El sector no lucrativo en el marco de la nueva era tecnológica: el desafío del Crowdfunding social en España. Análisis del caso de la asociación Alba Pérez, lucha contra el cáncer infantil

Los albores del siglo XXI se presentan a las economías y las sociedades en el marco de un desafiante doble cambio de paradigma. Uno, alentado por el neoliberalismo gobernante en gran parte del mundo avanzado, que ha provocado que la propia sociedad admita la arresponsabilidad de las estructuras gobernantes en la prestación de los servicios que componen el Estado del bienestar. Otro, tecnológico, que ha cambiado el modo en que la sociedad se informa, se comunica y se relaciona. Frente a estas dos realidades la sociedad civil ha tomado conciencia de su papel transformador e impulsor de cambios, así como de las crecientes necesidades de atención social que han surgido en este principio de siglo, lo imprescindible de atenderlas y como no, su necesidad de financiación. Es en este ámbito en el que toma una relevancia especial la aplicación de estrategias de comunicación y marketing fundamentadas en la nueva realidad tecnológica en la búsqueda de soluciones alternativas que den viabilidad a proyectos concretos. Se analiza, en el presente artículo, el caso de la Asociación Alba Pérez de lucha contra el cáncer infantil, y la utilización que realiza de las herramientas sociales que internet proporciona, para construir y dinamizar una comunidad, los alberos, comprometida con la causa que defiende la Asociación y dispuesta a facilitar recursos para la consecución de su objetivo. En este contexto analizaremos la dinámica operativa de las herramientas del crowdfunding y de Marketing y comunicación, así como sus factores de éxito. El objetivo de este trabajo es ofrecer un ejemplo de buenas prácticas en el desarrollo de técnicas de fundraising, como es el crowdfunding, que permita al Sector No Lucrativo trazar de acuerdo a su realidad, recursos y objetivos destronando así el mito de la necesidad absoluta de financiación pública, en el cumplimiento de su misión

Assessing regional convergence of the size of middle classes in Euro-Mediterranean countries

Historically, Euro-Mediterranean European countries have presented high levels of intra- and interregional socio-economic inequalities and are regular recipients of financial support under European Union Cohesion Policy. This paper provides evidence of regional convergence in the size of lower- and upper-middle-income classes across regions of France, Greece, Italy and Spain for the period 2004-17. Our results also reveal that changes in class size in neighbouring regions are associated with changes in the same direction in the lower- and upper-middle classes of the region of interest. As regards growth of class size in neighbouring regions, the convergence process is offset in both middle-income groups, but only partially for the upper-middle class. Furthermore, the economic cycle affects the process of regional convergence in the size of the middle class, although the effects are non-homogeneous for both middle-class groups. While increases or decreases in gross domestic product (GDP) do not seem to be closely related to upper-middle-class size, relatively persistent decreases rather than increases in GDP over time tend to be more linked to lower-middle-class size. These findings point to significant differences in the convergence dynamics between lower- and upper-middle classes, with the former being more sensitive to both neighbouring regions and the business cycle.University of MalagaUniversity of GranadaRegional Government of Andalusia [UMA18-FEDERJA-005]Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation [AEI/10.13039/501100011033

European Union poverty policies. The case of the statistical policy

A long-lasting difficulty in dealing with the subject of poverty, both in the scientific and political realms, has been the lack of analytical and methodological instruments that facilitate defining, observing and measuring accurately the social dimensions of the phenomenon. Henceforth, it is crucial to develop further indicators in order to design and implement a consistent statistical policy. After examining these issues, this paper analyses the European Union policy on poverty and, especially, the efforts done in the field of statistical policy.Uma dificuldade de longa data nos estudos sobre a pobreza, quer a nível académico quer a nível político, reside na escasez de instrumentos analíticos e metodológicos para definir, observar e medir as dimensões sociais da pobreza. Portanto, é importante desenvolver ferramentas e indicadores que permitam formular e implementar uma política de estatísticas consistente. Após examinar estas questões, este artigo analisa a política da União Europeia relativamente à pobreza, com destaque para a área das políticas de estatísticas

Construct validity: The use of factor analysis.

Una práctica habitual para obtener evidencia de validez de modelos teóricos basados en los resultados del Análisis Factorial Exploratorio -EFA-, (Arruda et. al., 1996), suele ser utilizar el Análisis Factorial Confirmatorio (CFA) para demostrar la validez de la estructura factorial previamente obtenida con EFA y por consiguiente la validez de las deducciones teóricas inferidas del mismo, es decir, los modelos obtenidos con EFA suelen ser validados con CFA. El objetivo de este artículo es incidir en la posible redundancia de este procedimiento usado en validez de constructo. Se intenta mostrar que generalmente CFA siempre validará las soluciones obtenidas previamente mediante EFA, dado que la estructura factorial resultante de EFA es una de las posibles soluciones que se derivan de la matriz de datos y, por consiguiente, es previsible que en otra muestra extraída de la misma población de referencia, se confirme la estructura obtenida en la anterior. En este sentido, el binomio EFA-CFA, puede ser considerado como un pseudoprocedimiento para la validación de constructo.The results of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) are usually used to deduce theoretical models (Arruda et. al., 1996) and then confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is used to demonstrate the construct validity of those deductions. Therefore, models obtai - ned from the former are ussually validated using latter. The object of this study is to demonstrate the redundancy of this procedure in construct validation. It will be shown that, usually, CFA will validate solutions obtained using EFA. This article emphasizes that this type of procedure does not offer definitive information about the construct validity of the solutions obtained using exploratory factor analysis. In this sense, the EFA-CFA binomial could be considered as a pseudo construct validation

How Much Are Individuals Left Behind in Central and Eastern Compared to Western European Countries? A Fuzzy Comparative Analysis.

