The link between product diversification and performance among Spanish manufacturing firms: Analyzing the role of firm size

This study sheds additional light on the product diversification‐performance relationship for firms in a country having recently attained an advanced economy status in our period of analysis. We assume there will be an inverted U‐shaped relationship and use a sample of small, medium, and large Spanish manufacturing firms between 1994 and 2008. Our findings provide solid support for this assumption, and are identical when the sample consists of small, medium, and large firms and of large firms alone. Our results also suggest that the larger the firm, the higher the optimal level of diversification. Panel data models are used to control for unobservable heterogeneity and potential endogeneity problems. Copyright © 2015 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Open innovation requires integrated competition-community ecosystems: Lessons learned from civic open innovation

Open innovation has received substantial business attention as a means of providing firms in hyper-competitive environments with the ability to create a stream of new products and services. For open innovation, organizing external sources correctly is a critical capability; current literature suggests that external sources should be organized either as collaborative communities or as competitive markets. While firms have generally been slow to adopt open innovation, many cities in the U.S. and Europe have been quick to embrace it—providing needed field-based experience on how to organize external sources. Based on our examination of six cities opening their data for innovation, we found that while cities often started with one or the other approach to organizing their external sources, each approach was inadequate in ways that could potentially be addressed by the addition of the other approach. Thus, we conclude with an integrated approach in which the needs of the entire ecosystem of sources and supporters of innovation are organized to address both competitive and community needs.     

Quantifying the benefits of breaking bulk in retail operations

We explore the benefits of ‘breaking bulk’ in retail operations. Here, breaking bulk refers to delivering single units from distribution centers to retail outlets rather than the multiple units bundled together by manufacturers termed ‘case-packs’. The focus is largely on the benefits to space management at the retail level, rather than the more obvious reduction in inventory costs. Using data from the grocery industry, results indicate that retail unit profitability can be increased substantially by breaking bulk—but only if current inventory replenishment practices are changed. In essence, breaking bulk allows for either higher product variety within a store or identical variety in smaller stores. This work seeks to quantify the order of magnitude of that benefit.     

EVALUATING THE EFFICIENCY OF NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS: AN APPLICATION OF DATA ENVELOPMENT ANALYSIS TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE

In this paper we have tried to evaluate the usefulness of the DEA model as a management tool when applied to the measurement of the efficiency of health centres. We have chosen the DEA model because it does not need prior specifications. This could be very useful when we lack data on costs. The overall evaluation of a number of health centres provides information on the distinctive features and comparative advantages of the most efficient ones. The information gathered could also be of great use in the selection of those centres in which operational audits should be carried out.     

Carbon management accounting and financial performance: Evidence from the European Union emission trading system

Companies are responding to the effects of climate change by reducing CO₂ emissions as a way of managing stakeholder interests and complying with legal and regulatory requirements. In Europe, the emissions trading system is consolidated as a limiting market and control scheme to support business climate change management through a collaborative relationship between government and industry. This work focuses on the economic accounting field, analysing carbon management accounting and its impact on financial performance in scenarios attached to that trading system. The methodological approach used is quantitative, empirically testing the hypotheses through a multiple regression analysis with a sample of 350 European companies. The results attest to the importance of carbon management accounting (CMA) control and its effects on financial performance. Compared with European emission trading, the results failed to display significant differences in the relationship studied between those that make up this type of market and those that do not.     

Organizational distance and use of collateral for business loans

This paper examines the effect of organizational distance (i.e. distance between the headquarters of the bank that grants a loan and the location of the borrower) on the use of collateral for business loans by Spanish banks on the basis of the recent lender-based theory of collateral [Inderst, R., Mueller, H.M., 2007. A lender-based theory of collateral. Journal of Financial Economics 84, 826–859.]. We find that, for the average borrower, the use of collateral is higher for loans granted by local lenders than by distant ones. We also show that the difference in the likelihood of collateral in loans granted by local lenders, relative to distant lenders, is higher among older and larger firms, than, respectively, younger and smaller firms. We also find that banks use lending technologies that are different for near and for distant firms, in response to organizational diseconomies.     

