Trust and community building in the Doñana (Spain) toxic spill disaster

Appeals to public participation and, more generally, to a wider involvement of civic networks in the management of environmental conflicts are becoming more common after the difficulties that both the Market and the State appear to have in regulating these conflicts. The concern of this paper is with how central elements in civic society, such as interpersonal trust and community-building mechanisms, are influenced by environmental catastrophes. The case of the toxic spill disaster in Doñana, Spain, is presented in order to examine whether this accident had any effect on interpersonal trust and the mobilization of civic networks in the area. From the analysis, it can be concluded that involvement of civic networks in the management of these situations depends on the magnitude (real or perceived) of the disaster but also on the performance of public institutions regarding the event.     

Ownership structure and forecast accuracy in Spain

This article examines how analysts respond to specific ownership structure characteristics by studying the accuracy of their forecasts after the release of the first Spanish corporate governance code and before IFRS were adopted. Specifically, we analyse the influence of ownership concentration, bank ownership and insider ownership on analyst forecast errors. Overall the results show a positive and significant influence of bank ownership on analyst forecast accuracy, which suggests that bank ownership leads to closer monitoring of management and a reduction in analyst forecast errors. However, the presence of large shareholders and insiders in the ownership structure of the firm does not significantly affect the accuracy of financial analysts. This research provides investors with a more refined sense of how analyst forecasts might be affected through the composition of the ownership structure in a context of high concentration of ownership, relevant presence of banks in firms as creditors and shareholders, and local GAAP.     

On the contribution of eco-innovation features to a circular economy: A microlevel quantitative approach

The circular economy (CE) and eco-innovation (EI) are two concepts deemed instrumental in achieving a sustainable transition. They have been proposed in the academic literature and by practitioners and have acquired very high public policy relevance, being endorsed by policymakers and ultimately leading to regulations supporting them. It has been argued that both concepts are compatible and interrelated and that EI is instrumental in achieving the CE. However, little is known about how different EI features contribute to the CE at the microlevel. This article tries to cover this gap. Its aim is to assess and quantify the causal relationship between different EI features and the CE with the help of a unique dataset of small- and medium-sized firms in Spain and an econometric analysis. Our results show that only systemic EIs contribute to a global CE, whereas other EI types such as component additions or small changes in existing production processes could even be barriers to high levels of circularity. It is found out that technological novelty is not relevant for reaching the CE. The results support the understanding of how EIs enable a transition to the CE. Care should be taken not to promote incremental EIs that do not only achieve low (or no) circularity but that effectively lock-in the economic system in solutions that entail a barrier to the achievement of high-level circularity.     

Comparative Efficiency of Family and Corporate Farms: Does Family Labour Matter?

We examine the comparative efficiency of family relative to corporate farms, using FADN data for the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Spain. We estimate a non‐parametric non‐separable farm production function, and derive efficiency scores for both family and corporate farms. We decompose efficiency into two distinct sources – organisational differences and management capabilities. We find evidence for organisational efficiency gains from family farming, relative to corporate farming, and these appear to increase with family involvement. However, with regard to management capabilities, family farms do not compare so favourably. Furthermore, family involvement does not seem to have any systematic effect on the efficiency derived from management capabilities. Our findings suggest that further investigation of the way family farms employ and build management capabilities is needed to substantiate any ‘superiority’ claims.     

From Occupation to Recuperation: Property,Politics and Provincialization in Contemporary Madrid

Recent debates have once again engaged with the substance and meaning of urban politics within our increasingly complex and startling contemporary landscapes. Yet these debates, while giving nods in the direction of feminist and postcolonial scholarship, largely work through traditional lenses of class, labor and the dynamic workings of neoliberal capitalism. In this article, I focus on spaces of difference and their engagement with the urban to demonstrate how politics ‘happens' in locations often left off the map of both scholarship and popular imaginaries, and, crucially, how those locations can, in fact, illuminate shifting political arrangements elided by other methodologies. By juxtaposing European okupa debates with postcolonial discussions of urban informality, I trace what I argue is a new iteration of squatting within a city both ravaged by edicts of neoliberal austerity and buoyed by the efflorescence of social movements and alternative political projects. I then explicate the role of property in constituting the urban within Spain, using the concept of ‘provincialization'. In doing so, I think relationally between systems of property and emergent forms of insurgency to argue that we are witnessing an anticipatory politics that fundamentally challenges hegemonic relationships between everyday citizens and regimes of property ownership.     

