Efficiency evaluation of the Portuguese pension funds management companies

This paper ranks the pension funds management companies according to their change in total productivity for the period 1994–2007. We estimate the change in total productivity, breaking this down into technically efficient change and technological change by means of data envelopment analysis (DEA-Malmquist index). The aim of this procedure is to seek out those best practices that will lead to improved performance in the market. The implications arising from the study are considered in terms of managerial policy.     

Möglichkeiten und Gefahren der Meinungsfreiheit

A discussion about freedom of speech – such as the one arising from the publication of Muhammad caricatures in a Danish newspaper in 2006 – is of special importance in a democracy as it touches upon one of its elemental values. This article studies the debate on the value of freedom of speech as well as its potential dangers as it developed in the German newspapers after the publication of the caricatures. A quantitative content analysis was carried out encompassing all arguments posed in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung and the tageszeitung. During the cartoon controversy, the discussion was only partly pluralistic. The limits to freedom of speech were elaborately put into question, the need to protect the freedom was highlighted, and threats to the freedom were covered. However, the benefits to be gained from a system of freedom of opinion were hardly present in the arguments put forth in the newspapers. An assessment of restraints or benefits mainly took place among the journalists themselves, who not only played the part of a messenger in the conflict, but were also an interested party in it. From these results, a conclusion is drawn on the consideration of freedom of speech as a core value of democracy.     

The Internationalization Strategy of Spanish Indigenous Franchised Chains: A Resource‐Based View*

In this paper, we identify characteristics of Spanish franchised chains that favor the adoption of an internationalization strategy and those that have a negative influence from a resource‐based perspective. Data used were drawn from Annual Franchise Guidebooks published in Spain for 2005. Various independent variables were taken into account and the final sample included 316 Spanish franchised chains. In order to detect relevant differences between chains with some degree of internationalization and those that only operate in the Spanish domestic market, we conducted a discriminant analysis to discover which of the independent variables contributed significantly to a correct classification of chains to their corresponding group (those that have chosen to spread activities abroad and those that have not).     

A general equilibrium assessment of external and domestic shocks in Spain

After many years of growth, the Spanish economy plunged into the most severe and prolonged recession recorded since reliable national accounts data have been available. The main goal of this paper is to quantify the effects of the external and domestic shocks that hit the Spanish economy in 2008–2009 by employing a disaggregated general equilibrium model calibrated to a 2000 SAM elaborated by the authors. External shocks are simulated by employing the neoclassical closure (private investment is determined by domestic and external savings) and the Keynesian closure (investment is exogenous). External and domestic shocks are also jointly simulated with the Keynesian closure. The results provide a good approximation to observed changes in key macroeconomic variables.     

Tourist preferences for rural house stays: Evidence from discrete choice modelling in Spain

Although the appeal of rural houses for tourists lies mainly in the natural surroundings and their intrinsic rural characteristics, there are other factors which are also important such as their size, type of building, quality of equipment, services and activities offered. To evaluate the tourists' preferences for these potential or effective attributes, a stated preference experiment was conducted in the Northwest area of the Region of Murcia and the data are analysed using discrete choice modelling methodology. Consistent specifications for multinomial logit and mixed logit models that consider variations in tastes within tourists' preferences are found. The results could be of use to promoters and owners of rural houses when planning marketing and promotional campaigns or when taking effective investment decisions.     

Investment rigidity and policy measures

This paper assesses the impacts of decoupled government transferson production decisions of a sample of Kansas farms. Our empiricalanalysis is based on a reduced-form application of the dualmodel of investment under uncertainty developed by Sckokai,which is extended to a consideration of irregularities in thecapital stock adjustment cost function. To do so we adopt thethreshold regression methods proposed by Hansen. The econometricresults support the existence of three regimes characterisedby different economic behaviour. Our analysis suggests thatin a dynamic setting that allows for irregularities in the capitaladjustment cost function, decoupled transfers can have a powerfulinfluence on production decisions. The dynamics of the stockof capital cause this influence to grow over time.