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The growth of digital technologies in the economy has created new opportunities for entrepreneurs and organisations (Berman, 2012). The digital world environment, supported by technological devices (e.g., mobile computing) and social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, Instagram), has opened new ways to create new digital business models and media channels (Vasconcelos & Rua, 2021; Ciasullo & Lim, 2022; Miháldinecz & Rua, 2022; Rodrigues et al., 2022). Multinational organisations, but also small companies, do all or most of their business on the web (e.g., Google, Amazon, Facebook) (Capatina & Rancati, 2017; Jeansson et al., 2017; Pinto & Silva, 2019). The unique characteristics of digital technologies have provided entrepreneurs and organisations with many tools that can be used to innovate and create new ventures (Berawi et al., 2020). For example, open innovation and crowdsourcing facilitate co-creation and customer feedback in the development of new products, services, websites or applications (Gassmann et al., 2010; Musiello-Neto et al., 2022; Rua et al., 2023). Similarly, crowdfunding platforms (e.g. Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Go Fund Me) have made it easier and faster to finance a social or business project (Bernardino & Freitas Santos, 2020). Because of the internet, new digital business models (e.g. freemium, subscription, on-demand, affiliate, drop shipping, consulting, advertising, blogging, digital media) exist and could be used to sell products and/or services. In addition, business models (features and value of offerings) would continue to evolve even after launch due to competition and environmental changes. Digital entrepreneurship is the practice of pursuing new venture opportunities offered by new media on internet technologies (Antonizzi & Smuts, 2020). Therefore, entrepreneurs and organisations in a digital economy need to be aware of market opportunities to develop new ideas and business models and communicate their value propositions to potential customers and investors (Nambisan, 2016). This special issue aims to contribute to the growing body of knowledge on the digital economy, while addressing the question of how entrepreneurs and organisations are dealing with an increasingly digital world. The papers in this special issue present research findings from a variety of contexts. In the first article, Silva, Moutinho and Paço examine the relationships between entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship policies and e-commerce. In the article, the authors aim to analyse whether entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship are antecedents of e-commerce, as well as the bidirectional relationship between e-commerce and entrepreneurship. The study focuses on a panel of two European regions, Scandinavia (Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland) and Iberia (Portugal and Spain), between 2012 and 2020. The relevance of the groups studied is enhanced by the fact that they are culturally different and have different perspectives on the growth of e-commerce. The authors use an econometric analysis of the data based on Panel Corrected Standard Errors models. The study developed by the authors shows a bi-directional causality between entrepreneurship based on the creation of new firms and entrepreneurship based on surviving firms and e-commerce. The study also shows that R&D-based intrapreneurship is a driver of e-commerce. The second article, by Silva, Lima and Teixeira, examines the use of sales technology by salespeople as a source of information and stimulus for intrapreneurship. They find that salespeople's use of sales technology has positive effects on the firm's information system and, subsequently, on salespeople's intrapreneurial behaviour (strategic renewal and venture behaviour). The authors also suggest that the firm's information system plays a mediating role between salespeople's use of technology and their strategic renewal and venture behaviour. In the third article, based on social support theory and technology acceptance models, Makmor, Alam, Masukujjaman, Makhbul, Ali, and Mamun examine the factors determining purchase intention on social commerce sites. Using a detailed purchase intention model, the authors analyse the responses obtained from 392 questionnaires distributed in Malaysia, using partial least squares structural equation modelling. The research provides new contributions to the understanding of factors that can influence consumer purchase intention, highlighting the important role of consumer trust in the online context, as well as social support (both in the form of emotional and informational support), which are related to the technology acceptance model and purchase intention. The fourth article, developed by Bernardino, Freitas Santos and Silva, explores the personal network linkages of social entrepreneurs and the use of social media platforms to examine whether they bring more resources to the social organisation. A conceptual model is developed based on a review of the literature. Structural equation modelling is used to test the hypotheses on a sample of 313 Portuguese social organisations. They find that social entrepreneurs’ network linkages have a direct (via stakeholders) and an indirect (via social media use) effect on the resource acquisition process. Overall, their work demonstrates the strong role of personal networks as a potential determinant of resource acquisition for Portuguese social organisations. Finally, in the fifth paper, Katrin Kizilkan aims to expand knowledge about the entrepreneurial finance landscape and digital platforms in the context of entrepreneurs' social media communication behaviour. Based on signalling theory, Schulz von Thun's communication theory and social capital theory, the article assesses the main success determinants in the behaviour of crowdfunders. In the article, the author develops several hypotheses that are tested using a multivariate approach based on logistic regression. The data was collected from 169 campaigns available on the largest rewards-based crowdfunding platform in Germany (Startnext). The research conducted by Katrin reveals the success factors of a crowdfunding campaign in terms of the behaviour of the entrepreneur and the characteristics that social entrepreneurs should pay special attention to when designing a crowdfunding campaign. The results highlight the importance of quality signals to reduce information asymmetries. The article offers practical recommendations to entrepreneurs on how to run a successful campaign in the digital context, and in particular how to use social media effectively in the context of a reward-based crowdfunding campaign. Overall, each of the papers provides new insights into the challenges of the digital economy for entrepreneurship and organisations, incorporating a variety of theoretical perspectives and research designs, demonstrating the promise of different approaches to inform research on the digital economy. Indeed, the digital age brings new opportunities for the way businesses are developed, which could be exploited by both entrepreneurs and organisations.

