Strategy and Structure in the Italian Fashion Industry: A Case of Internationalisation

Many SMEs in the Italian fashion industry do not find a fit between strategy and structure able to open them to growth and new opportunities in emerging international markets. Through an in depth analysis of a successful business case, a contribution is made to the study of strategy–structure fit in the Italian fashion industry, with particular reference to the international growth phase. The case confirms the causal link between strategy and structure. However, the development route in the fashion sector does not follow the historical model analysed by Chandler: Uppsala’s model of incremental and cognitive internationalisation appears to be the more appropriate reference for Italian “industrial networks”, characterised by creative dynamics that are constantly evolving, and strong needs for structural flexibility and strategic change.     

Financial Leverage and Shareholder’s Required Returns: Evidence from South Africa Corporate Sector

Recent financial crisis which saw an increase in risk premium and shareholder’s required return around the world has been in part attributed to firms excessive debt leverage. This paper tests the impact of debt leverage on shareholder’s required return in South Africa. The paper specifies dynamic panel models and uses difference generalized method of moment (GMM) estimation technique. The results show that long term debt is positively related to shareholder’s required return. Similarly, total debt is positively related to shareholder’s required return. The results are robust to alternative model specification namely system GMM. Based on the findings, the study suggests that debt leverage is an important risk factor to be priced in equity valuation. The findings also suggest that the dynamic nature of firms’ capital structure decision should not be neglected. The paper contributes to capital structure research by testing Modigliani and Miller proposition two on listed firms in South Africa. Besides, it uses better estimation technique that controls for unobservable firm-specific effects and endogenous problem. In addition, two measures of leverage are used as independent variable compared to a single measure commonly found in the literature.     

The Impacts of the Basel II Accord on the Concentration of the Entrepreneurial and Banking System

From the econometric analysis model, even though based on the US economy, one deduces the existence of an important correlation between the intervened changes in the role of banks’ prudential capital and in merger and acquisition dealings: the latter have increased, at least in number, after the reviewing of prudential capital requirements in favour of better structured banking organizations. The analysis of the Italian entrepreneurial and banking system shows a country characterised by small-scale enterprises with meagre growth capability (even though the Accord, paradoxically, is meant to facilitate the granting of loans to the development of small-scale enterprises), but also by the great expanding potential of banking enterprises that, contrarily to the other productive entities, can count of high re-investible margins and, consequently, of wide capabilities of investing in private equity.      

The american labor movement and employee ownership: Objections to and uses of employee stock ownership plans

This paper analyzes the evolution of American unions’ attitudes and policies concerning employee ownership that coincided with the rapid growth of employee stock-ownership plans during the 1980s. From an initial position of opposing employee ownership and viewing it as a threat, many major unions have come to accept, and in some cases to promote, stock ownership for their members. Among the factors driving this change of view have been economic necessity, evidence that many of the labor movement’s traditional concerns about employee ownership are largely unfounded, and the growing realization among unions that employee ownership is a potentially useful strategic asset.     

An empirical analysis of the time allocation of Italian couples: are they responsive?

The literature suggests that in Italy husbands contribute less to unpaid household work than in any other European country, while women have the lowest market employment rates. Here we examine the time allocation of Italian couples on which there are surprisingly few studies to date. We analyze simultaneously the time allocated by husband and wife to market work, childcare and housework, allowing for various interactions. We use data drawn from the Italian national Time Use Survey 2002–2003 for the analysis. We find that spousal time allocation is sensitive to personal and household characteristics, such as, in particular, education and children’s age. Evidence shows that men married to more highly educated women spend more time with their children. The husband’s own characteristics have less of an effect on women’s time allocation. We also find that patterns differ substantially between weekends and weekdays. The estimated correlations between the unobservable factors affecting the couple’s time allocation suggest that the time devoted by parents to childcare is complementary and that the time they devote to housework is substitutable across weekends and other weekdays.     

Credit Card Ownership Among American High School Seniors: 1997–2008

The purpose of this study is to investigate the rise in credit card ownership rates among high school seniors in the United States. It uses the Jump$tart Coalition’s cross-sectional surveys from 1997 to 2008 to analyze the determinants of credit card ownership among high school seniors. These results show that students with credit cards are less financially literate than students without credit cards; and students with credit cards in their own names are almost twice as likely to work during the school year for money. These findings help make a case for improved financial education and training, and institutional changes that limit the pervasive issuance of credit cards to high school students.     

