Do institutional changes affect business cycles? Evidence from Europe

We study the effects that the Maastricht treaty, the creation of the ECB, andthe Euro changeover had on the dynamics of European business cycles using a panelVAR and data from ten European countries - seven from the Euro area and threeoutside of it. There are changes in the features of European business cycles and in thetransmission of shocks. They precede the three events of interest and are more linkedto a general process of European convergence and synchronization.

Pitfalls to avoid when measuring institutions: Is "Doing Business" damaging business?

Over recent years, both governments and international aid organizations have been devoting large amounts of resources to simplifying the procedures for setting up and formalizing firms. Many of these actions have focused on reducing the initial costs of setting up the firm, disregarding the more important role of business registers as a source of reliable information for judges, government departments and, above all, other firms. This reliable information is essential for reducing transaction costs in future dealings with all sorts of economic agents, both public and private. The priorities of reform policies should therefore be thoroughly reviewed, stressing the value of the legal institutions rather than trivializing them as is often the case.

Markups, gaps and the welfare costs of business fluctuations

In this paper we present a simple theory-based measure of the variations in aggregate economic efficiency: the gap between the marginal product of labor and the household s consumption/leisure tradeoff. We show that this indicator corresponds to the inverse of the markup of price over social marginal cost, and give some evidence in support of this interpretation. We then show that, with some auxilliary assumptions our gap variable may be used to measure the efficiency costs of business fluctuations. We find that the latter costs are modest on average. However, to the extent the flexible price equilibrium is distorted,the gross efficiency losses from recessions and gains from booms may be large. Indeed, we find that the major recessions involved large efficiency losses. These results hold for reasonable parameterizations of the Frisch elasticity of labor supply, the coefficient of relative risk aversion, and steady state distortions.

Processes and consequences in business ethical dilemmas: The oil industry and climate changes

This paper proposes a framework to examine business ethical dilemmas andbusiness attitudes towards such dilemmas. Business ethical dilemmas canbe understood as reflecting a contradiction between a socially detrimentalprocess and a self-interested profitable consequence. This representationallows us to distinguish two forms of behavior differing by whetherpriority is put on consequences or on processes. We argue that theseforms imply very different business attitudes towards society:controversial or competitive for the former and aligned or cooperativefor the latter. These attitudes are then analyzed at the discursive level in order to address the question of good faith in businessargumentation, i.e. to which extent are these attitudes consistent withactual business behaviors. We argue that consequential attitudes mostlyinvolve communication and lobbying actions aiming at eluding the dilemma.Therefore, the question of good faith for consequential attitudes liesin the consistency between beliefs and discourse. On the other hand,procedural attitudes acknowledge the dilemma and claim a change of theprocess of behavior. They thus raise the question of the consistencybetween discourses and actual behavior. We apply this processes/consequencesframework to the case of the oil industry s climate change ethical dilemmawhich comes forth as a dilemma between emitting greenhouse gases and making more profits . And we examine the different attitudes of two oilcorporations-BP Amoco and ExxonMobil-towards the dilemma.

Trends in hours, balanced growth and the role of technology in the business cycle

The present paper revisits a property embedded in most dynamic macroeconomic models: the stationarity of hours worked. First, I argue that, contrary to what is often believed, there are many reasons why hours could be nonstationary in those models, while preserving the property of balanced growth. Second, I show that the postwar evidence for most industrialized economies is clearly at odds with the assumption of stationary hours per capita. Third, I examine the implications of that evidence for the role of technology as a source of economic fluctuations in the G7 countries.

How "Doing Business" jeopardizes institutional reform

Simplifying business formalization and eliminating outdated formalities is often a good way of improving the institutional environment for firms. Unfortunately, the World Bank s "Doing Business" project is harming such policies by promoting a reform agenda that gives them priority even in countries lacking functional business registers, so that the reformed registers keep producing valueless information, but faster. Its methodology also promotes biased measurements that impede proper consideration of the essential tradeoffs in the design of formalization institutions. If "Doing Business" is to stop jeopardizing its true objectives and contribute positively to scientific progress, institutional reform and economic development, then its aims, governance and methodology need to change.

Implantació del sistema SAP Business One en una empresa del sector de l'automòbil

L'objectiu del desenvolupament d'aquest Treball de Final de Carrera és la introducció d'un sistema ERP en una empresa fictícia del sector auxiliar de l'automoció, la qual anomenarem NBJ Automotive.

Business Plan: Proyecto de creación de un nuevo canal publicitario a nivel nacional: Desarrollo del mercado y creación de empresa de venta de publicidad

El present Treball Final de Carrera pretén desenvolupar la viabilitat d’una empresa de serveis, que ofereix un nou suport publicitari basat en una red pròpia de tours turístics en patinets elèctrics distribuïts per les principals ciutats a nivell nacional.

Business plan: empresa franquicia

Treball final de carrera en el que es realitza un Pla d’Empresa per a la creació i la posada a punt d’una cafeteria franquiciada, amb el nom d’StarCoffee, dins l’Eix Comercial de la ciutat de Lleida. L’objectiu no és només la creació de l’esmenta’t Pla d’Empresa sinó que el que es pretén es dur-lo a terme en els propers mesos.

