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This paper studies how the nature and shape of the relationship between inter- national diversification (ID) and performance (P) may vary according to a firm's geographical focus of internationalization. Using a sample of Spanish multinational firms for the 2004--2012 period we find an M-shaped relationship. However, significant differences are found when the different geographical foci of internationalization are considered. Strong support is found when firms adopt a regional focus (an inverted S-curve when the ID measure refers to the number of foreign countries and an M-curve when it refers to the size of the network of foreign sub- sidiaries), a biregional focus (an S-curve) and a semiglobal focus (an inverted S-curve but also an M-curve with foreign subsidiaries). These findings and their pattern suggest the critical impor- tance of the country of origin and the geographical focus of internationalization in explaining the relationship between ID--P. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyzes the dynamics, from 1998 to 2010, of the institutional cooperation network of the scientific community researching the management field in Spain through the journal Cuadernos de Economía y Direcciön de la Empresa (CEDE). Both the scientific output and the degree of centrality of each institution are measured and analyzed. The study also covers the way in which the level of betweenness centrality of the institutions involved in the network influenced the increase in scientific output during the development and progress of the academic community. Finally, the paper presents the ranking of the top 10 universities in terms of betweenness centrality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the influence of bank ownership and lending on capital structure for a sample of listed and unlisted Spanish firms in the period 2005---2012. The results suggest that bank ownership allows banks to obtain better information and reduce the agency costs of debt, as it has a positive relationship with the maturity of debt and a negative relationship with the cost of debt. These results are consistent with the predominance of the monitoring effect in bank ownership over the expropriation effect. The role of banks as shareholders and lenders also contributes to reduce agency cost of debt, as it reduces debt cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies have determined the relative importance of firm, industry, corporate, and strategic groups' effects in explaining firm profitability. Firm performance also depends on the territory where the company is located. The present paper analyzes the location effect at the regional level within a country, and the relative importance of this region effect is examined together with firm and strategic group effects. This paper offers a multilevel analysis and is applied to the Spanish hotel industry employing a cross-classified hierarchical model, because hotels are cross-classified into strategic groups and locations. The results show that the firm effect is the one that accounts for the largest proportion of performance variance, whereas the strategic group and location effects have a relevant role in explaining firm performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the effect of corporate governance on value creation. It relies upon a dataset that includes the companies listed on the Spanish Stock Exchange for the period from 2005 to 2012. Attention is focused on the structure and composition of boards. In particular, four variables are analyzed: BOARD_SIZE, BOARD_INDEPENDENCE, BOARD DILIGENCE (measured by the number of meetings), and DUALITY (chairman and chief executive officer being the same person). Over the period of the deepest economic crisis (2009---2012) the most significant variables that had a positive effect on value creation were BOARD_INDEPENDENCE and BOARD_SIZE. Hence, the global financial crisis has highlighted the need for effective corporate governance. Policy makers should think about translating the recommendations of the Good Governance Codes into legislation (mandatory), to improve corporate governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this theoretical-empirical study is to investigate the bidirectional relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance in Spanish listed companies. A complete theoretical framework - based on agency, stewardship, dependency resources, and stakeholder theories - provides the basis for the conceptual model. An important contribution is the use of a social behavioral index formed by four components: Global Reporting Initiative participation, Dow Jones Sustainability Index firm inclusion, Good Corporate Governance Recommendations compliance, and Global Compact signee. The conclusions drawn from the empirical study performed on the companies registered on the Madrid Stock Exchange demonstrate positive relationships in both directions, namely that the social is profitable and that the profitable is social, thereby originating a positive feedback virtuous circle. The results of this analysis have practical applications in the boardroom; they are proof that all social policies increment financial resources, and vice versa, that increased financial performances lead to greater social benefits. As a consequence, this paper encourages all board members to seriously weigh investing financial resources in developing policies that boost the levels of social behavior components in order to contribute globally to the improvement of society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between productivity and sourcing strategies using a sample of Spanish manufacturing firms. In this analysis we use different measures of productivity and alternative ways of grouping firms. Our results indicate that productivity differs systematically across groups of firms with different sourcing strategies. The ranking of productivities we observe is not fully consistent with the predictions of Antràs and Helpman's (2004) model but we confirm many partial aspects of the proposed ranking. In our preferred specifications, the productivity advantage is highest for firms that import inputs from foreign subsidiaries. Moreover, the