Multinational Corporations,Property Rights,and Legitimization Strategies: US Investors in the Argentine and Peruvian Oil Industries in the Twentieth Century

Multinational corporations in the extractive sector have historically faced challenges to their property rights, particularly in oil. International business scholars argue that firms can decrease these challenges by approaching domestic legitimating actors or seeking home government support. Through a study of the operations of Standard Oil of New Jersey in Peru and Argentina in the twentieth century, we find that these legitimating strategies can backfire due to two main elements: first, the multinational might approach actors with a different agenda from those defining, delineating, and enforcing property rights. Second, host countries can use home government support to multinationals to delegitimise foreign firms' operations.     

Discussion: Efficiency and Self-efficiency With Multiple Imputation Inference

By closely examining the examples provided in Nielsen (2003), this paper further explores the relationship between self-efficiency (Meng, 1994) and the validity of Rubin's multiple imputation (RMI) variance combining rule. The RMI variance combining rule is based on the common assumption/intuition that the efficiency of our estimators decreases when we have less data. However, there are estimation procedures that will do the opposite, that is, they can produce more efficient estimators with less data. Self-efficiency is a theoretical formulation for excluding such procedures. When a user, typically unaware of the hidden self-inefficiency of his choice, adopts a self-inefficient complete-data estimation procedure to conduct an RMI inference, the theoretical validity of his inference becomes a complex issue, as we demonstrate. We also propose a diagnostic tool for assessing potential self-inefficiency and the bias in the RMI variance estimator, at the outset of RMI inference, by constructing a convenient proxy to the RMI point estimator.     

The Influence of Image Valence on the Attention Paid to Charity Advertising

Non-governmental charities operate in a competitive market and survive with funding from membership fees and donations from supporters. Knowing and motivating potential donors has become increasingly important. Advertising is one of the key means of communication used by these organizations. This paper reports a pilot study to explore the influence of image valence in advertising on one’s attention and intention to donate. The study consists of an experiment wherein data processing is based on eye tracking and an electroencephalogram. The results show that negative images get more attention than text and logos. No differences were found with regard to gender and intention to donate in terms of attention paid to the advertising images. However, women do show greater willingness to make a donation. Finally, strategies adapted to charitable NGOs are discussed in the conclusions.     

Measuring the balance of government intervention on forward and backward family transfers using NTA estimates: the modified Lee arrows

In this paper we propose a way to measure the degree of government intervention on forward—from parents to children—and backward—from adult children to elderly parents—intergenerational family transfers (IFT). We carry out a discussion about the possibility of using Generational Accounts (GA) and National Transfer Accounts (NTA) methodologies to generate indicators that could measure government intervention on both sides of IFT. As a result, we propose a modification of arrow diagrams used by Lee (in J. Human Res. 29:1027–1063, 1994b). An illustration of the results in the Spanish case indicates that the degree of government intervention on backward IFT is above that on forward IFT. This could be one of the main reasons to explain the Spanish low fertility rate.     

The use of the Internet for corporate reporting in the Mercosur (Southern common market): The Argentina case

This study examines disclosure practices on the websites of companies listed on the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange. We perform content analysis to provide evidence on Internet reporting practices by 84 publicly traded firms. We also identify the characteristics of firms that communicate financial and non-financial information on the Internet. We find that companies in the financial and insurance, services and mining industries disclose more financial and non-financial information on their websites than companies in other industries. The average concentration of ownership is 68%, with 27% of the companies being controlled by foreign groups. Those companies with higher concentration disclose more financial and non financial information than companies with less concentration. Companies in the financial and insurance and service industries, utilize their websites for commercial purposes to facilitate access to customers to their accounts and also to sell services. This e-commerce usage of websites is less developed in other industries. About 71% of companies in the financial and insurance industry are included in the Merval25 index and are audited by Big 4. These companies are both larger in size and less profitable than companies in other industries. We find that profitability and leverage do not have significant effect on corporate Internet reporting practices and that growth has negative effect on corporate Internet reporting practices. We also find that companies in the mining sector provide significantly more disclosure about social responsibility indicating a desire to improve the public image of harming the environment. The results documented, herein, extend the literature on voluntary disclosure of financial and non-financial information using the Internet in emerging markets.     

