International Integration and Mandates of Innovative Subsidiaries in Spain

In this paper, we develop a general framework that integrates diverse driving mechanisms of subsidiaries evolving towards competence creating mandates. The relevant process is the mutual relationship between innovation scope and the internationalization of the market as the primary channel for learning in subsidiaries, and how the opportunity for units to gain competence creating mandates is notably influenced by their embeddedness in export networks. This has direct implications for increasing the international channels for learning and indirectly in terms of the effectiveness of host country development. The framework is applied to a sample of firms in the Spanish economy, a country that does not hold a leading position economically and technologically inside the EU bloc, which suggests that the evidence may be suitable for generalizing the organization and network embeddedness of other catching-up economies.- innovation, mandates, MNC, networks, subsidiaries

ICT and Cross-Country Comparisons: a Proposal of a New Composite Index

This paper focuses on the use and diffusion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as a mechanism that may reduce the global divide between rich and poor countries. Our main contribution deals with the importance of counting with accurate time-series data and a precise assessment of the components that define ICT indicators at a national level. Thus, a multiple imputation technique is carried out to estimate ICT missing data under the expectation maximization approach. The resulting dataset allows us to propose a more confident estimation of an ICT composite index based on the notion of national capabilities, the called NaCap Index. A distinctive feature of the NaCap is that it attempts to capture countries’ differences on education and structural elements, both determinant factors to attain positive impacts from the use of ICT. The calculation of the Nacap Index for a broad sample of 170 countries and for a time spam from 1991 to 2003 enable us to do cross-country and time comparisons in a more robust manner.La idea de partida en este trabajo es que las tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones (TIC), particularmente su uso y difusión, pueden resultar ser un mecanismo que contribuya a la disminución de la desigualdad existente entre países ricos y pobres en la era digital. Nuestra principal aportación está relacionada con la importancia que tiene la disponibilidad de información estadística para períodos extensos y mediciones más precisas de los distintos componentes que definen el nivel de acceso a las TIC de los países. Se recurre al uso de una técnica de imputación múltiple para estimar los datos ausentes de TIC y, a partir de esta estimación, se realiza la propuesta de un nuevo índice complejo de difusión de TIC que aporta una más adecuada cuantificación de las capacidades nacionales: el índice NaCap. Una de las características distintivas del NaCap es que intenta capturar el papel diferenciado de los distintos niveles de acceso a la educación en relación con la complejidad de las tecnologías y otros elementos estructurales de las economías, entendiéndolos como factores determinantes del impacto de las TIC en el desarrollo de los países. La estimación de los valores que adopta el índice NaCap en 170 países durante el período comprendido entre 1991 y 2003 permite la realización de análisis dinámicos así como acometer comparaciones internacionales más amplias y precisas que las que permite la información disponible en otras fuentes estadísticas internacionales.Difusión tecnológica, Adopción de tecnologías, Brecha digital, Indicadores compuestos, Imputación de datos, Technology diffusion, technology adoption, Digital divide, Composite indicators, Data imputation.

FDI and world heterogeneities: The role of absorptive capacities

It is generally agreed that foreign direct investment (FDI) flows can contribute to the local upgrading of host economies, whereas the diverse technological strategies of multinational companies (MNCs) can determine the existence and size of spillover effects. When considering FDI entry modes, merger and acquisitions (M&As) reveal a higher level of interaction with local productive systems than general FDI. Accordingly, their impacts may differ depending on the development level of countries and on the characteristics of national systems. Our aim is to exam the relative importance of local determinants explaining different choices of FDI entry. We explore both the strengths of the traditional explanation of FDI flows as well as the relevance of institutional stability and consolidation of national absorptive capabilities; the latter are considered key features of national systems. Our findings confirm that the factors at a country level affecting general FDI differ from those concerning cross-border M&As and support the need to investigate new drivers for attraction of FDI. Structural factors explain better the behaviour of FDI, whereas the factors of national systems of innovation are more closely correlated with the cross-border M&As trend. Finally, although international inequalities persist when both developed and developing countries are considered, it is interesting to note the importance of the heterogeneity that characterises the developing world as a topic for further research.Una idea bastante aceptada en la literatura económica es que la entrada de flujos de inversión directa extranjera (IDE) puede generar efectos beneficiosos en las economías receptoras. Las diversas estrategias tecnológicas de las empresas multinacionales determinan, no obstante, la existencia y magnitud de los potenciales spillover. Al considerar las distintas formas de entrada de la IDE, las fusiones y adquisiciones presentan, por lo general, un mayor grado de interacción con los sistemas productivos locales y, por ello, cabe esperar impactos diferenciados, condicionados por el nivel de desarrollo y las características de los sistemas nacionales receptores. El propósito en este trabajo es examinar la importancia relativa de los determinantes locales que explican las diversas opciones de entrada de las empresas multinacionales. En el análisis se trata de contrastar cuál es el peso de los factores predominantes en las explicaciones económicas más convencionales, así como el efecto de la estabilidad institucional y el grado de consolidación de las capacidades nacionales de absorción. Los resultados nos permiten confirmar que los factores condicionantes de los flujos de IDE en general, difieren de los que atañen a las fusiones y adquisiciones transfronterizas, lo que justifica la necesidad de explorar nuevos elementos de atracción de IDE. Mientras que los factores estructurales explican bien el comportamiento de la IDE en general, los factores relacionados con los sistemas nacionales de innovación están más estrechamente relacionados con las fusiones y adquisiciones. Finalmente, aunque las desigualdades internacionales persisten al analizar conjuntamente países desarrollados y en desarrollo, tiene una especial relevancia la heterogeneidad que caracteriza al mundo en desarrollo para futuras investigaciones.Flujos de inversión directa extranjera (IDE), Empresas multinacionales, Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows

Technology and the Generation of International Knowledge Spillovers. An Application to Spanish Manufacturing Firms

Technology is among firms ownership advantages explaining their internationalisation as, now for decades, the eclectic approach has highlighted. The debate about the positive versus negative effects that foreign capital generates in the host economy has gained a new relevance today insofar as, on the one hand, the concept of systems of innovation allows us to rethink the interaction with the domestic/recipient economies and, on the other, the increasing internationalisation of the technological activities of multinational companies (MNCs) introduces new forms of that interaction. Therefore, the possibility of generation of external effects by MNCs today demands a new reformulation of the problem. In this vein, one of the strengthening aspects commonly underlined is that foreign knowledge, not completely appropriable by the foreign firms, may spill over into domestic firms. However, since the findings of the empirical evidence are not fully confirmatory of the hypothesis, and taking into account the new conditions, this essay attempts to offer new light with research about the Spanish manufacturing firms. Two main issues are focused on this analysis. First, the importance of dynamics in the assessment of technological spillovers motivated by foreign direct investment (FDI), which is possible thanks to the availability of a panel data for manufacturing firms in Spain in the period 1991-1999. Second, the importance that technology may have for the generation of spillovers and to what extent the Pavitt taxonomy of industries is still useful for in depth analysis of such a learning process.Foreign capital, Foreign direct investment,Spanish manufacturing firms, Knowledge Spillovers

Internal and external factors of competitiveness in the middle-income countries

The diverse group of middle-income countries (MIC) is composed by some economies with an active behavior in exports of technology-intensive goods that is strictly better than the group average. One of the factors explaining such a result is the improvement of their national technological capabilities that affects the dynamism of their productive and trade structure generating competitiveness gains. There are grounded reasons to think that this is also a consequence of external effects and the potential impacts that both trade and foreign direct investments (FDI) flows generate in those economies where foreign companies have contributed to the industrialization and modernization of their productive systems. In this paper, we analyze the possibilities of integration of the MIC economies into the dynamic high-tech markets as the interplay between the role of FDI and their ability for the absorption and creation of technology. We will observe based upon empirical analysis with panel data (1998-2005), what is the relative importance of internal and external factors for the improvement of the international competitiveness in these developing economies.competitiveness, FDI, high-tech, middle income countries, competitividad, IDE, alta tecnología, países de renta media

