BUSCADOR RECOLECTA

Managers and policymakers often encourage mergers and acquisitions of companies with the aim of increasing the productivity of the involved firms. However, problems with the measurement of productivity change usually occur when analyzing companies that merged during the period under consideration: while only individual predecessor firms exist in the base period, in the following period only the integrated company is observable. We therefore propose a new adaptation of the Malmquist index that is appropriate in the presence of mergers, which also allows for a detailed analysis of their effects on productivity change. Moreover, we believe that our methodological approach provides a useful widely applicable tool to identify the contribution of past mergers to productivity growth. We illustrate our merger consistent productivity decomposition, by using a sample of Japanese water supply systems observed in 2003, and the resulting consolidated and non-consolidated systems observed in 2009. On average, we find that mergers contributed positively to productivity change and that our merger consistent decomposition contributes to a better understanding of the determinants of productivity performance in the Japanese water sector., Pablo Arocena acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (project ECO2017-86054-C3-2-R). Takuya Urakami acknowledges financial support from JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research(C) Grant Number 17K03738. Michael Zschille acknowledges support from DIW Berlin - German Institute for Economic Research, Germany where research on the paper was also conducted.

Objetivo – El artículo analiza cómo la orientación emprendedora y el control familiar de la empresa influyen en el desempeño de las empresas con bajo rendimiento y cómo contribuyen a su recuperación económica. Diseño/metodología/enfoque – Testamos nuestras hipótesis utilizando una muestra única y representativa de 1,500 pequeñas empresas españolas en industrias de fabricación y servicios de alta y media tecnología. Dada la naturaleza de nuestra variable dependiente, estimamos una serie de modelos de regresión para probar nuestras hipótesis. Además, consideramos dos términos de interacción donde la variable de las empresas de bajo rendimiento interactúa con las empresas familiares y la orientación emprendedora. Hallazgos – Los resultados de nuestros análisis muestran que las empresas con mayor orientación emprendedora y cuya propiedad sea familiar aumentan, por separado, el rendimiento posterior de las empresas, especialmente para las de bajo rendimiento. Originalidad/valor – El estudio contribuye a expandir la literatura sobre las empresas con bajo rendimiento al analizar cómo los factores estratégicos y estructurales impactan en el desempeño de las empresas que enfrentan una recesión económica. También brinda orientación a los profesionales sobre la decisión y los contextos que mejor sirven para la recuperación económica de las empresas con bajo rendimiento., Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse how entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and the family control of the company influence the performance of underachieving firms and how they contribute to economic recovery. Design/methodology/approach: The authors test the authors’ predictions on a unique and representative sample of 1,500 Spanish small firms in high and medium technology manufacturing and service industries. Given the nature of the dependent variable, the authors estimate a series of regression models to test the hypotheses. In addition, the authors consider two interaction terms where the underperforming firms’ variable is interacted with family firms and EO. Findings: The results of analyses show that both EO and family ownership separately increase subsequent performance for underachieving firms. Originality/value: The study contributes to expand the literature on underperforming firms analysing how strategic and structural factors affect the performance of firms that face an economic downturn. It also provides some guidance for practitioners on the decision and contexts that better serve the economic recovery of underperforming firms., The authors acknowledge the support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) through projects ECO2017-86305-C4-4-R (AEI/FEDER, UE), ECO2017-86054-C3-1-R (AEI/FEDER, UE) and ECO2017-86054-C3-2-R (AEI/FEDER, UE).

In this paper, we quantify the effects of an increase in the public provision of health services in a set of 12 emerging economies (i.e., Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, India, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, Russia, South Africa and Tunisia), representing 45% of world population in 2018. We use a computable general equilibrium model and simulate an increase in the real government expenditure devoted to public health services up to a 20% of total government expenditure, which is also assumed to raise labour productivity. This increase leads to expansionary effects in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) and employment for all the economies under analysis and an increase in the ratio of government deficit to GDP, ranging between 3.66 points for Russia and 0.24 points for Colombia. If, in addition, direct tax rates on labour are increased to offset this result, the effects on GDP and employment become contractionary in most cases; whereas if indirect tax rates are those to be increased, small expansionary effects are again the norm with the only exception of Russia., This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, through the projects ECO2016-78422-R and ECO2017-86054-C3-2-R, as well as from the University of Castilla-La Mancha through the project 2020-GRIN-29041, co-financed by the European Union via the European Regional Development Fund.

