ARETHUSE 1/2 2014

ARETHUSE 1/2 2014

• ISSUE 1/2 2014 Paperback Pag.160


• ISBN: 9788874887859


• DOI: 10.15651/978-88-748-8785-9 


• Scientific Committee Editorial Board Table of Contents


• 
    
  

In the first issue many very interesting research papers have been submitted from qualified international Scholars. We propose an overview about the main research- streams that have been chosen by the Authors. This mapping process provides the opportunity to check the guidelines for the study of economic and managerial phenomena that international scholars have followed for thirty years in the international associations that deal with economics and management, called ARETHUSE. 

In the first research paper, Rullani affirms that in the world of the 21st century, if people are being placed again at the center of the economic and social scene, by taking control of an automation process that, in the last century (in the Ford era), seemed to be overwhelming, it is because – for a variety of reasons – we are faced with a level of complexity that has grown enormously over the last thirty or forty years. The paper analyzes how the apparent development of the ‘non-places of abstract and hyper- regulated modernity’ have surprisingly left ample space for the cultural identity of each Country, City, Firm, etc. As a result, the Author highlights that without sacrificing task specialization (and therefore the division of labor) that made it possible to use machines in a widespread way and made savings in the replication of knowledge, the links between the different units of the supply chain became less rigid and predetermined. In the end the path of innovation and social entrepreneurship is assuming more and more importance, and we are still at the beginning.

In the second research contribution, Ruiz, De La Torre and Moral show that the monetary policy of central banks with the setting of interest rates and balance sheet operations, either through asset purchasing or loans, has substantially changed in the last five years. The attention is focused in order to interpret the movements of the banks, with the aim of specifying a more or less stable link established between the evolution of the economy and official interest rates. This interesting research is based on an empirical investigation utilizing a ‘Taylor Rule’. The Authors highlight the relevant findings of this paper and believe that their research hypotheses have yet to be worked out, as they depend on future central bank decisions, but it is also a relevant starting point for macro and micro-economic research.

Gallegati and Scuppa analyze how in Italy inequality has grown dramatically in recent decades. Although there is much empirical evidence of this fact and there are different causes that explain this trend, the scope of the research work should be assessed in the light of the historical context that characterizes Italy today. They highlight the modern debate about the effectiveness of Italian state intervention by means of redistribution policies compared to other European countries. The Authors also study the greatest factors that have influenced income inequality in Italy in an inefficient manner. The original proposals about the effects and workable policies are very clear and interesting, even if the relationship between inequality and economic growth is highly controversial. The simulation model proposed to explain the effects of inequality on the propensity to consume appear to be interesting.

The research paper of Çipi, Llaci and Ferreira suggest the hoped for Corporate Governance (CG) in a period that is characterized by financial crisis. These Scholars highlight how, regardless of the development stage of a country’s economy, it is important to choose CG practices that are suitable for the respective legislation, culture and trade market level. Based on an application of the Delphi technique, this paper analyzes the evolutionary patterns of CG in Albania, to identify the major differences between CG practices in the country before and after the 2008 crisis, and to provide development prospects considering the perceptions of a panel of Joint Stock Company (JSC) Chief Executive Officers (CEOs). This research appear interesting given that recent events have demonstrated that in democratic, market-based systems, the inefficient implementation of “good” CG practices by company managers is unlikely to last in time, because sooner or later such companies will be confronted with financial difficulties. In particular, this study aims to address the gap in knowledge related to corporate practices in Albania, providing a comparison between those practices before and after the 2008 global financial crisis.

In this interesting research contribution, Rodríguez Cohard and Quesada Vázquez study a ‘regional innovation paradox’ and, in particular, a ‘regional limited absorptive capacity’ of the innovative investments, in spite of regional innovation policies, which have been enhanced by the regional innovation strategies co-financed by the European Union and Regional Governments. They analyze the international innovation literature, especially when it warns against the potential risks of carrying out innovation processes in the more undeveloped regions or emerging Countries. Then they explain the ‘Plan of Innovation and Modernization of Andalusia’ that is based on the variety of tools and measures that have been required for the creation of new environmental organizations. In order to describe and analyze the origin and evolution of regional innovation policies, the Authors shall follow an ‘analytical model‘, which uses the Ideas on innovation, the interests of stakeholders, and the institutions involved to attempt to explain the orientation and variance of these policies. Barruso Castillo, Calderéron Patier and Mingorance Arnáiz analyze the current status of major public social policies as well as the reforms that European countries are carrying out in order to gradually transform the Traditional Welfare State in to an Efficient and Sustainable Welfare State. They affirm that the actual crisis owes its origins to past events. It came from the end of the nineteen seventies, where the new

global economic context stakes Keynesian policies and monetary policies derive into rationalization policies, privatization and public expenditure restraint. The Authors analyze how and why all European countries have changed their organizational structures introducing new institutional and social actors and decentralizing their Welfare State in favor of regional and local authorities. European States and Spain have already launched reforms in recent years in relation to pensions, unemployment, health or the workplace with this objective: the question in every case is whether the reforms already implemented are sufficient or if further amendments will be needed in the future. The research paper of Hernández-Carrión and Ruiz Hall aims to compare the type of financing available to innovative SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) in different regions (or countries) that as is known is also influenced by economic growth, progress with reforms of the financial sector, access to international capital markets, monetary and fiscal policies, etc. The Authors analyze how the economy of the Valencia region (Comunidad Valenciana) in Spain has suffered the consequences of Spanish and Valencian corruption in its banking and government policies. In particular, ‘the scandalous/outrageous and dangerous 26% unemployment rate nationwide has reached almost 30% in the Valencia region’.

Valencia region or Comunidad Valenciana (Valencian Community) is a relevant economic region in Spain whose economy is based in clusters and industrial districts of SMEs. In this context the banks’ customers are mainly households or small firms, the markets were more fragmented. On the other hand, in the field of regional economics, the banking system determines the spatial distribution of credit and the development of the territories in which they operate. After having edited this edition of this issue, we would like to thank the universities that have contributed to its realization. It represents a truly international scientific project (University of Study of Molise, University of Study of Calabria, University of Murcia, University of Jaén, University of Laguna, University CEU San Pablo, CERGAM – Aix-Marseille University, University of Bordeax3, University of Bordeax4, University of Valencia, Polytechnic University of Marche).

Maria Rosaria Marcone Polytechnic University of Marche 

José Luis Rivero Ceballos University of Laguna ARETHUSE Spain 

ARETHUSE 1/2 2014