Economic impact of cruise activity: the case of Barcelona

ABSTRACT

This article shows the methodology and the main figures of the local and regional economic impact generated by cruise activity. This article is pioneering in combining different issues: estimating the impact of the cruise port activity, presenting these impacts disaggregated at a sectoral level, using a rigorous methodology and carrying out extensive fieldwork. It is demonstrated that all sectors, not just traditional tourism-related sectors, benefit from cruise tourism. In order to test and apply our methodology we focus the analysis on the Port of Barcelona, which has become the leading cruise port in the Mediterranean area.     

Regulatory regimes in the electric power industry: Implications for capacity

We construct a model of the electric power industry which consists of two utilities faced with uncertain demand and a variety of regulatory regimes. Two technologies are considered, base-load and peaking, and the transfer of bulk electricity among utilities is permitted. The purpose of the paper is not to determine optimal regulatory regimes but to provide a framework for analyzing existing and contemplated regulatory initiatives. The conclusions are that long run survival mandates an authorized rate of return above the cost of capital and that excess investment will result. Furthermore, it is highly unlikely that current regulatory instruments such as Used and Useful, distribution of profits from bulk sales, and pricing of wholesale electricity can lead to a socially optimal capital stock.     

Entrepreneur: do social capital and culture matter?

This paper analyzes the effect of the individual perceptions of social capital and culture in entrepreneurial aspirations before and after the economic crisis in Western Europe. Following the approach of the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179–211, 1991), we advance the analysis of the effect of the perception of subjective norms in the entrepreneurial intentions. We studied the Total Early-Stage Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) of twelve countries in 2006 and 2010. The results reveal that the perception of having social networks is significant for the TEA, and it increases after the economic crisis. However, the cultural factors do not have a significant impact, except the one related with the perception of social equality. The results obtained through the double perspective of this analysis (individual’s social capital vs cultural factor of individualistic perspective) offers a certain dilemma when we try to understand the entrepreneurial intntion through the individual’s perception of subjective norms, following the Ajzen’s model. The more individualist is a person, the lower the weight of its social capital. However, the more a person has access to social networks, the greater his entrepreneurial intention will be. This result opens future lines of research focused on understanding the value of the individual’s social capital for different countries and groups of entrepreneurs.

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University spillovers and new business location in high-technology sectors: Spanish evidence

This paper examines the relationship between knowledge spillovers from universities and new business location in high-technology sectors. We focus on the contribution to new business formation through spillovers stemming from three main university outputs: knowledge-based graduates, research activities, and technological knowledge. We construct a new dataset with information on 604 companies and 63 universities in Spain and group the data across 36 geographical areas from 2001 to 2004 (144 observations). After controlling for several traditional cost factors and agglomeration characteristics, we find that university spillovers are relevant in explaining the location of new businesses in high-technology sectors in Spain. Further, our analysis draws attention to the relevance of graduates as the main source of spillovers, while research activities and university technology do not have significant effects.     

Dynamic technological specialization,aggregated convergence and growth

This paper focuses on the contribution of dynamic technological specialization to aggregated growth and convergence. Certain theoretical approaches (Structuralism) maintain the view that being specialized in ‘correct’ technologies helps to achieve: i) sustainable rhythms of long-run growth; ii) accelerated catching up and higher rhythms of convergence in delayed countries. Using an endogenous growth model for a 23 countries sample between 1980 and 2010, the work contrasts those hypotheses by using static and dynamic approaches for technological specialization in comparison to other technological variables. Empirical results do not confirm that any ‘good’ specialization matters to growth and convergence at an aggregated level, neither under static nor dynamic approaches. The key elements to aggregated convergence and growth are more linked to spillovers of technological diffusion and to country-specificities (technological capabilities and capacities, domestic technical efforts, national innovation systems, industrial innovation processes, etc.) as it is pointed out by catching-up theories.     

Stereotypical Notions of the Entrepreneur: An Analysis from a Perspective of Gender

The principal objective of this paper is an analysis of the stereotypical figure of the entrepreneur in the Spanish context, from a perspective of gender. We provide evidence that the characteristics largely associated with an entrepreneurial individual are stereotypically male or androgynous, with a notable absence of female typologies. Our findings suggest that this relationship has an influence on the continued predominance of male entrepreneurial activity. This study contributes to the growing empirical literature on female entrepreneurship from an understudied perspective; gender stereotyping, demonstrating that socially constructed gender stereotyping persists in contemporary Spanish culture.     

Conditionally heteroscedastic unobserved component models and their reduced form

The reduced form of the local level model with conditionally heteroscedastic GARCH(1,1) noises is analyzed. We show that the IMA-GARCH model is a good alternative but its conditional heteroscedasticity is weaker than this of the unobserved disturbances.     

Competitive advantages of the mobile phone operators in the Asia Pacific region: analysis from the strategic groups approach

This paper studies the existence of strategic groups in the mobile phone industry. The analysis has been conducted in an international context characterised by major differences in regional wireless infrastructures, types of customers, government regulations and economic development, such as the Asia Pacific region. The purpose is to find the competitive advantages of the groups identified and the strategies that have led them to achieve them. The empirical research was carried out using data from a sample of the 28 largest firms of the industry in 2013. The results reveal the existence of three different strategic groups pursuing different strategies. The main determinant variables of the competitive advantages are price and size. The differences in environmental characteristics in this industry might explain the formation of strategic groups.