Current accounts in the euro area: An intertemporal approach

Current accounts have diverged substantially among euro area countries since the creation of the euro. This divergence has raised concerns about the sustainability of some member countries’ external indebtedness. This paper uses an intertemporal model of the current account to analyze the fluctuations in current account balances experienced by euro area countries over the last three decades and to disentangle its determinants. We find that the model is not rejected for six of the ten euro area countries examined (Belgium, France, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain), although it tends to underestimate their current account volatility. For these countries, we derive the expectations about future income and relative prices, which, according to the model, underlie their current account balances. Expectations about future growth increased in all Southern European countries at the creation of the euro, but they diverged considerably by 2005. While in Portugal these expectations were below its historical mean by then, in Spain they were at an historical high.     

Credit guarantees and SME efficiency

The aim of this article is to analyse one of the most traditional SME-support measures, the allocation of guarantees by the Spanish guarantee system. A counterfactual approach is adopted to evaluate the result of a public policy. Three groups of companies that constitute the casuistry of long-term financial supports to companies (guarantees, guarantees and preferential funding, or just preferential funding), as well as another two control groups are studied. The results suggest that public support is relevant at economic, financial and business efficiency levels. The advantages can be observed mainly in the weakest companies, where the capacity to tackle projects is facilitated, although they do not manage to reduce their financial costs until they reach relative levels similar to those reached by companies not accessing the guarantee system.     

Modelling of customer retention in multi-format retailing

The objective of this study is to offer a model of the formation process of loyalty towards the services provided by retail food companies. Specifically, the case of a Spanish company, which is a leader in the retail food market is taken. The company operates using different retail formats, and it has customers with various levels of loyalty and behavioural patterns. The research tries to determine implications for managing the loyalty towards the company. Different customer groups are analysed. Four working hypotheses are proposed and contrasted through the formulation and estimation of two theoretical models or conceptual maps. After the empirical analysis, the proposed models show a good fit, and the formulated hypotheses are confirmed. By using this kind of modelling, the companies that operate under the considered framework may reach significant conclusions prior to making decisions in the area of customer retention.     

Speed to Market for Innovative Products: Blessing or Curse?

The relationships among speed to market, quality, and costs are important to managers as they attempt to best establish incentives and set goals for new product development teams, allocate resources for new product development, or create positional advantage in the market. The existing literature suggests that the economic consequences of being late to the market are significant, including higher development and manufacturing costs, lower profit margins, and lessening of the firm's market value. Therefore, traditional logic has held that new product development managers need to manage the trade‐offs among speed to market, quality, and costs. While both scholars and managers have often acquiesced to performance trade‐offs among “faster, better, and cheaper,” this research attempts to improve understanding of the interrelationships between these objectives, and ultimately profit. Based on a survey of 197 managers, faster speed to market is shown to be related to better quality and lower costs; it is not necessary to sacrifice one of these outcomes. Further, the moderating roles of two dimensions of innovativeness (innovativeness to the firm and to the market) are examined on the relationships between speed and quality, as well as speed and profit. Both dimensions of innovativeness positively moderate the relationship between speed to market and quality. For more innovative products (both to the firm and the market), there is a stronger positive relationship between speed and quality than for less innovative products. Further, innovativeness to the firm negatively moderates the relationship between speed and profit. Thus, speed has a less positive impact on profit for highly innovative‐to‐the‐firm products compared with less innovative‐to‐the‐firm products. By being conscious of the projects’ levels of innovativeness (along with prioritizing various performance measures), managers can more rationally decide when to emphasize speed to market based on this study's findings.     

Performance appraisal: dimensions and determinants

Abstract

Using a sample of Spanish establishments in the manufacturing sector, this article analyses the determinants of the dimensions of performance appraisal. The dimensions examined are performance measures, who evaluates performance and frequency. The results show that the degree of autonomy of the workforce affects positively the use of subjective criteria. It is also more likely that performance appraisal is carried out by the supervisor in the presence of teams and internal promotions. Regarding the explanation of the frequency, teams affect negatively this dimension of performance appraisal.     

Inconsistency and over‐determination in neo‐Kaleckian growth models: A note

This short note argues that the canonical neo‐Kaleckian growth model does not yield a balanced growth path due to the absence of an inbuilt mechanism by which desired and actual rates of capital accumulation are equalized. Introducing non‐generating capacity autonomous demand does not solve such inconsistency. Contrary to what Lavoie ( 2016 ) claims, we show that the latter is also unable to bring capacity utilization to its normal level. In light of recent contributions (e.g., Nikiforos, 2013, 2016 ), we suggest that making normal capacity utilization an endogenous variable is an alternative better suited to deal with the issue.     

Why Regulation Is Needed in Emerging Markets in the Tourism Sector

The neoclassical ideal has defended the idea that markets, in a context of limited regulation, reach an optimal equilibrium automatically. We analyze this assertion in an applied manner with a case study of the emerging online market of intermediation of tourist apartments. The lack of regulation in this market causes many social and economic impacts on local communities, which can jeopardize the survival of the activity. We conclude that an analysis of markets that considers only prices results in a limited view. All externalities and their effects on the population must be taken into account, as well as the interests of the individuals involved, apart from profit‐making.     

The importance of advertising skepticism for brand extension appeals

According to existing research, ad persuasiveness decreases as advertising skepticism (i.e., the tendency to disbelieve advertising claims) increases. What remains unclear, however, is whether or not this effect extends to brand extension appeals. We suggest that the effect may vary according to brand extension similarity. Three studies test this assertion while providing process evidence and boundary conditions for the proposed effect. According to the findings, consumers automatically transfer associations from parent brands to highly similar extensions or automatically block these associations in the case of highly dissimilar extensions—reducing the impact of advertising skepticism on ad persuasiveness. At moderate levels, however, extension similarity is less predictive of the transfer process, increasing the negative effect of advertising skepticism on persuasion. Consistent with this account, the results identify brand transfer (i.e., the ability of the parent brand to make the extension) as the underlying mechanism explaining the advertising skepticism effect for moderately similar brand extension appeals. Furthermore, the results show how marketers can reduce these effects, and increase extension success, by emphasizing extension attributes that are shared with the parent brand. Collectively, these results provide a unique theoretical view, improving our understanding of advertising skepticism and the drivers of brand extension success.     

Sustainable Development,Sustainability Leadership and Firm Valuation: Differences across Europe

Sustainable development is nowadays a high priority for firms all over the world. Consequently, numerous firms have increased their social responsibility initiatives, reinforcing the credibility and trust of their stakeholders. However, prior research about the relevance of sustainability leadership for the European investment community is scarce. In this context, the aim of this study is to examine whether sustainability leadership – proxied by membership of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index Europe – is value relevant for investors on the 10 major European stock markets over the 2001–2013 period. Our overall results reveal that there exist significant differences across markets. These findings are relevant especially for investors, but also for the managers of listed firms, market regulators and policymakers. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment