Economic and Social Power in Spain: corporate networks of banks,utilities and other large companies (1917–2009)

The evolution trend of the Spanish network has not differed essentially from the path of other Western European corporate networks, but the configuration and factors that explain it have a specific pattern in accordance with their economic and social characteristics. The exchange of directors among the largest banks and utilities in Spain was one of the instruments used to consolidate its hegemonic position and to limit competition in other sectors. Network analysis confirms the existence of a crony capitalism, created in a context of institutional weakness and dominance of undemocratic political systems. The extractive elite used the network boards to restrict competition in key economic sectors, at the expense of the economic development of the country, until the liberalisation of the domestic market and its integration into the global economy.     

Outcomes of Environmental Management Systems: the Role of Motivations and Firms’ Characteristics

This article analyzes the influence of the sources of motivation that lead companies to adopt environmental management systems (EMSs) on the outcomes of these systems. A set of hypotheses derived from an extensive review of the literature is analyzed using cluster analysis – in order to identify groups of companies – as well as correlation and regression analyses, with data obtained from a survey of 361 Spanish organizations that have environmental certification. The results reveal that, for the groups identified, companies from the holistic cluster (with high levels of both internal and external drivers) and from the internal focus cluster (with more intensive internal sources of motivation) secure greater benefits from the process of adopting an EMS. This article also sheds light on the influence on the outcomes of some variables that have been under‐researched, such as the economic resources invested in an EMS and whether or not the certified companies belong to a sector with high environmental pressure. The findings help to characterize the firms with environmental certification and may also help managers, policy makers and other stakeholders to anticipate the potential benefits of EMSs. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Exploring the regional distribution of tourism and the extent to which there is convergence

In this paper we test the hypothesis of convergence in a set of twelve of the main tourism source markets of Spain over a time period that ranges from January 2000 to September 2015. We analyse the potential convergence by following an econometric strategy consisting of three different methodologies. Firstly, we test for the presence of full convergence in the dataset by means of the panel stationary test developed by Hadri (2000). Next, we conduct a robustness check for the full convergence hypothesis by considering the potential existence of structural breaks in the dataset through the test proposed by Carrion-i-Silvestre et al. (2005). Finally, the hypothesis of club convergence (Philips and Sul, 2007) is also tested. The results point to absence of full convergence even when controlling for structural breaks while three different clubs of convergence are found. We discuss potential policy implications that can be extracted from these results.     

The water footprint of tourism in Spain

This study complements the water footprint (WF) estimations for Spain, incorporating insights of the process analysis and input–output (IO) analysis. We evaluate the virtual (both blue and green consumed) water trade of agricultural and industrial products, but also of services, especially through tourism, for a country in which more than 10% of the gross domestic product (GDP) derives from this activity. We use domestic and import disaggregated tables in the agro-alimentary activities, based mainly on national agrarian, industrial, services and trade statistics. In order to obtain import coefficients, water data and IO tables of the main trade partners are used to reproduce the technology of these economies. Results show that 16% of the Spanish exports are due to foreign tourism, thus the water footprint of foreign tourism in Spain is 3.7 km³. Finally, we compare reductions in total tourism expenditure and the domestic and global water footprint of tourism using four scenarios.     

Guest editorial: research themes in retailing

This paper is designed to address the differences among competitors in the use of interfirm influence strategies, trying to discover tendencies in the use of each strategy, ranking the use of the different influence strategies and identifying the type of strategy used by each manufacturer. Data were gained by a mail survey of the major computer manufacturers in Spain. Empirical research has been undertaken in order to build the constructs 'coercive influence' and 'noncoercive influence', and they are ranked by level of use. Causal analysis is used to provide such analysis. Type of influence strategy adopted by suppliers is analysed. Grouping of computer manufacturers according to the type of influence strategy adopted is also provided.     

