The agrifood cooperative netchain. A theoretical framework to study its configuration

This paper proposes a research framework of the design and configuration of agrifood chains where the focal firm is a second-tier cooperative (group of affiliated cooperatives) in order to assess the alignment of (relational) governance structures and coordination mechanisms in these chains with supply chain management (SCM) principles. The theoretical framework draws on the Relational View of inter-organizational competitive advantage and the Theory of Networks given that inter-cooperative vertical relationships are embedded in horizontal ties between firms (first-tier cooperatives) of social rather economic nature. The conceptual framework developed herein will help theory building in SCM, but most importantly, it will advance current knowledge on the scope of SCM in the agrifood cooperative sector.     

Deregulation and Productivity: The Case of Spanish Banks

This paper deals with measuring total factor productivity (TFP) growth of financial institutions incorporating different types of deregulatory measures. TFP growth is decomposed into external, scale, and markup components. The external component is further dissected into deregulation and technical change components. The TFP growth relationship is included as an additional equation in estimating the cost system. The empirical model uses panel data on Spanish banks (savings and commercial banks). We find that deregulations contributed positively to TFP growth for both savings and commercial banks. Furthermore, domestic (European) deregulations had a greater effect on TFP growth of savings (commercial) banks. JEL Classification: D24, D40, G21Lozano-Vivas acknowledges financial support from the Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología and FEDER grant n° BEC2002-02852. The authors thank an anonymous referee, the editor of the JRE and seminar participants at the XI International Tor Vergata Conference on Banking and Finance: Monetary Integration, Markets and Regulation (Rome, Italy) and at the Asian Pacific Productivity and Efficiency Conference (Taipei, Taiwan) for numerous suggestions. A previous version of this paper was distributed as working paper E2004/24, CentrA.     

A comparison of empirical models used to infer the willingness to pay in contingent valuation

The essence of the contingent valuation method consists of creating a hypothetical market where respondents are asked about their willingness to pay (WTP) for a non-market good. Different empirical models can be formulated to estimate the expected WTP of a sample of respondents and, then, through aggregation, the social valuation of the good is inferred.This paper outlines the relevance of the distributional assumptions when estimating mean WTP. Several parametric and non-parametric methods are discussed and applied to calculate the existence value of a natural space. Results show that WTP is extremely sensitive to the empirical model used.First version received: November 2002 / Final version received: January 2004     

Choice of Product Variety for the Durable-goods Monopolist

Received January 10, 2001; revised version received June 25, 2001     

Technological and Environmental Differences in the European Banking Industries

This paper analyzes the productive differences of banking among countries. It proposes a Malmquist type index that allows intercountry productivity differences to be broken down into pure technological differences and differences due to environmental effects. The most relevant feature of this index is its symmetry, since it avoids the problem of measurements being sensitive to the choice of the benchmark country. This index is used to explain the productivity gaps of banking industries across four major countries in Europe as well as the productivity gains that banks could obtain using alternative technologies or with different environments. An output distance function is defined and the stochastic frontier approach used to carry out the comparison.     

Do Harmonised Accounting Standards Lead to Harmonised Accounting Practices? An Empirical Study of IAS 39 Measurement Requirements in Some European Union Countries

The objective of this paper is to investigate the level of harmonisation for IAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement and to identify if different levels of harmonisation are associated with company-specific factors. Based on Rahman et al. (2002) , we used the Jaccard (JACC) index to determine the level of harmonisation between IAS 39 and the financial reporting practice of a broad-based sample of European-listed companies in 2005. We applied regression analysis to identify companies' specific characteristics that affect the level of convergence of the reporting practice of financial instruments. The results of this study show a high level of harmonisation between accounting practices of European companies included in our sample and IAS 39.     