Reactions Versus Perceptions Within the Romanian Banking Sector in Times of Crisis and Reorganization

Our paper contributes to the literature on the Romanian banking sector by analyzing a particular credit institution, namely the Cluj Napoca regional corporate business center of BCR Erste Bank Romania. Our choice is motivated by the fact that the Cluj Napoca regional center represents the pilot used by Erste Bank in testing all structural changes, new technologies and management and risk strategies. The analysis being developed focuses on the restructuration process taking place due to BCR’s merger with Erste Group, in what was considered to be one of the most spectacular takeovers in Central and Eastern Europe, therefore forming BCR Erste. The analyzed period also involves financial crisis circumstances. Considering the changes taking place within both the internal and external environment of the bank we oriented our analysis towards the bank’s clients. More precisely, we tested if, under the considered circumstances, we could find a connection between the bank’s clients’ reaction to the events taking place and their perception upon the same phenomenon. Regression models are used in developing the analysis. The results of the study come to prove the existence of a medium intensity relationship between clients’ perception on the two considered phenomenon and their reaction. Such results are justified if we think that on one hand the restructuration contributed towards positive effects while on the other we have negative effects due to the financial crisis. Our study has the obvious limitation of only approaching one case study. The analysis performed on BCR Erste’s case could also be extended to other banks. Conclusions therefore being reached and the potential effects of this type of research could be directly beneficial for the local, regional and/or national economic environment. The information aimed to be obtained is in line with the bank’s policy of orientation towards its clients. Besides analyzing clients’ perception, our analysis also considers its connection to their reaction. Since clients’ behavior is always in the center of management’s attention, dimensioning this connection bears significant practical implications. The distinctive element of the study is given by the analyzed period representing for the chosen bank both its restructuration process and the period when the financial crisis peaked in its manifestation.     

OUTSIDE OWNERSHIP AND WORKERS' EARNINGS AND TENURE

Increasing aggregate concentration in the economy has increased attention to the issues surrounding the outside ownership of enterprises. Outside ownership entails both industrial diversification and various forms of conglomerate ownership and represents an important new direction for studies of economic sociology and labor market segmentation. The article shows that the influence of four measures of outside ownership on worker's earnings and tenure is largely, though not universally, negative. Outside ownership tends to suppress earnings otherwise accruing to workers in companies with high levels of unionization, rapid growth, and high profits. Workers' tenure is influenced negatively by some types of outside ownership but positively by others. Tenure is reduced in subsidiary firms and in industries predominately owned by other industries due to reduced union influence on job tenure in these settings. Average tenure is increased in companies that are spread across several industries. These findings provide little support for dual labor market theories and other economic theories that argue that workers benefit from the market power of their employing organizations. Instead, the findings provide support for theories that stress the dangers to workers' fates arising from the increasing dominance of financial management in economic decision making.     

Domestic Violence,Gun Ownership,and Parental Educational Attainment: How do They Affect the Aggressive Beliefs and Behaviors of Children?

This article explores the relationship between and effects of domestic violence, rates of gun ownership, and parental educational attainment on the aggressive beliefs and behaviors of elementary and middle school children in the state of South Carolina. The results of the current study’s statistical analyses are interpreted using a multi-theoretical framework. Recommendations to decrease rates of domestic violence and firearm accessibility, as well as methods to increase educational attainment in this state’s unique environment and the nation as a whole, are presented.     

How can gender discrimination explain fertility behaviors and family-friendly policies?

This paper focuses on the interaction between gender discrimination and household decisions. It develops a model with endogenous fertility, endogenous labor supply and endogenous size of government spending. Family policies which concern childcare services are assumed to reduce the time that parents spend on their children. The model shows that gender discrimination may explain differences in household decisions between countries. The solution shows a U-shaped relationship between fertility and gender discrimination if the quality of childcare services is sufficiently high. In the decreasing part of this U-shaped curve, a decrease in the discrimination level implies a related increase in fertility, women’s participation in the labor force and in family-friendly policies.     