Análisis y mejora de los procesos excepcionales de una multinacional del sector de la electrónica utilizando la metodología Business Process Management

El presente documento ilustra la aplicación de la metodología Business Process Managementpara el caso de una empresa multinacional del sector de la electrónica. Para ello se han tomado los procesos excepcionales de Supply Chain Operations en el área EMEA (Europa, Oriente Medio y África). Se ha analizado la situación inicial, donde la aparición de incidencias de calidad en productos terminados y listos para entregar a clientes generaba una serie de acciones descoordinadas y con resultados insatisfactorios. Todos los departamentos implicados comprometían recursos, tiempo y esfuerzo, sin estar alineados entre sí. A partir de la aplicación sistemática de la metodología BPM definida en 10 fases, se ha desarrollado una solución completa para los procesos excepcionales. El documento describe con detalle en proceso de Reflash y la documentación necesaria para poner el proceso bajo control y en mejora continua.

What do we actually mean by talent in business? Does it really matter?

[spa] La conceptuación de talento ha ido cobrando cada vez más importancia tanto para académicos como profesionales, con el fin de avanzar en el estudio de la gestión del talento. De hecho, la confusión sobre el significado de talento en la realidad empresarial impide llegar a un consenso sobre el concepto y la práctica de la gestión del talento. En este estudio teórico revisamos el concepto de talento en el mundo de la empresa con el fin de resumir lo que hemos aprendido y discutir las ventajas y limitaciones de las diferentes acepciones. Concluimos con la formulación de una definición de este concepto, ya que una correcta interpretación de la gestión del talento—por no hablar de una exitosa gestión del talento— depende de tener una comprensión clara de lo que se entiende por talento en un contexto organizativo. Además, con la definición de talento propuesta delimitamos el concepto de talento evitando algunos problemas detectados en las definiciones anteriores (por ejemplo, generalidades y tautologías), y poniendo de relieve las variables importantes que le afectan y lo hacen más manejable.

What do we actually mean by talent in business? Does it really matter?

[spa] La conceptuación de talento ha ido cobrando cada vez más importancia tanto para académicos como profesionales, con el fin de avanzar en el estudio de la gestión del talento. De hecho, la confusión sobre el significado de talento en la realidad empresarial impide llegar a un consenso sobre el concepto y la práctica de la gestión del talento. En este estudio teórico revisamos el concepto de talento en el mundo de la empresa con el fin de resumir lo que hemos aprendido y discutir las ventajas y limitaciones de las diferentes acepciones. Concluimos con la formulación de una definición de este concepto, ya que una correcta interpretación de la gestión del talento—por no hablar de una exitosa gestión del talento— depende de tener una comprensión clara de lo que se entiende por talento en un contexto organizativo. Además, con la definición de talento propuesta delimitamos el concepto de talento evitando algunos problemas detectados en las definiciones anteriores (por ejemplo, generalidades y tautologías), y poniendo de relieve las variables importantes que le afectan y lo hacen más manejable.

Effect of chronic ethanol feeding on rat hepatocytic glutathione. Compartmentation, efflux, and response to incubation with ethanol.

Hepatocytes from rats that were fed ethanol chronically for 6-8 wk were found to have a modest decrease in cytosolic GSH (24%) and a marked decrease in mitochondrial GSH (65%) as compared with pair-fed controls. Incubation of hepatocytes from ethanol-fed rats for 4 h in modified Fisher's medium revealed a greater absolute and fractional GSH efflux rate than controls with maintenance of constant cellular GSH, indicating increased net GSH synthesis. Inhibition of gamma-glutamyltransferase had no effect on these results, which indicates that no degradation of GSH had occurred during these studies. Enhanced fractional efflux was also noted in the perfused livers from ethanol-fed rats. Incubation of hepatocytes in medium containing up to 50 mM ethanol had no effect on cellular GSH, accumulation of GSH in the medium, or cell viability. Thus, chronic ethanol feeding causes a modest fall in cytosolic and a marked fall in mitochondrial GSH. Fractional GSH efflux and therefore synthesis are increased under basal conditions by chronic ethanol feeding, whereas the cellular concentration of GSH drops to a lower steady state level. Incubation of hepatocytes with ethanol indicates that it has no direct, acute effect on hepatic GSH homeostasis.

The statistical accuracy of surveys on business and economic perspectives: a case study

In this paper, we develop a new decision making model and apply it in political Surveys of economic climate collect opinions of managers about the short-term future evolution of their business. Interviews are carried out on a regular basis and responses measure optimistic, neutral or pessimistic views about the economic perspectives. We propose a method to evaluate the sampling error of the average opinion derived from a particular type of survey data. Our variance estimate is useful to interpret historical trends and to decide whether changes in the index from one period to another are due to a structural change or whether ups and downs can be attributed to sampling randomness. An illustration using real data from a survey of business managers opinions is discussed.

Evaluation of transversal competencies: pilot project in a maths course for first-year business

The aim of this communication is to describe the results of a pilot project for the assessment of the transversal competency "the capacity for learning and responsibility". This competency is centred on the capacity for the analysis, synthesis, overview, and practical application of newly acquired knowledge. It is proposed by the University of Barcelona in its undergraduate degree courses,through multidisciplinary teaching teams. The goal of the pilot project is to evaluate this competency.We worked with a group of students in a first-year Business Degree maths course, during the firstsemester of the 2012/2013 academic year. The development of the project was in two stages: (i)design of a specific task to share with the same students in the following semester when the subjectwould be economic history; and (ii) the elaboration of an evaluation rubric in which we defined thecontent, the aspects to evaluate, the evaluation criteria, and the marking scale. The attainment of theexpectations of quality on the specific task was scored following this rubric, which provided a singlebasis for the precise and fair assessment by the instructor and for the students' own self-evaluation.We conclude by describing the main findings of the experience. There particularly stood out the highscore in the students' self-evaluation given to one aspect of the competency – their capacity forlearning – in stark contrast to their instructor's quite negative evaluation. This means that we have towork both to improve teaching practice and to identify the optimal competency evaluationmethodology.