Causality problem in Economic Science

[ES] En el presente artículo se aborda el problema de la causalidad en las Ciencias Económicas. Partiendo de la diferenciación entre ciencias duras y blandas, y de la supuesta clasificicación de la economía en este segundo grupo, se realiza un análisis de los diferentes paradigmas ontológicos que soportan la investigación científica, para a continuación trasladar la causalidad desde el ámbito ontológico al gnoseológico. Posteriormente se profundiza en la conjunción de la metodología hipotético-deductiva con el método correlacional, generando una causalidad probabilística. Dicha causalidad, contextualizada de forma científica, permite la realización y contrastación de inferencias predictivas, a través de las cuales las Ciencias Ecnómicas pueden encontrar su ubicación en los niveles mas extrictos de la investigación científica.[EN] The main point of the paper is the problem of the economy to be consider like a science in the most strict term of the concept. In the first step we are going to tackle a presentation about what we understand by science to subsequently present some of the fallacies which have bring certain scepticism about the scientific character of the investigation in economy, to know: 1) The differences between hard and weak sciences -physics and social; 2) The differences between paradigm, —positivist and phenomenological— 3) The differences between physic causality and historic causality. In the second step we are going to talk about two fundamental problems which are questioned: 1) the confusion between ontology and gnoseology and, 2) the erroneous concept of causality that commonly is used. In the last step of the paper we are going over the recent models of «causal explanation» and we suggest the probabilistic casualty development next with a more elaborated models of causal explanation, like a way to conjugate the scientific severity with the possibility to tackle complex economic realities

Is It Possible to Monetarily Quantify the Emotional Value Transferred by Companies and Organizations? An Emotional Accounting Proposal

[EN] Social accounting focuses on value transactions between organizations and their stakeholders; both market ones, where the value perceived by the different stakeholders is identified, and non-markets ones, where transactions are monetized at their fair value. There was long awareness of an emotional value translation, linked to the transfer of different products, services, remunerations, and incentives, regardless of whether they were market or non-market. Yet that emotional value seemed to be anchored in the field of psychology and managed to elude economic science. This study seeks to identify emotional value with consumer surplus and, by extension, of the other stakeholders in a value transfer process. This proposal allows the emotional value to be anchored in the micro-economy and allows it to be objectively calculated using a regression involving three elements: the market price, the fair value interval, and a perceived satisfaction score by the different stakeholders in the form of significant sampling. The result obtained not only allows Social Accounting to be complemented with emotional value, but it also facilitates its incorporation in the strategy to optimize the emotional value. Furthermore, it enables a quantification of the perceived subjective utility, which opens up a research path where some possible lines are clearly identified.Funding for this project was received through a research project called US20/11 from the University of the Basque Country to improve the normalization of social and emotional accounting

Science and technology parks : measuring their contribution to society through social accounting

Science and Technology Parks (STPs) have made a positive contribution to regional development in the last decades. In general, the assessment of their level of performance has been based on two major variables: number of new companies and number of new jobs created. In this paper we propose the use of social accounting to measure the social value (SV) generated by STPs as an additional tool to assess the level of contribution of STPs to social development. Social accounting could be of interest for policy makers and regional governments in order to evaluate regional STPs and their social performance. In addition, in this paper we present an innovative methodology for calculating SV. Instead of using primary data to calculate SV (through interviews or consultations with individual stakeholders), we propose the use of secondary data available in open databases to measure SV. In this way, the measurement of SV for a large number of individual organizations can be achieved using a limited amount of resources. In this line, and as a seminal implementation of this methodology, we calculate the SV generated by four STPs in two different regions and countries belonging to the European Union using secondary data. Thus, the main contribution of the paper is twofold: on one hand it proposes social accounting to assess the performance of STPs through the calculation of SV, and on the other hand it implements a new methodology to calculate SV which requires the use of a lesser number of resources

The Social Efficiency for Sustainability: European Cooperative Banking Analysis

This paper seeks to establish the relationship between economic efficiency and social efficiency to analyze the sustainability of banking in Europe. The type-effect has been analyzed, as stakeholder value bankscooperatives and saving banksshould not be less socially and economically efficient than commercial banks. This European analysis was made using the Bankscope database, as it provides a unique insight into the stakeholder view that clarifies, by an analysis of two-stage boundaries, that there is no single model of social and economic efficiency according to the type of financial entity in Europe. These findings contribute to the social cost paradox and shared value perspective, and more broadly to stakeholder theory. It is established that a tradeoff between economic and social efficiency is not needed. There are different behaviors in different European countries. Moreover, our results could lead to the development of social indicators of the sustainability aspects of organizations without resorting to traditional accounting.This research was funded by UPV/EHU (GIU15/10 and US17/24) and Management and the Governance of Financial Cooperatives-Sorbonne (Axe 2)

Cláusulas sociales y mercados tutelados: herramientas para la competitividad de las empresas de inserción

Work integration social enterprises are at a competitive disadvantage in the market due to their idiosyncratic nature. Social clauses and protected markets may provide a way of balancing this disadvantage. This article analyses the measures put in place by the Authorities to promote social and work integration processes. However, this analysis refers only to the measures that the Authorities can adopt in their role as a client or market for products or services, and to measures that are aimed particularly at work integration social enterprises: social clauses and protected markets. Both of these measures are rescaled into a single dimension labelled social clauses, quantifying their restrictive impact in the light of the problem of whether or not said clauses are used.Work Integration Social Enterprises, Social Clauses, Protected Markets, Competitive Advantage, Social Institutional Theory, Stakeholder Theory.

