Binomial vanishing ideals

In this paper we characterize, in algebraic and geometric terms, when a graded vanishing ideal is generated by binomials over any field K

Export Performance and Innovation Activities in the Agrifood Industry: A Recursive Estimation Approach

Agrifood firms operate in a more global, saturated and competitive market than other manufacturing firms, and they have smaller size. These firms certainly need to define appropriate strategies related to accessing the international market and to investing in innovative activities. This two decisions are related to firms size because as Krugman states international trade is not only explained by differences in technology between countries but also by firms' desire to extend their sales in foreign markets to take advantage of the economies of scales. Therefore, it seems to exist a simultaneous relation between firm size, exports and innovative activities. The aim of this paper is to analyse agrifood firms' decisions on these three strategies: export behaviour, innovative activities and firm's size in comparison to other manufacturing firms using some modification from the simultaneous model defined by Entorf and Pohlmeier. The study is focused on the Spanish manufactured firms taking special attention to the agri-food ones. Data come from a National Survey ("Encuesta de Estrategias Empresariales") carried out by the "Fundacion Empresa Publica") from 1990. Results indicate that agri-food manufacturing firms decision process related to their size, export share and innovative activities is not a simultaneous process. Moreover, some differences with the rest of manufactured firms have been detected, In particular, agri-food firms have lower export shares, lower size and lower innovation intensity than Spanish firms in other manufacturing sectors. Spanish firms decision process on strategic variables (size, export share and innovation) is characterized by a recursive decision process where firms firstly decide export intensity, secondly, they decide their size or total sales depending on the previous decision and, finally, they decide their innovative intensity depending on the last two.Agribusiness,

Attitudes of Retailers and Consumers toward the EU Traceability and Labeling System for Beef

The spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in Europe has induced EU policy makers to implement a mandatory traceability and labeling system in the beef supply chain. This paper analyzes consumer and retailer attitudes toward this system. Data used in the study were collected through two surveys of consumers and retailers in the province of Aragón, Spain, in 2002. Consumer and retailer attitudes toward beef traceability are examined to identify main underlying factors. Using these factors, consumers and retailers are segmented into homogenous groups according to their attitudes toward traceability for beef. Results indicate that both consumers and retailers highly value the positive aspects related to the traceability and labeling system for beef, and they value the possible disadvantages to a lesser extent.Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Co-operation and economic relationship as determinants for competitiveness in the food sector: the Spanish wheat to bread chain

The objective of the paper is to investigate the impact of co-operation amongst stakeholders of the food chain on enterprise competitiveness. The analysis focuses on the Spanish wheat to bread chain. A theoretical model is developed which covers the main components that define competitiveness (profitability, turnover, market share, customer loyalty and product quality), quality supply chain relationship (trust, commitment and satisfaction) and the main factors explaining supply chain relationship (i.e. quality and frequency of the communication, personal bounds, etc.). The Spanish wheat to bread supply chain has been chosen to empirically test the model. This sector is very fragmented all along the chain, with a high number of wheat farmers, millers and bakers. Exchanges in the sector are mainly done in the open market but there is an increasing tendency to maintain stable relationships with suppliers to assure quality. Therefore, stakeholders in the wheat to bread chain are mainly using two types of economic relationships: “repeated market transactions” and “spot market” but the former is by far the most used. Based on data from a standardised survey with farmers, processors and retailers a structural equation modelling approach has been applied to empirically test the influence of relationship quality on stakeholders’ competitiveness in the Spanish wheat to bread chain. The main conclusion of the study is that, as the quality of the relationship in the Spanish wheat to bread chain improves the stakeholder’ competitiveness increases. The results also reveal that quality of the relationship in the Spanish wheat to bread chain is based on trust, satisfaction and commitment with buyers/sellers and strongly influenced by communication quality and quantity. In addition, the outcome shows that the quality of communication has an indirect positive effect on stakeholders’ competitiveness through the relationship quality. Finally, the only factor that will influence the quality of the relationship is the equal power distribution along the chain. Moreover, personal bounds positively influence the quality of communication in the bread Spanish supply chain.competitiveness, food, Spain, Agribusiness,

The unstressed third-person pronominal system: varieties of Spanish de español in contact with other languages

PresentaciónThe unstressed third-person pronominal system: varieties of Spanish de español in contact with other language

De nuevo sobe la omisión de objeto directo en el español andino ecuatoriano

On the basis of data collected among 28 Quichua-Spanish bilinguals and Spanish monolinguals interviewees, and taking into account semantic, syntactic and pragmatic-discursive perspectives, this article is devoted to the analysis of direct object deletion in Ecuadorian Highland Spanish. We claim that the case of pronoun deletion under analysis is the last stage of third person pronominal forms grammaticalization processes which must have started in the Middle Age and have had a meaningful development in Ecuadorian Highland Spanish due to Spanish-Quichua contact. On the one hand, such contact has increased the cases of deletion, on the other, it is evident that some of the semantic restrictions other Spanish varieties display are generally dismissed. Consequently, deleting pronominal forms becomes a very productive and efficient strategy used by the speaker to emphasize the relevance of each speech event.En este artículo abordamos de nuevo la omisión de objeto directo en el español andino ecuatoriano a partir de un corpus de 28 informantes, bilingües de quichua-español y monolingües de español, e intentamos una explicación a partir de factores semánticos, sintácticos y pragmático-discursivos. Consideramos que la omisión es la última etapa del proceso de gramaticalización de las formas pronominales átonas de tercera persona que experimenta el español desde la Edad Media y que, en la variedad andina ecuatoriana, ha alcanzado una progresión muy significativa debido al contacto con el quichua, lo que ha incrementado su uso considerablemente y ha eliminado las restricciones semánticas que este fenómeno tiene en otras variedades de español. La omisión se convierte, así, en una estrategia muy productiva, altamente eficiente, que permite resaltar la relevancia discursiva del evento