The need for an industrial policy in the transition: Questions and challenges

Conclusions The wide set of objectives and the employment of very diversified policy instruments gave to the industrial policy in the transitional economies, a very specific importance and responsibility for establishing a link between the macroeconomic policy and the adjustments at structural level.The policy issues analysed reveal that there is the necessity of a non-rigid and dogmatic approach, adapting the policies and tools to the rapid changes underway. The long-term perspective, in terms of strategies for new growth patterns, has to be modulated with the short-term targets, that have to face the contingent constraints: the role of the industrial policy is also that of establishing a close relation between the two moments, softening the emergence of trade-offs. The constraints, in particular financial, remain substantial and the process of adjustment cannot be without pain.In this framework the main question concerns the capacity of the government in improving its ability to establish the main outlines and to implement them efficiently: a process oflearning by doing has already started and is improving rapidly.     

The dynamics of regional learning paradigms and trajectories

While the literature is rich with studies on the identification of alternative types of learning processes that might exist in the real world, the identification of the determinants of the structural changes in regional learning processes is still an underexplored research field in regional innovation theories. This paper proposes the concept of regional learning paradigms and trajectories to study how alternative and more advanced learning processes arise in a region, and highlights the evolutionary path-creation strategies enabling a paradigmatic jump. By taking into consideration also learning modes typical of peripheral or declining industrial areas, generally left aside in previous theories, this new conceptual approach allows us to understand how more complex learning and innovation processes can emerge in all types of regions. From these reflections, spontaneous processes or policy recommendations to catch-up in the innovation ladder are highlighted for each type of region.     

Natural resources and non-cooperative trade policy

When looking at the conditions of trade in natural resources the world appears upside down: tariff protection in natural resources sectors is generally lower than for overall merchandise trade, while export restrictions are twice as likely as in other sectors. On the other hand, tariff escalation is significant in natural resources sectors, where materials in their raw state face, on average, lower duties than in their processed form. In this paper, we discuss how export taxes and tariff escalation may be the result of an uncooperative trade policy. Specifically, tariff escalation and export taxes can be “beggar-thy-neighbor” policies because governments may be tempted to use them to alter the relative price of exports to their advantage (terms-of-trade effect) or to expand the domestic processing industry at the expenses of foreign production (production relocation effect). In equilibrium, these policies offset each other in a Prisoners’ Dilemma situation, where trade is inefficiently low.     

Does access to credit improve productivity? Evidence from Bulgaria1

Although it is widely accepted that financial development is associated with higher growth, the evidence on the channels through which credit affects growth at the microeconomic level is scant. Using data from a cross‐section of Bulgarian firms, we estimate the impact of access to credit, as proxied by indicators of whether firms have access to a credit line or overdraft facility, on productivity. To overcome potential omitted variable bias of Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) estimates, we use information on firms’ past growth to instrument for access to credit. We find credit to be positively and strongly associated with TFP. These results are robust to a wide range of robustness checks.     

Examining the Effectiveness of Fear Appeals in Prompting Help‐Seeking: The Case of At‐Risk Gamblers

With a sample of Australian at‐risk gamblers, this research examines the impact of gender and individual difference in experiential avoidance (EA; cognitive and emotional suppression) on the processing of fear appeals. Study 1, through thematic analysis, explores fear appeal perceptions among at‐risk gamblers. The results identify that relevant threats, such as social and psychological, should be integrated into fear‐inducing advertising stimuli. Study 2 uses multigroup comparisons in structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the robustness of the revised protection motivation model (RPMM) in predicting the effectiveness of fear appeals to induce help‐seeking intentions in at‐risk gamblers. This research examines the boundary conditions of the RPMM through the moderating roles of gender and EA. The results provide evidence that fear partially mediates the impact of perceived susceptibility (PS) on help‐seeking intentions in low experiential avoiders, whereas high experimental avoiders resist fear elicitation. Furthermore, evoked fear does not lead to help‐seeking intentions in male at‐risk gamblers. In female at‐risk gamblers, while fear prompts help‐seeking intentions, PS (i.e., probability of harm) does not translate to behavioral intentions via fear. For both genders and low and high experiential avoiders, cognitive appraisals of PS significantly and positively impact help‐seeking intentions. This research demonstrates the unique roles of gender and EA on fear appeal effectiveness in at‐risk gamblers.     

The determinants of firm start-up and entry in Italian producer services

In this paper the determinants of new firm formation in the producer services are studied by using National Security data on firms with at least one employee. Two ratios are computed and analysed for the 95 Italian provinces: an index of fertility represented by the share of new enterprises on employees, and a birth rate represented for each province by the ratio between new enterprises and resident population. On examination of the determinants of this process, we found that the average wage rates and the ratio of utilized credit to the total line of credit negatively affect both indexes, and that both indexes are affected positively by sector growth and by a measure of small firm presence. The index of fertility is also explained by a dummy variable which identifies for each province those policies which are aimed at fostering the process of new firm formation. The birth rate is instead affected by a dummy variable which is equal to one for the provinces in which the chief towns of each region are located and zero otherwise, and by the potential demand for new producer services arising from the industrial sector.     

Attitudes and Motivations Toward Craft Beer Consumption: An Explanatory Study in Two Different Countries

This study adopts a revised model of the Theory of Planned Behaviour incorporating self-identity and desire for unique consumer products to understand and predict consumers’ motivation to drink craft beer in Germany (N=210) and Italy (N=211). Data were analysed using Partial Least Squares modelling (PLS) approach. The findings provide support that the extended TPB model is a useful tool for understanding the consumers’ choice to drink craft beer. The results confirm the major role played by consumers’ attitudes and self-identity. Mediation analysis indicates a potential indirect effect from self-identity, subjective norms and the desire for unique consumer products on individual behaviour both in the German and Italian sample. Implications for theory are discussed for further research developments within the context of consumption of crafted food products.     

Understanding the Interplay Among Regulatory Self-Efficacy,Moral Disengagement,and Academic Cheating Behaviour During Vocational Education: A Three-Wave Study

This study uses a quasi-experimental design to investigate what happens to individual socially responsible attitudes when they are exposed to group dynamics. Findings show that group engagement increases individual attitudes toward social responsibility. We also found that individuals with low attitudes toward social responsibility are more likely to change their opinions when group members show more positive attitudes toward social responsibility. Conversely, individuals with high attitudes do not change much, independent of group characteristics. To better analyze the effect of group dynamics, the study proposes to split social responsibility into relative and absolute components. Findings show that relative social responsibility is correlated with but different from absolute social responsibility although the latter is more susceptible than the former to group dynamics.     

Are Liberated Companies a Concrete Application of Sen’s Capability Approach?

Journal of Business Ethics - The capability approach (CA) developed by Amartya Sen focuses on the enhancement of people’s capabilities, i.e. their real freedom to choose a life course they...