Purpose: this study aims to provide a better understanding of the behaviour of wine consumers in a completely new and unexpected setting, that is, a forced lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It seeks to explain consumer decisions and the probability of changes occurring in wine expenditure compared to a normal situation. Design/methodology/approach: the empirical analysis, conducted on a representative sample of Iberian consumers and based on the random utility theory, consists in the application of a multinomial logit model, setting the 'usual' pattern of expenditure as a baseline category. Findings: the results show that the coronavirus pandemic could have changed alcohol drinking habits. Consumers generally spent less on wine during the lockdown, maybe due to the uncertainty regarding their future income and professional situation. Those people more likely to spend more on wine were those who increased their wine consumption during the lockdown, those who drank for romantic purposes, those who purchased less wine in supermarkets but more online, those who used a wine app and those living in urban areas. The increased consumption of other alcoholic beverages also increases the probability of spending less than usual on wine. Additionally, the absence of certain reasons for drinking wine other than social purposes, such as wine and food pairing, its taste and relaxing effects, together with the previous consumption pattern leads to a decrease in the probability of spending less per bottle. Originality/value: This paper makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the determinants of wine consumption in a very abnormal setting, an imposed lockdown and provides important policy implications. The findings show that managers and policymakers should pay attention to the different influence of variables related to behaviour and consumption patterns that may contribute to an increase in the demand for less expensive wines. Specifically, they should focus on new consumption patterns that may arise, adapting the supply chain and defining appropriate marketing strategies to fill new market segments., Financial support from Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad ECO2017-86054-C3-2-R; CT – Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology - UIDB/SOC/04011/2020 and FEDER – Interreg SUDOE, VINCI – Wine, Innovation and International Competitiveness - SA069G18; and partially funded by the ERDF-Interreg SUDOE Project SOE3/P2/F0917, VINCI (Wine, Innovation and International Competitiveness), the Ministry of Science and Innovation of the Spanish Government (project PGC2018-095529-B-I00) and by the Department of Science, Innovation and Universities of the Government of Aragon (Research Group S55_20R).

Purpose: This article aims to analyze individual-, organizational- and country-level factors that determine the use of home-based telework across Europe according to the technology acceptance model (TAM) and the technology–organization–environment model. Design/methodology/approach: To examine the impact of individual-, organizational- and country-level factors on telework, multilevel models are estimated to prevent problems derived from biased standard errors when micro- and macro-level data are combined. Findings: The main findings show that, according to the usefulness side of the TAM, employees with family responsibilities, those that live away from their work and highly qualified workers use more home-based telework. Additionally, and according to the ease of use side of the TAM, empowerment in firms facilitates home-based telework. At the country level, lower power distance, individualism and femininity, better telework regulations and technology developments are also facilitators of home-based telework. Research limitations/implications: The study is limited by the cross-sectional nature of the data. This prevents the estimation of causal effects. Additional research would benefit from the use of panel data and from a more detailed analysis of the effects of country dimensions. Practical implications: From an applied perspective, politics related to cultural dimensions are suggested to stimulate home-based telework. Originality/value: The research contributes to previous literature by: (1) considering a large sample to conduct an empirical analysis of the use of home-based telework across Europe, (2) including micro and macro factors, (3) providing a theoretical framework to explain home-based telework, (4) applying a rigorous definition of home-based telework and (5) focusing on employees who are able to adopt home-based telework., The authors wish to thank Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) for financing provided (ECO2017-86305-C4-4-R) and (ECO2017-86054-C3-2-R).

This paper analyses how firms' human capital influences their investments in occupational health and safety (OHS). We argue that the incentive to protect workers by investing in OHS is a function of the stock of human capital. The empirical analysis was based on data from the official Working Conditions Spanish Survey on OHS management. Our sample was restricted to 1,472 firms from the manufacturing and construction industries. Our results show that firms that place more emphasis on training and have a multiskilled and innovative workforce invest more in OHS. However, having technological and design skills has no impact on the investment in OHS, presumably because these skills are widely available in the labour market. Finally, the analysis suggests that some abilities such as problem solving may be affected by informational asymmetries and therefore firms may suboptimally invest in protecting these capabilities., Spanish Ministerio de Educación, Ciencia y Cultura, Grant/Award Number: ECO2017-86054-C3-2-R

Research on innovation management has pointed out that the capitalization of collaborative innovation practices is influenced by firms' internal context. This paper aims to answer the following question: which organizational factors help to overcome the challenges that firms face in the different phases of the collaborative innovation process? For this purpose, previous literature is revised and three case studies are analyzed by means of applying a framework that structures the collaborative innovation process in three areas of relevance (i.e., development, integration and commercialization of the innovation). The results of the analysis inform the proposal of a theoretical framework that identifies the organizational context factors that determine the success or failure of collaborative innovation practices in each of the stages of the process., Cristina Bayona-Saez and Paula Anzola-Roman thank the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities for its financial support obtained through the project ECO2017-86054-C3-2-R. Teresa Garcia-Marco also thanks the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities for its financial support granted through the project ECO2017-86305-C4-4-R.

