The effect of fertility on labour force participation: The Spanish evidence

Abstract. The aim of this paper is to estimate the effect of fertility on the decision of labour force participation of married females in Spain, allowing for the existence of unobserved characteristics that affect both fertility and participation. We use a pooling of five waves of the European Household Panel for Spain (1994–1998). Results indicate that not taking into account the unobserved characteristics that affect both variables imposes on average a strong downward bias on the true effect of fertility on participation. This bias is especially strong for highly educated females. We are grateful to Raquel Carrasco and an anonymous referee for helpful comments. Financial support from Gobierno Vasco (PI-1999-160)), Ministry of Education and Science (BE2000-1394), Instituto de la Mujer and Universidad del País Vasco (UPV 00035.321-13511/2001) is gratefully acknowledged.     

Lost in intervention. The Harrod–Balassa–Samuelson effect on the peseta/dollar real exchange rate (1870–1998)

We have decomposed the peseta/dollar real exchange rate (1870–1998) into its trend and cyclical components and used the former to proxy its time-varying equilibrium. Then, we have compared changes in the equilibrium with changes in the Spanish and the USA productivity differentials to identify years that do not fit with the Harrod–Balassa–Samuelson (HBS) hypothesis. The greatest maladjustment is found in the 1940s and 1950s, decades of strong exchange rate intervention in Spain. Conversely, the link between equilibrium and differentials adjusts to the hypothesis when using the non-intervened peseta/dollar exchange rate on the Tangier black market. These contrasting results back up the idea that exchange rate intervention, so common in developing countries, might explain their scanter evidence in favour of the HBS effect.     

Evidence of different models of socially responsible HRM in Europe

Socially responsible human resource management (SR‐HRM) is becoming increasingly important for academics and managers. The interface between HRM and corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the subject of analysis in this article. It adopts a contextual perspective to analyze whether the institutional context influences the implementation of socially responsible HRM (SR‐HRM). Considering the differences in the national institutional contexts across Europe, this study explores the different models of SR‐HRM in that region. The research is focused on a sample of 153 companies headquartered in Germany, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The findings evidence the influence exerted by the national institutional context on the implementation of SR‐HRM. Differences among country clusters suggest the existence of different models of SR‐HRM in Europe. However, these models do not correspond to the blocks on HRM or on CSR identified by the literature but instead provide a novel categorization.     

Distinctive Features of Environmental Innovators: An Econometric Analysis

This paper analyzes the main determinants influencing environmental innovators (i.e. firms developing or adopting environmental innovations) in Spain with respect to non‐environmental innovators. Similarly to other contributions in the literature, our results show that Spanish environmental innovators respond to regulatory stimulus in the form of demand‐pull and technology‐push instruments. They have a high internal technological capability and combine internal and external information sources, mostly in cooperation with knowledge institutions. Environmental innovators are more concentrated in mature, traditionally highly polluting sectors, but new firms are not more environmentally innovative than incumbents. Most importantly, in contrast to other environmental innovation studies, mostly carried out in a German context, we have not found evidence of a market pull from either the domestic or international markets. Furthermore, cost savings are not found to be a distinctive driver for environmental innovators. These differential results are possibly related to the special features of Spain regarding its national innovation system and the degree of stringency of environmental regulation and environmental consciousness of its consumers. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Marketing capabilities and innovation. How do they affect the financial results of hotels?

From the point of view of firms’ managers, the knowledge of the factors which explain their firms’ financial results is considered of great usefulness to propose the most appropriate and profitable marketing strategies and actions. This research sets out from this central idea and proposes a model of relationships that considers the marketing results, the marketing capabilities, and the innovation capability as key factors for achieving good financial results. This model is verified via an empirical investigation carried out among 200 directors of hotel establishments in Andalusia, a region in the south of Spain which is one of the country's main tourist destinations. The results indicate that innovation capability is strongly conditioned by marketing capabilities and resources and that this innovation capability affects the financial results of the firms analyzed. Likewise, it is deduced that a market-oriented management philosophy contributes to the development of these marketing capabilities. The implications for management are considered very relevant as they must lead these firms to invest in the development of marketing resources and capabilities, and apply a market-oriented management philosophy if they wish to improve their financial results.     

Managerial Problem-Solving Styles: A Cross-Cultural Study

ABSTRACT

The literature suggests that North American business-people differ from their Latin American counterparts with respect to specific behavioral traits. Our particular interest is in problem solving and in effecting changes in behavior to achieve better problem-solving capability. The purpose of the present study is to assess whether there are differences in problem-solving styles between two culturally different groups of managers registered in MBA Programs: Anglo American and Latin American. Using Kolb's (1984 2006) Learning Style Inventory, it was found that Anglo American managers tended to be relatively action-oriented, “Convergers” (they emphasize decision-making and use deductive reasoning), while Latin American managers tended to be reflection-oriented, “Assimilators” (they emphasize planning and like to create models in their analyses) in their problem-solving styles. The positive and negative aspects of each style are discussed and suggestions for improved decision-making are offered.

