El impacto del offshoring en las exportaciones de las empresas

Offshoring is a strategy that has been widely used as a mean to reduce costs, increase firms’ productivity and flexibility. Consequently, it is aimed to improve the competitive situation of the firm in its markets. But beyond this effect, we depart from international business literature, the resource-based view and transaction cost economics to argue that offshore helps firms to export, not only because it increases its productivity and flexibility but because it provides some knowledge and expertise to develop themselves in international markets. Departing from this framework, we present an empirical study over Spanish manufacturers that confirms that firms that offshore export more, and that this extra effect is larger in small firms than in large ones.El offshoring es una estrategia que se utiliza ampliamente para reducir costes, aumentar la productividad y flexibilidad de las empresas. En consecuencia, busca mejorar la posición competitiva de la empresa en sus mercados. Partiendo de la literatura de la economía internacional, la visión de la empresa basada en los recursos y la teoría de los costes de transacción, se plantea que el offshoring ayuda a las empresas a exportar, no sólo por el aumento en su productividad y flexibilidad sino por proporcionar conocimiento y experiencia sobre los mercados extranjeros. Desde este marco se presenta un estudio empírico sobre empresas manufactureras españolas que confirma que las empresas que hacen offshoring exportan más y que este efecto es mayor en las empresas pequeñas que en las grandes

Cómo la deslocalización ha influido en el impacto del COVID-19 en las empresas españolas de calzado

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major disruption to the operations of firms in terms of both their supply chains and their demand. This paper studies how the configuration of the supply chains, resulting from previous offshoring and reshoring decisions, has affected the responsiveness and resilience of firms in this situation. The analysis is applied to the Spanish footwear sector and allows us to develop possible future scenarios in which the reconfiguration of value chains and the use of advanced technologies play an essential role. To do this, we use the “scenario planning methodology” combined with analytical models for the offshoring question. We conclude that the reshoring process motivated by the 2008 crisis has been fundamental for strengthening the resilience of firms to the COVID-19 crisis, as has the incorporation of new technologies.La pandemia de COVID-19 ha causado importantes alteraciones en las operaciones de las empresas, tanto en sus cadenas de suministro como en su demanda. En este trabajo se estudia cómo la configuración de las cadenas de suministro, resultado de anteriores decisiones de deslocalización y relocalización, ha afectado a la capacidad de respuesta y resiliencia de las empresas en esta situación. El análisis se aplica al sector español del calzado y nos permite desarrollar posibles escenarios futuros en los que la reconfiguración de las cadenas de valor y el uso de tecnologías avanzadas juegan un papel esencial. Para ello, utilizamos la "metodología de planificación de escenarios" combinada con modelos analíticos para la deslocalización. Concluimos que el proceso de relocalización motivado por la crisis de 2008 ha sido fundamental para reforzar la resiliencia de las empresas ante la crisis COVID-19, al igual que la incorporación de nuevas tecnologías

The demand of business services in Spain

The growth in the outsourcing of services has become one of the most relevant features of the changes in manufacturing firms¿ behaviour. This paper provides empirical evidence about the extent and evolution of services outsourcing by Spanish manufacturing firms in 1990-1998. A general increase in outsourcing of services has been detected among firms in this period, although with strong differences across sectors and kind of services. Additionally, this paper studies the decision to outsource, devoting particular attention to the relationship between outsourcing and productivity. The results show the influence of variables such as firm size, ownership and location, among others

Externalización y cambio de localización en la actividad productiva

En este trabajo se analizan los fenómenos de la externalización y de la migración de la actividad productiva desde una perspectiva conjunta ya que ambos son presentados como una fragmentación de la cadena de valor, el primero entre varias empresas autónomas y el segundo como la ruptura de la necesidad de la proximidad geográfica. Se plantea que aunque hay elementos por los que ambos adquieren mayor importancia en los últimos años, son fenómenos que se explican perfectamente desde la perspectiva clásica de la economía. ABSTRACT This paper analyses outsourcing and the change in production locations from a joint perspective, given that both of them are considered as a de-composition of the value-chain. The first one supposes to divide the production process among a larger set of autonomous firms. The second ones, supposes to divide it among a larger set of emplacements. Although there are some reasons that explain why both of them have become more important along the last few years, both of them are presented as explainable by the classical economic theories