The significance of tourism in the development of regions has become of interest to academics in recent decades and its contribution is evident. The rapid tourism development is creating pressure on the destination’s competitiveness, as well as on its sustainable development. The Tatra Euroregion has been connecting two nationalities for decades via joint activities that develop the region by strengthening tourism. However, little attention is given to developing the Euroregion by way of tourism. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to identify whether the development of tourism in this Euroregion will be sustainable in the future, which can be fulfilled by answering two research questions, RQ1: What is the current state of tourism development in the Tatra Euroregion? and RQ2: Is the further development of tourism in the Tatra Euroregion subject to the principle of sustainability? We will answer the questions by analysing statistical data and documents that describe the cooperation activities within the Euroregion. The paper contributes to the analysis of cross-border cooperation within the Euroregion, as well as to research in the field of regional development with sustainable tourism, which is determined by the life cycle of the destination.

The European Commission has recently launched a proposal for a Directive to promote repair. In this paper we critically analyse the drafting process in order to understand the resulting policy options. We consider that although the ambition of the Directive was low from the beginning given the limited policy options, it became even worse during the consultation period. The selection of barriers to repair was limited, and manufacturers pushed for a narrow and closed form of Right-to-Repair (R2R) that transferred all control over the potentially emerging repair market to them. Some information measures were proposed so as to increase transparency, potentially increasing the administrative burden on independent repairers, along with measures to encourage repair when under legal guarantee. This Directive fails to promote repair or help independent repairers overcome access barriers, nor does it allow member states to go beyond the limits imposed in the Directive itself.

The paper provides an in-depth analysis of profitability in Spain between 1995 and 2014, showing that behind the asset-price inflation of the growth period and its corresponding macroeconomic imbalances, an underlying problem of capital valorization can be found. For this purpose, a study of various measures of profitability is carried out based on the concept of productive labor and highlighting the role of finance (interest rates and indebtedness). The evolution of the profit rate in previous years is also shown , together with a comparison with countries in the Eurozone, both in the most advanced areas and in the periphery. The paper reveals the large extent of the underlying profitability crisis, with a huge fall of profit rates from the late sixties, during the period of the housing boom, and throughout the subsequent recession. In addition, this drop in profitability stands out in relation to other economies of the European periphery. Hence, the study puts the rate of profit at the center of the debate on the Great Recession in Spain, despite its absence in much of the economic literature.

This paper is an analytical-empirical review of the evolution of Spanish Business Schools and how they have been affected by the accreditation system. This system has made it possible for the Spanish Business Schools to rank among the best (10 of them are in the World top-25 and 4 have been accredited with the triple crown, which is the highest distinction). However, it has also led to the denaturalization of the Business Schools (B-Schools), which have been “devoured” by the Schools of Economics and Business at universities. In addition, the accreditation system has entailed an increase in costs (opportunity, marginal, sunk costs and so on). An explanation of the Spanish B-Schools paradox is offered in the article: the more accreditations achieved, the more difficult it is to maintain them, due to contradictions in the compliance regulation and to the difficulty in updating academic programmes since their success and assimilation into the welfare state economy is a risk for B-Schools and their adaptation to digital economy. Finally, the paper gives some keys to correct the problem detected and thus to adapt B-Schools to the emerging wellbeing economics, a new stage of the digital economy.

This paper deals with the determinants of education-job match for higher-education graduates, using a logistic regression model to identify explanatory variables related to sociodemographic, academic trajectory and institutional characteristics. The empirical analysis is based on an anonymous online questionnaire administered to a sample of graduates, from 2014 to 2019, in Portuguese institutions, of which about five hundred observations were made. Although the boundaries between universities and polytechnics are less obvious today, there are still some differences between the two higher-education subsystems regarding education-job match. The main ones are related to the field of study, gender, and the need to move away from home to study and work. Factors that improve the probability of education-job matching, common to both subsystems, were also found, such as having i) studied ‘social sciences, commerce, and law’ and ‘engineering, manufacturing and construction’, ii) attained good final grades, and iii) participated in extracurricular activities involving complementary training.

This paper focuses on the relationship between the regional firm density and the growth of firms in the Portuguese textile and clothing industry to investigate how their geographic clustering influences said growth. Despite the concentration of this industry in the Northern region of Portugal in only four poles, our results show that the location of firms in the cluster is not relevant for growth when the whole industry is considered. However, disaggregate analysis shows that the clothing industry does exhibit both location externalities and cross-location effect, while textile manufacture exhibits neither. In addition, our empirical evidence reveals that the growth of firms located in the cluster is positively correlated with external finance. This result suggests that location becomes a solvency signal for firms, and, specifically, this might help to explain why textile manufacturers firms are located in the cluster. These findings are relevant for entrepreneurs and Portuguese policymakers, as it jeopardizes the optimal allocation of scarce resources in the Portuguese textile cluster.

Intangible assets (IAs) are fundamental for the creation of firm value. However, the literature is inconclusive regarding the relationship between IAs and profitability. This paper uses financial data from Colombian firms from 2005 to 2015 to determine if this relationship exists. Thirty dynamic panel models have been used to see whether IAs are related to Return on Equity, Return on Assets, Earnings Before Interest and Taxes, Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization, Gross margin, and Net margin. The results, despite a limited sample size and missing variables, are related to the literature in that they signal the negative relationship between IAs and profitability. Thus, the capitalized value of IAs seems to negatively affect Colombian firms' performance in the short and long term.