The role of networking in the competitiveness profile of Spanish firms

Two main forces coincide nowadays in the characterisation of productive systems. On the one hand, the internationalisation of markets and economic activities has resulted in an increasing competition worldwide and a new and more global division of labour. On the other, the greater complexity of technology makes innovation a key factor in manufacturing firms’ competitiveness. Cooperative network relationships seem to be important in both processes. This paper aims to explore this aspect in the competitiveness behaviour of four Spanish manufacturing industries: food, chemicals, electronics and vehicles. Data has been obtained from a survey conducted specifically for this purpose at the firm level. Findings from the empirical analysis, based on the application of the Polytomus Logit Universal Model (PLUM), confirm the positive effects of the ability to network on company performance, particularly, intra-firm cooperation, cooperation between competitors and user-producer relationships.La internacionalización de mercados, de actividades económicas y la creciente competencia global son algunos de los factores que caracterizan los sistemas productivos actuales. A ello se suma una intensa complejidad tecnológica que afecta tanto a productos como a procesos productivos, concediéndole a la innovación un papel clave en la competitividad de las empresas manufactureras. En ambos procesos, las relaciones de cooperación empresarial se erigen como forma organizativa de creciente importancia. En este documento se explora la relación entre cooperación y comportamiento competitivo en cuatro industrias manufactureras: alimentación, química, electrónica y automóviles. La información estadística se ha obtenido a partir de una encuesta realizada a nivel microeconómico y diseñada específicamente con este fin en España. Los resultados que se derivan del análisis empírico, basados en la aplicación de un modelo Logit Universal (PLUM), confirman los efectos positivos de las relaciones cooperativas en los resultados empresariales, concretamente las relaciones intra-empresa, la cooperación entre competidores y las relaciones usuario-proveedor.Co-operation, Networking, Innovation, Competitiveness.

Transformational Leadership, Task-Involving Climate, and Their Implications in Male Junior Soccer Players: A Multilevel Approach

Despite the well-known positive consequences of transformational coaches in sport, there is still little research exploring the mechanisms through which coaches’ transformational leadership exerts its impact on athletes. Multilevel SEM was used to examine the relationship between coaches’ transformational leadership style, a task-involving climate, and leadership effectiveness outcome criteria (i.e., players’ extra effort, coach effectiveness, and satisfaction with their coach), separately estimating between and within effects. A representative sample of 625 Spanish male soccer players ranging from 16 to 18 years old and nested in 50 teams completed a questionnaire package tapping the variables of interest. Results confirmed that at the team level, team perceptions of transformational leadership positively predicted teams’ perceptions of task climate, which in turn positively predicted the three outcome criteria. At the individual level, players’ perceptions of transformational leadership positively predicted teams’ perceptions of task climate, which in turn positively predicted teams’ extra effort and coach effectiveness. Mediation effects appeared at the team level for all the outcome criteria, and at the individual only for extra effort. Transformational leadership is recommended to enhance task climate, in order to increase players’ extra effort, their perceptions of the effectiveness of their coach, and their satisfaction with his/her leadership style

Pedro Álvarez, a Compostela school teacher: a brief history of the Commercial Academy (1944-1980)

[Resumo] Neste artigo dase a coñecer brevemente a vida de Pedro Álvarez, mestre en Compostela e a historia da Academia Comercial dende que entrou en funcionamento no ano 1949 ata o seu peche en 1980. Nel faise percorrido pola súa vida e estudos, así como un comentario da evolución metodolóxica e didáctica seguida nese centro educativo ó longo dos anos sinalados e que tivo marcada incidencia na vida escolar Compostelá.[Abstract] This article briefly illustrates the life of Pedro Álvarez, a Compostela schoolteacher and the history of the Commercial Academy, from its beginnings in 1949 until it closed in 1980. A description of his life and studies is presented, in addition to a discussion of the methodological and educational evolution that took place in this center of learning over the course of these years, which had a great impact on educational life in Compostel

La Política Europea de I+D: Situación Actual y Perspectivas

La política europea en materia de investigación, desarrollo tecnológico e innovación está comprometida con el objetivo de lograr que la UE llegue a realizar un esfuerzo en I+D de 3% del PIB a lo largo de la presente década. El proyecto de construcción del Espacio Europeo de Investigación es entendido como fundamental si se pretende alcanzar una dinámica más competitiva de la UE, reto que se refleja en la orientación y los compromisos asumidos tanto en el Sexto Programa Marco de Investigación, Desarrollo Tecnológico y Demostración (PM), como en la definición de las líneas estratégicas de los trabajos preparativos del Séptimo PM. En este artículo se revisan las bases conceptuales, la situación actual y las perspectivas de futuro de este ámbito de la política europea.Política europea de I+D, Innovación, Espacio Europeo de Investigación, Programa Marco.