The use of scientific knowledge by Spanish agrifood firms

This paper analyses the factors that influence the use of scientific knowledge in patented technology by agrifood firms in Spain. Our particular objective is to identify whether collaboration with universities and technological characteristics of firms are the determining factors in this process. The methodology is supported by non-patent citations (NPCs) as an indicator of the extent to which scientific knowledge is used to support the development of patented technologies in the agrifood sector. The data suggest that scientific citations in patent documents are geographically more concentrated than patents, and that scientific citations are more common for agrifood products and chemical products than for agrifood machinery. Our econometric results show that internal factors related to the characteristics of technologies and firms, along with collaboration with a public research institution, are relevant factors that contribute to explaining the use of scientific knowledge by agrifood firms.     

Hotels’ corporate social responsibility practices,organizational culture,firm reputation,and performance

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices are considered one of the key success factors influencing firm performance. However, how CSR practices should be integrated into an organization’s business practices has not been investigated empirically. The present research proposes an integrated model incorporating the interrelationships among CSR practices, organizational culture, and corporate reputation to improve firm performance in the hotel industry. The proposed model is developed using stakeholder theory and the perceptions of the general managers. According to the study’s results, organizational culture influences different dimensions of CSR. The results further indicate that hotels using CSR practices related to employees and customers strengthen their reputation. Through improved reputation, CSR practices positively influence firm performance. Furthermore, hotel managers perceive that CSR activities in the local community and related to the environment do not significantly affect a hotel’s reputation. Theoretical and practical implications are provided, and the limitations of the study and future lines of research are discussed.     

The role of authenticity,experience quality,emotions, and satisfaction in a cultural heritage destination

ABSTRACT

Recent studies have shown the increasing importance of affective and subjective variables, such as experience quality, authenticity, and emotions in the formation of tourist satisfaction. This paper is a pioneer in jointly analysing the influence of authenticity in its double dimension, experience quality, and emotions variables on satisfaction in a cultural context. This study uses the structural equation modelling approach (Partial Least Square) and shows the direct and positive influence of objective and existential authenticity on the quality of the experience, as well as the direct and positive influence of the quality of experience on emotions. It is highly relevant to focus on both cognitive and affective dimensions of authenticity to improve the quality of the tourists’ experience. No previous studies in the literature examine the possible relationships between the different dimensions of authenticity on the quality of the experience and on emotions. The work reveals the importance of such variables in generating greater tourist satisfaction with the visited destination.     

The theme park experience: An analysis of pleasure, arousal and satisfaction

This article analyses how visitor emotions in a theme park environment influence satisfaction and behavioural intentions. Emotions consist of two independent dimensions, i.e. pleasure and arousal. Two competing models were tested. The first model is derived from the environmental psychology research stream as developed by (An Approach to Environmental Psychology, MIT Press, Cambridge, 1974), where the visitor's arousal generates pleasure and, in turn, approach/avoidance behaviour. This emotion-cognition model is supported by Zajonc and Markus (1984). The second model to be tested is based on Lazarus’ (Emotion and Adaptation, Oxford University Press, New York, 1991) cognitive theory of emotions. In this latter model, emotions are elicited by visitors’ disconfirmation of the theme park. Using confirmatory factor analysis, it was supported that the cognitive theory of emotions better explains the effect of pleasure on satisfaction and loyalty. Additionally, consumers’ willingness to pay more for the service is more likely to be induced by disconfirmation than by satisfaction alone. Managerial implications concerning the cognitive–affective sequence of satisfaction are discussed.     

Measuring Investors’ Socially Responsible Preferences in Mutual Funds

The aim of this study is to analyze investor behavior towards socially responsible mutual funds. The analysis is based on an experimental study where a sample of individuals takes investment decisions under different parameters of information about the investment alternatives and expected returns. In the experiment, each participant decides how to distribute an investment budget between two funds, returns on which are uncertain and change over time. Two treatments are conducted, each providing a different degree of information on the socially responsible (SR) character of one of the two investment alternatives. The results obtained suggest that although individuals’ criteria for investment are essentially guided by returns and diversification, participants invest significantly more in a fund when they are explicitly informed about its SR nature. In particular, participants who declare being concerned about SR actually invest significantly more in the SR alternative. Furthermore, the level of SR faithfulness among a small group of investors is such that they invest the main share of their budget in the SR fund, even when the return differential is highly unfavorable. Providing clear information about the SR characteristics of an investment is crucial to help investors express their preferences.     

Paid employment and unpaid caring work in Spain

The objective of this paper is to investigate the determinants of unpaid time in caring activities, with a special emphasis on the gender dimension. Data from the Household Panel Survey for Spain is used to estimate an ordered probit model for the hours interval in care of children and adult people in need of care. The results show that gender is one of the key determinants of the distribution of time in caring. Being in paid employment is also an important factor in the time devoted to caring. Demographic variables like age, marital status and education are also relevant, particularly in the case of women. Finally, cultural habits and customs are also important.     

A nonparametric approach to market timing: evidence from Spanish mutual funds

The measuring of market timing abilities in investment portfolios is a relevant and widely analyzed question. Since the traditional parametric methodology can lead to biased results, we apply the nonparametric approach trying to overcome these biases and compare the results obtained by both methods. This comparison can help the readers to understand the role played by the assumptions behind each approach. We confirm the finding previously found in the literature about negative market timing abilities of Spanish equity fund managers. This finding suggests that neither the documented specification problems of the traditional models (heteroskedasticity, outliers and non-normality in financial data) nor the aggressiveness of some misinformed managers explain the poor timing abilities of managers.     

The KPSS test with two structural breaks

In this paper, we generalize the KPSS-type test to allow for two structural breaks. Seven models have been defined depending on the way that structural breaks affect the time series behaviour. The paper derives the limit distribution of the test under both the null and the alternative hypotheses and conducts a set of simulation experiments to analyse the performance in finite samples. Finally, we illustrate the application of the statistics through the analysis of real GDP and real per capita GDP for 22 developed countries.      

Cross-Validation Study with Confirmatory Factorial Analysis of the Revised Legal Attitudes Questionnaire Scores

The present article establishes the factorial structure of the Legal AttitudesQuestionnaire, one of the most frequently used measurements for the studyof legal authoritarianism, in several Spanish samples consisting of a communitypopulation (N1 = 618 and N2 = 533). In study 1, confirmatory factorial analysesare carried out by LISREL for different models, based on theory and on previousexploratory analyses. In study 2, based on the models selected in study 1, across-validation study is carried out by multigroup analysis. The structure thatappears to be most adequate is the one based on two trait factors (authoritarianismand anti-authoritarianism) and one of method, in which the tendencies of the participants' answers are included