Industrial relations and the management of flexibility: factors shaping developments in Spain and the United Kingdom

Any analysis of workforce flexibility within particular countries needs to take account not only of the character of industrial relations and union organization at workplace and company levels, but also of how actions at those levels are influenced by broader regulatory arrangements covering employment and work practices. In other words, to avoid the over-simplifications and over-generalizations which much of the flexibility debate has in the past been (correctly) accused of and to expand the analysis offered by the relatively broad-brush, multi-country studies, it is necessary to locate issues of flexibility more securely within both existing national regulatory and institutional frameworks, and also to take account of patterns of union organization and job regulation at the local level, and the ways unions and workforces have responded to (and at times even shaped) different flexibility initiatives by employers. By analysing different types of enterprise in Spain and the United Kingdom, this article seeks to illustrate the role and significance of these factors for the particular development of workforce flexibility in the two countries.     

Protest Responses and Willingness to Accept: Ecosystem Services Providers’ Preferences towards Incentive‐Based Schemes

The identification and treatment of protest responses in stated preference surveys has long been subject to debate. We analyse protest responses while investigating ecosystem services providers’ preferences for incentive‐based schemes. We use a choice experiment for olive farmers’ preferences for agri‐environmental scheme participation in southern Spain. Our two main objectives are: first, to identify and discuss a range of possible motives for protest responses that emerge in a WTA context; second, we analyse the impact on WTA estimates of censoring serial non‐participation linked to protest or high compensation requirements (very high takers). Using a random parameter logit model in WTA space, we find that the inclusion or exclusion of serial non‐participants in the analysis can have a significant impact on marginal and total WTA estimates. Based on the findings, the paper makes recommendations on how to reduce the incidence of protest responses through survey design, regarding the identification of protesters as opposed to very high takers, and regarding the treatment of both groups of respondents for WTA estimation.     

Projected and Perceived Image of Spain as a Tourist Destination for British Travellers

Abstract

This paper discusses the concept of tourist destination image, and in particular the relationship between the perceived and projected image of Spain in the British market. The projected image was obtained through an analysis of the principal sources of secondary information on the promotion of Spain, while the perceived image was obtained from a study carried out among 120 British tourists. Evaluation of destination attributes and positioning of Spanish tourist areas provided useful results of the perceived image. Some differences were noted between the projected and the perceived image of Spain. The paper concludes by recommending a consumer-focused orientation in marketing strategies.     

Human capital and economic growth in Spain, 1850–2000

We investigate human capital accumulation in Spain using income- and education-based alternative approaches. We, then, assess human capital impact on labor productivity growth and discuss the implications of its alternative measures for TFP growth. Trends in human capital are similar with either measure but the skill-premium approach fits better Spanish historical experience. As education is a high income elastic good, human capital growth computed with the education-based approach seems upward biased for the recent past. Human capital provided a positive albeit small contribution to labor productivity growth facilitating technological innovation.     

License to till: The privileges of the Spanish Mesta as a case of second-best institutions

The Mesta was the association of the migratory shepherds of Castile, controlling fine wool production between the thirteenth and the nineteenth centuries. Its royally granted privileges have often been blamed for the stagnant Spanish agricultural productivity during the early modern period. I argue that the Mesta’s privileges allowed Medieval Castile to develop its comparative advantage in wool, and that the Crown was able to restrict their scope and application when economic conditions favored arable farming interests. I support my argument with extensive archival data, including a new series of wool prices and a detailed analysis of lawsuits involving the Mesta.