422 research outputs found
"Business groups and transnational capitalism in Central America: economic and political strategies", de Benedicte Bull, Fulvio Castellacci y Yuri Kasahara
Reseña del libro "Business groups and transnational capitalism in Central America: economic and political strategies", de Benedicte Bull, Fulvio Castellacci y Yuri Kasahara
Food waste reduction, corporate responsibility and national policies: evidence from Europe
PurposeThis paper investigates strategies for addressing the global challenge of food loss and waste (FLW) within the food industry. It examines the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and state regulatory interventions for reducing FLW.Design/methodology/approachThis mixed method study utilizes a unique panel dataset which includes the 150 largest food industry companies in Italy, Norway and the UK. It combines quantitative data analysis with qualitative insights derived from corporate strategies and corporate communications.FindingsThe analysis reveals that food companies with an established CSR strategy and in particular companies whose CSR reports highlight their environmental and social achievements are more likely to achieve in effective FLW reduction. Additionally, national-level regulatory interventions guided by European Union waste strategies act as pivotal benchmarks and encourage stricter corporate food waste management policies.Practical implicationsThis research underscores the significance of CSR strategies and effective state regulation in the fight against FLW and offers policymakers and businesses valuable insights enabling development of robust strategies.Social implicationsBy emphasizing the interplay between CSR and regulatory intervention, this research contributes to the achievement of a more sustainable and efficient global food system that addresses both economic and ethical concerns and could have far-reaching societal and environmental implications.Originality/valueThe paper sheds light on the interplay between CSR initiatives and regulatory interventions for tackling FLW and emphasizes their synergistic impact on sustainable practices within the food industry
Innovation in Norway in a European Perspective
This paper investigates sectoral patterns of innovation in Norway in a European perspective. It puts forward a theoretical framework based on a new sectoral taxonomy that combines manufacturing and services within the same framework. It then analyses innovative activities in Norway and compare them to other European countries by making use of data from the Fourth Community Innovation Survey (CIS4). Finally, it studies the recent evolution and current characteristics of the industrial structure in Norway and points out its peculiarities vis-a-vis other European economies. The results of this work point to a contrasting pattern. On the one hand, Norwegian sectoral systems appear to be very innovative, often above the European average and, for some of the CIS4 indicators and some of the sectoral groups, they indeed emerge as the most innovative in Europe. On the other hand, these high-tech sectoral groups are relatively small in Norway, accounting for a much lower share of production than their European counterparts. The comparative analysis enables a reassessment of the so-called Norwegian paradox. The problem is not with innovative activities, as frequently asserted, but it has rather to do with the sectoral composition of the economy.
Introduction: the emergence and evolution of business groups in Central America
Central America as a region has made world headlines mainly due to civil wars, insurgencies, and, more recently, drug-trafficking and youth gang violence. Central American enterprises are only rarely studied; even less so are the Central American conglomerates and business groups that, albeit small by Latin American and global standards, play a significant role in the region’s economies. If they are studied at all, it is mainly as supporters of repressive dictatorships or corrupt regimes, or as the incarnation of colonizers and landholders, dominating the system that is considered to be the root cause of most of Central America’s problems.
Bull, Benedicte; Castellacci, Fulvio; Kasahara, Yuri, Chapter 1: Introduction: the emergence and evolution of business groups in Central America , 2014, Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, reproduced with permission of Palgrave Macmillan'.
This extract is taken from the author's original manuscript and has not been edited. The definitive, published, version of record is available here: https://doi.org/10.1057/978113735940
Internet Use and Well-being: A Survey and a Theoretical Framework
How does Internet use affect well-being? This paper presents a survey of the literature investigating this question, and it develops a framework to analyze both positive effects and potential risks. We point out four distinct channels through which Internet can shape well-being: it changes time use patterns, creates new activities, facilitates access to information, and acts as powerful communication tool. We show how these four channels impact well-being in distinct domains of life. A central point emerging from the literature review is that the effects of Internet on well-being are mediated by a set of personal characteristics that are specific to each individual: psychological functioning, capabilities, and framing conditions (culture and beliefs). Hence, it is the interaction between human beings’ activities in distinct domains of life and their own personal characteristics that explains why the use of Internet has stronger positive effects for some individuals and social groups than others.
Castellacci, Fulvio, and Vegard Tveito. "Internet use and well-being: A survey and a theoretical framework." Research Policy 47.1 (2018): 308-325.
