The determinants of African tourism

Using a standard panel gravity equation of 175 origin/destination countries between 1995 and 2008, 43 of which are African, we identify the factors that drive African-inbound (arrivals to Africa from other continents) and within-African tourism (arrivals from and to an African country). We find that the determinants of African-inbound and within-African tourism are not all that different from global tourism flows; repeat tourism, income, distance, land area and the standard dummy variables not only drive global or OECD tourism, but also tourism within Africa, disproving the belief that African tourists ‘differ substantially’.     

The effect of innovation efficiency management on performance: Differences according to organizational size

The efficiency associated with innovation has been a frequently considered element in the literature. However, the conceptualization of this efficiency and its management is an underexplored factor. We study the way in which the different elements that conform to this efficiency are managed over time. From a dynamic efficiency analysis using data envelope analysis (DEA) and the Malmquist productivity index, we evaluate changes in efficiency and if there are differences according to firm size. Our results confirm the relevance of size in the way that firms manage their innovation efficiency and how small firms differ from larger ones in terms of efficiency management.     

Intentionality and the emergence of complexity: an analytical approach

Emergence is a generic property that makes economies become complex. The simultaneous carrying out of agents’ intentional action plans within an economic system generates processes that are at the base of structural change and the emergence of adaptive complex systems. This paper argues that goals and intentionality are key elements of the structure of rational human action and are the origin of emergent properties such as innovation within economic complex systems. To deal with the locus and role of goals and intentionality in relation to the emergence of complexity we propose an analytical approach based on agents’ action plans. Action plans are open representations of the action projected by agents (as individuals or organizations), where the means (actions) and objectives (or goals) are not necessarily given, but produced by agents themselves.     

The Persistent Impacts of Norm-Based Messaging and Their Implications for Water Conservation

Although an increasing number of studies have demonstrated the short-term impacts of behavioral nudges to achieve public policy objectives, less is known about their longer-term impacts. In a randomized experimental design with over 100,000 households, we study the longer-term impacts of a one-time behavioral nudge that aimed to induce voluntary reductions in water use during a drought. Combining technical information, moral suasion, and social comparisons, the nudge has a surprisingly persistent effect. Although its effect size declines by almost 50% after 1 year, it remains detectable and policy-relevant six years later. In fact, the total reduction in water use achieved after the 4-month period targeted by the intervention is larger than the total reduction achieved during the target period. Further analysis suggests that the intervention works through both short-lived behavioral adjustments and longer-lived adjustments to habits or physical capital. Treatment effects are not detectable in homes from which the treated consumers have moved, which provides suggestive evidence that these longer-lived adjustments are mobile rather than incorporated into the housing stock. The persistence of the effect makes the intervention more cost-effective than previously assumed (cost drops by almost 60%). Nevertheless, water utilities may find this persistence undesirable if the nudges are intended to have only a short-run effect on demand during environmental emergencies.     

Corporate Social Responsibility as a Strategic Shield Against Costs of Earnings Management Practices

We highlight how Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be strategically used against the negative perception from earnings management (EM). Using international data, we analyse the effect of CSR and EM on the cost of capital and corporate reputation. Results confirm that CSR strategy is positively valued by investors and other stakeholders. Contrary to EM, CSR has a positive effect on corporate reputation and lowers the cost of capital. In addition, we also find that the favourable effect of CSR on cost of capital is consistently more intense in firms that show signs of EM indicating that the market does not identify when CSR practices are used as a strategy to mask EM. We also demonstrate how institutional factors influence the above relationship.     

Information and communication technology in retailing: A cross-industry comparison

Information technology (IT) may represent a source of competitive advantage for businesses in general and for retailers in particular. However, there is debate in the literature over the usefulness of investing in technology. This paper aims at analyzing the relationship between consumers’ perception on the use of information and communication technology by the retailer and consumer satisfaction with retailer technologies. Results support the need to restrict the investment in IT to what is strictly necessary, although there are significant differences according to retailer activity.     

Benchmarking Corporate Social Responsibility within Spanish Companies

In this paper, the authors focus on the influence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) upon business profitability. In order to be capable of working with homogeneous data, the authors’ starting point is to use the criteria defined by PricewaterhouseCoopers’ work on the subject, and published by the Spanish journal Actualidad Económica. In this work, an index was created which assigns between one and five points to the companies depending on the importance given by them to CSR. The CSR measurement published by the Observatorio de la RSE will also be considered. In order to measure companies’ profitability, this paper will take into account their return on equity (ROE) and return on assets (ROA) of 2005 and 2006. The authors’ purpose is to demonstrate that the relationship between CSR and business profitability is neutral.

The State in Court: the economic effects of fee-shifting rules in Spain when suing the government

Following the recent public debate concerning the situation of the Judicial system in Spain, the paper analyses the special position of the State in Court, essentially with reference to suits brought by individuals against the State before Spanish first instance Courts, although international Courts are touched as well. The analysis focuses on the incentives to litigate and to settle in a dispute with the State, focusing on the State’s special procedural rules and the fee-shifting rules applied in the Spanish Justice system. The asymmetries in favor of the State reduce the incentives to litigate against the State, but also reduce the settlement range in order to achieve out-of-Court settlements.     

Twin Crises in Emerging Markets: The Role of Liability Dollarization and Imperfect Competition in Banking

Currency crises in emerging markets have been accompanied by banking crises, with concentration in the market for bank credit increasing after large devaluations. This paper examines how the presence of imperfect competition and liability dollarization in banking shapes the real effects of the just mentioned twin crises. An important gap in the theoretical literature is filled, by being the first paper to provide a model of twin crises in the presence of imperfect competition in banking, and the changes in market structure that occur in the aftermath of crises. Doing so, the analysis is able to reveal that currency devaluations generate more severe twin crises in economies with less competitive banking sectors. This result is consistent with the empirical evidence on the concentration‐fragility view, and it unveils the importance of prudential regulation that focuses on the market structure in banking.     

The relationship between start-up motive and earnings over the course of the entrepreneur’s business tenure

We investigate whether the start-up motive is related to the entrepreneur’s earnings, and whether the relationship between the entrepreneur’s business tenure (i.e., the time the entrepreneur is running the business) and his earnings depends on the start-up motive. We employ a unique longitudinal data base providing information on start-up motive and earnings for 7902 entrepreneurs in the EU-15 countries, where 12 different start-up motives are distinguished. We classify these 12 motives in three broad categories of opportunity, necessity and other start-up motives. Our analysis shows that, first, earnings of necessity entrepreneurs are significantly lower than those of opportunity entrepreneurs, irrespective of the type of necessity motive. Second, these differences remain rather stable over the course of the entrepreneur’s business tenure, i.e., these differences are of a permanent nature. Third, we do not find evidence for earnings differences within the broad category of necessity entrepreneurs (i.e., between the different types of necessity motives).