Forecasting the yield curve with linear factor models

In this work we compare the interest rate forecasting performance of a broad class of linear models. The models are estimated through a MCMC procedure with data from the US and Brazilian markets. We show that a simple parametric specification has the best predictive power, but it does not outperform the random walk. We also find that macroeconomic variables and no-arbitrage conditions have little effect to improve the out-of-sample fit, while a financial variable (Stock Index) increases the forecasting accuracy.     

Looking backward to look forward: water use and economic growth from a long-term perspective

Recent research has examined the relationship between natural resources and economic growth. Considered vitally important, not only for humanity’s well-being but also for the integrity of the ecosystem, the relationship between water use and economic growth has nevertheless traditionally attracted little attention by analysts. This article studies water use trends from 1900 to 2000 throughout the world and their relationship to the main determinants of economic growth. To do this, we first analyse water use trajectories. Second, to proceed with the determinants of water use, we reformulate the Ehrlich and Holdren’s impact, population, affluence, technology (IPAT) equation (1971), decomposing water use trends into changes in economic demands and in water use intensity on the basis of a decomposition analysis. Finally, a simple scenario analysis is conducted, to project future water use trends under different economic, demographic and technological assumptions.

?The empirical evidence shows that economic and population growth have been crucial in explaining the increase in water use over the past 100 years, with significant regional differences. Nevertheless, the decline in water use intensity has been responsible for a significant reduction in the growth of total water use.     

CEO letters: Social license to operate and community involvement in the mining industry

This paper aims to analyse how the discourse of CEO letters and other factors influence community involvement and Social Licence to Operate (SLO) in the mining industry. The analysis is based on qualitative information disclosed in sustainability reports and CEO letters from 32 mining firms. Content analysis was undertaken to obtain data for the study, and then a regression analysis and a multiple correspondence analysis were used to test the hypotheses defined in the study. The results indicate that the CEO discourse influences how a firm expresses the importance of gaining its SLO, the philanthropic activities in which companies become involved and the destinations of the investments in the communities in which they operate. The results also show changes in the discourse between 2011 and 2015, which are, in part, explained by the difficult situation experienced by the sector during this period. The paper contributes to the Corporate Social Responsibility literature by integrating different theories from this field into the SLO framework. The analysis carried out and the results obtained are useful for both CEOs and Sustainability Managers, especially in managing their relationships with the communities where they operate or intend to operate.     

Strategic Partnership Between Private Organizations and Universities： The Search for Regional Development Through Solutions for Hospital Management

The public power and the private enterprise, the main agents of national economic and social development, when cooperating strategically, promote increased functional efficiency of their activities. In order to highlight the relevance of such partnership, this article aims to analyze the potential of actions jointly developed by private organizations and Brazilian universities. The research problem is lined in the field of health, which hosted actions developed between the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte （UFRN） and the Hospital Maternity Guiomar Fernandes （HMGF）, located in the city of Alexandria, in Rio Grande do Norte. The study emphasizes the shortcomings of this organization, the resolving power of the university in this scenario, and performs the analysis of the effects of this cooperation. The methodology used in this research was the case study in HMGF. With emphasis on fundraising and improving the informational management system, funding sources for projects of restructuring and expansion of the hospital were sought, as well as initiatives for developing hospital management softwares for small- and medium-sized organizations. As a result, the articulation between the university and the hospital provided the elaboration of a project for software development and the production of a project for physical restructuring and technological investment, aiming to expand the supply and quality of the hospital＇s services. The implementation of information systems, associated with investments in hospital infrastructure, providing increased efficiency in public assistance to the population, bringing both local and regional benefits, besides, providing the authorities with relevant data on the development of public policies.