ENTREPRENEURIAL WOMEN, DIFFERENTIAL BEHAVIOURS AND BUSINESS INNOVATION

The participation of women in entrepreneurial activity forty years ago was virtually an exception. However, nowadays this is an important economic and social phenomenon, with an outstanding impact on the dynamics of both advanced and emerging economies. This is significant not only from a quantitative viewpoint. The fact that female personal features, motives and managerial methods differ from those of men gives a new and interesting perspective –which is still subject to debate- to the analysis regarding training and consolidation of enterprises. Gender-related differences can be the vehicle to introduce innovative aspects that could be influential in the uncertain and changing economic environment after the current crises, particularly in those fields where business output is related to the quality of life. Adopting a previous regional model as a basis of study, we analyse in this work the characteristics that differentiate entrepreneurial women in Spain on the grounds of data collected from an own drafted survey regarding the entrepreneurial activity (607 complete questionnaires) carried out in 2009. The results obtained indicate the coexistence of two different types of entrepreneurial women. The first group gathers those women whose enterprises show, generally speaking, a similar sectoral distribution to that of the whole productive fabric, although with a slight tendency to be more present in services activities. Their characteristics and attitudes are, in general, quite similar to those registered among entrepreneurial men and many of these women come from entrepreneurial families. The second group is mainly made up of entrepreneurial women –frequently with family burdens and low qualified- devoted to services, particularly personal services and retail trade. Technological and managerial characteristics of companies managed by the entrepreneurial women belonging to this group differ substantially from the average of the economy, with a much more traditional and less innovative profile.

Do gender-related differences exist in Spanish entrepreneurial activity?

The participation of women in entrepreneurial activity forty years ago was virtually an exception. However, nowadays this is an important economic and social phenomenon, with an outstanding impact on the dynamics of both advanced and emerging economies. This is significant not only from a quantitative viewpoint. The fact that female personal features, motives and managerial methods differ from those of men gives a new and interesting perspective -which is still subject to debate- to the analysis regarding training and consolidation of enterprises. Gender-related differences can be the vehicle to introduce innovative aspects that could be influential in the uncertain and changing economic environment after the current crises, particularly in those fields where business output is related to the quality of life. Adopting a previous regional model as a basis of study, we analyse in this work the characteristics that differentiate entrepreneurial women in Spain on the grounds of data collected from an own drafted survey regarding the entrepreneurial activity (607 complete questionnaires) carried out in 2009. The results obtained indicate the coexistence of two different types of entrepreneurial women. The first group gathers those women whose enterprises show, generally speaking, a similar sectoral distribution to that of the whole productive fabric, although with a slight tendency to be more present in services activities. Their characteristics and attitudes are, in general, quite similar to those registered among entrepreneurial men and many of these women come from entrepreneurial families. The second group is mainly made up of entrepreneurial women -frequently with family burdens and low qualified- devoted to services, particularly personal services and retail trade. Technological and managerial characteristics of companies managed by the entrepreneurial women belonging to this group differ substantially from the average of the economy, with a much more traditional and less innovative profile

WOMEN, ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTIVITY AND TERRITORY: DIFFERENCES OR MYTHS?

The earliest published study on entrepreneurial women is credited to Schwartz (1976). Subsequently, various female researchers (Hisrich and Brush, 1984; Cromie, 1987; Kaplan, 1988;) started to examine the possible differences that could be derived from gender. The analysis of the features of entrepreneurial women is now a subject of discussion due to the fact that the results obtained so far are not conclusive. While Hisrich and Brush find significant differences related to gender (attitudes, motives), Buttner and Rosen (1988) do not find disparities for being man or woman, but due to mere organisational questions such as the type of business. On the other hand, Gatewood, Brush et al. (2008) detail the differences and myths related to the growth - venture capital- of women's entrepreneurial activity. All things considered, the activity and behaviour of entrepreneurial women is still controversial as it is a relatively recent issue and one from which homogeneous results have not yet been obtained. Along these lines, new contributions in different societies and territorial areas - including regions- allow researchers to penetrate more profoundly into this subject matter and discover new ideas and conclusions that provoke academic debate and offer suggestions for new policies. This research, which at first provides a specific review of the most relevant literature, investigates the perception of Spanish entrepreneurial women's activity, not only concerning the characterisation of their personal features - using specific surveys-, but also from the perspective of their performance in the activity - by comparing the entrepreneurial results over a specific period, including an expansion stage and a (more recent) recession stage. Comparatively speaking, certain control groups of the whole economy are chosen, by regions and sectors, which allows a counterfactual methodology, and statistical and econometric methods are used to refine the analysis. The results and conclusions broaden the understanding of the facts and provide evidence of which could be considered to be differences and which remains to be seen as myths of the entrepreneurial development of women in a Mediterranean country

Spanish foreign direct investment, parent financial vulnerability and destination countries financial development: A panel data analysis

