Social Enterprise Performance: The Role of Market and Social Entrepreneurship Orientations

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - Market orientation has been presented as an important predictor of business performance, and it is presumed to contribute...     

Vertical and Horizontal Inequality in Ecuador: The Lack of Sustainability

We analyse the evolution of vertical and horizontal inequality in Ecuador in the long-run (1990–2016), as well as during and after the recent commodities boom (2005–2014). Using data from censuses, living standard measurement surveys, and employment surveys we show that Ecuador has made significant progress in reducing inequality, particularly since 2000. However, inequality has not decreased further since 2011. We argue that a key factor behind the reduction and ensuing stagnation of inequality is the dynamic of oil revenues, particularly regarding its effect on economic growth and on the financing of redistributive policies. Using the decomposition of the Gini coefficient by income source proposed by Lerman and Yitzhaki (Rev Econ Stat 67:151–156, 1985) we show that during the last decade there has been a shift away from market sources towards sources of income derived from government expenditures. Following the end of the commodities boom, this process is no longer sustainable. Indeed, we show that the underlying causes that led to the change in the sources of income started long before the end of the boom. The temporary shock following the 2008 financial crisis already affected the structure of Ecuador’s public finances and its current account. And, since around 2011, its institutions and labour market indicators have also deteriorated. We conclude that sustainable inequality reductions require improving the current institutions.

     

Why die for my sibling? The positive association between identity fusion and imagined loss with endorsement of self-sacrifice / ¿Por qué morir por un hermano? La asociación positiva entre la fusión de identidad y la pérdida imaginada con la disposición al autosacrificio

Abstract

Identity fusion — a visceral feeling of connection with a group — is a powerful predictor of willingness to engage in extreme pro-group behaviour. Here we propose that identity fusion also reinforces willingness to fight and die for one’s siblings, and we explore one of the underlying mechanisms producing this effect. We additionally controlled for a powerful predictor of family investment, perceived psychological similarity with the sibling. Our study shows that fusion with a sibling, but not perceived similarity, is positively associated with willingness to fight and die for the sibling. This relation is mediated by the imagined personal consequences of losing one’s sibling. This research extends previous work on fusion with groups to pairs of individuals and identifies a new mediator of the effect of fusion on willingness to fight and die for others. Overall, these results suggest that identity fusion might contribute towards explaining self-sacrifice among genetically related individuals as predicted by the theory of kin selection.     

CO-tucker: a new method for the simultaneous analysis of a sequence of paired tables

Relationships between species and their environment are a key component to understand ecological communities. Usually, this kind of data are repeated over time or space for communities and their environment, which leads to a sequence of pairs of ecological tables, i.e. multi-way matrices. This work proposes a new method which is a combined approach of STATICO and Tucker3 techniques and deals to the problem of describing not only the stable part of the dynamics of structure–function relationships between communities and their environment (in different locations and/or at different times), but also the interactions and changes associated with the ecosystems’ dynamics. At the same time, emphasis is given to the comparison with the STATICO method on the same (real) data set, where advantages and drawbacks are explored and discussed. Thus, this study produces a general methodological framework and develops a new technique to facilitate the use of these practices by researchers. Furthermore, from this first approach with estuarine environmental data one of the major advantages of modeling ecological data sets with the CO-TUCKER model is the gain in interpretability.     

Resource Dependence In Non-profit Organizations: Is It Harder To Fundraise If You Diversify Your Revenue Structure?

This article explores how fundraising efficiency is affected by changes in diversification of revenues in non-profit organizations. It uses random effect regression and Arellano–Bond models to study this phenomenon in a sample of 10358 US non-profits during the 1997–2007 period. We find a negative impact on fundraising efficiency when NPOs alter their locus of dependence and change their pattern of diversification. This effect is impacted by organizational size and industry. Previous studies have suggested that income heterogeneity is associated with organizational stability and financial strength. Using a change (versus level) model of funding diversity, our work shows that increased diversification leads to a higher operational inefficiency that could be penalized by potential donors.     

The Cucconi Test for Location-scale Alternatives in Application to Asymmetric Hydrological Variables

To identify location-scale trends, which environmental data often exhibit, location-scale tests have to be addressed. The aim of this article was to estimate size and power of the Cucconi rank-based test when applied to various skewed distributions, typical in hydrology. Results of the Monte Carlo simulation revealed great power for series with low coefficient of variation, time of change close to the middle, not very heavy tail, and with length of at least 60. Comparison to the Lepage test discovered larger usefulness of the Cucconi test for short series and change close to the middle. Several practical applications were presented.     

Dynamic Marketing Capabilities: Toward an Integrative Framework

In recent years, the dynamic capabilities view has attracted attention in the management literature, and theoretical papers note many research challenges. Currently, one of the most significant issues is the role of the marketing function in the development of dynamic capabilities, and some recent discussions have even introduced the new term ‘dynamic marketing capabilities’. The main area of interest is how to achieve a well‐integrated framework to serve as the starting point for empirical papers. Although the most recent research proposes a wide range of processes as possible dynamic marketing capabilities, it is difficult to find consensus among these proposals. To resolve this difficulty, this paper seeks to define the dynamic marketing capabilities construct based on accepted components in the generic dynamic capabilities view. More specifically, it defines the role of dynamic marketing capabilities through absorptive capacity and knowledge management. By identifying these components and relating them in an integrative model, the authors propose to explain how dynamic marketing capabilities work and precisely which marketing processes promote both components.