepreneurs Tötterman, Henrik This study focuses on identification and exploitation processes among Finnish design entrepreneurs (i.e. selfemployed industrial designers). More specifically, this study strives to find out what design entrepreneurs do when they create new ventures, how venture ideas are identified and how entrepreneurial processes are organized to identify and exploit such venture ideas in the given industrial context. Indeed, what does educated and creative individuals do when they decide to create new ventures, where do the venture ideas originally come from, and moreover, how are venture ideas identified and developed into viable business concepts that are introduced on the markets? From an academic perspective: there is a need to increase our understanding of the interaction between the identification and exploitation of emerging ventures, in this and other empirical contexts. Rather than assuming that venture ideas are constant in time, this study examines how emerging ideas are adjusted to enable exploitation in dynamic market settings. It builds on the insights from previous entrepreneurship process research. The interpretations from the theoretical discussion build on the assumption that the subprocesses of identification and exploitation interact, and moreover, they are closely entwined with each other (e.g. McKelvie & Wiklund, 2004, Davidsson, 2005). This explanation challenges the common assumption that entrepreneurs would first identify venture ideas and then exploit them (e.g. Shane, 2003). The assumption is that exploitation influences identification, just as identification influences exploitation. Based on interviews with design entrepreneurs and external actors (e.g. potential customers, suppliers and collaborators), it appears as identification and exploitation of venture ideas are carried out in close interaction between a number of actors, rather than alone by entrepreneurs. Due to their available resources, design entrepreneurs have a desire to focus on identification related activities and to find external actors that take care of exploitation related activities. The involvement of external actors may have a direct impact on decisionmaking and various activities along the processes of identification and exploitation, which is something that previous research does not particularly emphasize. For instance, Bhave (1994) suggests both operative and strategic feedback from the market, but does not explain how external parties are actually involved in the decisionmaking, and in carrying out various activities along the entrepreneurial process. Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/12854 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/12807 Desempeño de la política comercial pública en España Sánchez, Manuel; Cruz Roche, Ignacio; Jiménez Castillo, David La organización política de un país tiene importantes consecuencias sobre la política económica. El desarrollo de los distintos tipos de federalismo, en particular el federalismo asimétrico, tiene su traslación a diferencias en las políticas comerciales La organización política de un país tiene importantes consecuencias sobre la política económica. El desarrollo de los distintos tipos de federalismo, en particular el federalismo asimétrico, tiene su traslación a diferencias en las políticas comerciales implementadas entre los diversos territorios. Cabe preguntarse las consecuencias económicas de estas diferencias. El presente trabajo intentar aproximarse al problema, evaluando la posible existencia de efectos diferenciados sobre la estructura del comercio. Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/12807 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/7703 Organisational status and efficiency: the case of the spanish SOE "Paradores" Cayón Costa, Magda; Vergés i Jaime, Joaquim The purpose of this paper is to provide new evidence on the issue of the effect on public enterprises economic performance of the introduction of some given changes in organisational status and management practices, while keeping the enterprises under public control. Our approach is case study type and relies on comparative efficiency literature. We identify relevant changes on the organisational status of a State owned large hotel group along a period of twenty years, next we measure its annual efficiency indicators, and then evaluate to which extent the observed changes in economic performance can be attributable to the corresponding management reforms carried out. As a result we find that the formally more relevant change in organisational status (the enterprise passing to be a Limited Company), which implied a substantial increase in the enterprise autonomy, did not produce a significant improvement in its economic performance; a finding contrary to what we expected according to agency theory. However, a second relevant organisational change –five years later- when both the principal (government) and the agent (firm’s CEO) changed is consistently related to a significant improvement in economic performance. As a research implication we abide for use more precise agency theory statements; and as a practical implication we argue here that potentialities of improvement brought about by a formal-legal change in the status of the enterprise may require also –in order to actually improve firm’s efficiency- some changes in the firm’s key personal positions: supervisor (principal) and CEO (agent), in the sense that a change to a greater-autonomy for the enterprise it seems should come together a parallel new ‘management culture’. Practical implications Management good practises to apply to other public enterprise’s restructuring in order to improve their efficiency. It’s the first study on organizational changes and efficiency for an important Spanish public enterprise. Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/7703 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/4847 El Impacto de la gestión activa en la performance de los fondos de inversión de renta fija Bou Ysàs, Sílvia Este trabajo tiene como objetivo estudiar el impacto de las estrategias activas de gestión en la performance de los fondos de inversión de renta fija y se realiza en tres fases, en primer lugar, a partir de la información homogénea disponible para cualquier partícipe se elabora un perfil de riesgo de los fondos a partir de los tipos de riesgo asociados a la renta fija. En segundo lugar, se propone una medida de performance que permite la comparación entre fondos, a dos niveles: por un lado, tomando como benchmark una cartera puramente pasiva y por otro lado, adecuando el benchmark al vencimiento de la cartera. En tercer lugar se realiza un contraste con el fin de determinar el impacto en la performance de los fondos estudiados de los indicadores de actividad de la estrategia asociados al perfil de riesgo del fondo. Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/4847 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/4080 Public enterprise reforms and efficiency in regulated environments: the case of the postal sector Morales Piñero, Juan Carlos; Vergés i Jaime, Joaquim Purpose - This paper focuses on analyzing the effect that public reforms have on the efficiency of state-owned enterprises in regulated environments. Design/methodology/approach - The research is focused in the postal sector where public and private companies must obey a legal framework related to provide a universal service. The analysis is carried out using a panel of 7 European postal operators for the period 1997-2003. The activity analyzed was the letter mail division; we take as key variable the unit cost of a letter and use a translog cost function where as independent variables we include traffic levels, labor cost per employee, quality and availability of the service as well as the type of ownership (public or private). Additionally, in a second stage the geographical differences among countries are considered. Findings - Results indicate that postal operators that experienced organizational changes without being privatized, such as the Spanish and Greek operators, do not have higher unit costs than privatized postal operators like the one of Germany and the Netherlands. Moreover, we find that in all cases the operator of Ireland appear to be the most efficient. In this case restructuring process has been carried out giving an important leadership role to workers. This suggests us that labor culture could be a key variable to study when analyzing reform processes in public enterprises. Originality/value - Our findings show that in a regulated environment like in the postal sector, public and private companies can obtain similar efficiency levels in term of unit costs. Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/4080 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/4079 The Impact of prevention measures and organisational factors on occupational injuries Arocena, Pablo; Núñez, Imanol; Villanueva, Mikel This paper analyses the impact of a series of managerial and organisational factors on occupational injuries. These consist of occupational safety measures, as regards both the intensity and the orientation of risk prevention in companies, and the adoption of certain work organisation practices, quality management and the use of flexible production technologies. We estimate a negative binomial regression based on a sample of 213 Spanish industrial establishments, defining a constant random parameter to take account of non-observable heterogeneity. Our results show that occupational safety measures, the intensive use of quality management tools and the empowerment of workers all help to reduce the number of injuries. We have also confirmed the presence of synergies between the organisational factors analysed and the development of an occupational safety strategy featuring participation and the extension of prevention to all levels of the organisation. Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/4079 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/2233 The Effect of relationship lending on firm performance Montoriol Garriga, Judit We examine how relationship lending affects firm performance using a panel dataset of about 70,000 small and medium Spanish firms in the period 1993-2004. We model firm performance jointly with the firm's choice of the number of bank relationships. Controlling for firm fixed effects and using instrumental variables for the decision on the number of bank relationships, we find that firms maintaining exclusive bank relationships have lower profitability. The result is consistent with the view that banks appropriate most of the value generated through close relationships with its borrowers as long as they do not face competition from other lenders. http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/2233 http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/2223 Triple bottom line: a business metaphor for a social construct Brown, Darrell; Dillard, Jesse; Marshall, R. Scott http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/2223 http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/2213 Testing the entrepreneurial intention model on a two-country sample Liñán, Francisco; Chen, Yi-Wen This paper tests the Entrepreneurial Intention Model -which is adapted from the Theory of Planned Behavior- on a sample of 533 individuals from two quite different countries: one of them European (Spain) and the other South Asian (Taiwan). A newly developed Entrepreneurial Intention Questionnaire (EIQ) has being used which tries to overcome some of the limitations of previous instruments. Structural equations techniques were used in the empirical analysis. Results are generally satisfactory, indicating that the model is probably adequate for studying entrepreneurship. Support for the model was found not only in the combined sample, but also in each of the national ones. However, some differences arose that may indicate demographic variables contribute differently to the formation of perceptions in each culture. http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/2213 http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/2212 Demand elasticity and market power in the spanish electricity market Ciarreta, Aitor; Espinosa, María Paz In this paper we check whether generator's bid behavior at the Spanish whosale electricity market is consistent with the hypothesis of profit maximization on their residual demands. Using OMEL data, we find the arc-elacticity of the residual demand around the system marginal price. The results suggest thet the larger firms are not actually profit-msximization. We argue how the regulatory environment may drive these results. Finally, we repeat the analysis for the first session of the intra-day market where presumably firms may not have the same incentives as in the day-ahead market. http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/2212 http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/2211 Corporate governance in banking: the role of board of directors Andrés Alonso, Pablo de; Vallelado González, Eleuterio We test hypotheses on the dual role of boards of directors for a sample of large international commercial banks. We find an inverted U shaped relation between bank performance and board size that justifies a large board and imposes an efficient limit to the board’s size; a positive relation between the proportion of non-executive directors and performance; and a proactive role in board meetings. Our results show that bank boards’ composition and functioning are related to directors’ incentives to monitor and advise management. All these relations hold after we control for bank business, institutional differences, size, market power in the banking industry, bank ownership and investors’ legal protection. http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/2211