To formalize or not to formalize: Entrepreneurship and pro-market institutions

In this paper, we examine the effects of pro-market institutions on both formal and informal entrepreneurship. While formal entrepreneurship has long been studied in economic literature, informal entrepreneurship has been less frequently discussed. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is not only to examine the impact of pro-market institutions, but also to foster a better understanding of, and introduce a method to measure, informal entrepreneurship. For the purpose of this paper, pro-market institutions are broken into their two main components: economic liberalization and governance levels. The arguments posit that economic liberalization positively impacts both formal and informal entrepreneurship while governance levels have a positive impact on formal entrepreneurship but a negative effect on informal entrepreneurship. Furthermore, governance levels reduce informal entrepreneurship to a greater extent than they increase formal entrepreneurship, resulting in a net reduction in entrepreneurial activity. The analyses of a panel covering 51 countries from 2002–2009 provide robust support for these arguments.     

Modeling to Relate Variables in the Context of Franchises in Brazil

The central objective of the research is to propose a model for the comparative study of the degree of relationship between the variables considered as most relevant in the context of franchises in Brazil. In terms of methodology, the research undertook a qualitative survey of the variables, which in a second phase provided a quantitative framework in order to fulfill the proposed objective, through concepts based on multicriteria methods, performance measurement systems, and linear correlation. Resulting from the practical implementation proposed for the General Food category, it was found that only two constants, denoted “Average Initial Investment” and “Financial Obligations,” are directly related to the base variable defined by “Gross Revenues.”     

Two Models of Intertemporal Price Discrimination

Received December 22, 2000; revised version received August 31, 2001     

Mix Efficiency in a Multi-species Fishery

A feature of fisheries that distinguishes them from most other industries is the level of control imposed on the production process. Previous studies have identified inefficiency in fisheries that is directly related to the management restrictions. The development of Slack-based measure (SBM) models allows the effects of management distortions to be further investigated through consideration of input and output mix efficiency. In this paper, the mix efficiency of a fleet operating in a multispecies fishery is examined. The results indicate that inefficiencies exist in the mix of inputs, which have developed as a consequence of the management restrictions imposed.     

A decent proposal

In this paper we explore the notion that players are decent in the sense that their choices are bounded by certain unwritten social rules. We apply this idea to problems of Bankruptcy and Implementation.JEL Classification: D78, D63The authors wish to express their gratitude for comments and suggestions to N. Baigent, S. Baliga, V. Bashkar, C. Beviá, S. Chattopadhayay, G. Charness, M. Maschler, C. Matutes, P. McAfee, I. Ortuño-Ortín, A. Rangel, J. Roemer, J. Schummer, T. Sjöström, W. Thomson, the participants in seminars in Hakone (Japan), Harvard, Queens University, Rochester, Studienzentrum at Gergenzee (Switzerland), two anonymous referees and an associate editor. The usual caveat applies. This research has been partially supported by grants BEC2002-02194, BEC2001-0535, and GV 01-371. This paper is dedicated to Bob Aumann, from whom we have learned so much.     

Speculative trade, asset prices and investment levels

Summary. In this paper I consider a dynamically complete market model without intrinsic uncertainty. Agents' beliefs are different, but correct in the limit. Some agents are more patient than others. I show that infinitely often share prices are low and the economy stagnates. Also, infinitely often share prices are high and the economy grows. The changes from growth to stagnation and from stagnation to growth are not caused by exogenous shocks. They are caused by speculative trade among agents with different propensities to save and invest. Received: January 8, 2001; revised version: April 11, 2002 RID="*" ID="*" I thank an anonymous referee for helpful comments. I gratefully acknowledge financial support from the National Science Foundation.     

How do employment relationships enhance firm innovation? The role of human and social capital

Aiming to explore the effect of human resource management on innovation, this study examined how employment relationships (ER), human capital and social capital work together in influencing innovation in a sample of Spanish firms. We defined an indirect effects model in which both human and social capital mediate between ERs and innovation. We also expected that social capital would enhance human capital. Tests on a sample of 160 innovative Spanish firms confirmed that ERs are not directly associated with innovation. Nevertheless, there is an indirect effect of the mutual investment employment model on innovation through human and social capital. Finally, we observed a positive effect of social capital on human capital.     

Corporate entrepreneurship and acquisitions: creating firm wealth

Acquisition is one way entrepreneurial firms have to capture the assets needed to achieve their strategic objectives. We investigate shareholder value creation of Spanish listed firms in response to announcements of acquisitions over the period 1991–2006. Similar to foreign markets, bidders earn insignificant average abnormal returns regardless of the pricing model used in the estimation procedure. When we relate these results to company and transaction characteristics our evidence suggests that the listing status of the target firm is a critical key in the strategic decision to acquire a company. This listing status effect is mainly associated with the fact that unlisted firms tend to be smaller and lesser–known firms, and thus suffer from a lack of competition in the market for corporate control. Consequently, the payment of lower premiums and the possibility of diversifying shareholders’ portfolios lead to unlisted firm acquisitions being viewed as value–orientated transactions which have major implications for managers.     

An integrative model of destination brand equity and tourist satisfaction

This paper develops an integrative model that includes the dimensions of destination brand equity (i.e. awareness, image, quality and loyalty), as well as a key behavioural variable that is tourist satisfaction. In particular, our paper aims to contribute to the literature: (1) by examining the relationships between the dimensions of destination brand equity, which is not a deeply investigated issue so far; and (2) by adding tourist satisfaction, a key concept in loyalty formation, to the variables usually considered in destination brand equity models. The model was tested in two samples, national and international tourists visiting a destination in Spain, in order to also explore the role of the geographical and cultural distance between tourist and destination. Our results from a multi-group analysis indicate: (1) a robust link between “quality-satisfaction-loyalty” in both samples of tourists; (2) a chain of effects among awareness, image (separately considering the cognitive and affective dimensions) and perceived quality, although with the presence of some significant difference between both samples of tourists; and (3) a positive influence of cognitive image on affective image in both cases.     

Assessing the Performance of ‘Inflation Targeting Lite’ Countries

This paper deals with what is referred to in the literature as the ‘Inflation Targeting Lite’ (ITL) countries. These are a category of emerging countries, whose main characteristics are that they are least developed and small economies that pursue IT. They use inflation targeting to define their monetary policy framework, but for a number of reasons they are not in a position to put top priority to IT in relation to other objectives. This paper deals with a set of ITL countries for which consistent data could be gathered, and for which a date for setting inflation targeting could be discerned. The object of the paper is to study the impact of IT on actual inflation and inflation expectations. We utilise intervention analysis to time series on inflation for a number of ITL countries, which have actually implemented IT. In doing so our main concern is to assess whether, due to the IT intervention, there has been a significant change in the trend corresponding to these series and the extent to which inflation rates have actually been ‘locked‐in’ at low levels after the implementation of IT. Two major results emerge. The first is that ITL countries have been successful in ‘locking‐in’ inflation rates. The second is that non‐IT countries have also been successful in terms of the ‘lock‐in’ effect. Our overall conclusion, then, is that other factors in addition to IT underpin the apparent success of the control of inflation.