41 p.This paper evaluates the effects of destination country financial development (DCFD) on Spanish outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) stock position and gross flows to 127 countries from 75 activities considered at the division level over the period of 2008-2017. This time frame includes in Spain a period of credit restrictions to the private sector from 2008 to 2013, as banks faced liquidity stress which hurt their ability to lend. We applied a modified gravity model and a Poisson pseudomaximum likelihood estimator to illustrate how the effects of DCFD on Spanish OFDI decreased as the financial vulnerability (FV) at the parent level increased. By using time-varying measures of financial development and FV, we also show how the evolution of the leverage ratios at the parent level could have led to different financing responses in the destination countries, to the extent of making them statistically nonsignificant during the period of higher leverage and financial stress in Spain. Once the deleveraging process at the parent level was carried out, our results appear to show that Spanish foreign affiliates were able to undertake more investments by obtaining bank financing in the destination countries. This would help explain the change in the pattern of gross investment flows at the end of the study period, both by activities and by destination regions.Este trabajo evalúa los efectos del desarrollo financiero en los países de destino (DFPD) sobre la posición y los flujos brutos de inversión directa española en el exterior (IDEE) hacia 127 países por parte de 75 actividades consideradas a nivel de división durante el periodo 2008-2017. Este marco temporal incluye en España un periodo de restricciones crediticias al sector privado desde 2008 hasta 2013, en el que el sector bancario se enfrentó a tensiones de liquidez que perjudicaron su capacidad para realizar préstamos. Aplicamos un modelo de gravedad modificado y un estimador de pseudo máxima verosimilitud de Poisson para ilustrar cómo los efectos de la DFPD sobre la IDEE española disminuyeron a medida que aumentaba la de vulnerabilidad financiera (VF) a nivel de la matriz. Mediante el uso de medidas de desarrollo financiero y VF que variaban en el tiempo, también mostramos cómo la evolución de las tasas de apalancamiento a nivel de la matriz podría haber dado lugar a diferentes respuestas de la financiación en los países de destino, hasta el punto de hacerlas estadísticamente no significativas durante el período de mayor apalancamiento y estrés financiero en España. Una vez que se llevó a cabo el proceso de desapalancamiento a nivel de la matriz, nuestros resultados parecen indicar que las filiales españolas en el exterior pudieron acometer más inversiones obteniendo financiación bancaria en los países de destino. Esto ayudaría a explicar el cambio en el patrón de los flujos brutos de inversión al final del período de estudio, tanto por actividades como por regiones de destino

Spanish foreign direct investment, parent financial vulnerability and destination countries financial development: A panel data analysis

41 p.This paper evaluates the effects of destination country financial development (DCFD) on Spanish outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) stock position and gross flows to 127 countries from 75 activities considered at the division level over the period of 2008-2017. This time frame includes in Spain a period of credit restrictions to the private sector from 2008 to 2013, as banks faced liquidity stress which hurt their ability to lend. We applied a modified gravity model and a Poisson pseudomaximum likelihood estimator to illustrate how the effects of DCFD on Spanish OFDI decreased as the financial vulnerability (FV) at the parent level increased. By using time-varying measures of financial development and FV, we also show how the evolution of the leverage ratios at the parent level could have led to different financing responses in the destination countries, to the extent of making them statistically nonsignificant during the period of higher leverage and financial stress in Spain. Once the deleveraging process at the parent level was carried out, our results appear to show that Spanish foreign affiliates were able to undertake more investments by obtaining bank financing in the destination countries. This would help explain the change in the pattern of gross investment flows at the end of the study period, both by activities and by destination regions.Este trabajo evalúa los efectos del desarrollo financiero en los países de destino (DFPD) sobre la posición y los flujos brutos de inversión directa española en el exterior (IDEE) hacia 127 países por parte de 75 actividades consideradas a nivel de división durante el periodo 2008-2017. Este marco temporal incluye en España un periodo de restricciones crediticias al sector privado desde 2008 hasta 2013, en el que el sector bancario se enfrentó a tensiones de liquidez que perjudicaron su capacidad para realizar préstamos. Aplicamos un modelo de gravedad modificado y un estimador de pseudo máxima verosimilitud de Poisson para ilustrar cómo los efectos de la DFPD sobre la IDEE española disminuyeron a medida que aumentaba la de vulnerabilidad financiera (VF) a nivel de la matriz. Mediante el uso de medidas de desarrollo financiero y VF que variaban en el tiempo, también mostramos cómo la evolución de las tasas de apalancamiento a nivel de la matriz podría haber dado lugar a diferentes respuestas de la financiación en los países de destino, hasta el punto de hacerlas estadísticamente no significativas durante el período de mayor apalancamiento y estrés financiero en España. Una vez que se llevó a cabo el proceso de desapalancamiento a nivel de la matriz, nuestros resultados parecen indicar que las filiales españolas en el exterior pudieron acometer más inversiones obteniendo financiación bancaria en los países de destino. Esto ayudaría a explicar el cambio en el patrón de los flujos brutos de inversión al final del período de estudio, tanto por actividades como por regiones de destino

Financiación pública y emprendimiento: comportamientos y heterogeneidad regional de las pequeñas y medianas empresas