Comment

Opposite to mainstream economics, (post-) Keynesian economics has defended the need of a discretionary fiscal policy that helps to maintain economic activity at a full employment level, offsetting the cyclical deviations from that level of output. In this sense, it is implicitly assumed that any discretionary management of public finance is, by definition, efficient. The Spanish case shows that public authorities can make an inefficient use of the discretionary room of fiscal policy, thus exacerbating the existing macroeconomic and fiscal imbalances. Consequently, there is a need for rules that constrain the discretionary management of public finance.     

Determinants of long-distance investing by business angels in the UK

The resource-based view (RBV) of the firm has been applied to territories, although academia has not frequently undertaken exploration of RBV applied to clusters in an empirical base. The goal of this paper aims at empirically translating RBV to the territory with a double objective. First, the work seeks to understand which are the cluster's resources and capabilities. Second, the paper evaluates whether a cluster's unique set of resources and capabilities could influence a cluster's performance. Research is applied to leading European ceramic tile clusters located in Spain (Castellon) and Italy (Emilia-Romagna). Comparing clusters in the same industry allows benchmarking and the metrics make more sense. Secondary data and face-to-face semi-structured interviews with managers from the R&D Institutes, institutional agents and Castellon (59) and Emilian (19) firms assess a cluster's resources and capabilities. The employed variables address skilled labour availability, social capital, linkages, business sophistication and network effects. In addition, and through the utilization of financial and productivity data the work analyses whether there are performance differences. Results indicate that clusters have a unique set of resources and capabilities and a certain performance level. On the whole, a cluster's unique set of resources and capabilities matter. The paper offers a methodological approach to tackle empirically the RBV application to clusters.     

The Effect of Educational Level on Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment: A Case Study in Hospitality

ABSTRACT

The hospitality industry is characterized by the close personal interaction between employees and customers. Consequently, the study of certain constructs that influence this relationship, such as organizational commitment and job satisfaction, is a key factor in ensuring business success. Furthermore, there are a number of variables that can, in theory, help to explain the levels reached by these constructs, one of the most important being educational level. Using this as our starting point, this article aims to determine the effect of educational level on the job satisfaction and organizational commitment of hotel employees in the province of Cordoba, Spain. As such, the study found that educational level does not influence job satisfaction. However, it does have an inverse effect on organizational commitment where the lower the educational level of employees, the higher their commitment. This result is consistent with the temporal component of both constructs, since job satisfaction is related to more ephemeral influences while organizational commitment is related to job security. In this respect, the study determined that employees with a lower educational level are more affected by the lack of job opportunities and more likely to express higher levels of gratitude for the job they have been able to secure and maintain. Knowledge of this relationship can be useful in designing more successful ??human resource strategies, such as employee recruitment, job profiles, and training schemes.     

The solvency of financial institutions in Spain: lessons from securitization

On analysing a sample of Spanish banks, we find that securitization has a slightly negative impact on the soundness of the issuing entity. An unbalanced dynamic panel model was estimated using the forward orthogonal deviations GMM method and used to analyse 537 traditional securitizations issued by 61 banks between 1998 and 2012. The analysis revealed that the entities’ soundness became weaker immediately prior to the crisis, but this effect became insignificant after 2007. Securitization has facilitated a process of regulatory capital arbitrage leading to lower capital requirements while, at the same time, giving rise to a slight worsening of the quality of the originators’ portfolios. It was found that profitability, liquidity and inflation positively affect solvency, while changes in short-term interest rates affect it negatively.     

Analysis of the determinants of sports participation in Spain and England

This article investigates the role of sociodemographic characteristics, educational and economic variables on sports participation in a comparative way in two European countries: Spain and England. Adopting a broad concept of sport, as in the common European approach, we analyse the determinants of sports participation in 40 different professional and nonprofessional sports and recreational activities in both countries. The research involves a comparative analysis between the data of England and Spain based on two logistic regressions. The regression equation of every country tests the effect of 17 binary explanatory variables on a dependent binary variable for participation. Higher education level, professional occupation, younger age and being male are all factors associated with more sports participation. Although there is no difference in the direction of the factor effects on participation between England and Spain, there is considerable variation in their relative strength, which has sport policy implications in the two nations.