The paper examines the concept of path dependency in policies, and seeks to examine how different pathways emerge in policy and how these change over time. It does so with reference to a case study of regional innovation policy development in Wales (UK) over a period of more than thirty years. Building on recent developments in regional studies and economic geography the paper considers whether path dependency is an inevitable feature of the policy process at the regional level. Drawing on documentary analysis and interviews with policy makers, it finds that policy decisions taken early on in the path creation phase (to support technological innovation) endure despite attempts to broaden out the pathway to a more inclusive form of innovation policy in Wales. While path dependency, most evident in core technological and R&D policy instruments, hasn’t prevented path experimentation, the findings suggest that rigidity and renewal co-exist in policies and the policy process for regional innovation over time. The findings contribute towards the growing focus on the temporal dynamics of policy change at the regional level and the complexity of policy as it seeks to address the challenge of innovation in less developed regions.

The purpose of the study is to identify trends and future models for the innovative development of Russian Federation. Paper deals with the innovative development of the leading countries of world economic growth. Particular attention is given to «neoindustrialization» of economically developed countries and innovative nature of clustering of economic space. The modern factors of global competitiveness and economic content of the innovative transformation of the economy is specified. Theoretical approaches and tendencies of innovative transformation of economy are proved. The authors identified scientific, technological, production, spatial-territorial and institutionalmarket aspects of innovative transformation. Paper includes the differentiation of the States-leaders of industrial production in the context of key indicators of global competitiveness. The transformation model of innovative economy formation is presented, the indicators of global competitiveness of the Russian Federation are considered. The authors propose structural and logical scheme of innovative transformation of the national economic system of the Russian Federation is developed. A graphic interpretation of the transformation of the economic system of the territory under the influence of innovative development is proposed.

Crimes related to sexual abuse or rape provoke great social mobilizations, as happened with the gang called “la manada”. How the aftermath of the social mobilizations and socioeconomic factors influence the perception of security and the perception of justice, measured as judiciary decisions, are the aims of this paper. A randomized sample collected in two waves was obtained (N=605). The first one (N1=454) was performed after the judicial sentence of the case. A second wave (N2=151) was performed four months later, after the social alarm decreased. The perception of security increased after the peak moments of social mobilizations. The trust in justice was low and decreased after the social mobilizations. The perception of justice was higher among higher income levels. The perception of security decreases during the social mobilizations but it improves in a short period of time. The effects on the perception of justice last for a longer period.

In recent years, Greece experiences a very intensive financial crisis that -as it is expectedhas important effects on the primary sector. ? new form of entrepreneurship for Greece, contract farming, appeared the last years. A successful case study of contract farming in Greece is between the large enterprise “ATHENIAN BREWERY” and the producersmembers of two agricultural cooperatives of Northern Greece. The main aim of this paper is to examine the process of contract farming through agricultural cooperatives. Specifically, this paper investigates the production process of malted barley through contracts of members of the cooperative of Epanomi and the cooperative of Trilofos, in the Prefecture of Thessaloniki (Northern Greece) and the private firm “ATHENIAN BREWERY”. Using a structured questionnaire that it was distributed in 132 producers- members of the agricultural cooperative of Epanomi or Trilofoss it was examined the advantages and the disadvantages of this form of cooperation for both growers-members of these two cooperatives and the private firm. Moreover, it was investigated the role of agricultural cooperatives in the process of contract farming. The results reveal that the most important benefit for the growers is to ensure availability of the products in a predetermined price. The most important benefit for “ATHENIAN BREWERY” is a better production plan which ensures a certain quantity and quality of raw materials. The role of both cooperatives is determinative as it guarantees the safety of the process for both contracting parties.

A transformación do mix eléctrico nas últimas décadas foi un dos piares fundamentais da estratexia empresarial no sector enerxético. Tendo en conta as enormes diferenzas entre países, a escasa conexión eléctrica europea e o grao de concentración empresarial, avalíase a evolución en 6 países europeos. O presente estudo realiza unha análise descritiva desta transformación, tendo en conta a evolución de diversas variables cuantitativas no sector. As evolucións son dispares, baseadas moitas veces en realidades estatais diferentes. A mesma estrutura do sector, dende mercados liberalizados e teoricamente en competencia con outros regulados e baseados en campións nacionais como grandes empresas eléctricas que controlan boa parte do sector impide realidades semellantes, malia que a regulación europea trata de homologar a realidade continental para o sector. Do mesmo xeito, as transformacións internacionais teñen un impacto determinante na toma de decisións semellantes do sector, malia que moitas veces con estratexias dispares. En particular, a redución do consumo de fuel oil para a produción e a introdución de novas tecnoloxías renovables son procesos comúns por múltiples empresas. O presente traballo trata tamén de realizar un estudo comparativo, dende unha perspectiva rexional, dunha importante empresa eléctrica como Unión Fenosa con parte da contorna europea nos anos de vida da compañía, entre 1982 e 2007. The transformation of the electricity mix in the past decades has become one of the cornerstones of business strategies in the energy industry. Whilst weighing the considerable differences among countries, the scarce electricity connection in Europe and the degree of existing business clusters, the evolution is assessed in six European countries. This paper aims to offer a descriptive analysis of such changes, bearing in mind the evolution of various quantitative variables in the industry. Progress is unalike, frequently based on different state circumstances. The mere structure of the industry, from liberalized markets theoretically competing against other regulated ones which are national leaders as big electrical companies controlling a huge share of the industry, presents similar circumstances despite the fact that European regulations aims to standardize conditions throughout the continent in the industry. Likewise, international transformations have a fundamental impact on similar decision-making processes in the industry, even though these might often result in different strategies. In particular, a reduction of fuel oil comsumption encouraging the production and introduction of renewable technologies are common processes for several companies. This paper also aims to present a regional comparative study between an electricity provider as important as Unión Fenosa and the European zone during the years the company has existed, ie, between 1982 and 2007

