The heteroskedasticity-consistent covariance estimator in accounting

The main purpose of this paper is to compare the White (1980) heteroskedasticity-consistent (HC) covariance matrix estimator with alternative estimators. Many regression packages compute the White (1980) heteroskedasticity-consistent (HC) covariance matrix estimator. The common procedure in Accounting and Finance research to deal with the heteroskedasticity problem is based on this estimator, despite its worse finite-samples properties when compared with other consistent estimators. In this paper we compare several HC covariance matrix estimators based on a sample of 3706 European listed companies from Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. We conclude that HC standard errors increase when finite-samples more appropriate estimators are considered and in the most part of countries the Ohlson (1995) model coefficients estimates became statistically insignificant. This can be explained by the high leverage points in the design matrix. To the best of our knowledge it is the first time that these alternative estimators are compared with the one of White (1980) in accounting research.     

The impact of oil price changes on Spanish and euro area consumer price inflation

This paper assesses the impact of oil price changes on Spanish and euro area consumer price inflation. We find that the inflationary effect of oil price changes in both economies is limited, even though crude oil price fluctuations are a major driver of inflation variability. The impact on Spanish inflation is found to be somewhat higher than in the euro area. In both economies, direct effects have increased in the last decade, reflecting the higher expenditure share of households on refined oil products, whereas indirect and second-round effects seem to be losing importance.     

Natural Resources,Wage Growth and Institutions – a Panel Approach

This paper exam,ines the effect of nat,u,ral resource export depen,dence and fis,cal respon,si,bil,ity on wage growth, which is derived from the labour first‐order con,di,tion and esti,mated using a panel growth‐account,ing frame,work. Using annual data, the study accounts for the var,i,abil,ity of resource rev,e,nues, one of the major dif,fi,cul,ties of man,ag,ing these resources. The con,trol vari,ables include the most cru,cial growth fac,tors. Due to insuf,fi,cient annual data, human cap,i,tal is only con,sid,ered inside wages as in many endog,e,nous growth mod,els. We esti,mate the influ,ence on real wage growth aris,ing from the growth‐impacts of nat,u,ral resources through labour and cap,i,tal effi,ciency while con,trol,ling for fis,cal respon,si,bil,ity, which proves a suit,able proxy for pol,i,cies and insti,tu,tions in a sin,gle‐panel case. The results show that respon,si,ble fis,cal pol,icy, assessed by the bud,get bal,ance, pre,vents (var,i,able) dif,fuse and point‐source resources from hin,der,ing real wage growth (through labour effi,ciency), a result also sig,nif,i,cant in a sub‐sam,ple of un‐free coun,tries. The hypoth,e,sis of a resource curse work,ing through insti,tu,tions and reflected on real wage growth holds for resource export shares, but not adjust,ing for re‐expor,ta,tion. Over,all, resource effects are jointly insig,nif,i,cant, even though point‐source resources show a positive impact through cap,i,tal effi,ciency.     

Employees' overestimation of functional and relational service quality: A gap analysis

This study extends previous research on gap analysis of service quality by including not only functional service quality but also relational benefits. To this end, a field study was carried out in 36 hotels and 35 restaurants. The samples consisted of 213 employees and 657 customers. A questionnaire format was used to measure both functional and relational service quality, as well as customers' loyalty. When comparing employee and customer perceptions, gaps potentially range from ‘overestimation’ (employees' perceptions are greater than customers' perceptions) to ‘underestimation’ (customers' perceptions are greater than employees' perceptions). In general, the results indicated that the employees surveyed overestimated the service quality they offer to customers, although gaps were greater for certain service attributes than for others. In addition, some gaps were more related to customer loyalty than others. The findings also showed that employees' overestimation of relational benefits plays a moderating role, increasing the negative relationship between employees' overestimation of functional service quality and customers' loyalty. The theoretical and managerial implications of the results are discussed further in this paper.     

Customer satisfaction's key factors in Spanish grocery stores: Evidence from hypermarkets and supermarkets

The marketing literature has shown how certain attributes of the store are key for grocery retailers to differentiate themselves in the final markets. From this preliminary consideration the present work proposes a step forward by ascertaining the main factors that underlie the attributes of the store which have already been identified in the literature. All of this is taken into account with the object to examine which of these factors presents a greater influence on customer satisfaction. To test the proposed analysis, a sample of 358 Spanish customers that had carried out their purchase in different types of grocery stores (in particular, hypermarkets and supermarkets) has been analyzed considering a key variable of retail patronage behavior: the store format in which the purchase had been carried out. This study has enabled us to obtain interesting conclusions about the variables that have the most influence on customer satisfaction, providing useful managerial recommendations for decision-making in grocery retailing.     

Effects of dissatisfaction in tourist services: The role of anger and regret

Dissatisfied customers due to a service failure probably will switch the provider, will complain and/or will spread negative word-of-mouth. However, to what extent some specific emotions triggered by dissatisfaction can mediate between the latter and the previous mentioned behaviours? A sample of 359 users of restaurants and 308 users of hotel services has shown that, whereas anger has a significant influence on the three behaviours under study, regret only affects switching and negative word-of-mouth. Furthermore, slight differences between hotels and restaurants have been found because, in the case of restaurants, anger is not an antecedent of switching whereas regret has an inverse effect on complaining.     

Geographical cluster and performance: The case of Iberian ham

This research examined whether firms that concentrate geographically perform better or worse than their more dispersed counterparts. While belonging to a cluster may have positive externalities for proximate firms, there can also be congestion economies that counterbalance these advantages. Having identified existing ham-producing establishments in the Iberian ham cluster, a sample of 265 firms was selected and it was confirmed that as the number of neighbouring firms increases performance increases. Also, the proximity to larger firms in the same province benefit smaller firms. This positive effect that geographical concentration has on performance is explained by access to valuable natural resources, workers, higher demand, knowledge spillovers, and lower transaction costs, which may help managers and policy-makers in their investment decisions, as well as contributing to the dearth of existing research and its contradictory nature.     

Exploring the causes of the slowdown in remittances to Mexico

This article explores the slowdown of remittances to Mexico and the role that may have been played by some key variables from the United States economy. The findings show that several measures of United States economic activity and different proxies for the unemployment of Mexican nationals living in the United States do not appear to have a strong impact on remittance transfers. On the other hand, this study finds that United States housing variables do seem to affect remittance transfers. In particular, there is a special prominence of the impact shown by the number of housing starts in the United States. Overall, the results seem to suggest that there is not a single United States economic factor that is responsible for the decrease of remittances to Mexico but rather a combination of factors. Among these factors, the decrease in United States housing activity seems to play a major role.