This paper examines the extent to which individuals of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries are left behind compared to individuals from Western European (WE) countries based on a fuzzy approach applied to a multidimensional setting. Three decades after transitions from non-democratic regimes to liberal democracy and from centrally planned economies to market economies of these countries, we observe a certain process of convergence between both blocs of countries over the period 2007-2019, essentially as a result of the decrease in the level individuals are left behind in the CEE countries, reaching similar levels to WE countries. Furthermore, we reveal significant disparities across CEE countries, ranging from Czech Republic, Slovenia and Slovakia, where citizens are less left behind, to Bulgaria, Lithuania and Romania, with higher levels of leaving behind. Differences in the degree individuals are left behind along the income distribution and by sociodemographic characteristics are also analysed, highlighting dissimilarities of lagging socioeconomic profiles across countries.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Measuring the ‘leaving no one behind’ principle in the European countries: An AROPE-based fuzzy logic approach.

Política de acceso abierto tomada de: https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/11428In this paper we present a fuzzy multidimensional approach for the measurement of the `leaving no one behind' principle underlying the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in European countries. In particular, we consider a two-step procedure. First, we compute the degree to which an individual is `left behind' in each speci c dimension. We then propose alternatives to measure the extent to which an individual is `left behind' in a multidimensional setting. We illustrate our proposal taking as a reference the `at risk of poverty or social exclusion' (AROPE) framework (dimensions, indicators and union criteria). The results highlight that although the average `left behind' (LB) level and AROPE are largely consistent across European countries, our fuzzy measure provides valuable additional information, both in individual and aggregate terms, on persons who are further away from those better positioned and how far they are.Universidad de Malag

Peer-to-peer accommodation prices: city listing concentration and host listing share.

Política de acceso abierto tomada de: https://www.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/13304This article examines the relationship of city listing concentration and host listing share with prices in the peer-to-peer accommodation market. To this end, a multilevel analysis is applied to data from 216,960 Airbnb listings in 45 cities. The results reveal that while city-level concentration does not significantly affect prices, the listing share of each supplier does have a significant effect. This highlights that host listing shares can explain the ability of agents to influence the price of their accommodations even in relatively competitive markets such as peer-to-peer accommodation. Our findings have theoretical implications relating to the idiosyncratic aspects that affect business pricing, as well as practical implications in the private sphere for the rest of the hospitality and tourism industry, and for public policy in terms of regulations

Economic Gender gap in the Global South: How Public Institutions Matter.

Polkítica de acceso abierto tomada de: https://beta.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/16633One of the most challenging gender gaps in the Global South remains in the economic sphere. This paper examines how public institutions affect the gender gap in economic participation and opportunities in 74 developing and emerging countries during the period 2006-2016. We find that the public institutional environment is closely related to the economic gender gap. Specifically, the protection of property rights and guaranteeing security seem to be two key factors associated to lower economic gender inequality. Nevertheless, public institutions do not matter equally throughout economically backward countries. Whereas in emerging countries, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean, a broad variety of institutional aspects, including undue influence on judicial and government decisions, are closely related to the economic gender gap, in low-income developing countries, such as Sub-Saharan countries, the problems of ethics and corruption stand out as a particularly remarkable element against economic gender equality. Some significant policy implications are derived from our findings regarding the potential of public institution reforms to reduce the economic gender gap

A Fuzzy Logic Based Approach to Measure the Principle of "Leaving no one Behind" on Multidimensional Poverty

In this paper we present a fuzzy multidimensional approach for the measurement of the ‘leaving no one behind’ principle underlying the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in European countries. In particular, we consider a two-step procedure. First, we compute the degree to which an individual is ‘left behind’ in each specific dimension. We then propose alternatives to measure the extent to which an individual is ‘left behind’ in a multidimensional setting. We illustrate our proposal taking as a reference the ‘at risk of poverty or social exclusion’ (AROPE) framework (dimensions, indicators and union criteria). The results highlight that although the average ‘left behind’ (LB) level and AROPE are largely consistent across European countries, our fuzzy measure provides valuable additional information, both in individual and aggregate terms, on persons who are further away from those better positioned and how far they are

Economic regulation, opportunity-driven entrepreneurship and gender gap: emerging versus high income economies.

Política de acceso abierto tomada de: https://beta.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/2724International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research Vol. 27 No. 5, 2021 pp. 1311-1328 © Emerald Publishing Limited 1355-2554 DOI 10.1108/IJEBR-05-2020-0321Purpose – Institutional environment plays a crucial role in determining the nature of entrepreneurship that prevails in an economy. In this paper, we address how business, labour and credit regulations contribute differently to both the overall prevalence of opportunity-driven entrepreneurship and its gender gap in high-income and emerging economies. Design/methodology/approach – On the basis of an unbalanced panel of 41 countries over the period 2005-2016, we estimate system Generalized Method of Moments models. We also perform an Ordinary Least Square analysis to address gender differences in opportunity-driven entrepreneurship. Findings – We find that higher credit market liberalisation is especially associated with more entrepreneurship by opportunity. Nevertheless, while credit market regulation stands out as a key element to promote opportunity-based entrepreneurship in both high-income and emerging countries, in the emerging world business regulation is also largely related to the prevalence of opportunity entrepreneurship. In terms of gender gap, business and labour market freedom seem to exert an equalizing effect on the divide in entrepreneurship by opportunity, specifically in emerging economies. Originality/value – Our findings allow the identification of regulatory policy reform priorities to enhance the prevalence of opportunity-driven entrepreneurship depending on the level of a country’s development. They also identify which specific areas of economic regulation would speed up closing the gender gap in opportunity entrepreneurship