Aim of study: this study aims to analyse how psychological factors related to the Covid-19 lockdown affected the frequency of wine consumption among Iberian consumers. Area of study: to achieve this goal, we used data collected from an online survey in Europe comprising 4489 observations from Portuguese and Spanish samples. Material and methods: Using an ordered probit model, we analysed the wine consumption frequency as a function of a set of explanatory variables related to psychological factors and also sociodemographic variables, motivation-related variables and consumption characterisation. Main results: for Spanish respondents the fear of isolation was a decisive factor in increasing the probability of a higher frequency of wine consumption. Meanwhile, in Portugal, the fear of an economic crisis was the psychological factor leading to a higher consumption frequency. Research highlights: in both countries, psychological factors influenced the frequency of wine consumption during the lockdown due to Covid-19. However, the impact of the Covid-19 crisis has been felt differently in Spain and Portugal. Differences can be observed in both psychological and behavioural attitudes that have influenced the frequency of wine consumption and could also indicate significant cultural differences., FEDER – Interreg SUDOE, VINCI – Wine, Innovation and International Competitiveness SOE3/P2/F0917; FCT – Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology UIDB/SOC/04011/2020; Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, Spain ECO2017-86054-C3-2-R; PGC2018-095529-B-I00; European Social Fund and the Government of Aragon Research Group S55_20R

This study measures the effects of digitalization related to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) investment on employment and other economic variables according to firms' ownership. We present two computable general equilibrium models (with full employment and with unemployment) which differentiate two types of firms: National and foreign multinationals (MNEs). Both types of firms allow for the substitution between labour and ICT capital. We conclude that ICT investments significantly create jobs and raise real wages, GDP and welfare. The aggregate positive effects are stronger for ICT investment in national firms than in foreign MNEs although the sign of some sectoral effects can be negative. We also analyze the role of wage flexibility in this context, with the most favorable results related to scenarios where wages are more rigid for both cases, when investors are national firms or foreign MNEs. The model is applied to the case of Spain, a country with a high unemployment rate where ICT investment has been large since the mid 1990s., The authors acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, through the projects ECO2013-46954-C3-1-R and ECO2017-86054-C3-2-R (A. G. Gómez-Plana) and ECO2013-41317-R and ECO2016-78422-R (M.C. Latorre).

We analyse the global effects from the austerity policies recently implemented in the EU, by developing an extension of the GTAP general equilibrium model. The extended model incorporates a new specification of the trade balance (i.e. endogenous), the labour market (i.e. unemployment under a wage curve framework) and the public sector (i.e. split from the representative national agent, with endogenous expenditure and savings). Three alternative policies aimed to get a one percentage point reduction in the EU’s government deficit to GDP ratio are simulated, and their effects on the main macroeconomic variables of seven regions of the world economy are examined. The three policy measures led to contractionary effects on the EU’s activity levels, together with changes in income distribution, always detrimental to labour. The effects on the rest of the world, driven by changes in trade flows, were, however, mostly negligible., University of Castilla-La Mancha and European Regional Development Fund, Grant/Award Number: 2019-GRIN-26952; Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, Grant/Award Number: ECO2016-78422-R and ECO2017-86054-C3-2-R

This paper proposes a directional distance model for efficient resource allocation when there is a centralized
decision maker who oversees all units. The model is designed to allocate grants from an upper-tier government to
the municipalities under its jurisdiction. Local governments employ the grants together with levied local taxes to
provide services to their citizens. The objective of our formulation is to optimize grants allocation across municipalities taking into account efficiency, effectiveness and horizontal fiscal equity criteria. The model easily
allows the setting of alternative priorities of the central decision maker, thus permitting quantification of the
trade-off between the potential increase in the provision of local services and its associated cost. The model is
applied to the allocation of current grants in the autonomous community of Navarre in northern Spain., The authors acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the European Regional
Development Fund (AEI/FEDER, European Union), research projects
ECO2016-76681-R and ECO2017-86054-C3-2-R.