RESUMEN. La literatura sugiere que los empresarios norteamericanos difieren de sus contrapartes latinoamericanos, en lo que atañe a ciertos trazos comportamentales específicos. Nuestro interés particular se orienta a la solución de problemas e implementación de cambios comportamentales, con el propósito de adquirir habilidades específicas para la solución de problemas. El propósito de este estudio es evaluar si existen diferencias entre los estilos empleados para solucionar problemas entre diferentes grupos culturales de gerentes matriculados en Programas MBA angloamericanos y latinoamericanos. Usando el sistema de estilos de Kolb (1984 2006) denominado Learning Style Inventory, descubrimos que los gerentes angloamericanos tienden a orientarse con bastante frecuencia en la acción, los llamados ‘Convergentes’ (que hacen hincapié en la toma de decisiones y el uso del razonamiento deductivo), mientras que los gerentes latinoamericanos tienden a volcarse a la reflexión, los llamados ‘Asimiladores’ (que hacen hincapié enplanear y les gusta crear modelos en sus análisis), como característica de sus estilos para solucionar problemas. Discutimos los aspectos positivo y negativo de cada estilo, y hacemos sugerencias para mejorar la toma de decisión.

RESUMO. A literatura sugere que os homens de negócios norte-americanos diferem de seus colegas latino-americanos em traços comportamentais específicos. Nosso interesse particular recai sobre a resolução de problemas e a introdução de mudanças de comportamento para obter uma melhor capacidade de resolução de problemas. O objetivo deste estudo é avaliar se existem diferenças nos estilos de resolução de problemas de dois grupos culturalmente diferentes de gerentes matriculados em cursos de MBA: anglo-americanos e latino-americanos. Utilizando o inventário LSI (learning style inventory) de Kolb (1984 2006), constatou-se que os gerentes anglo-americanos tendiam a ser relativamente orientados para a ação, “convergentes” (eles enfatizam a tomada de decisões e o raciocínio dedutivo), enquanto os gerentes latinoamericanos tendiam a ser orientados para a reflexão, “assimiladores” (eles enfatizam o planejamento e gostam de criar modelos em suas análises) em seus estilos de resolução de problemas. Os aspectos positivos e negativos de cada estilo são discutidos, e sugestões para melhorar a tomada de decisões são oferecidas.     

Note on the applicability of the VCG mechanism to capacitated assignment problems and extensions

For the allocation of heterogeneous items, it is known that the buyers-are-substitutes condition is necessary and sufficient to ensure that a pricing equilibrium can yield the same allocation and payments as the VCG mechanism. Furthermore, concavity of the corresponding transferable utility TU-game guarantees that this VCG outcome can also be achieved by an ascending price auction. We show that concavity, and hence the buyers-are-substitutes condition, holds for the TU-game of the assignment problem with general capacities. Therefore, the VCG mechanism is supported by a pricing equilibrium which can also be achieved by an ascending auction. We also show that the buyers-are-substitutes condition, and hence concavity, does not hold anymore for very natural and straightforward extensions of this problem. This shows that the necessity of the substitutes property is a considerable restriction on the applicability of the VCG mechanism.     

Impact of Market Orientation and ICT on the Performance of Rural Smaller Service Enterprises*

Market orientation (MO) is considered as a competitive strategy for the smaller service enterprises based in rural locations. A model is proposed and validated for the rural tourism sector that encompasses the effects of MO and of the use of information and communications technology (ICT) on business activity, taking into account the business's financial results, improvements to the rural location, and the more personal, intangible impact on the local entrepreneur. ICT is found to have a positive impact on MO and outcomes, whereas, similarly, the adoption of MO is found to have a positive effect on outcomes.     

Determinants of dining satisfaction and post-dining behavioral intentions

The purpose of this research is to empirically investigate the determinants and consequences of dining satisfaction with restaurant services. A total of 338 undergraduate business students participated in this research. Results reveal that there exist three sources of customers’ satisfaction with restaurant services: positive emotions, perceived service quality and negative emotions. Positive emotions have more impact on customers’ satisfaction than negative emotions. In addition, emotions mediate the impact of perceived service quality on dining satisfaction. Finally, satisfaction has a significant impact on recommendation, customer loyalty and willingness to pay more.