Soccer Spectatorship and Identity Discourses Among Latino Immigrants

This study examined the role of soccer spectatorship in identity development and community-building processes among Latino immigrants. Transnationalism and social identity theory were used as a theoretical foundation of this study. Twelve interviews with immigrants from Mexico, Honduras, and Argentina were conducted between June 2009 and January 2010. Interviews took place in two sports bars following the soccer games between the U.S. men's National Team and that of Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, and El Salvador. The findings showed that the interviewees developed three types of identities: national, pan-ethnic (Latino), and transnational. Common interest in soccer led to forging bonds with other Latinos and in creating a community feeling and allegiances. Reinforcing identities and displaying togetherness and, at the same time, difference from others, was often achieved through symbolic means. The findings are analyzed in the context of the literature on (new) nationalism, identity politics, and imagined communities.     

Implications of bank regulation for loan supply and bank stability: a dynamic perspective

ABSTRACT

We show that internal funds play a particular role in the regulation of bank capital, which has not received much attention, yet. A bank's decision on loan supply and capital structure determines its immediate bankruptcy risk as well as the future availability of internal funds. These internal funds in turn determine a bank's future costs of external finance and its future vulnerability to bankruptcy risks. Using a partial equilibrium model, we study how internal funds affect these intra- and intertemporal links. Moreover, our positive analysis identifies the effects of risk-weighted capital-to-asset ratios, liquidity coverage ratios and regulatory margin calls on the dynamics of internal funds and thus loan supply and bank stability. Only regulatory margin calls or large liquidity coverage ratios achieve bank stability for all risk levels, but for large risks a bank will stop credit intermediation.     

Zum Begriff der Wertung in der Älteren Österreichischen Grenznutzenlehre

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Buchbesprechungen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Is Meat Processing in Central and Eastern European New Member StateS Competitive after EU Accession?

Is Meat Processing in Central and Eastern European New Member States Competitive after EU Accession? With EU accession, businesses in the CEE-NMS will see a considerable expansion of their potential market but they will also face direct competition from all EU enterprises in the European market as well as in their domestic markets. Our analysis of the competitive potential of the meat industry shows some pronounced differences among countries as well as some common features. First, the meat processing industry in the CEE-NMS benefits from low wages and expected future increases in the consumption of meat and processed meat products. But the CEE-NMS will suffer from a fragmented structure in the primary, slaughter and processing sector. The majority of meat processing plants in the CEE-NMS, moreover, also show serious deficiencies in meeting EU standards for hygiene, food safety, food quality and environmental protection. Given the lack of access to capital, many of those enterprises will not be able to comply with the acquis commimautaire and thus will very likely be forced out of business. A dramatic reshaping of the industry is underway with an accelerated rise in concentration and a move towards vertical integration. In the medium to long term, this could increase the competitive position of the CEE-NMS meat industry which, with the exception of Hungary and Poland, currently lacks competitiveness relative to the enlarged EU. La filiére viande des nouveaux pays membres d'Europe centrale et orientate sera-t-elle compétitive aprés l'accession ? OAvec l'accession a l'UE, les entreprises des NPM (nouveaux pays membres) de la CEE disposeront d'un marché potentiel considérablement élargi, mais elles devront aussi faire face à la concurrence directe de toutes les autres entreprises européennes, tant sur les marchés européens que sur leur propre marché intérieur. l'analyse de la compétittvité de la filiére viande de ces pays met en évidence des différences sensibles entre eux, en même temps que quelques points communs. En premier lieu, les filiéres en question sont avantagées par de bas salaires et de bonnes perspectives d'accroissement de la demande de viande et de produits animaux. Mais elles souffrent de la fragmentation des structures, aussi bien au niveau de la production primaire qu à celui des abattoirs et des fabrications. En outre, dans leur majorité, les entreprises de la filiére viande des NPM présentent de graves insuffisances en matiére d'hygiéne, de qualityé, de sécurité sanitaire et de protection de l'environnement. Comme elles auront difficilement accés au capital, elles ne seront pas en mesure de s'adapter àl'acquis communantaire, de sorte que beaucoup d'entre elles devront disparaître, Une dramatique réorganisation du secteur se dessine ainsi, avec l'accélération de la concentration et le développement de l'intégration verticale. A terme, ces transformations peuvent conduire a un renforcement de la position des industries de la viande dans les NMS qui, à l'exception de la Pologne et de la Hongrie, souffrent d'un déficit de compétitivité vis à vis de l'Europe élargie. Wird die fleischverarbeitende Industrie in den neuen mittel- und osteuropäischen Mitgliedstaaten nach dem EU-Beitritt wettbewerbsfähig sein? Mit dem EU-Beitritt erfahren Unternehmen in den neuen mittel-und osteuropäischen Mitgliedstaaten eine beträchtliche Ausdehnung ihres potenziellen Marktes, sie treten jedoch ebenfalls in direkten Wettbewerb mit alien EU-Unternehmen aüf dem europäischen Markt sowie auf ihrem Binnenmarkt. Unsere Untersuchung des Wettbewerbspotenzials der ffcisehverarbeirenden Industrie zeigte sowohl einige deutliche Unterschiede zwischen den Ländern als auch einige Gemeinsamkeiten auf. Zunächst profttiert die fleischverarbeitende Industrie in den neuen mittel- und osteuropäischen Mitgliedstaaten von den niedrigen Löhnen und dem zu erwartenden Anstieg des Verbrauchs von Fleisch und verarbeiteten Fleischprodukten. Die fragmentierte Struktur in der Erzeugung, Schlachtung und Weiterverarbeitung wird den neuen mittel-und osteuropäischen Mitgliedstaaten jedoch zu schaffen machen. Der überwiegenden Anzahl der fleischverarbeitenden Betriebe in den neuen mittel- und osteuropäischen Mitgliedstaaten fällt es zudem schwer, den EU-Normen in den Bereichen Hygiene, Nah-rungsmittelsicherheit, Nahrungsmittelqualität sowie Umweltschutz zu entsprechen. Angesichts des eingeschränkten Zugangs zu Kapital werden viele dieser Betriebe nicht in der Lage sein, die Bedingungen des acquis communautaire zu erfüllen und somit sehr wahrscheinlich vom Markt verdrängt werden. Eine drastische Umstrukturierung der Branche mit einem beschleunigten Anstieg der Konzentration und einer Entwicklung hin zu einer vertikalen Integration steht bevor. Auf mittlere und lange Sicht könnte dies die Wettbewerbsstellung der fleischverarbeitenden Industrie der neuen mittel- und osteuropäischen Mitgliedstaaten erhöhen, welche verglichen mit der erweiterten EU mit Ausnahme von Ungarn und Men gegenwärtig nur eine relativ geringe Wettbewerbsfähigkeit aufweisen.     

