Arethuse 2/2 - 2014

Book excerpt: In the year that we celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the ARETHUSE association, the second issue of 2014 includes a selection of research papers on topics of study and research that have always been focused on by the international university research groups that are members of the ARETHUSE association. These main research fields are Economics & Statistics (Economic Development, Resources and Territory, Services and Labor Markets), Strategic Management (R & D Management, Governance and Public Administration, Strategy and Control), Public Finance (Finance Policies, National versus European Finance, and European Finance Institutions). In the first paper, Consiglio, Cicellin, and Scuotto discuss the possibility of creating new models of healthcare. They affirm that the changing welfare system involves processes that are linked to the low cost approach and new initiatives are designed to meet the social need for community health and draw on the complex world of ‘bottom- up approach’. This article analyses the modern paradigm of social innovation by examining the issue of healthcare. Through the cases that currently exist in Italy, the Authors demonstrate that low cost healthcare is a specific model of social innovation which does not just consist of “low prices for mass consumption” as a competitive incentive. This research paper has the advantage of analysing the Italian healthcare system as an “extended enterprise” where the boundaries between internal and external resources appear to be less rigidly defined. Moreover, social innovation is not solely designed in order to increase the quality of the standard of living but also to play an important role in terms of increased competitiveness, efficiency of resources employed, and sustainability. In the second research contribution, González Laxe, Martín Palmero and Pateiro Rodriguez present the results of an important piece of research regarding a sample of 142 countries, in which they have verified that when income per capita (RGPD) in a country is high, the ecological footprint (EF) per capita is also at a high level. Following this experience carried out in different economic spaces, this paper assesses the evolution of incomes per capita in the Spanish economy, together with its ecological footprint, on the basis of the period 1955-2000. To carry out this research, the Authors defined two theoretical concepts identified as Autonomous Ecological Footprint, and Marginal Tendency. This research work highlights how the Spanish economy underwent a significant structural change after the second third of 20th Century. More precisely, the subsequent analysis of the most significant features in the different stages of the Spanish development, as well as the structural changes, will permit the establishment of a series of recommendations for the implementation of sustainability plans and programs. Calederón Patier and Campuzano analyse the regulation of corporate restructuring in Spain as a response to a dynamic, changing and internationalized economic reality, that requires business operators, i.e. companies, to conduct operations to reorganize or alter their financial or personnel structure (transformation, merger, division, exchange of securities, change of registered office etc.) within an appropriate legal, tax and accounting framework to ensure their viability and effectiveness. They highlight how the commercial and tax regulations applicable to corporate restructuring operations urgently requires harmonization, not only to rationalise the rules, in their development and implementation, but also to facilitate and encourage these types of operations, which are often a very important means of maintaining many corporate structures. This paper presents an interesting evaluative analysis of the differences between commercial and tax legislation that is applicable to the split-off, and conducts a critical and evaluative analysis of existing normative discrepancies on this issue. The research paper of Rivero Ceballos and Serafin Corral discuss the idea that natural resources’ economic evaluation processes cannot be isolated from scientific uncertainties and the influence of stakeholders’ strong concerns. They affirm that environmental decision-making processes are far from ideal processes where knowledge is available and experts and decision-makers are unaffected by the pressure of stakeholders’ interests. Based on the empirical analysis of the most representative business cases currently involving the gas and oil drill exploration occurring in the waters adjacent to the Canary Islands, the study analyses the expected economic benefits. Integrated qualitative assessment tools are implemented, in particular a multi- criteria assessment is carried out and two scenarios are built. It is interesting how this analysis integrated formal and informal aspects which may be used later for the resolution of the problem or for ways of exploring policy compromises. Mingorance Arnaíz and Barrusao Castillo’s interesting contribution analyses why some European countries have unemployment rates that are higher than others. By utilising a panel data model for the period 1985-2011 in order to know which variables are better to resolve unemployment, they study the role of macroeconomic and institutional variables (labor and product markets regulations) on the unemployment rate in 14 countries of the EU. The empirical results that they find and the conclusions with motived proposals to reduce the unemployment rate are interesting. This is very important given that the unemployment rate is one of the macroeconomic variables that is most affected by business cycles, and its fluctuations, a problem in all countries. In the end they highlight how employment protection legislation, the minimum wage, coordination of wage bargaining, a high employers contribution to social security, and entry barriers, may explain in part the high unemployment rates in some countries. Díaz Pérez and González Morales offer empirical evidence of the profile of the working population in Spain according to gender, quantify the extent to which self- employment or salaried employment is associated with certain characteristics or status (employment status, education level, activity sector, age, marital status) and analyse the situation in 2009. Their research work is particular important in analysing the effect of the economic crisis on the decline suffered by Spain’s working population between 2005 and 2009 and on the significant gender differences in employment status. Finally we would like to remind readers that this issue is the fruit of scientific research work that has been undertaken by numerous researchers of European universities. The articles presented in this issue are the result of a process of rigorous selection, in a scientific sense, carried out both by the Scientific Committee, and by the Editorial Board.