© 2017. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license
A taxonomy of green innovators: Empirical evidence from South Korea
This paper presents a new taxonomy of green innovators. Using firm-level data from the Korea Innovation Survey, this paper investigates different types of eco-innovations, how these relate to each other, and what their main determinants are. The empirical methodology builds on a combination of factor, cluster, and multinomial logit analysis. The taxonomy identifies four groups of green innovators: (1) carbon dioxide reducing; (2) waste-reducing; (3) recycling innovators; (4) and pollution-reducing. Research and development (R&D) policies emerge as relevant factors for enhancing innovation in waste-reducing firms, whereas environmental taxes and regulations are found to be more important drivers of technological change for pollution-reducing firms. The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, it points out the firm-specific characteristics and policy instruments that are more relevant for different types of green innovation. Second, it provides new firm-level evidence for South Korea, thus expanding the geographical scope of econometric research on green innovation, which has so far largely focused only on European countries.
Castellacci, Fulvio, and Christine Mee Lie. "A taxonomy of green innovators: Empirical evidence from South Korea." Journal of cleaner production 143 (2017): 1036-1047.
© 2016. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license
Service innovation and the proximity-concentration trade-off model of trade and FDI
This paper introduces service innovation in the proximity-concentration trade-off model of trade and FDI (Helpman, Melitz and Yeaple, 2004). The idea is that innovation will have two main effects on service firms’ choice between exports and FDI. First, innovative firms will on average have higher productivity levels than non-innovative enterprises. Secondly, innovators will have to pay a higher relational distance cost for undertaking export activities, and they will therefore prefer to avoid (or reduce) these costs by choosing a FDI strategy instead. We test the empirical relevance of this idea on a new survey dataset for a representative sample of firms in all business service sectors in Norway. The results show that firms are more likely to choose FDI rather than export the greater their productivity level and the higher the relational distance costs they face.Service sectors; innovation; export; FDI; firm heterogeneity; survey data
The internationalization of firms in the service industries: channels, determinants and sectoral patterns
The paper presents the results of a new survey on the international activities of Norwegian enterprises in the service industries. The survey focuses on three main internationalization channels: international sales, international cooperation and R&D outsourcing. The empirical analysis studies the relevance of these channels, and investigates the related strategies, objectives and determinants. International sales and collaborations emerge as the two most relevant channels, whereas the scope for R&D outsourcing seems to be far more limited. The analysis of the determinants of international activities leads to three main results: (1) the innovative capability of firms matters for their international performance; (2) the various internationalization channels seem to be complement, rather than substitute, strategies to compete in foreign markets; (3) sectoral specificities greatly affect firms’ internationalization strategies and performance.internationalization; international cooperations; R&D outsourcing; innovation; service industries; survey data
How does competition affect the relationship between innovation and productivity? Estimation of a CDM model for Norway
The paper investigates the effects of industry-level competition on firm-level innovation and productivity. We propose a refined version of the CDM model that analyses the impacts of competition on four interrelated stages of the innovation process: the choice of a firm to engage in innovation, its R&D intensity, its innovation output and labour productivity. We test the model on a firm-level panel dataset based on the last three waves of the innovation survey for Norway (CIS3, CIS4 and CIS5). The econometric results provide empirical support for the refined version of the CDM model. They show that enterprises in oligopolistic sectors have on average a greater propensity to engage in innovative activities and tend to invest a greater amount of resources in R&D. On the other hand, firms in competitive industries are characterised by a stronger impact of innovation input on their technological and economic performance.Competition; innovation; productivity; CDM model; CIS data
Innovation, diffusion and cumulative causation: changes in the Spanish growth regime, 1960-2001
This article presents a model of macroeconomic growth that combines in a single formalization two complementary views on innovation and economic growth, the technology-gap approach and the Kaldorian theory of cumulative causation. The model suggests that what matters for economic growth in the long run is the existence of a good match between the patterns of technological change, income distribution and demand growth. The model is estimated for the Spanish economy during the period 1960-2001, and the econometric results show that important changes have happened in its growth regime over time. Since the 1980s, innovation and diffusion of new technologies provide with a greater stimulus to productivity growth, but the technology push on the supply-side is not sustained by the prevailing patterns of income distribution and demand growth.Innovation; diffusion; cumulative causation; economic growth
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