The existence of restrictions for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to access long-term credit has led governments to establish institutional systems to facilitate such access and reduce the cost of credit, with the condition that its feasibility is justified (and assessed) and there are no distortions as regards competition. Very few empirical in-depth studies exist regarding this field of academic research, and scarce attention has been paid from a regional perspective. Due to the characteristics of the business structures in the different regions, as well as the existence of agglomeration economies and the regional dispersion of the entrepreneurship rate, this paper analyses the effects of the productive financing support model, provided by the Government of Spain, through the Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO) [Official Credit Institute], on the behaviours and performances of the beneficiary companies. In the last decade, this source of financing has assigned 30,000 million euro. The results show the general acceptance of this policy due to its adaptation to the interests of the companies and its contribution to the improvement of the economic-financial efficiency indicators. Regionally, no substantial differences have been observed, but the results of this research show a greater contribution to the dynamism of the more progressive regions.La generalizada aceptación de la existencia de restricciones al acceso al crédito a largo plazo por parte de las pequeñas y medianas empresas (Pyme), ha inducido a los gobiernos al establecimiento de sistemas institucionales que faciliten dicho acceso y abaraten el coste del crédito, siempre que pueda justificarse (y evaluarse) su viabilidad y no introduzcan distorsiones en la competencia. Abundantes estudios han profundizado en esta vía de investigación académica, aunque apenas han particularizado la perspectiva regional. Debido a las distintas características que presenta la estructura empresarial entre las regiones, así como a la existencia de economías de aglomeración y a la dispersión regional de la tasa de empresarialidad, en este trabajo se analiza la incidencia del modelo de apoyo a la financiación productiva, proporcionada por el gobierno de España, a través del Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO), en los comportamientos y desempeños de las empresas beneficiarias. Esta línea de financiación, de intermediación bancaria, ha destinado en la última década casi 30.000 millones de euros. Los resultados arrojan evidencias de la aceptación generalizada de esta política por su adecuación a los intereses de las empresas y por su contribución a la mejora de sus indicadores de eficiencia económico-financiera. Regionalmente, no se observan importantes disimilitudes, pero la investigación detecta una mayor contribución al dinamismo de las regiones más avanzadas

Self-assessment exercises in continuum mechanics with autonomous learning

Peer Reviewe

Self-assessment exercises in continuum mechanics with autonomous learning

Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Managing Workflows on top of a Cloud Computing Orchestrator for using heterogeneous environments on e-Science

[EN] Scientific workflows (SWFs) are widely used to model processes in e-Science. SWFs are executed by means of workflow management systems (WMSs), which orchestrate the workload on top of computing infrastructures. The advent of cloud computing infrastructures has opened the door of using on-demand infrastructures to complement or even replace local infrastructures. However, new issues have arisen, such as the integration of hybrid resources or the compromise between infrastructure reutilisation and elasticity. In this article, we present an ad hoc solution for managing workflows exploiting the capabilities of cloud orchestrators to deploy resources on demand according to the workload and to combine heterogeneous cloud providers (such as on-premise clouds and public clouds) and traditional infrastructures (clusters) to minimise costs and response time. The work does not propose yet another WMS but demonstrates the benefits of the integration of cloud orchestration when running complex workflows. The article shows several configuration experiments from a realistic comparative genomics workflow called Orthosearch, to migrate memory-intensive workload to public infrastructures while keeping other blocks of the experiment running locally. The article computes running time and cost suggesting best practices.This paper wants to acknowledge the support of the EUBrazilCC project, funded by the European Commission (STREP 614048) and the Brazilian MCT/CNPq N. 13/2012, for the use of its infrastructure. The authors would like also to thank the Spanish 'Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad' for the project 'Clusters Virtuales Elasticos y Migrables sobre Infraestructuras Cloud Hibridas' with reference TIN2013-44390-R.Carrión Collado, AA.; Caballer Fernández, M.; Blanquer Espert, I.; Kotowski, N.; Jardim, R.; Dávila, AMR. (2017). Managing Workflows on top of a Cloud Computing Orchestrator for using heterogeneous environments on e-Science. International Journal of Web and Grid Services. 13(4):375-402. doi:10.1504/IJWGS.2017.10003225S37540213

Exercicis autoavaluables de mecànica del medi continu per fomentar l'aprenentatge autònom

L’objectiu principal és la generació d’un seguit d’exercicis per tal de millorar l'aprenentatge autònom dels continguts de l'assignatura "Mecànica del Medi Continu" (Enginyeria Industrial, ETSEIAT, UPC) a través de la plataforma virtual ATENEA (http://atenea.upc.edu/moodle/). L’estudiant haurà de realitzar 4 exercicis de forma autònoma en relació amb el temari desenvolupat a les classes i entregar la resolució de cada problema a ATENEA dins un termini establert. L'estudiant haurà de corregir els exercicis de forma autoavaluativa, assignar-se la nota que li correspongui seguint els criteris d’una rúbrica i penjar el document a ATENEA dins un termini establertPeer Reviewe