This paper investigates the impact of using benchmark-adjusted alphas to assess the performance of small market mutual funds, investing in domestic and European equities. For the 2000-2020 period, our results show that fund benchmarks exhibit significantly negative alphas, which lead to an underestimation of mutual fund performance when employing standard models. As a result, benchmark-adjusted alphas are significantly higher than unadjusted alphas for both fund categories, though differences are larger for domestic than for European funds. We also find that the impact of the benchmark-adjustment procedure depends on market states. The domestic (European) benchmark exhibits considerably lower (higher) alphas during crisis than during non-crisis periods. During market crises, differences between pre- and post-adjustment alphas are statistically significant only for domestic funds, whereas during non-crisis periods both fund categories exhibit significant performance improvements. Our findings suggest that the benchmark-adjustment procedure has a higher impact when benchmark indices exhibit higher concentration.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the health, economy, and social sectors, and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) worldwide, including in Indonesia. This paper examines the use of social media and e-commerce with an entrepreneurial orientation to enhance the business performance of MSMEs. The study should serve as a model for improving the quality of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in the Jambi Province, in Indonesia. The research employs quantitative and qualitative approaches. The latter method employs in-depth interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs), and observation, whereas the former uses the partial least squares method (PLS). The findings and discussions conclude that social media adoption positively affected the performance and entrepreneurial orientation of MSMEs during the said period. Similarly, e-commerce positively affected the performance and entrepreneurial orientation of MSMEs. Entrepreneurialism and social media adoption had a significant impact on the performance of MSMEs, and due to its entrepreneurial orientation, e-commerce influenced the performance of MSMEs

This paper investigates the validity of the Fisher Hypothesis in Turkey covering the period 2003 – 2012. To test validity of Fisher Hypothesis, this paper uses an Autoregressive Distributed Lag test for threshold cointegration recently introduced in the literature by Li and Lee (2010). The empirical results which are obtained from this paper indicate that Fisher hypothesis is valid for Turkey, meaning nominal interest rates would be an important leading indicator for inflation.

This paper tries to engage the economic and political debate around the proposition of a basic income grant (BIG) in Côte d’Ivoire. We simulate the economic wide and distributional impact of a universal basic income grant (BIG) in Cote d’Ivoire. How the BIG is financed is investigated. We use a microsimulated computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to analyze the effects of a universal basic income grant on the economy and on households. The model is performed using a Côte d’Ivoire’s 2003 social accounting matrix (SAM) based on the 1998 household survey composed of 4,200 households, and 2003 national accounts data. The paper uses a value added tax (VAT) financing approach to provide a reasonable feasible scenario, as we are all consumers. The results suggest that the macroeconomic impacts of the basic income grant are a powerful social protection tool in fighting poverty and inequality towards a welfare state.

The European Union has responded to the financial crisis by taking measures to stabilize the financial system and to promote economic growth in the Member States. In the audit field, in 2010 the document Green Paper Audit Policy: Lessons from the Crisis, shows the intention of the European Commission to assume an international leadership in auditing , promoting cooperation within the Financial Stability Board and the G-20. This document was followed by the European Parliament resolution of 13 September 2011 on Audit Policy: Lessons from the Crisis, a new Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2006/43/EC and also a new Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and Council on the specific requirements regarding statutory audit of public-interest entities. This paper highlights the visibility that the European Commission has given to the auditors' work. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to discuss the audit regulatory model introduced in Europe. Our paper shows that European regulation intends to reach a greater control over auditing activity. Our paper provides some thoughts on whether such regulation will improve the quality of auditing.

This paper analyzes the dynamics of innovation in a wine local system, emphasizing the paper of the regulatory organisms of Protected Designations of Origin (PDO) that guard over the protection of his singularity, as an important element of the local innovation system. Across his paper in the innovation it tries to be analyzed in that measured the collective action developed by PDO represents a response adapted to the competitive requirements raised to produtive local systems for process of globalization and scientific-technological revolution that crosses the wine industry. From this perspective, we want to research if the accomplishment of an Inquiry of Identification of Technological Needs can suppose an effective instrument for the strategic orientation of relations of cooperation between local actors, that it strengthens the competitive capacities of PDO. The central core of this empirical analysis is based on an in quiry between cellars of the PDO "Rías Baixas" (Galicia, Spain).

The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship between inequality and the equivalent dispo- sable income available at a regional level and to contrast the type of relationship between two variables in the developed world in the context of a standard neoclassical growth model. In this paper we will estimate a panel data model using the method of OLS fixed effects, and also analyze the possible existence of spatial autocorrelation in the model and the need for implementation of spatial models. A novel contribution is estimated by a semiparametric analysis, which allows conditional no Relational function. Semiparametric analysis, unlike the nonparametric analysis, allows the introduction of other variables by a linear function defined as the initial inequality, population density, employment in various sectors (industry mix), transfers, etc. This application of the semiparametric analysis is a relevant contribution to the study, since it is still a novel technique for the study of inequality.

It is frequent to find an intensive use of Living Conditions Surveys in socio-economic literature, with the intention of studying income size distributions characteristics and obtaining social indicators, as inequality and poverty indexes for instance. First of all an concerning with this, this paper shows singular divergences between the aggregated information provided by these surveys about households incomes and the provided one by Spanish Regional Accounts. Additionally, magnitudes of divergences have been quantified. Secondly and looking for help to understand how these divergences could influence those indicators, size income distributions characteristics have been analyzed in relation to characteristics of households and recipients. Finally and based on observed, this paper consider the possibility of correcting micro-data in order to obtain better indicators that inform more realistically about reality. Consequently, a flexible elemental correction method has been proposed, immediately applied to survey ́s micro-data and its results analyzed. Analysis show that corrected data seems to mitigate some of deficiencies originally detected in data.