group of firms that outsource in the domestic market is, in general, at the bottom of the productivity distribution, with firms that outsource abroad having an intermediate productivity advantage. When analysing the direction of causality between productivity and sourcing strategies, we find weak evidence of self-selection of firms into offshoring and no influence of relocation on firm productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a financial economic scenario in which the corporate survival of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is more conditioned than ever by competitive performance, this paper aims to show that the strategic incorporation of socially responsible actions, more concerned and engaged with stakeholders, contributes to improve the competitiveness of these organizations. Thus, the existence of a direct or mediated relationship between the development of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices and competitive performance has been analyzed from a multi-stakeholder perspective. To accomplish this task, data were collected from a sample of 481 Spanish SMEs and the technique of partial least squares (PLS) was used. Outcomes show that the development of CSR practices contributes to increase the competitive performance both directly and indirectly, through the ability of these organizations to manage their stakeholders. This study, therefore, supports the social impact hypothesis and offers evidence about some intangibles such as the relational capacity mediate the causal effect between CSR and competitive performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work adds to the debate on corporate governance regulations and its effects on performance and firm value. The paper empirically tests whether there is a significant price reaction to corporate governance announcements following the publication of the Aldama Code of Best practice (2003) in Spain. In particular, news announcements are classified according to the code principles to distinguish among different dimensions of corporate governance and have a better understanding of investors' reaction. Results show first, that investors react to this kind of practices, second, that the sign of their reaction depends crucially on the nature and extension of the recommendation and finally that firms that disclose more do not enjoy higher market prices or return on the medium-long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there is a general recognition in the literature that training improves a firm's performance, empirical research does not always provide evidence to support this effect. One possible explanation is that training does not have a direct effect on performance but an indirect effect by improving other organizational outcomes. This paper suggests that organizational learning is one of those variables and that it mediates the relationship between training and performance and that the adoption of a learning-oriented training enhances performances through its positive effect on organizational learning. Using a sample of Spanish firms we obtain empirical evidence, which supports the view that this mediating effect is present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The significantly increasing evolution of private basic research in the U.S.A., Europe and Japan suggests a strong association between the capacity for innovation and research activities aimed strictly to work at the forefront of scientific knowledge. This paper explores the possible reasons for this association using a sample of 8,416 companies in the Spanish Technology Innovation Panel. Our results show that basic research enhances the ability of firms to assimilate, integrate and enhance other businesses' knowledge, thus leading consistently to higher levels of innovation. In addition, the article suggests that the ability to exploit external knowledge can condition the business strategy when deciding to operate in certain environments with more or less developed intellectual property systems. From the standpoint of public policy, results question the support for innovation activities closer to the market to the detriment of other policies with greater capacity to address externalities related to the development of human capital, reducing the uncertainty of investments, addressing information asymmetries between agents or solving the problems inherent in accidental technology spillovers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contrast with other financial institutions in Spain, Saving Banks play a social function as well as a financial function, Considering this fact, and the limited evidence up to date, our paper aims to make an in-depth study of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)-financial performance relationship in this sector. More specifically, the main goal is to analyze such a relationship in both directions, trying to overcome the major limitations of previous studies. After employing different panel data methods (1996-2006), results showed a negative interactive relationship between CSR, measured as «obra social» -- a CSR practice that incurs a cost for the Saving Banks -- and financial performance, measured as ROA (return on assets) and ROE (return on equity). Consequently, results support the negative synergy hypothesis in Spanish Saving Banks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article studies Spanish articles on 67 covering human resource management topics in order to analyze the evolution of the research in human resource management conducted in Spain between 2001 and 2010. Our results show a strong increase in the number of Spanish articles published in the management area, and in particular in human resource management. This growth is larger than that found for the four larger European countries during the same period. This larger presence of Spanish research in human resource management journals has come together with a slight improvement in the quality of the outlets where articles have seen the light. The paper has also identified other characteristics of the research conducted by human resource management Spanish scholars during this decade, such as the predominance of quantitative analysis and the scant