Towards an accessible hotel: a case study of Scandic

This paper focuses on the issue of hotel accessibility and offers a case study of Scandic. Drawing on a qualitative-cum-quantitative methodology, it argues for a holistic approach to the idea of an accessible hotel. Specifically, it is based on semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey conducted among elderly and disabled guests. Accordingly, it underscores not only the importance of a corporate social responsibility (CSR)-centred organizational culture and employee extra-role behaviours, but also of customer satisfaction, loyalty and trust. This paper proposes an original and evidence-based conceptualization of hotel accessibility and offers several practical recommendations intending to turn hotels into truly accessible facilities.     

Does the Diversification–Firm Performance Relationship Change Over Time? A Meta‐Analytical Review

We study the relationship between diversification and firm performance in the context of the decline in levels of diversification over time. We argue that the pressure to reduce diversification may have more strongly affected those firms whose diversification strategies were most detrimental to firm performance. We employ meta‐analytical regression (MARA) in order to test our hypotheses, using a total of 267 primary studies containing 387 effect sizes based on 150,000 firm‐level observations from over 60 years of research on the diversification–firm performance relationship. The findings suggest that levels of unrelated diversification have decreased, whereas levels of related diversification have increased since the mid‐1990s, following an initial decrease in the 1970s and 1980s. Furthermore, we find that the relationship between unrelated diversification and firm performance has improved significantly over time, whereas the relationship between related diversification and performance has remained relatively stable.     

Disorganization and financial collapse

Since the fall of communism, the former Soviet Union experienced a strong output decline and a dramatic increase in arrears and barter. We develop a model which explains how these three phenomena are connected. We introduce liquidity and credit constraints into a model of disorganization and show how these problems can alleviate the hold-up problem. We argue further that barter creates a hostage that allows to deal with disorganization when credit enforcement becomes prohibitively costly. Based on a firm survey in Ukraine in 1997, we test how input shortages, financial shortages and barter affect output growth of firms.