The concept of rationality is crucial in economics. Different notions of rationality have accompanied its long journey, from that implied in classical economics to those proposed by neoclassical theory since 1870s. The paper also discusses the meaning of rationality in rational choice theory, the contributions of Simon on "bounded rationality" and the different lines of research of experimental economics, behavioural economics and neuronomics. During this long journey the literature has underlined the existence of several problems, some of which can be so summarised: is it possible to consider scientifically satisfactory a theory that moves from assumptions, like those on the behaviour of utility, whose validity cannot be empirically verified?, is the description of human psychology implied by the different versions of the neoclassical theory acceptable?, is it possible to overlook the influence of social interactions on individual choice?, is it possible to overlook that it may be not adequate or convenient to examine the working of the whole economic system as the sum of the behaviour of the individual agents? The paper argues that these problems have not yet found a satisfactory solution and that it may be convenient to go back to the contributions of Keynes, Sraffa and Myrdal during the 1920s and 1930s to develop adequate and competent answers.

Affordability concept became relevant along last decade in housing economics litera-ture and strongly after 2007 with the credit crunch shock. The multiplicity of focuses used in af-fordability analysis as well as the different concepts used to analyze difficulties faced by house-holds entering to housing market, lead to the appearance of a number of definitions and measu-res not always consistent. This paper contains a literature review about housing affordability. The aim is to give a structure of concepts explaining what affordability is understood and show how it is measured. The second part of the paper estimates some affordability ratios for Spain and discusses some relationship with business cycle.

This paper examines the systemic risk reaction of banks' stocks negotiated in the Spanish stock market to Mortgage Backed Securities. We use an event study methodology for securitization registration and issue dates from 1993 to 2010. The paper provides empirical evi-dence that securitization has a positive impact on the increase of Spanish bank's systematic risk on the days following the registration and issue dates.

The trajectory of the Spanish housing policy has shaped the current housing system and it shows its non-neutrality in its effects on tenure or on the redistribution of wealth. In Spain, the usual scheme of housing intervention is far from those policies implemented by its European neighbours, possibly due to a different conceptualization regarding the responsibilities assumed by the welfare state. Spanish housing policy has tended to stimulate new construction with a double objective, to promote homeownership as a priority form of tenure and to stimulate the real estate sector as a catalyst for economic growth. This strategy has not happened in Europe where the concept of social housing, public and affordable, has become firmly established in the housing schemes.The aim of this article is two-folded: on the one hand, once the Spanish Wel-fare State is characterised and having identified the main tools of housing policy in Spain over the years, the paper aims to determine both negative and positive effects of the implementation of housing policy in the Spanish housing system. On the other, the paper will point out the re-maining challenges in this field providing an alternative path to achieve them.

LESSONS FROM DE DEBT CRISES. THE NEED FOR A NEW APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF FIRM LEVERAGE Abstract: One of the crucial aspects of the current crisis is the excessive leverage taken on board by the different agents working in the economy. This accumulation of debt is now all too evident and its pernicious effects are being analysed in a multitude of studies. During the expan-sive cycle, neither institutions nor academics warned of the unravelling scenario and its possible consequences. Hence, the recent crisis sh*ould lead us to speculate whether or not the financial leverage in system has been dealt with adequately, or even properly understood. This paper describes previous theoretical approaches to decision taking for capital structure and suggests a new focus which integrates all of them. The second part of the paper investigates the evolution of companies¿ banking debt in Spain for the period 2000 to 2009 and compares this evolution with that of other European countries (in particular Portugal, Italy, France and Germany).

Digitisation is a phenomenon that inevitably affects companies and economies. Consequently, the virtual market seems an excellent alternative for aspiring entrepreneurs. Recent statistics precisely point to accelerated growth of e-commerce. Indeed, this and entrepreneurship are business tools that allow a new dynamic in the market. However, recent research has barely explored the relationship between entrepreneurship and e-commerce, so this study contributes to the literature by filling the gap. In light of the above, this study has used several indicators from two groups of countries, namely Scandinavia, in broad terms (Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland), and Iberia (Portugal and Spain) from the years 2012 to 2020. The Panel Corrected Standard Errors models have been used for the econometric treatment of the data. The findings confirm the bidirectional causality between entrepreneurship and e-commerce. In addition, from a widerperspective of entrepreneurship, the paper also reveals that intrapreneurship based on Research and Development (R&D) is an e-commerce driver. Therefore, this study opens up a new discussion and provides relevant support for the theoretical framework and a valuable contribution to the scarce literature on the relationship between entrepreneurship and e-commerce.

Crowdfunding is a popular approach for entrepreneurs to obtain financial support and has therefore gained importance in the literature and practice in recent years. The communication behavior of starters that lead to the success of a campaign will be summarized and expanded by new findings. As a theoretical added value, this article offers the first attempt to transfer communication theories to the field of reward-based crowdfunding to reveal success determinants in crowdfunders user behavior. The purpose of this paper is to give practical recommendations to starters on how to run a campaign successfully and, more generally, on how they can make full use of social media. By analyzing the dataset of crowdfunding campaigns from Startnext, the largest German-speaking reward-based crowdfunding platform, new success factors are identified using multivariate analysis methods. The results show that social media can offer significant value for businesspeople in terms of marketing if it is used strategically and frequently.