Interview with Nancy Reid

Nancy Reid was born in September 1952 in Niagara Falls, Canada. She graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor in Mathematics and a major in Statistics in 1974. She pursued her training in Statistics at the University of British Columbia (UBC) where she obtained a Master's in Applied Mathematics in 1976 and at Stanford University, where she graduated with a PhD in Statistics in 1979. After spending one year at Imperial College in London visiting Sir David Cox, she joined UBC as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics, where she had an important role in the creation of the Department of Statistics. In 1986, she moved to the University of Toronto, where she has been since then as a faculty in the Department of Statistics. Nancy has served as Chair of the Department between 1997 and 2002. Nancy's research in conditional inference, higher order asymptotics and composite likelihood has been influential in Statistics. Her outstanding contributions to Statistics were recognized nationally and internationally with many awards, including the President's Award of the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies (COPSS), Gold Medal awarded by the Statistical Society of Canada and Elected Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences. She received the Doctor of Mathematics, Honoris Causa, University of Waterloo. Nancy served with distinction as Editor of the Canadian Journal of Statistics and President of the Statistical Society of Canada and President of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics. In 2014, she was appointed as Officer of the Order of Canada for her outstanding achievements, exemplary leadership and service to Canadians. The following conversation took place at the JSM 2016 in Chicago, on August 2 and 3, 2016.     

Differences in the economic performance of hotel-based and residential tourist destinations measured by their retail activity. Evidence from Spain

This paper compares the economic performance of holiday and residential tourism destinations in Spain, as measured by the level of retail activity, from a quantitative perspective. Differences between destinations are explored. A positive association between the economic development of destinations and their retail index was expected. However, no significant differences were found between residential/second-home tourism and holiday/leisure tourism destinations. The results obtained contradict the conventional assumptions that holiday destinations perform better economically than residential ones due to a higher level of tourist spending of people accommodated in hotels.     

Weak cognitive image of cultural tourism destinations

The current study aims to take an in-depth look at the perceived image of an inland cultural tourism destination. This destination has traditionally had a weak image, making it important to study the components of this image and the factors influencing it in order to identify the best strategies for improving the destination’s positioning with respect to its image. This research is part of the ATLAS Cultural Tourism Research Project, which focuses on the image of tourist destinations. The basic questionnaire prepared by ATLAS and applied in a number of different countries is the key element of the survey. The results obtained show the different influences of factors such as information sources (distinguishing between induced, organic and autonomous sources), previous visits to the destination and the places visited during the tourist’s stay on the overall image of the city. This research will help public institutions to project the image of destinations in their target markets using precise information channelled through the appropriate media. In global terms we try to contribute to the study of factors influencing image formation in the case of inland cities not yet on the tourist map, but whose potential resources could make them obvious cultural tourism destinations. From this perspective, the influence of cognitive attributes in forming the image, as well as the atmosphere the tourist experiences in the city as a psychological attribute, have been studied.     

The response of decentralized health services to demand uncertainty and the role of political parties in the Spanish public health system

Decentralization of the public health system should lead to health resources being managed more in line with citizens’ preferences. A decentralized system is more flexible in that it can better adapt resources to local needs. Moreover, if regional political parties have responsibility for public health policies, citizens will be able to elect those parties whose positions are more in line with their preferences. However, the role of political parties in public health management has received little attention in the literature. Focusing on the decision to provide reserve service capacity to deal with demand uncertainty, we analyse whether there have been differences between central and decentralized health authorities in Spain and whether these can be explained to some extent by the way different political parties manage the trade-off between being able to cover demand and the economic costs involved. Using data on Spanish public hospitals for the period 1996–2006, we model the difference between observed and potential output using an output-oriented distance function. Reserve capacity is modelled as a function of demand uncertainty, economic costs and the political party in power. We find differences in the way resources are managed by central government and decentralized authorities, even within the same political party. We also find differences between the decentralized authorities themselves according to the political party in power. We conclude that decentralization of public health in Spain has provided regional political authorities with greater flexibility to manage reserve capacity in line with citizens’ needs and preferences.