collaboration between researchers from different universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an explanatory regression model contrasting the existence of a direct relationship between the information concerning the social responsibility of Spanish financial entities with respect to their customers and their corporate reputation. The dependent variable of the model is an ordinal variable defined by its position in the MERCO ranking of the entities under study; the ordinal regression model is the methodology applied. The model we present constitutes a first approach to ascertain the importance that information on social responsibility has in managing corporate reputation. This aspect of management will gradually become just as important as knowledge or added value management is today. The results obtained show a direct relationship between the category of corporate reputation and the information about innovation and risk management communicated by the financial entities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at analyzing to which extent the role played by the cultural distance on the choice of entry mode is conditioned by third variables related to the investment. In particular, the potential existence of an interaction effect between the cultural distance and the host's country risk is analyzed, as well as the role of such interaction depending upon the establishment mode used by the investing firm to carry out its investment. In order to empirically test our predictions, a database of 383 foreign direct investments made by Spanish firms is used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decade of 1995-2006 is being considered a key period on Spanish economy. In this period, when one person wants to undertake a business in the retailing, the franchise appears as the most adequate commercial format. The goal of the current paper is analyse the possible influence of economics and contractual variables to make a decision to choice a franchise brand in Spain during 1995-2006. The methodology data panel has been used about 496 franchise brands. One person, who wants to open a franchisee store, do not take risk during a period of economic growth and he has not preference to sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the influence that image associations have in the perceptions and satisfaction with the Spanish bank industry. For that, the role of location, personnel, social responsibility and perceived price fairness as determinants of global impression and satisfaction with the entity is examined. Moreover, it also studies if socio-demographic variables and the fact that the client is customer of a traditional or saving bank moderate the relationships. To fill these aims, structural equation modeling is employed with a sample of 300 clients of the Spanish banking industry. Results show different paths of influence of the associations over the satisfaction. Besides, differences among segments are found, what highlights the importance of offering differentiate services in this market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foreign entry mode choice is one of the most important decisions global companies should take, given that such a decision constrain the degree of control and risk of the new venture. Regarding the specific characteristics of the franchising system, it is worth mentioning that franchisor companies can enter new markets through four different ways: i) direct franchising, ii) master franchisor; iii) joint venture; and finally, direct investment. This paper aims analyzing the factors that constrain the entry mode decision. Empirical evidences show the important role of some franchisor characteristics (franchising experience, international experience, brand awareness and type of activity - product versus service-), as well as different features of the host country (political stability, degree of corruption, cultural distance, and geographical distance). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agency theory postulates that an organization needs to achieve a balance in its organizational architecture, to develop its activities and to attain its objectives effectively. The non-profit organizations have the same requirements in their internal organization, although measurement of their efficiency is a very complex task. This paper has a twofold objective: first, to evaluate the relationship between a balanced organizational architecture and the level of efficiency and, secondly, to show that the DEA methodology is an adequate tool for measuring the efficiency of non-profit organizations. We estimate this relationship with a sample of non-governmental organizations involved in the international cooperation sector (NGO). The information was collected by means of personal interviews in 2003. The results show that NGOs with a more balanced organizational architecture have higher levels of efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents new evidence on potential risk-based explanations for the low SEO returns in the year after the issue. Specifically, we analyse whether the issue leads to a long-term higher stock liquidity that implies that SEO stocks have lower expected return due to lower exposure to liquidity risk factor. Therefore, we investigate if Spanish SEO firms experience significant changes in long-term liquidity after the issue. Results suggest that SEO-firm liquidity increases significantly in the year after the issue. Finally, we explore the post-performance of SEO firms explicitly accounting for liquidity risk. In particular, we employ the three factor model by Fama and French (1993) extended in one additional liquidity factor based on the illiquidity measure proposed by Amihud (2002). Our results show that underperformance disappears when accounting for liquidity risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper studies the influence that university stakeholders exert on their students' employability. With this purpose we use a sample of 230 Spanish university centers, where we have obtained the participation of their dean/manager. A first exploratory approach confirms the influence of the faculty and the university management team. Other more marketoriented stakeholders, such