Country-of-Origin Effect in International Trade

Due to the globalization tendency, the companies are faced with the situation of responding to identical or increasingly similar needs that evolve in the same direction on different markets. However, at the same time, within the new markets, the companies are confronted with the situation of their products’ rejection due to the fact that the physical or economic access of the consumers to the product, the purchasing behaviour, the consume characteristics and the manner in which consumers can dispose of the product, greatly depend on the culture of each country. This article presents the basic elements of the country-of-origin effect. First, it presents the characteristic of this effect. Secondly, it analyzes the forms in which the country-of-origin effect can have for different specialists or different fields of research. This effect can be called the “prism effect” for the global management, “the made-in principle” for marketing management or “country’s brand” for marketers. Thirdly, the present study analyzes the causes which determine the appearance of this effect. There can be social, economic, environmental, development causes but the most important factor of the country-of-origin effect represents the cultural issues. The fourth part consists of a personal analysis of the causes of the problem, and the fifth presents some ways to overcome a negative effect. In conclusion, we suggest that international companies must pay special attention in analyzing the prism effect of their products on the new market in order to adjust certain perceptions by an adequate marketing.country-of-origin effect, stereotype, international management

The COVID-19 Lockdown Effect on the Intention to Purchase Sustainable Brands

After the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 pandemic on 11 March 2020, almost all European countries entered a lockdown. This context caused sudden changes at multiple levels, affecting the way people were working, buying, studying and even the way they were interacting. Moreover, during lockdown people showed a special attention to local and sustainable brands giving momentum to the interest on sustainability, that has been increasing in the last years. Therefore, this study aims to determine the intention of buying sustainable and local brands due to the COVID-19 lockdown. An online survey was conducted for two groups of young adults from Spain and Romania, between April and June 2020. The questionnaire respects the methodological recommendations of Azjen (1985) and related literature on how to construct a survey based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and it aims to gather information about the three main constructs that determine the individual’s behavioral intention: attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control. The results suggest that both Spanish and Romanian samples intended to buy more local and sustainable brands, despite the slightly different attitudes. Moreover, the data show that both subjective norms and perceived behavioral control influence attitudes toward sustainable and local brands, and hence, indirectly the intention to buy sustainable products. The outcomes are adding to the literature on sustainability, and understanding the effects of COVID- 19 on consumer behavior. Additionally, the results can help better understand the importance of sustainability in Spain and Romania, and therefore, offering support to practitioners in building policies and programs that encourage a sustainable lifestyle.Economí

Deliver Smart, Not More! Building Economically Sustainable Competitiveness on the Ground of High Agri-Food Trade Specialization in the EU

Competitiveness has always been a multifaceted illusive concept, which has made it a real challenge for scholars and practitioners to find the most suitable measurement tools to completely encapsulate all the complex nuances of competitiveness. This becomes even more of a challenge when approached in relation to particular economic sectors. The agri-food sector is no exception, especially when considering all its interconnections with the other sectors: water, energy, transport, waste. All of them impact the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Similarly, scholars have been debating the meaning of sustainability for decades, some even arguing that it is a political, subjective, and, in some cases, self-contradictory concept. As far as the sustainability of agricultural competitiveness is concerned, the literature is still developing. It is much more focused on fostering environmental competitiveness, and less attention was paid to the strategies designed to capitalize on sustainable economic competitiveness—a concept that has attracted divergent opinions in the literature, mainly due to ambiguity. Thus, instead of falling into the pitfall of vagueness, this paper was aimed at bringing its contribution to this field by undertaking the research objective of exploring a single facet of sustainable agricultural competitiveness: the economic facet. Hence, this paper proposes the construction of the sustainable economic competitiveness index (SECI) with direct application for agri-food value chains. It consists of three attributes: (a) factor endowments, resource independence; (b) agricultural chain performance; and (c) national agricultural chain strategies and policies. In this study, SECI was tested against the cereal chain for a selection of EU countries, based on the data taken over from FAOSTAT and INTRACEN Trade Map, in the case of the 2011–2020 period. Various statistical and econometric methods were used to test the robustness of SECI. Results stand as proof that building sustainable agricultural economic competitiveness relies on a mix of strategic actions. The key vector in this mix is that trade flow patterns and policies must be calibrated in accordance with national factor endowments in order to achieve high levels of SECI. To add more managerial implications, this paper argues for the smart delivery of agri-food products with high added value instead of focusing on exporting big volumes of raw agricultural materials with little added value.The APC was funded by the authors. Juan Sapena acknowledges the financial supportof Grant PID2020-114646RB-C42 funded by MCIN-AEI/10.13039/501100011033. Juan Sapena andAndreea Apetrei are also indebted to the “Christeyns” Chair for Sustainable Economic Developmentfor its specific funding of their research.Economí

Caractérisation fonctionnelle de variations faux-sens dans le gène du récepteur sensible au calcium (CASR)

