Disparities in the financial performance of agricultural entities according to the legal form: the case of Slovakia

Financial management in agricultural enterprises is affected by a range of factors that are not present in other sectors. One of the factors that affect the performance of enterprises is the legal or organizational form of the business. In Slovakia, the specific structure of farms is different from that of almost any other member state of the European Union. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the disparities in the financial performance of agricultural enterprises according to the legal form. We analysed and compared two groups of agricultural entities, agricultural cooperatives and business companies, for the period from 2005 to 2014. Based on an analysis of the differences using mathematical and statistical methods, we can conclude that the legal forms are distinguished in all monitored parameters and our hypothesis on the differences in economic performance of agricultural entities according to legal form was confirmed.     

The influence of human resource management in savings bank performance

The aim of this article was to analyse the value of human resources (HR) for competitive advantage and their influence on the firm's performance in the service industry. To achieve our goal, we have first proposed a resource-based framework to discuss the circumstances under which human resources can be a source of competitive advantage. Then, an empirical research was developed in the Spanish savings bank sector to analyse the relationship between HR management and the firm's performance. Our results, suggest that those savings banks which better combine their HR practices to create and to develop a strategic human capital pool have shown better levels of profitability and productivity.     

Road traffic injuries in Mozambique

Road traffic injuries affect the economy, health and quality of life of the people of Mozambique. Current road safety programmes are inadequate and inefficient given the magnitude of the problem. Data reported on road traffic crashes in the period 1990 to 2000 from the National Institute for Road Safety, the traffic police and the Central Hospital of Maputo were reviewed. The burden of road traffic injuries in Mozambique is rising, with at least three people killed daily. The age group most affected is 25-38 (39.35%), followed by 16-24 (20.79%). The main causes of crashes include reckless driving, drunken driving, roads with potholes, inadequate signs, lack of protection for pedestrians, and inadequate traffic law enforcement. However, the data are not adequate to reveal the true magnitude of the problem. Data collected by different sources are incomplete and not coordinated with other sources and databases. In urban areas, however, better response to crashes, treatment of the injured, reporting and data collection is attributable to a greater concentration of police and medical facilities. Road traffic safety programmes in Mozambique are inadequate and inefficient, starting with the data collection system. Improvement of injury surveillance systems is needed to help make road traffic safety a national development agenda priority and for developing and implementing road safety policies. For road safety programmes to be effective, government must facilitate stakeholders’ involvement, and the clear definition of government activities, civil society activities and public-private partnerships need to be established.     

The logic behind foreign market selection: Objective distance dimensions vs. strategic objectives and psychic distance

The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of the firm’s strategic objectives regarding the choice of countries for foreign expansion, complementing the existing literature on the internationalisation process. Through a multiple case study methodology, we conduct a comparative analysis of three Brazilian ventures that have internationalised in Italy, and three Italian firms that have internationalised in Brazil, seeking to investigate the firms’ decisions on the selection of foreign markets. We consider jointly the objective aspects of distance, the overall perceptions of the decision-makers in relation to the differences between the domestic and (potential) host countries, and the firm’s strategic objectives. This research contributes to International Business studies by revealing the role of firm-specific strategic objectives as determinants of foreign market selection, in addition to, or even on top of, the dimensions of objective distance and psychic distance.     

Institutional dynamics and organizations affecting the adoption of sustainable development in the United Kingdom and Brazil

This paper provides an exploratory comparative assessment of the institutional pressures influencing corporate social responsibility (CSR) in a developed country, UK, vs. a developing country, Brazil, based on a survey of different actors. Information on sustainability concerns, organizational strategies and mechanisms of pressure was collected through interviews with environmental regulatory agencies, financial institutions, media and non‐governmental organizations. Our results confirm that the more advanced awareness and CSR responsiveness in the UK is a consequence of a predominance of coercive and normative forces on the organizational field. The institutional forces tend to build a Brazilian organizational field that is relational based and risk intensive. The findings lend support to the view that CSR responses are unlikely to be easily transformed into uniform standardized practices across the globe. This paper contributes to a collective understanding of the organizational field and a common template for CSR in the context of developed and developing countries.     

Hungary

Statistical Annex

Hungary     

How to define an environmental policy to improve corporate sustainability in developing countries

Continual efforts to work with government and society are crucial to persuade businesses to become even better engaged in sustainability practices in developing countries. This study rebuilds the SCP (structure–conduct–performance) paradigm to incorporate environmental variables and to address the environmental strategy choices. Grounded theory was adopted in a systematic collection of data in petrochemical, textile and beverage companies established in different Brazilian states. In‐depth personal interview, site visit and documentary evidence were coded and analysed. The empirical results demonstrate that environmental regulation and enforcement, environmental risk and demands from stakeholders play a central role in increasing the corporate commitment to the natural environment. The study defines four strategic generic types of organization, termed variously as sleeper, reactor, defender and innovator, owing to their solutions to environmental issues. This typology contributes as a roadmap for business decision makers to choose the appropriate environmental strategy in a global economy. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

The Role of Commodified Celebrities in Children’s Moral Development: The Case of David Beckham

This paper presents an existentialist interpretation of the identity constituting meanings that middle‐class men and women ascribe to their bodies and their related motivations to engage in consumption activities that seek to transform their embodied selves. We begin by describing the relevance of the existential conceptualization of the embodied self to the postmodern condition of consumer culture. We apply this existential perspective to discern three dialectically structured themes drawn from phenomenological interviews with men and women across a broad age range. One emergent and unexpected finding is the extent to which these men and women expressed a constellation of common body image anxieties, thematic meanings, and self‐critical, objectifying interpretations of their bodies. Based on these findings and historical considerations, we propose that men's embodied selves are, like women's, fully inscribed in the patriarchal discourses that circulate throughout postmodern consumer culture. However, men occupy a distinct social space and, accordingly, we argue that their embodied selves are uniquely situated in a cultural model of hegemonic masculinity. We conclude that the postmodern ideal of the plastic, transformable body has become a resonant cultural metaphor through which middle‐class consumers enact their identity projects of creating a desired embodied self.     

Where do people live longer?

Can historical exposures of non-European countries to European migrants explain part of their current health outcomes? We find that higher European share of the colonial population robustly raised life expectancy and reduced both fertility and infant mortality rates of present-day population in these former colonies. Specifically, after controlling for other plausible determinants, our baseline results imply that, on average, countries at the 95th percentile of the European share of the colonial population, compared to those at the 5th percentile, live 17 years longer, have 1 less child, and experience 54 fewer infant deaths per 1000 live births. A causal interpretation is given to these results by considering various identification strategies. Overall, our results indicate that health fortunes around the world, on average, improved because of European colonial settlers and that differences in the current levels of health performance can be traced back to differential levels of European colonial settlements, where countries that experienced higher influx of colonial Europeans have better health prosperity nowadays than countries with lower inflow of colonial Europeans. A puzzlement arises, however, as countries with no colonial European settlements have outperformed countries with low colonial European settlements. Thus, explaining this phenomenon and exploring how historical migration holds such an enduring influence on the health of nations today opens up an important avenue for future research.