Impact of CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Emissions Reductions on Firms’ Finance in an Emerging Economy: The Case of the Czech Republic

This paper investigates the relationship between economic and environmental performance with focus on firms in an emerging economy, the Czech Republic, and their CO₂ emission reductions. We discuss whether the hypotheses tested for local pollutants that firms emit and firms’ finances are relevant for CO₂ emissions. We test the hypotheses on a sample of Czech firms included in the first phase of European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). We observe that introduction of EU ETS did not encourage significant investments in CO₂ emissions reduction. Importantly, the results show that the firms that did invest in CO₂ reductions experienced a negative impact on their finance. We argue that this is explained by the drop in the price of allowances on the carbon market in 2006 which resulted in firms receiving less revenue from saved allowances than they had expected.     

Financial Responsibilities Toward Older Parents and Stepparents Following Divorce and Remarriage

We assessed beliefs about adult children’s responsibilities to financially assist parents and stepparents following later-life divorce and remarriage using a multiple-segment factorial vignette with a national sample (N = 1,121). Ordered logistic regression analyses indicated that beliefs about financial responsibilities to older adults declined after marital transitions, and responsibilities to assist stepparents were more tenuous than to parents. Beliefs about intergenerational responsibilities were affected by adult children’s financial resources and by changes in older adults’ marital statuses. Kinship obligation norms, the adult children’s financial resources, and reciprocity norms were the most common reasons used to explain beliefs about responsibilities to financially assist older parents and stepparents, but these reasons became less salient following divorce and remarriage of the older adult. After marital transitions, beliefs about intergenerational financial responsibilities were more often based on the older adult’s culpability for being in a position of need, relationship quality, and diminished kinship obligations.     

Accountability as a Managerial Tool in Non-Profit Organizations: Evidence from Italian CSVs

The long-term performance of NPOs is based on their ability to link and maximize social value as defined in their mission. This involves legitimacy obtained from stakeholders influenced by and influencing NPO activities, and their operational capacity or economic efficiency. Thus, NPOs have to utilize multiple level accountability systems which should be compatible with their multiple objectives and stakeholders’ claims. The accountability system of an NPO should focus on its operational capacity, because in order to maximize its efficiency, an NPO has to measure its resource use, cost structure, and financial structure. Legitimacy obtained from stakeholders is also integral. If an organization is considered a social contract between multiple stakeholders, it has to consider the social economic effects of its activities and it has the duty to account for them. However, since the mission of an NPO is to create and distribute social value to a certain specific group, its social value creation has the most important role and an NPO should measure the social value it has created. This article analyzes the accountability system of a specific type of Italian NPO called Centri di Servizio per il Volontariato (CSVs)—namely centers which provide services for voluntary associations. The aim of the research is to verify if the accountability system adopted by CSVs satisfies their need for multiple level information (operational, legitimacy, and social value) and accomplishes their stakeholder claims, and to determine its impact on the definition and implementation of their strategy and on their long-term performance. The research was carried out using the action research model, and the findings are based on the analysis of a sample of 64 CSVs situated throughout Italy.     

The Association Between Consumer Debt and the Likelihood of Divorce

As part of the Center for Financial Security’s 2010 symposium, this study examined the association between consumer debt and divorce. Longitudinal data from the National Survey of Families and Households (N = 4,574 couples) indicated that consumer debt was positively associated with divorce. Financial conflict completely mediated this association for both husbands and wives and marital satisfaction also completely mediated the association for wives. These findings suggest that when families take financial steps to secure their financial stability they may also be taking steps to secure their relationship stability.     

Attention to Speech-Accompanying Gestures: Eye Movements and Information Uptake

There is growing evidence that addressees in interaction integrate the semantic information conveyed by speakers’ gestures. Little is known, however, about whether and how addressees’ attention to gestures and the integration of gestural information can be modulated. This study examines the influence of a social factor (speakers’ gaze to their own gestures), and two physical factors (the gesture’s location in gesture space and gestural holds) on addressees’ overt visual attention to gestures (direct fixations of gestures) and their uptake of gestural information. It also examines the relationship between gaze and uptake. The results indicate that addressees’ overt visual attention to gestures is affected both by speakers’ gaze and holds but for different reasons, whereas location in space plays no role. Addressees’ uptake of gesture information is only influenced by speakers’ gaze. There is little evidence of a direct relationship between addressees’ direct fixations of gestures and their uptake.     

