Cultural vs. operational market orientation and objective vs. subjective performance: Perspective of production and operations

The relationship between market orientation and organizational performance has been the focus of many studies for the last few years. The conclusions reported are very diverse and even contradictory. This ambiguity is reinforced to some extent by the high degree of methodological heterogeneity in the definition and measure of market orientation and organizational performance and the empirical formalization of the relationship between both concepts. This study tackles this question by comparing different methodological approaches. Three key aspects are considered: (1) cultural and operational approaches for measuring market orientation; (2) objective and subjective measures of performance; and (3) the source of information in the organization, specifically the perspective of production and operations. The results obtained from a sample of Spanish industrial firms show a stronger positive relationship for operational market orientation and subjective performance. Moreover, the adoption of ‘operational recipes’ of market orientation by the production and operations function seems to improve organizational performance regardless of the existence of any cultural support for market orientation.     

Assessing the historical role of credit: Business cycles,financial crises and the legacy of Charles S. Peirce

This paper provides a historical overview of financial crises and their origins. The objective is to discuss a few of the modern statistical methods that can be used to evaluate predictors of these rare events. The problem involves the prediction of binary events, and therefore fits modern statistical learning, signal processing theory, and classification methods. The discussion also emphasizes the need for statistics and computational techniques to be supplemented with economics. The success of a forecast in this environment hinges on the economic consequences of the actions taken as a result of the forecast, rather than on typical statistical metrics of prediction accuracy.     

Un indicador de baja calidad del empleo aplicado al Brasil, 2002–2011

En países con mayores niveles de informalidad y precariedad laboral es cuestionable la precisión con la que las tasas de desempleo y participación laboral y los salarios reflejan las condiciones del mercado de trabajo. En esta investigación utilizamos un indicador multidimensional de baja calidad del empleo que considera ingresos, existencia de contrato, contribución a la seguridad social y duración del empleo para analizar el mercado de trabajo brasileño entre 2002 y 2011. Los resultados muestran un aumento significativo de la calidad del empleo, especialmente en el periodo 2009–2011, y diferencias importantes entre trabajadores asalariados e independientes y por sector productivo.     

Retailers’ Price Positioning and the Motivational Profiling of Store‐Brand Shoppers: The Case of Spain

In recent years, retailers have worked to advance store‐brand strategies, leading to greater success and higher congruence with the retailer's positioning. In this new competitive context, this research aims to characterize store‐brand shoppers in terms of motivation and benefits sought, as well as analyze, on the basis of congruence theory, the moderating role of a retailer's price positioning on store‐brand shopper characterizations. The empirical study combines survey and household panel information related to leading retailers in Spain; the findings reveal that store‐brand shoppers are motivated by their price sensitivity, whereas they are less sensitive to service quality and name brands. However, the retailer's price positioning exerts a moderating effect on shopper profiles: In less price‐oriented retail chains, store‐brand purchases seem motivated less by price and more by quality, brand awareness, and brand reputation.     

Geodemographic and socioeconomic characterization of the retail attraction of leading hypermarket chains in Spain

This paper aims at examining the impact on demand of the competitive positioning strategies developed by the leading hypermarket chains in Spain. Specifically, the purpose is to carry out a geodemographic and socieconomic characterization of the potential consumers of each chain. As retail attraction has traditionally been divided into three components, distance, mass and image, a gravitational model is proposed which distinguishes them and facilitates the evaluation of existing differences across any a priori segmentation base. The empirical test identifies significant geodemographic differences in the retail attraction of hypermarket chains. Chains seem to target the whole market by developing an image balanced against the advantages and disadvantages derived from the spatial coverage strategy. Social class is not as good an indicator of hypermarket choice as expected, although some interesting patterns have been detected.     

Isolating the geodemographic characterisation of retail format choice from the effects of spatial convenience

The authors analyze the relationship between the geodemographic profile of consumers and retail format choice while accounting for the effects of spatial convenience. The proposed analytic model assumes that format choice is an implicit portion of store choice, such that a geodemographic profile functions as a determinant of format choice, and spatial convenience is a determinant of store choice. The results show that some geodemographic dimensions capture preferences for certain store formats and thereby facilitate retailers’ selection of geographic markets. The results also indicate that obviating the effect of spatial convenience may lead to biased estimations.     

Asymmetric competition in retail store formats: Evaluating inter- and intra-format spatial effects

Our study aims to analyze the role of store format in retail competitive interactions, specifically, the relationship between growth, location strategy, and market response. To assess this relationship, we propose an extension of the classic models of spatial interaction, which incorporate the asymmetric competitive effects linked to the concept of store format. An empirical application allows us to confirm greater spatial rivalry within store formats (intra-format) than between store formats (inter-format). This implies a certain hierarchical organization when consumers select a retail store, first choosing the type of store at which they will shop and later a particular store within this format. The results are important for retailers who want to configure an optimal network of store locations as well as public administrators who must regulate commercial activity.     

The economics of rules of origin

Rules of origin of free trade arrangements limit the use of inputs from outside the preferential trade zone. A government negotiating a future FTAcan manipulate these rules in order to achieve national welfare objectives. The correct definition of rules of origin may help to enhance demand for domestically produced goods, promote national technological development, and maximize labour income. This paper proves that a more stringent rule of origin implies an increase of demand for the domestic factor if the substitution effect prevails over the effects caused by the decrease of the scale of operation in the domestic plant, and the reallocation of output between domestic and foreign plants. We further show that policy decisions regarding rules of origin that intertemporally maximize welfare and foster domestic technological evolution should be made at the greatest level of disaggregation that is feasible.