This paper sets out to analyse and present trends in agriculture sector performance in Mozambique for the period 2000 – 2013 (with particular attention paid to the last three to four years of the said period). In the quest to attain this aim the paper empirically focuses on the significance of charting the performance of the sector against the baseline sectoral performance targets enlisted in the PNISA, CAADP Framework and SADC RISDP. There are ten key performance indicators that the paper delves ascertain the performance of the agriculture sector. The performance of this sector is pivotal because in Mozambique the agriculture sector is vital for economic development (contributes more than 20% to the GDP) also in meeting the Millennium Development Goal I (MDG I). The trend analysis led to the following main findings; the growth in agricultural GDP and the annual GDP growth of the country surpassed the CAADP target of 6% annual growth despite the fact that Government of Mozambique has vehemently failed to substantially invest in the agriculture sector to meet the CAADP 10% target of the total budget to agriculture. Agriculture productivity (land and labour productivity) in Mozambique is quite low, it is even lower than the average of the Low-Income countries in the region henceforth, the country has however been struggling to meet the agriculture production performance indicators. This is noted by the country's failure to meet both the SADC RISDP and Abuja Declaration fertilizer use targets of 50kg/ha and 65kg/ha respectively and the failure to meet the SADC RISDP irrigation target of doubling the area under irrigation to 7%. Consequently the country has failed to meet the SADC RISDP cereal production target of 2000kg/ha. The analysis also depict that the country has failed to meet the SADC RISDP livestock annual growth target of 4%. The implications of these failures have a significant bearing on the country's battle to offset poverty; the country's GHI is still alarming and the proportion of the population below the minimum dietary energy consumption is still high (41% on average) whilst the MDG I target stands at 28%. The major deduction from these findings is that there is a need for more concerted efforts in Mozambique to increase and refine agricultural growth investments; this can be carried out efficiently operationalising the PNISA to achieve the PEDSA, SADC RISDP and CAADP objectives.

This paper uses time series data from 1960 to 2012 to evaluate the long-run relationship between aggregate money supply and changes in the general price level (inflation) for a selected group of countries with historically stable prices and episodes of very high inflation. Recent paradigmatic shifts from exchange-rate-based stabilization policies to conditionalities involving price stability have greatly influenced the empirical work of this paper. Empirical results indicate that the money supply and inflation are cointegrated in some countries with high spells of inflation, such as Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico, but that the variables may not be cointegrated with each other for countries with prices that are generally and historically stable, such as the UK and the US. The paper highlights the need for good quality governance, employment, and productivity in surveillance measures that are designed to obtain external balance.

Zombie companies can be classified as being nonprofitable, having low productivity and being ten years old or over; these businesses continue to exist due to the support of banks and governments. This paper aims to understand the impact of these types of firms on the investment, employment growth and labour productivity of healthy companies from the wholesale and retail trade and the hospitality sector during the period 2011-2018. The data obtained indicate that the prevalence of zombie companies in Portugal (in the sectors under study) is higher in periods of economic crisis and that most of them are old and large companies, especially in the hotel industry sector. By using panel data models with fixed effects, our investigation concludes that zombie firms negatively affect how healthy companies are run, because they reduce the latter’s investment expenditure and workforce productivity.

Despite decades of European financial stimulation for cross-border projects, the attention for cross-border cooperation (CBC) is still volatile. The focus on CBC has been fluctuating for decades, depending on political and economic trends among other aspects. Irrespective of that, it remains difficult to encourage citizens in the Dutch-German borderland to engage in cross-border working and living. Without commitment among citizens at grassroots level, CBC will primarily remain an enjoyable pastime for the euroregional elite. Based on scientific debates on border studies, this paper highlights CBC by reflecting on border-related policy. By way of illustration, this research will zoom in on the northern Meuse-Rhine Euroregion, one of the Dutch-German Euroregions. Based on some contemplations on Dutch-German cooperation in recent decades, this article concludes with some action-oriented principles for CBC which could contribute to strengthening its impact.

This paper studies the dynamics and trends in processes of mergers and acquisitions in a highly competitive and global economic environment. The aim of this study is to analyse and divide into periods M&A agreements in the global economy. The study produces a precise definition and discusses benefits and drawbacks of such horizontal and vertical agreements. The authors discuss historical waves of mergers and acquisitions processes and present 11 individual periods containing special aspects and description of types of the agreements, as well as supplement the periods with COVID-19 pandemic flow for 2020-2021. A polynomial regression analysis is used to predict the mechanism, results and magnitude of mergers and acquisitions. Furthermore, a discrete time model enables studying behaviour pattern of mergers and acquisitions happened during 2009-2020. The results demonstrate that transnational companies are greatly attributed to economic growth through mergers and acquisitions despite their rather high preparation and implementation costs. It may be expected an escalation of capital redistribution among pharmaceutical and bioengineering companies in a post-pandemic period due to increased M&A agreements.

On October 18th, 2019, the European Vie Francigene Association (AEVF) unanimously approved the Via Francigena in southern Italy, from Rome to Santa Maria di Leuca. The new route enriches the historical cultural itinerary approved by the Council of Europe in 1994. Encompassing about 900 km of history, traditions and locations, the “Via Francigena del Sud” crosses five Italian regions. This paper focuses on the Via Francigena in Puglia and Campania, seen as an opportunity to conserve and enhance the regions’ cultural and landscape heritage and its enjoyment by tourists. Furthermore, it also aims to analyse the role of local businesses, communities and regional organisations in promoting the routes. Any project focusing on the development and enhancement of a cultural itinerary in a rural space must be fully aware of the connections between places and networks of human relationships, and the “Via Francigena del Sud” seems to be no exception.