Reshoring the Spanish Production of Footwear: Its Importance and Determinants

Este trabajo analiza los procesos de retorno al país de origen de algunas de las fases del proceso productivo que previamente se habían deslocalizado a países extranjeros en el sector del calzado. La metodología empleada consiste en un estudio de casos a empresas del sector. Los resultados del estudio revelan que la estrategia de relocalización responde a los cambios en el entorno de las empresas derivados de la reciente crisis económica y que no estaban presentes cuando se adoptaron las decisiones de deslocalización. En el nuevo contexto, la reducción de los plazos de entrega y los aumentos de flexibilidad en la distribución se revelan como las principales razones que motivan el aumento de producción nacional y la disminución en el extranjero.This paper analyzes the processes of return to the country of origin of some of the phases of the productive process that in the past had been relocated to foreign countries in the footwear sector. The methodology used is a case study with qualitative information from companies in the sector The results of the study reveal that the relocation strategy adopted responds to changes in the business environment resulting from the recent economic crisis that were not present when the delocalization strategy was adopted. In the new economic situation, the need of more reduced delivery times as well as flexibility in the distribution are revealed as the reasons that justify the increase in domestic production and the reduction of production abroad

Manufacturing reshoring and sustainable development goals: A home versus host country perspective

After decades of offshoring their manufacturing activities, an increasing number of companies are revising their location strategies and implementing reshoring decisions, including backshoring (relocation in the home country) and nearshoring (relocation in the home region) alternatives. It has been recognized that reshoring strategies are consistent with the sustainable production approach, since they allow companies to produce goods in a manner that is socially beneficial, economically viable, and environmentally less harmful over the whole life cycle of those goods. Additionally, there are early indications that reshoring can also promote and support sustainable consumption approaches. Consequently, reshoring has a wide range of impacts in both the home and the host countries, also in terms of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, this topic has received little attention in the extant reshoring literature. This paper seeks to contribute to the discussion by adopting a two-step approach. Initially, we analyze the very few contributions available on this topic; then, we identify and discuss which of the 17 SDGs are impacted by reshoring decisions at both the home and the host country level. It emerges that reshoring decisions have several and differentiated impacts in terms of SDGs. In general, these impacts are positive for home countries and negative for host ones. For this reason, a trade-off emerges when a single relocation decision is taken and implemented. Based on this evidence, implications for scholars, managers and policy makers are presented and discussed

La empresa industrial de América Latina: análisis de la eficiencia mediante grupos estratégicos

Se estudian políticas macroeconómicas de segundo mejor en economías abiertas donde puede haber problemas de sostenibilidad intertemporal y algunos grupos enfrentan potencialmente restricciones de acceso al crédito. Si el sector privado tiene percepciones sesgadas sobre ingresos futuros, la política fiscal podría contrarrestar las consecuentes distorsiones, actuando según la naturaleza y origen de tales sesgos. Cuando ciertos consumidores enfrentan restricciones de liquidez, existe un potencial rol anti-cíclico para políticas que operan sobre los ingresos disponibles. Con agentes heterogéneos, se pueden generar dilemas de política macroeconómica cuya resolución implicaría consideraciones distributivas.We study second-best macroeconomic policies for open economies subject to intertemporal sustainability problems and where agents may face liquidity constraints. If the private sector has biased expectations of future incomes, fiscal policies could offset the consequent distortions, according to the nature and origin of those biases. When some agents confront liquidity constraints, there is a potential counter-cyclical role for policies that shift current disposable incomes. With heterogeneous agents, macroeconomic policies may be confronted with dilemmas whose resolution involves distributive considerationsInstituto de Investigaciones Económica

Chronic flavanol-rich cocoa powder supplementation reduces body fat mass in endurance athletes by modifying the follistatin/ myostatin ratio and leptin levels

Flavonols-rich cocoa has positive effects on lipid metabolism and might enhance the performance of athletes through an improvement in their body composition. To test this hypothesis a placebo-controlled intervention study in training endurance athletes who received 5 g of cocoa daily (425 mg of flavan-3-ols) for 10 weeks was performed. Dietary intake, body composition, exercise performance and plasma levels of follistatin, myostatin and leptin were measured. Cocoa intake significantly reduced body fat percentage (p = 0.020), specifically in the trunk (p = 0.022), visceral area (p = 0.034) and lower limbs (p = 0.004). The reduction in body fat mass was accompanied by an increase in plasma follistatin and a decrease in leptin, while myostatin levels remained unchanged. The intake of cocoa reduced the percentage of body fat of athletes, without any impact on athletes' performance. The change in fat body composition did not improve athletes' performance