International audienc

The COVID-19 Lockdown Effect on the Intention to Purchase Sustainable Brands

After the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 pandemic on 11 March 2020, almost all European countries entered a lockdown. This context caused sudden changes at multiple levels, affecting the way people were working, buying, studying and even the way they were interacting. Moreover, during lockdown people showed a special attention to local and sustainable brands giving momentum to the interest on sustainability, that has been increasing in the last years. Therefore, this study aims to determine the intention of buying sustainable and local brands due to the COVID-19 lockdown. An online survey was conducted for two groups of young adults from Spain and Romania, between April and June 2020. The questionnaire respects the methodological recommendations of Azjen (1985) and related literature on how to construct a survey based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and it aims to gather information about the three main constructs that determine the individual’s behavioral intention: attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control. The results suggest that both Spanish and Romanian samples intended to buy more local and sustainable brands, despite the slightly different attitudes. Moreover, the data show that both subjective norms and perceived behavioral control influence attitudes toward sustainable and local brands, and hence, indirectly the intention to buy sustainable products. The outcomes are adding to the literature on sustainability, and understanding the effects of COVID-19 on consumer behavior. Additionally, the results can help better understand the importance of sustainability in Spain and Romania, and therefore, offering support to practitioners in building policies and programs that encourage a sustainable lifestyle

Sustainability Matter and Financial Performance of Companies

The relationship between social and environmental performance and financial performance in companies has been a subject widely debated in the literature but the results obtained to date are not conclusive. This research employs the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and offers new evidence on the relationship between both types of performance in a sample of companies listed in the Spanish capital market. Financial performance is measured by the return on equity (ROE) ratio, variable that is widely used in Finance and Accounting related research. The corporate performance of the company is measured by its inclusion or not in the sustainability index used as reference for the Spanish capital market, the FTSEGood4 IBEX. The model also incorporates other business variables that might affect the relationships between both types of performance, such as return on assets (ROA) ratio, company size, debt ratio, and industry. The results suggest that, for specific industries, return on assets is a necessary condition for companies with leverage to reduce the cost of debt due to their sustainability profile and consequently boost their ROE

MITIGATING FINANCIAL RISK BY USING HEDGING STRATEGIES

Financial derivatives are now widely used by corporations to manage exposure to currency, interest rate, and commodity price risks. The motivation for non-financial firms to engage in corporate hedging is one of the most intensively discussed topics in corporate finance research. Recent financial theory suggests that there are several ways through which corporate hedging can increase firm value in the sense of the maximization of shareholder value. A rich body of literature consists of studies that have empirically investigated the theoretical explanations for corporate hedging, literature that presents rather mixed evidence for the drivers of corporate hedging. This paper investigates the effects of hedging activity on non-financial firm value and how operational hedging is related to and differentiated by financial hedging, by providing an extensive overview and synthesis of the existing literature

INNOVATION AND TRENDS IN CRM-CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

In the context of an economy placed on ”fast mode”, how a company can stay in line with an accelerated trend of entrepreneurial innovation and change and how a company can approach the customers’ management? In order to facilitate the companies’ activity on the market and preserve customer relationship, recent technological innovations created management systems based on three key activities: gathering customer information, information dissemination in the organization and information use for product and service innovation and improvement. The present paper tries to provide an answer to the above mentioned questions using an overview on current approaches in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) by introducing the concept of CRM, where it all started, how it currently works and which are its future trends

Deliver Smart, Not More! Building Economically Sustainable Competitiveness on the Ground of High Agri-Food Trade Specialization in the EU

Competitiveness has always been a multifaceted illusive concept, which has made it a real challenge for scholars and practitioners to find the most suitable measurement tools to completely encapsulate all the complex nuances of competitiveness. This becomes even more of a challenge when approached in relation to particular economic sectors. The agri-food sector is no exception, especially when considering all its interconnections with the other sectors: water, energy, transport, waste. All of them impact the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Similarly, scholars have been debating the meaning of sustainability for decades, some even arguing that it is a political, subjective, and, in some cases, self-contradictory concept. As far as the sustainability of agricultural competitiveness is concerned, the literature is still developing. It is much more focused on fostering environmental competitiveness, and less attention was paid to the strategies designed to capitalize on sustainable economic competitiveness—a concept that has attracted divergent opinions in the literature, mainly due to ambiguity. Thus, instead of falling into the pitfall of vagueness, this paper was aimed at bringing its contribution to this field by undertaking the research objective of exploring a single facet of sustainable agricultural competitiveness: the economic facet. Hence, this paper proposes the construction of the sustainable economic competitiveness index (SECI) with direct application for agri-food value chains. It consists of three attributes: (a) factor endowments, resource independence; (b) agricultural chain performance; and (c) national agricultural chain strategies and policies. In this study, SECI was tested against the cereal chain for a selection of EU countries, based on the data taken over from FAOSTAT and INTRACEN Trade Map, in the case of the 2011–2020 period. Various statistical and econometric methods were used to test the robustness of SECI. Results stand as proof that building sustainable agricultural economic competitiveness relies on a mix of strategic actions. The key vector in this mix is that trade flow patterns and policies must be calibrated in accordance with national factor endowments in order to achieve high levels of SECI. To add more managerial implications, this paper argues for the smart delivery of agri-food products with high added value instead of focusing on exporting big volumes of raw agricultural materials with little added value