Vol. 8 No. 3 (2014)

For professors Ana Rosa Fonseca-Díaz, Elena Fernández Rodriguez and Antonio Martínez Arias of the University of Oviedo (Spain), in countries where there is a tax on corporate profits, they bring to light the differences between the statutory tax set by the government and the effective tax rate applied to companies. In this first article, by using a sample of 21,693 non-financial companies listed in 76 countries during the period from 1999-2009, they make it clear that the geographic scope, the level of development, belonging to the OECD or the institutional quality of the countries are determining factors of such differences.

In the second article, professors Marta Zárraga-Rodríguez, Carmen Jaca, M. