The role of information technology in corporate strategy of small and medium enterprises

The crisis of the new economy might have cast doubt on the usefulness of the Internet for business activities. However, it is unquestionable that the possibilities offered by Internet-based technologies in terms of information processing, transfer and collection enable the firm to improve market knowledge and the relationship with clients and suppliers. This work explores, theoretically and empirically, the possibilities offered by the Internet to facilitate the internationalization process of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as well as to improve the relationship with other firms within the same value chain. Using a wide representative sample of Spanish SMEs, the empirical analysis confirms the benefits of the Internet in both cases.     

The management perception of the strategic outsourcing of services: An empirical examination in the hotel sector

This work will analyse the strategy of outsourcing, or the predisposition on the part of a firm to entrust some of its services to a third party. The research will focus on discovering empirically the role that this strategy plays in hotels, and in order to do this we will carry out an analysis of hotel managers' perceptions regarding outsourcing based on the main advantages as well as the drawbacks and barriers which using the strategy can involve, with a view to determining which of these are related to a predisposition to outsource. The results of the research suggest that the main reasons which determine outsourcing are of a strategic rather that cost-reducing nature. Despite the fact that although current outsourcing is conditioned by the cost factor alone, any future increase in the use of the strategy will be determined exclusively by factors of a strategic nature. With respect to the disadvantages of outsourcing which tend to limit the use of the strategy, we will see that these are related to loss of control and autonomy together with a distrust of external suppliers. This work will enable us to assess the extent of the existing demand for outsourcing main services as well as those factors which determine and limit the outsourcing strategy and which have prevented a large number of services where outsourcing would be applicable from being outsourced to the present date. Finally we will present our main conclusions and recommendations.     

What Drives Clarity of Central Bank Communication About Inflation?

This paper examines whether the clarity of central bank communication about inflation varies with the economic environment. Using readability statistics and content analysis, we study the clarity of communication on the inflation outlook by seven central banks across three continents during the recent decade. We uncover significant and persistent differences in clarity over time and across countries. However, identifying determinants of clarity that are robustly relevant across our sample of central banks proves elusive. Overall, our findings suggest that a single model for clarity of central bank communication is not appropriate. Rather, when studying clarity of communication, country-specific and institution-specific factors are highly relevant.     

Creation of models for calculation of coefficients of terrain passability

Quality & Quantity - The content of this article is a paper about a complex mathematical model of terrain passability which respects geographical and meteorological conditions in terrain and...     

Entrepreneur subsidiary of business groups from emerging markets: a multi-level perspective

International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal - This study examines the effects of firm resources on entrepreneur subsidiaries of business groups. Resource-based theory is the foundation...     

A Note on Clean Technology Adoption and its Influence on Tradeable Emission Permits Prices

In this paper, we give an example in which the price of tradable emission permits increases despite firms’ adoption of less polluting technology, a result that is in contrast with Montero (J Environ Econ 44:23–44, 2002) and Parry (J Regul Econ 14:229–254, 1998), among others. If two Cournot players switch to a cleaner technology, the price for permits may increase due to an increase in the net demand for permits and a decrease in the net supply of permits after the clean technology is adopted. This is only the case when output demand is quite elastic.     

Real exchange rate and export performance in Argentina, 2002–2008

Between 2002 and 2008, Argentina experienced a phase of very high and sustained economic growth. During this period, macroeconomic policy aimed to preserve a stable and competitive real exchange rate (SCRER). There is controversy on whether the SCRER policy was a key factor fostering growth and, even more, on whether it helped promote the expansion of tradable activities and exports. We use a methodology to detect episodes of export surges among Argentina’s export industries and find that labor-intensive industries—especially low- and medium-technology manufactures—experienced the highest proportion of export surges within this period. We also find that between 1980 and 2015, the highest proportion of surges in total exports occurred during the 2003–8 period. The performance of export of services was also particularly dynamic during this period. This evidence suggests that the SCRER policy was instrumental for export surges in Argentina during 2002–8.     

A metafrontier directional distance function approach to assessing eco-efficiency

This paper uses directional distance functions to extend the non-parametric metafrontier approach to efficiency measurement proposed by O’Donnell et al. (Empir Econ 34:231–255, 2008) to the assessment of technological differences in eco-efficiency between groups of producers. Furthermore, eco-efficiency is assessed at the level of specific environmental pressure management. This methodology is applied to a sample of Spanish olive producers that belong to both traditional mountain and traditional plain growing systems. We find great potential for both olive growing systems to reduce environmental pressures. In terms of pressures on natural resources, the most eco-efficient technology is the traditional plain system, while the traditional mountain system is the most eco-efficient when considering pressures on biodiversity. These results might help policymakers design strategies to improve the performance of olive growing and meet the demands of society regarding the economic and ecological functions of this farming activity.     

US deficit sustainability revisited: a multiple structural change approach

In this article we re-examine the long-run sustainability of US budget deficits, using Bai and Perron's multiple structural change approach. While the deficit would have been weakly sustainable over the full sample (1947:1–2005:3), strong sustainability would appear only between January 1982 and February 1996.