In a recession such as COVID-19 pandemic with important consequences in the labour market, it is important to design policies that really address factors behind the employment loss for each demographic subgroup. The aim of this paper is to decompose and identify these factors for each demographic group, comparing the effects of the Great Recession with the COVID-19 pandemic. Although segregation was saving job loss for young and female workers in the Great Recession, these groups were concentrated in the most affected sectors during the COVID-19, increasing their job loss. However, a policy which just focuses on recovering employment from these sectors will not solve the employment problems behind young workers since they are being used as reserved workers fired in the downturn and hired in the upturns. We attempt to measure also the effect of Expediente de Regularización de Empleo Temporal (ERTE) subsidies on employment.

In this paper we present a forecast of the impact of measures to stem Covid-19 on the Spanish economy at a highly disaggregate level, using input-output techniques. Our estimations cover the period 2020-2021, and we consider two scenarios depending on the possibility of a second wave of massive infections in the autumn of 2020. In 2020, the lockdown of the population and the shutdown of a large part of the production system for several weeks are a supply-side shock that will be followed by a demand-side shock whose impact is expected to be even larger. In 2021 there will be some recovery, although we believe that it will not be sufficient for offsetting the initial negative shock. al negative shock.

This paper investigates the pattern of COVID-19 contagion in Portuguese municipalities from March 23rd to April 5th (the exponential phase). We have recurred to spatial autocorrelation models to discuss how the conglomeration of highly infectious spaces has also contributed to infecting neighbouring municipalities. We have used several indicators for the contagion of COVID-19 from the number of infectious individuals to rates of infectious. As explicative variables, additionally to spatial proximity, we also considered population density, the share of the elderly population as well as the length of municipal perimeter/border. Our results show that highly dense municipalities tended to contaminate close areas. Lengthier perimeters also showed a positive effect on the contagious indicators for a given municipality.

This paper deals with the case of Portugal from 2003 to 2017 and investigates the effect of a negative impact of its unem-ployment rate on the creation of new homes, together with the time that their creation is affected by the worsening of general economic conditions. To this end, this study uses a vector autoregressive model (VAR) in which many endogenous and exog-enous variables have been included that, according to the literature reviewed, will have a direct impact on creating new homes. The results show that the unemployment rate is the variable which more effectively explains the creation of new households, strengthening the relationship between the economic situation and other social variables, such as personal emancipation. In addition, the impact of such a perpetual shock on the unemployment rate continues to influence the build-ing of new homes throughout the two following years, when the situation returns to its initial levels.

Science and technology parks are considered an essential tool of the Regional Innovation System. For this reason, this paper analyzes the business financial and innovation features of the companies based in science and technology parks in the GaliciaNorthern Portugal Euroregion. Companies based in Galician parks are older and larger in terms of turnover and employment, while there are more companies based in Portugal providing intensive services in high-tech skills and exportation. The level of patents is low for both of them.

Tourism is the main source of wealth for many regions. These make their territory available to the tourist industry for the creation of infrastructures and facilities for tourist services. The peculiarities of the tourist product favor the appearance of intermediaries outside the destination, who compete to obtain a part of tourism spending, largely by the hand of new technologies, detracting resources to the destination that could be aimed at improving their growth and wellness. In the present paper, we use tourist data from the Canary Islands destination, covering the years 2006-2017, to study the share of the total tourist expenditure paid directly to the service provider in the destination, identifying their determinant variables and the evolution along of the studied years. The results show that the percentage of expenditure at the destination is affected by economic, sociodemographic, travel-related characteristics and with the ICT use but, ceteris paribus, this percentage is systematically decreasing over time, even when new technologies are used in the process of buying holidays.

The company’s social responsibility, also called corporate social responsibility (CSR), is considered a key strategic factor in management. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the existing relationships between the CSR principles and the profitability of companies in the construction sector in Galicia. To this end, a review of the concept of CSR and its evolution is made; then, an analysis of the relationship between CSR and business results for Galician companies of the construction sector is carried out; finally, quantitative indicators are developed to evaluate the management and performance of the company and the theoretical approaches are compared with the results obtained through econometric modeling for a sample of 100 companies. This comparative analysis is done through return on assets (ROA,) or economic profitability, and return on equity (ROE), or financial profitability. We conclude that there is a positive relationship between financial returns and CSR, so the latter is consolidated as a source of competitive advantage.

In the past 10 years, there has been an absolute paradigm shift in the tourist accommodation sector worldwide. Apart from conventional accommodation, new forms of accommodation known as vacation rentals have appeared in the context of collaborative consumption. The objective of this paper is to analyze this new phenomenon, its origin, the causes of its growth and the consequences derived from it, such as gentrification and mass tourism, finally providing some possible solutions for them.

Nas últimas décadas a xeración de residuos converteuse nun dos principais problemas medioambientais debido ao impacto que exerce unha incorrecta xestión dos mesmos sobre o medio natural. Perante este contexto, foise propagando unha maior preocupación ambiental na que a redución do volume de residuos é a súa principal premisa. No caso da Unión Europea (UE), o obxectivo da lexislación en materia de xestión de residuos centrouse na prevención e na reciclaxe para tender cara un crecemento económico moito máis sostible. Porén, e malia os logros acadados, é necesario seguir avanzando nesta liña xa que moitos membros, especialmente, os do Sur de Europa, aínda se afastan dos obxectivos propostos para 2020. Por iso, o obxectivo deste traballo é aplicar unha metodoloxía Análise de Ciclo de vida Input-Output (EIO-LCA nas súas siglas en inglés) para analizar o volume e tipoloxía de residuos xerados directa e indirectamente en cada elo da cadea de subministros das actividades económicas de España e Portugal. In recent decades waste generation has become one of the main environmental problems due to the impact that an incorrect management exerts on nature. Consequently, a greater environmental awareness has been spreading so that waste reduction has become its main premise. In the case of the European Union (EU), the aim of the waste legislation is based on prevention and recycling towards a more sustainable economic growth. However, despite the achievements, it is necessary to continue advancing in this line since many Members, especially those from Southern Europe, are still far away from the 2020 objectives. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to apply an Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Analysis (EIO-LCA) to analyze the volume and type of waste generated directly and indirectly in each link of the supply chain of the economic activities in Spain and Portugal.