En este artículo se estima el tamaño de la economía sumergida en una región española (Navarra) para el período 1986-2016. Se han empleado métodos macroeconométricos indirectos, como el enfoque de Demanda de efectivo, dos métodos de Consumo de electricidad (inputs físicos) y el enfoque de Múltiples Indicadores y Múltiples Causas (MIMIC). Una característica diferencial del análisis empírico es la incorporación de varias innovaciones metodológicas (por ejemplo, el promediado bayesiano de modelos, un modelo de parámetros que varían en el tiempo, o la normalización de la variable latente) para refinar y aumentar la precisión de medición de cada uno de los métodos indirectos considerados. El patrón temporal del tamaño de la economía sumergida que surge de los diferentes enfoques es similar, lo que sugiere que las estimaciones obtenidas son sólidas y capturan la dinámica subyacente del sector oculto. Después de cuantificar la economía sumergida, se analizan sus determinantes mediante técnicas de promediado bayesiano de modelos. Encontramos que la evolución de la economía sumergida en Navarra puede explicarse por un conjunto pequeño y robusto de factores: la carga fiscal, el empleo en el sector de la construcción, la tasa de inflación, la pertenencia a la zona euro y la ratio del efectivo fuera de los bancos en relación a M1., This article estimates the size of the shadow economy in a Spanish region (Navarre) for the period 1986-2016. To this end, we employ indirect macro-econometric methods such as the Currency Demand approach, Electricity Consumption (Physical Input) methods and the multiple indicators multiple causes (MIMIC) approach. A differential feature of our empirical analysis is that we incorporate various methodological innovations (e. g. Bayesian Model Averaging, a Time-Varying Parameter model, normalization of the latent variable) to refne and increase the measurement accuracy of each of the indirect methods considered. The temporal pattern of the shadow economy’s size that emerges from the different approaches is similar, which suggests that the estimates obtained are robust and capture the underlying dynamics of the hidden sector. After quantifying the shadow economy, we analyze its determinants by means of Bayesian Model Averaging techniques. We find that the evolution of the shadow economy in Navarre can be explained by a small and robust set of factors, specifcally the tax burden, the share of employment in the construction sector, the infation rate, euro area membership and the ratio of currency outside the banks to M1., The authors acknowledge financial support from: the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the European Regional Development Fund (AEI/FEDER, EU), research projects ECO2016-76681-R and ECO2017-86054-C3-2-R; the Grant PID2020-114460GB-C32 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033; the OTRI contract 2018903071 funded by Hacienda Foral Navarra.

This paper analyzes the impact of adopting the ISO 14001 standard on firm environmental and economic performance. In particular, it is argued that the degree of environmental awareness of the society (EAS) and firm size are two factors moderating the effect of ISO 14001 on firm performance. A number of hypotheses are formulated and empirically tested on an international sample of 583 listed companies in 46 countries over the period of 2009–2018. The findings show that (i) ISO 14001 adoption contributes to reducing firm carbon emission intensity and increasing firm profitability; (ii) the impact of ISO14001 on profitability is greater for companies from countries with high EAS and for larger firms; and (iii) the impact of ISO 14001 on carbon intensity is greater for headquartered in countries with low EAS. Managerial and policy implications resulting from the widespread adoption of certifiable environmental standards are also discussed., Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Spain) and the European Regional Development Fund, Grant/Award Numbers: ECO2017‐86054‐C3‐2‐R, ECO2017‐86305‐C4‐4‐R (AEI/FEDER, EU).

En este trabajo se analizan los efectos de una reducción de las cotizaciones sociales a cargo de los empresarios, acompañada o no de un incremento en los tipos de los impuestos indirectos, utilizando la metodología del equilibrio general aplicado en el marco de un modelo multipaís. Los resultados muestran que un descenso de un 10 por 100 en las cotizaciones sociales se traduciría en unos incrementos moderados en los niveles del PIB y empleo de la economía española, con una reducción de la tasa de desempleo de aproximadamente medio punto. Los efectos serían cuantitativamente menores si la reducción de las cotizaciones sociales viene acompañada de un incremento en la imposición indirecta. Cuando la reducción de cotizaciones sociales se lleva a cabo en la UE-14, sus efectos sobre la economía española solamente son significativos, aunque de pequeña magnitud, en el caso de plena movilidad internacional de factores productivos., In this paper, we analyse the effects of a decrease in social contributions paid by employers, either accompanied or not by an increase in the rates of indirect taxes, using the methodology of computable general equilibrium in the context of a multicountry model. The results show that a 10 por 100 fall in social contributions would result in moderate increases in the levels of GDP and employment ofthe Spanish economy, with a reduction in the unemployment rateof about half a point. The effects would be quantitatively smaller if the fall in social contributions is accompanied of an increase in indirect taxes. When the fall in social contributions is performed in the EU-14, its effectson the Spanish economy are only significant, albeit of a small amount, in the case of full international mobility of the productive factors., Los autores agradecen la financiación recibida del Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad, a través de los proyectos ECO2016-78422-R (O. Bajo) y ECO2017-86054-C3-2-R (A. Gómez), cofinanciados por el FEDER.