Parental religiosity and daughters’ fertility: the case of Catholics in southern Europe

Preferences, including preferences for children, are shaped during the formative years of childhood. It is therefore essential to include exposure to religious practice during childhood in an attempt to establish a link between religiosity and fertility. This path has not been explored in the documented literature that looks at the relationship between current religiosity and fertility. The International Social Survey Programme: Religion II (ISSP) provides the data base. It includes information on maternal/paternal/own mass participation when the respondent was a child (nine levels each), as well as on his current churchgoing (six levels) and prayer habits (eleven levels). These variables are included as explanatory variables in ‘fertility equations’ that explain the number of children of Catholic women in Spain and Italy. The core findings are that exposure to religiosity during the formative years of childhood, has a pronounced effect on women’s ‘taste for children’ that later on translates into the number of her offspring. In Spain, the two parents have major opposite effects on women. Most striking is the negative effect of the mother’s intensity of church attendance on her daughter’s fertility: Women who were raised by an intensively practicing mother have on average one child less that their counterparts who were raised by a less religious mother. On the other hand, an intensively practicing father encourages the daughter to have more children (by about 0.8, on average). The Italian sample confirms the statistically significant negative effect of the mother’s religiosity. The father’s religious conduct has apparently no effect on Italian women’s birth rates. Current religiosity seems to be irrelevant, both in Spain and in Italy. It follows that religiosity and fertility are interrelated but the mechanism is probably different from the simplistic causality that is suggested in the literature.

Women’s Voluntary Organizations in Canada: Bridgers,Bonders, or Both?

Using a sample of 645 voluntary organizations in Canada, this study explores the differences between women’s voluntary organizations and gender-neutral organizations in their propensity to form a bridging or a bonding interorganizational relationship. The results suggest that not only do women’s organizations in Canada collaborate more than gender-neutral organizations, but also the tendency to have bridging or bonding relationships is significantly different. The factors predisposing women’s organizations to have collaborators inside or outside their network seems to be affected by how much the environmental changes in Canada impact their survival and whether the nature of the causes they support makes them an attractive partner. For gender-neutral organizations the tendency to bridge or bond seems to relate more to traditional organizational characteristics, such as size and staffing efficiency.     

The Value of Seeking Financial Advice

Retirement planning data gathered from an online survey at a large university in October 2009 are used to examine differences in a variety of retirement planning measures between people who have and have not met with a financial advisor. Problems of self-selection and endogeneity are addressed through the use of propensity scores. The study’s major finding is that working with an advisor is related to several important financial planning activities, including goal setting, calculation of retirement needs, retirement account diversification, use of supplemental retirement accounts, accumulation of emergency funds, positive behavioral responses to the recent economic crisis, and retirement confidence. Use of a financial advisor was not related to self-reported retirement savings or short-term growth in retirement account asset values.     

Spatial structure in a shift-share decomposition: new results for the Italian industrial districts case

In a previous work, a spatial shift-share model was proposed. That model took into account both the activity information of the territory and the legal status of the enterprises working inside it. The model presented, which had a twofold form, developed and came together into a unique formulation. The present proposal is able to suitably catch the neighborhood’s effect on the variation of an economical variable measured on the examined territory. This paper does not intend to repropose the aspects regarding the theoretical evolution of the first model. Instead, the principal goal is to make a comparison ceteris paribus between the results obtained with the new model and those reached through the application of the previous one, so to highlight the role of the association between the two factors included inside the decomposition. Italian industrial districts represent the economical context for this application since each model proposed is applicable to each district case without modifying the theoretical structure which is related, to the neighborhood definition. The application proposed here focuses on data on the chair industrial district located in the border region Friuli Venezia Giulia, with reference to the entire period 2000–2004.     

How age discrimination in employment affects stockholders

We analyze the impact on stock prices, and thus on stockholders, of 84 newspaper announcements regarding corporate age discrimination lawsuits. We find that, on average, initial announcements cause a 2 percent decline in stock price, a $40 million average loss in total stock value for the large firms charged. The stock price decreases are consistent with investor concerns about the firms’ ability to attract and retain good employees given the discrimination charges. Though age discrimination in employment is a pervasive and growing problem, such findings may discourage managers from engaging in discriminatory practices. The authors thank Jane Blank and Malcolm Matthew for helpful comments. This research was supported by a University of Windsor Research Board Grant.