EFFECTIVENESS OF ALTERNATIVE EXPORT PROMOTION STRATEGIES FOR BRANDED FOOD PRODUCTS

This study examines the impact on export sales of various promotional strategies for branded food products in foreign markets. It is an empirical analysis using data obtained from organizations that administer the High Value Export Incentive Program (HVEIP) for branded food products, part of USDA's Targeted Export Assistance (TEA) program and its successor, the Marketing Assistance Program (MAP). To respect the proprietary nature of the data, the identity of individual firms and brand names has been deleted and products have been combined into two groups: (1) consumer ready and (2) intermediate. Economic analysis reveals positive and statistically significant impacts of expenditures on television advertising and advertising in consumer-orientated print media on export sales of consumer ready products, the effect of the latter being somewhat larger. No other promotional strategy reveals a consistent and statistically significant relationship to exports. Channel-orientated strategies seldom showed positive results on export levels for consumer ready products, and consumer-orientated strategies bear no detectable relationship to export levels of intermediate products.International Relations/Trade,

Copula selection models for non-Gaussian responses that are missing not at random

Missing not at random (MNAR) data poses key challenges for statistical inference because the model of interest is typically not identifiable without imposing further (e.g., distributional) assumptions. Sample selection models have been routinely used for handling MNAR by jointly modelling the outcome and selection variables assuming that these follow a bivariate normal distribution. Recent studies have advocated parametric selection model approaches, for example estimated by multiple imputation and maximum likelihood, that are more robust to departures from the normality assumption. However, the proposed methods have been mostly restricted to a specific joint distribution (e.g., bivariate t-distribution). This paper discusses a flexible copula-based selection approach (which accommodates a wide range of non-Gaussian outcome distributions and offers great flexibility in the choice of functional form specifications for both the outcome and selection equations) and proposes a flexible imputation procedure that generates plausible imputed values from the copula selection model. A simulation study characterises the relative performance of the copula model compared with the most commonly used selection models for estimating average treatment effects with MNAR data. We illustrate the methods in the REFLUX study, which evaluates the causal effect of laparoscopic surgery compared to usual medical management on long-term quality of life in patients with reflux disease. We provide software code for implementing the proposed copula framework using the R package GJRM

Strategic Role, Challenges And Opportunities For Small And Medium Enterprises Facing DR-CAFTA: The Case Of Costa Rica

The development of regional business treaties and the subsequent removal of trade barriers has created new paradigms and challenges for companies in Latin America, especially in fast-growing Central America. This paper examines the role, challenges, and opportunities for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Costa Rica relative to the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA, or CAFTA in the US). Opportunities and challenges facing SMEs and the potential impact of DR-CAFTA on industry performances in Costa Rica are discerned. Central American nations and Costa Rica in particular, are facing new challenges, threats and opportunities that arise from trade agreements. Such is the case with DR-CAFTA. These paradigms and competitive pressures will directly impact external trade and sustainable economic development. Opportunities are associated with new laws and regulations, incentives to reinforce and improve business practices especially with regard to human capital, as well as new scenarios for international cooperation, commercial agreements and the growing use of outsourcing. The implications of DR-CAFTA are far-reaching and directly impact the development of small and medium enterprises in Costa Rica

Improving Marketing Competitiveness And Innovative Strengthening Through SMEs

Taiwan has been known for its effective policies and positive economic impact on the development of SMEs in that country.  Recognizing the importance of the role that government can play in the development of SMEs, Costa Rica has started developing policies to strengthen its SMEs.  Both countries rely heavily on SMEs to contribute to their productive capacities.  The parallel between Taiwan and Costa Rica presented indicates that the success Taiwan has had in strengthening SMEs may be useful for Costa Rica as it moves to the initial stages of strengthening SMEs

Logística del sitio de construcción, y diseño de proceso constructivo para naves industriales.

Proyecto de Graduación (Licenciatura en Ingeniería en Construcción) Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, Escuela de Ingeniería en Construcción, 2002.El presente trabajo tiene como fin presentar a los profesionales de la Ingeniería Civil , en una forma clara y objetiva, el adecuado planeamiento, administración y ejecución de naves industriales, sin que esta característica sea limitante para poder aplicarse a cualquier tipo de obra (edificios, carreteras, puentes, etc. La información que se presenta en este documento fue obtenida mediante la investigación bibliográfica, experiencias directamente en la construcción y con el apoyo de profesionales en el área que colaboraron para la obtención y análisis de la información aquí presentada. El lector podrá encontrar una guía práctica y rápida que le servirá para visualizar con amplitud los puntos más importantes para la correcta administración y ejecución de proyectos

Strategically Strengthening The Software Export Sector: A Benchmarking Comparison Of National Experience

Software as a product for export has proven to be a major economic engine in several economies, including those of India and Ireland.  Current development efforts underway in Costa Rica by a variety of firms contribute to the potential for software development to become a key export sector in the Costa Rican economy.  However, potential roadblocks in the form of governmental restrictions could impair the sector’s promise and inhibit the growth the sector is capable of encouraging.  In order to identify strategic priorities to strengthen the software export sector, a comparative study of the situation in Costa Rica and key factors for successful software export are discerned.  Heeks and Nicholson (2002) investigated three countries noted for their success with software exports: India, Ireland and Israel.  Success variables previously identified by researchers were analyzed by Heeks and Nicholson, producing five key factor dimensions identified as contributing to the success of those three economies.  It is these five key factor dimensions on which Costa Rica’s current situation are assessed

Inclusion Needs Of 3.0 Students In Latin America

Recent changes in information and communication technologies offer people unprecedented opportunities to generate and share knowledge. Currently, inclusion refers to equal opportunities for the 3.0 person and it is not limited to special physical needs or reducing the digital divide.  Faced with this reality, universities, in general must transform themselves. Open universities, in particular, will have to renovate themselves and build the scenarios required by new students. This research paper explores distance learning students’ new inclusion needs and proposes four strategies to attend them

Revisiting The Software Industry In Costa Rica: Achievements And Challenges

Costa Rica's economy like that of many developing and developed nations is largely service-based. The information and communication technologies (ICT) sector plays an increasingly key role in strengthening the service aspect of the economy.  A large part of the ICT sector is the software sector. This study is an update of a review of that sector’s contributions conducted in 2008.  In that effort, software producers’ characteristics and needs were investigated. The current article investigates the evolution of the sector and its competitive position in the business sector. The study is national in scope and represents a random sample of firms in the industry. The findings highlight the achievements and remaining challenges for the industry and provide public policy recommendations