Neste traballo respóndese á seguinte pregunta Por que no período: 2004-2014, reduciuse a pobreza rural en Colombia, se a concentración do ingreso rural non baixou? Para respondela, faise unha análise das taxas de crecemento das series de crecemento do ingreso rural, distribución do ingreso rural, pobreza rural, o coeficiente de Gini do ingreso e poboación rural. Logo de responder á anterior pregunta, faise unha descrición do impacto da diminución da pobreza rural no período estudado, sobre algunhas das variables de calidade de vida da poboación rural, para concluír que estas foron febles. Analízase ademais a influencia do desenvolvemento económico sobre a diminución da pobreza. Abstract. In this paper, the following question is answered: Why in the study period 2004-2014, Colombian rural poverty decreased, even if rural income shares did not change? In order to do so, an analysis of growth rates of some economic series is done, such as: rural income growth, rural income shares, rural poverty, Gini coefficient of income and rural population. After, possible impacts of the decreasing rural poverty on some quality of life variables of Colombian rural population are described, finally concluding them to be feeble. Besides, the influence of economic development on poverty reduction is analyzed.

As investigacións iniciadas nos anos 60 que tentan determinar o impacto económico dos portos nas economías da súa hinterland fóronse depurando, e as metodoloxías foron converxendo ata permitir realizar comparacións entre uns portos e outros. No sistema portuario español leváronse a cabo importantes estudos de impacto económico e, entre eles, destaca o do porto de Ferrol-San Cibrao, tanto polo carácter pioneiro como pola diversidade de enfoques, como polas metodoloxías que se utilizaron para a súa determinación. Neste traballo, considéranse os estudos máis relevantes e, para o caso do porto de Ferrol-San Cibrao, harmonízanse os datos ao ano de referencia 2016 a través dos coeficientes deflatores do PIB, e realízase unha análise comparativa con respecto aos portos estatais de características semellantes. The research initiated in the 60s in an atempt to determine the economic impact of ports in the economies of their hinterland have been refined, and the methodologies have been converging to allow comparisons between ports. In the Spanish port system, important economic impact studies have been carried out, including the port of Ferrol-San Cibrao, both for its pioneering nature and for the diversity of approaches and methodologies that have been used for its determination. In this paper, the most relevant studies are analyzed, the data are harmonized to the reference year 2016 through the deflator coefficients of the GDP, and a comparison is made in relation to the similar characteristic state ports.

Purpose – This study aims to determine the export competitiveness of the Social Economy in Andalusia, this is carried out by quantifying the export competitiveness of the internationalized enterprises of the Social Economy in the export sector of the region. Design/methodology/approach – The strengths and weaknesses of this business sector are quantified and the Rasch´s Probability. It is a model used to measure the latent variable called export competitiveness, which is defined by items (factors): size, cooperation, number of target markets, competitive advantages, years abroad and percentage of sales abroad. The article provides empirical evidence of 362 Andalusian export enterprises. Findings – The results show that the export competitiveness of social enterprises reflected their strengths as compared with other SMEs. Originality/value – This concept paper empirically combines two different fields of knowledge (design and behavior of companies) in the construction of the foreign trade. This work standardizes the treatment of two descriptors scarcely discussed in the literature: Social Enterprises and Export.

The main purpose of this paper is to empirically explore the characteristics of the cheese sector that lead businesses in Greece to profitability. It is also important to evaluate the impact of the current economic crisis on the economic performance of cheese enterprises. This study uses a panel data set that come from balance sheets and income statements of almost 100 companies operating in the cheese sector for the period 2006 to 2011. The first results show that during this economic crisis period, the profitability of cheese businesses has been affected adversely. Moreover, the smaller sized businesses are presenting the most significant efficiency and profitability losses.

This paper inspects the influence of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows on the catching up process developed by labour, physical capital, human capital, absorptive capacity, telecommunications investment, and export channel on Asia Pacific's sustainable productivity growth. A panel data from the period of 1970 to 2012 was used. The modified extensive growth theory model that is based on output approach was applied. Both growth accounting and econometric approaches were considered to estimating the parameters of variables in first step and in the second step productivity indicators were calculated. The results show that the FDI inflows and inputs used are input driven that was generally more predominant than total factor productivity (TFP) growth. Meanwhile, The GDP grew significantly during the periods of the study by development of human capital, export, and telecommunications investment (input driven) variables, which supported by FDI inflows. Accordingly, the impact of export channel on the TFP growth found to be positive with insignificant contribution in most the group selected countries.

The aim of this paper is to estimate the future trend of the Basque population´s mortality focusing on its improvement for the period 1991-2013 for which the study is validable. The research involves the use of a two-stage stochastic model graduation, for which we add two contributions. On the one hand, supervised initial information will help in forecasting the ageing of Basque Country´s population under Solvency II guidelines. On the other hand, when estimating, a variant is included in the extension of the calendar time´s parameter using a logarithmic-linear regression, rather than the known "random walk with drift".

This paper presents an analysis of photovoltaics comes in Galicia from the point of view of profitability. A highly significant in explaining the high profitability of the shareholders of the solar PV plant predictive model containing two variables, principal components thereof, and worked.