Lankidetza ekonomia diruzaintza kudeaketan aplikatzea posible al da?

[EUS] Lan honek lankidetza ekonomiari egingo dio ekarpena, baina orain arte gutxi garatutako ikuspegi batetik, finantza alorretik, eta hain zuzen ere, diruzaintzatik. Lan honetan hainbat enpresen diruzaintza modu elkartu batean kudeatzeko helburuz elkarrekin lan egitea posible dela defendatzen dugu, beti ere enpresak antentzeko helburu duen lankidetza ekonomia ikuspuntutik. Analizatutako hiru kasuak, honako hauek dira: Mondragon Corporation, Arboribus eta Trocobuy. Hiru kasu hauen analisiaren oinarrituz, finantza arloan lankidetza ekonomia posible izateko beharrezkoak diren ezaugarriak aurkezten ditugu: gardentsauna, kudeaketa, elkarren arteko mozkina lortzeko itxaropenak, bermeak, elkarren arteko onura eta konfiantza. Honela, lan honek erakusten du, alde batetik, lankidetza ekonomiaren ahalera orain arte ekonomia paradigma hori gutxi garatu den hainbat alorretan, hala nola, erakundeen diruzaintzan. Bestetik, lan honen bidez agerian geratzen da lankidetza ekonomiak kasu guztietan enpresaren desagregazioa ez dakarrela.[EN] The work contributes to the literature on collaborative economy; but from an underdeveloped perspective that is the field of finance, and specifically of the cash holding. This paper defends the possibility of collaborations to jointly manage the treasury between different companies, always under the prism of the collaborative economy based on the maintenance of the company as an organization. The three cases analyzed are: Mondragon Corporation, Arboribus and Trocobuy. It presents the necessary characteristics from these three cases so that the collaborative economy in the field of finance is possible: transparency, management, expectations of mutual benefit, guarantees, mutual benefit and trust. Thus, this work shows, on the one hand, the potential of the collaborative economy in areas where it currently has little presence; as is the cash holding of the organizations; and on the other hand, that the collaborative economy does not have to suppose in all the cases the disaggregation of the company

Understanding Cash Sharing: A Sustainability Model

Traditionally, corporate treasury management has been strategically based on the idea of advancing collections and delaying payments, which has been regulated through the intermediation of financial entities using, for example, credit accounts. New technologies applied to the financial field facilitate direct interaction between companies and reduce the transaction costs, because they allow adjustment of the flows of needs, but high confidence is required. The current ease of access to credit does not promote the incorporation of new financial relationship systems, but the operation of these systems should be studied, since a future credit restriction, like that known in Europe at the end of the 2000s, could change the situation. The aim of this paper was to identify the factors involved in this relationship among companies and establish the main conditions for cash sharing between companies to achieve a successful financial function. The investigation is based on a Delphi analysis used to analyze the successful experiences of shared cash (Mondragon Corporation, Trocobuy, and Arboribus), the needed variables, and their context. Then, our model was created from that exploratory knowledge. Our model is called mutual cash holding and its relevance and reliability were contrasted using structural equations based on a questionnaire administered to financial managers of large- and medium-sized Spanish companies. The result generates knowledge that articulates a new collaborative tool that expands the possibilities for treasury management among companiesThis research was funded by University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, (US17/24 grant number) and FESIDE foundation

Stakeholder Value Creation: Comparing ESG and Value Added in European Companies

In recent years, a renewed interest in value creation for stakeholders has been witnessed in different contexts. Different tools have been proposed to try to grasp and measure such value(s) but, in many cases, the main perspective remains that of the shareholders. To contribute to the field of research that aims to discuss novel ways of thinking about value creation measurement, this paper addresses the relationship between ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) ratings and Value Added, as proxies of value creation and distribution for stakeholders. In particular, we consider whether ESG ratings are able to capture companies that are characterized by their capacity for generating higher Value Added for stakeholders. Our analysis uses the frontier methodology combined with means comparison. Data from 2018 were downloaded from EIKON, for all companies within the Euro zone and for all sectors (1932 companies, of which 399 held an ESG rating, compared with 1533 without ESG analysis). Our analysis reveals that, although ESG is theoretically considered a good social responsibility proxy, ESG indices cannot be used as an indicator of value creation for stakeholders but, rather, must be considered as only one of the components. This implies a need to review the limitations of ESG ratings and establish that the relevant indices are not suitable for use in universal or absolute decision-making.This research was funded by the University of Bergamo (Italy) Programma STaRs “Stars Supporting Talented Researchers”—Azione 2: “Grants for Visiting Professor and Scholar Incoming”—2018 and by the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), grant number US20/11

Factores estratégicos de éxito de las empresas de inserción

Work integration social enterprises are an emerging reality in the Spanish State, and both the number of such enterprises and the resources allocated to this area by the different regional Authorities are increasing exponentially. However, the studies carried out to date are largely descriptive or explanatory, and have hardly touched on aspects relating to the management of these enterprises. In this article we set out to identify the fundamental factors linked to the business success of work integration social enterprises as an evaluation of the efficiency of such projects. The proposed hypothesis links a set of factors taken from the literature, which are considered independent variables, with the dependent variable of success. The hypotheses have been proven by an empirical analysis based on a telephone survey.Work Integration Social Enterprises, Business Success, Efficiency, Social Economy, Solidarity Economy.

Editorial: Emotional and social value of organizations

This study was supported by the University of the Basque Country under Grant US20/11, the Consejeria de Educacion, Cultura y Deportes (JCCM), and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under Grant SBPLY/21/180501/000192