as former students and business professionals, show nevertheless a comparatively marginal influence. Reform proposals therefore need to deal with the balance of stakeholders' power, although not necessarily through structural reforms in decision making. Distinguishing various types of employability has allowed us to verify that reforms in corporate governance can generate excessively optimistic expectations. The reason is that, although all stakeholders may see employability as a global objective, each one of them can support particular strategies and not all of them, not even the most important ones. This has clearly to do with how each strategy affects the stakeholders' interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to answer the following question: What factors (and how) influence the manager's perception of the environment as a competitive opportunity? The research work has been carried out in two phases. Firstly, comparative case studies of different sectors were carried out at eight Spanish firms. This phase was meant to examine the linkages between managerial interpretation in different sectors and environmental regulation, stakeholders, sector barriers, uncertainty and resources and capabilities. Secondly, the propositions emerging from the first phase were tested using a structural equation model of 239 hotels and 208 firms affected by the IPPC law in Spain. The findings show that external and internal factors to the firm influence differently the managerial perception of the environment as a competitive opportunity depending on the sector analysed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to examine in depth the manufacturer-distributor relationships through a dyadic approach (both partners of the commercial transaction are jointly considered). So far, this approach has received little attention in marketing literature. In this context, an analysis of the influence of interdependence structure on relation between trust and satisfaction in manufacturer-distributor relationships is carried out. In this study, the hypotheses were tested through a qualitative and quantitative research in the bakery sector (Spain). The results found that the influence of interdependence structure is significantly different depending on the relationship perspective examined. Finally, several academic and managerial implications about the commercial relationships management are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies combining family business and internationalization theories are scarce. In order to bridge this gap, this paper has as its aim to study those family factors that seem to have an impact on the international commitment of these companies. From a sample of Spanish family firms, our results show that long-term vision and the presence of non-family managers are positively related to foreign entry modes involving higher international commitment. On the other hand, the importance of family financial funds before international expansion limits this commitment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many order-driven stock exchanges allow market participants to enter limit orders without fully revealing their size. In this paper, we describe the usage of these socalled hidden limit orders or iceberg orders at the Spanish Stock Exchange (SSE). We show that one out of five trades in the SSE involves hidden volume. Hidden volume is more important among the least liquid stocks. It emerges in periods of extremely high liquidity, as measured by the displayed book depth, and when impatient traders submit large-sized orders. Furthermore, we show that hidden limit order traders are momentum traders and show herding behavior. Finally, we find evidence of a weak statistically significant short-term predictability of net (buyer minus seller initiated) hidden limit orders trading over stock returns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to analyze the influence of internal and hired R&D HR on innovation, focusing on the complementary effect between those sources of knowledge exploration. To achieve this goal, we conducted an empirical research among 1,237 Spanish industrial firms. The results show that although internal and hired R&D HR have a positive individual effect on innovation, when that effect is analyzed jointly, data shows a positive net effect on innovation from certain level of internal R&D personnel that allows absorb and integrate the new external knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most common topics in recent marketing research literature is the study of market orientation, this concept being understood as a certain inclination by organisations towards improved understanding of their surroundings. Many of these studies analyse the relationship between the degree of adoption of the concept of market orientation by organisations and the results they obtain, although there have been a large number of contributions that attempt to explain how various factors of an environmental nature affect this causal relationship either negatively or positively. Thus, in line with this latest research trend, this paper analyses the role of intermediation that certain environmental variables play in the relationship between the market orientation of Spanish university marketing teachers and their results in teaching, research and university extension activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the relationship between technological capabilities and firm performance. To achieve this objective, firstly, it is proposed a typology of technological capabilities and, secondly, it is defined a model where different technological strategies and industry structure are both taken into account. The empirical test was developed in the Spanish biotechnology industry. Results show that not all technological capabilities have the same effects on firm performance, as the strategic potential of such capabilities notably depends on competitive conditions. These results justify that certain traditional evaluation criteria for resources and capabilities can be criticized, and the need of contingent views to analyze the role of technological knowledge in firm success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]