Effectiveness of Fosfomycin for the Treatment of Multidrug-Resistant Escherichia coli Bacteremic Urinary Tract Infections

IMPORTANCE The consumption of broad-spectrum drugs has increased as a consequence of the spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Escherichia coli. Finding alternatives for these infections is critical, for which some neglected drugs may be an option. OBJECTIVE To determine whether fosfomycin is noninferior to ceftriaxone or meropenem in the targeted treatment of bacteremic urinary tract infections (bUTIs) due to MDR E coli. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This multicenter, randomized, pragmatic, open clinical trial was conducted at 22 Spanish hospitals from June 2014 to December 2018. Eligible participants were adult patients with bacteremic urinary tract infections due to MDR E coli; 161 of 1578 screened patients were randomized and followed up for 60 days. Data were analyzed in May 2021. INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized 1 to 1 to receive intravenous fosfomycin disodium at 4 g every 6 hours (70 participants) or a comparator (ceftriaxone or meropenem if resistant; 73 participants) with the option to switch to oral fosfomycin trometamol for the fosfomycin group or an active oral drug or pa renteral ertapenem for the comparator group after 4 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was clinical and microbiological cure (CMC) 5 to 7 days after finalization of treatment; a noninferiority margin of 7% was considered. RESULTS Among 143 patients in the modified intention-to-treat population (median [IQR] age, 72 [62-81] years; 73 [51.0%] women), 48 of 70 patients (68.6%) treated with fosfomycin and 57 of 73 patients (78.1%) treated with comparators reached CMC (risk difference, -9.4 percentage points; 1-sided 95% CI, -21.5 to infinity percentage points; P = .10). While clinical or microbiological failure occurred among 10 patients (14.3%) treated with fosfomycin and 14 patients (19.7%) treated with comparators (risk difference, -5.4 percentage points; 1-sided 95% CI. -infinity to 4.9; percentage points; P = .19), an increased rate of adverse event-related discontinuations occurred with fosfomycin vs comparators (6 discontinuations [8.5%] vs 0 discontinuations; P = .006). In an exploratory analysis among a subset of 38 patients who underwent rectal colonization studies, patients treated with fosfomycin acquired a new ceftriaxone-resistant or meropenem-resistant gram-negative bacteria at a decreased rate compared with patients treated with comparators (0 of 21 patients vs 4 of 17 patients [23.5%]; 1-sided P = .01). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE This study found that fosfomycin did not demonstrate noninferiority to comparators as targeted treatment of bUTI from MDR E coli; this was due to an increased rate of adverse event-related discontinuations. This finding suggests that fosfomycin may be considered for selected patients with these infections

Autoantibodies against type I IFNs in patients with critical influenza pneumonia

In an international cohort of 279 patients with hypoxemic influenza pneumonia, we identified 13 patients (4.6%) with autoantibodies neutralizing IFN-alpha and/or -omega, which were previously reported to underlie 15% cases of life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia and one third of severe adverse reactions to live-attenuated yellow fever vaccine. Autoantibodies neutralizing type I interferons (IFNs) can underlie critical COVID-19 pneumonia and yellow fever vaccine disease. We report here on 13 patients harboring autoantibodies neutralizing IFN-alpha 2 alone (five patients) or with IFN-omega (eight patients) from a cohort of 279 patients (4.7%) aged 6-73 yr with critical influenza pneumonia. Nine and four patients had antibodies neutralizing high and low concentrations, respectively, of IFN-alpha 2, and six and two patients had antibodies neutralizing high and low concentrations, respectively, of IFN-omega. The patients' autoantibodies increased influenza A virus replication in both A549 cells and reconstituted human airway epithelia. The prevalence of these antibodies was significantly higher than that in the general population for patients 70 yr of age (3.1 vs. 4.4%, P = 0.68). The risk of critical influenza was highest in patients with antibodies neutralizing high concentrations of both IFN-alpha 2 and IFN-omega (OR = 11.7, P = 1.3 x 10(-5)), especially those <70 yr old (OR = 139.9, P = 3.1 x 10(-10)). We also identified 10 patients in additional influenza patient cohorts. Autoantibodies neutralizing type I IFNs account for similar to 5% of cases of life-threatening influenza pneumonia in patients <70 yr old