Financial development and the effect of cross-border bank flows on house prices

We analyze the role of financial development as a buffer to diminish the effect of cross-border bank flows shocks on house prices across 38 countries. In less financially developed countries, the observed response is markedly positive. As development increases, the response is tempered and becomes less important. Cross-border bank flows shocks are important in explaining the historical dynamics of house prices in financially less developed countries, while monetary policy shocks are key in the most financially developed markets. Heterogeneity in responses within each level of financial development is associated with levels of maximum loan-to-value ratios and a ratio of cross-border bank inflows over total liabilities abroad.     

A Partially Hidden Markov Model of Customer Dynamics for CLV Measurement

Customer lifetime value (CLV) measurement is challenging as it requires forecasting customers' future purchases. Existing stochastic CLV models for this purpose generally make the following assumptions: 1) purchase behavior of customers can be described by purchase frequency and the average monetary value of transactions, 2) customers keep the same purchase behavior pattern over time, 3) purchase frequency and monetary value are independent, and 4) customers are active during a limited period of time after which they permanently defect. We develop a new stochastic model that relaxes these four assumptions. First, in addition to the number of transactions and its monetary values, we also model purchase incidence decisions (i.e. whether or not to purchase). Second, our partially hidden Markov truncated–NBD-GG (PHM/TNBD-GG) model allows dynamic purchase patterns, dependence between purchase frequency and monetary value, and customers to become active after a few periods of temporary inactivity. Validation of our model on two datasets demonstrates that if assumptions 1 to 4 of existing stochastic models are violated our model produces more accurate forecasts of future customer behavior.     

Accounting and quality control in the Royal Tobacco Factory of Seville, 1744-90: an historical perspective

Studies in the history of accounting have, to date, centred on the costs and efficiency of productive systems. However, the influence of quality assurance in management control systems is an aspect that has not been studied in detail from an historical perspective. For that, this study analyses the use made of accounting techniques as a contributory element to quality control in the case of the Royal Tobacco Factory of Seville, belonging to the Spanish Tobacco Monopoly, during the second half of the eighteenth century.     

About the determinants of the degree of novelty in small businesses’ product innovations

This paper explores the nature and determinants of product innovation in small businesses from a survey of more than 1,500 small firms in Spain. Two levels of factors affecting innovation are considered: (1) The personal characteristics of the entrepreneurs -their age, motivations, educational background and degree of interpersonal trust. (2) The characteristics of the organizations’ management—cooperation, risk taking, proactivity and specific innovation and growth policies. The paper shows that the factors explaining the firms’ decisions to introduce small incremental innovations -and the strength of these influences- are different, to a large extent, from those favoring substantial product innovations.     

About the interactive influence of culture and regulatory barriers on entrepreneurial activity

In this paper cultural values and regulatory barriers to start-up are presented as characteristics of the business environment which influence the international differences in the level of entrepreneurial activity. A first objective of this paper is to measure the importance of a country’s cultural values in determining the national level of entrepreneurial activity, calculated by the Total Entrepreneurial Activity rate from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. Culture is studied using Schwartz’s value structure (Schwartz 1994). This allows for the differentiating of seven cultural orientations that are then arranged around three bipolar dimensions: Autonomy- Embeddedness, Egalitarianism-Hierarchy and Harmony-Mastery. The paper also studies the effect of regulatory barriers for business start-ups on the Total Entrepreneurial Activity in different countries. Regulatory barriers are determined using data from the “Doing Business” project of the World Bank. The role of cultural values and regulatory barriers in entrepreneurial activity is tested using data from 56 countries and Structural Equation Modeling. The paper shows that cultural values and regulatory barriers are not related to entrepreneurship in the same way in countries with differing levels of development. On the contrary, the strength and nature of the influence of both factors on entrepreneurial activity depends on a country’s per capita GDP. Furthermore, the impact of regulatory barriers on entrepreneurship is moderated by cultural values. Thus, the discouraging effect of the regulatory barriers on entrepreneurial activity is more important in those countries with a societal culture characterized by autonomy, egalitarianism and harmony values.