Business Ethics in Spain

This article is an introduction to the selection of papers on "Business Ethics in Spain" included in this monographic issue of the Journal of Business Ethics. Specifically, this article is a survey of the development of the social, political, cultural and economic background of business in Spain since 1940, in order to show how the ethical values, attitudes and problems of the Spanish managers changed in these years. First, the global evolution of this background is explained, and then several relevant problems are discussed, namely those of the attitudes of business towards the State and the law (with an aside on the attitudes of society towards profit and wealth), corruption, and the grey economy, taxes, and irregular labour. The article concludes with a survey of the scientific developments of business ethics in Spain.     

Foreign Direct Investment and Trade: A Causality Analysis

In this article, we analyze the relationship between outward foreign direct investment (FDI) and exports, using Spanish quarterly data for the period 1977–1998, by means of Granger causality tests in a cointegration framework. Our results point to the existence of a relationship of complementarity between both variables, with Granger causality running in the short run from outward FDI to exports, and bilateral Granger causality in the long run.     

Structural identification of high and low investment regimes

We propose a structural model to investigate the existence and possible differences between low and high regimes of investment expenditures in equipment at the firm level. The existence of such differences is predicted by recent theoretical studies of investment behavior stressing the role of asymmetries and non-convexities in the adjustment cost technology. The structural spike model is estimated for a balanced panel of Dutch firms operating in 13 different industrial sectors. The flexibility of the structural approach explains why the proposed method outperforms models applying “ad hoc” spike definitions often encountered in the empirical literature of lumpy investments.     

Crafting successful strategic technology partnerships

Despite the trend towards an increasing use of strategic technology alliances, mortality rates of cooperative agreements have always been extremely high. In this paper we argue that rapid economic and technological developments have overthrown traditional thinking about alliances and that firms could benefit from a new perspective on partnering. This new approach is referred to as High Touch Partnering. The new framework stresses the need for a balanced attention to strategic (re-)positioning, establishing adequate alliance capabilities, building business communities with partners and improved partner selection.     

A Hong Kong view of offensive advertising

Considerable research has been conducted on offensive advertising in Western countries. However, not much is known about consumers' views of offensive advertising in an Asian context. This research, which was conducted in Hong Kong, aimed at identifying what product/service advertisements consumers find offensive, what executional styles consumers find offensive, consumers' tolerance of offensive advertisements in different media and the effects of offensive advertisements on consumers' purchase intentions. The results from a survey of 200 consumers showed that chat-line services and funeral services were considered the most offensive products or services to be advertised. When looking at the manner of advertising, sexist themes, indecent language and nudity were found to be the major reasons for the respondents finding advertisements offensive. In general, direct mail was considered to be a medium that prompts lower tolerance by consumers to potentially offensive advertisements while men and women's magazines were considered to be media that prompt higher tolerance to potentially offensive advertisements. Finally, it was found that levels of advertising offensiveness had an effect on purchase intentions.     

Drivers’ acceptance of automatic speed limiters: implications for policy and implementation

It has been suggested that speed limiters will have the most impact on vehicle speeds and hence road safety in general. Whilst it is technically feasible to develop a functional speed control system, it may be more difficult to design a system that drivers actually wish to use. It is essential that drivers’ acceptability towards speed limiters is gauged in order to establish the most effective way to implement the system. The research reported here used a variety of techniques to evaluate acceptability and concluded that although drivers perceive speed limiters to be effective in reducing accidents, there is a need to change perceptions about possible impacts on comfort and safety.     

Charity Care by Non-profit Hospitals: The Price of Tax-exempt Debt

In this paper, we study the effects of tax-exempt debt on the supply of charity care of non-profit hospitals. We hypothesize that hospitals using tax-exempt rather than taxable debt are forced to provide higher levels of charity care as a condition for gaining access to the tax-exempt market. The study uses a panel of 189 California non-profit hospitals. Hospital uncompensated care is regressed on the level of uncompensated care by other hospitals in the market, lagged values of tax-exempt and taxable debt and other control variables.The magnitude of the tax-exempt bond subsidy has a positive effect on the flow of charity care and varies positively with the charity care provided by other hospitals. We conclude that subsidies provided by tax-exempt debt are an effective media to increase the supply of charity care by hospitals. Regulators can use competition between non-profit hospitals in order to enforce the desired behavior.     

Fair Trade Managerial Practices: Strategy,Organisation and Engagement

The number of distributors selling Fair Trade products is constantly increasing. What are their motivations to distribute Fair Trade products? How do they organise this distribution? Do they apply and communicate the Fair Trade values? This research, based on five case studies in Switzerland, aims at understanding and structuring the strategies and the managerial practices related to Fair Trade product distribution, as well as analysing if they denote an engagement with Fair Trade principles. The results show a high heterogeneity of strategies and engagement. In general, strategies implemented by mainstream actors contribute to increase Fair Trade global sales but do not convey the transformative message of Fair Trade through their engagement. The latter is rather communicated through alternative channels. Problems and potential solutions to this issue are discussed.     

Consumer Socialization and the Role of Branding in Hazardous Adolescent Drinking

This study examines the relationship between alcohol marketing and consumer socialization to alcohol brands (assessed here using aided and unaided brand recognition and brand saliency), and the associated relationship between consumer socialization and hazardous alcohol consumption among a cohort of adolescents surveyed in Scotland. The research addresses gaps in the consumer socialization literature, by examining how marketing influences brand consumer socialization, and how brand consumer socialization influences subsequent hazardous consumption behavior over time, using a robust longitudinal design that assesses causal relationships while controlling for a wide range of important confounding variables. The results demonstrate the contribution of marketing to adolescents’ brand socialization to alcohol and the impact of this socialization on subsequent drinking behaviors. Implications for marketing managers, parents, policymakers, and consumer researchers are discussed, together with suggestions for future consumer research.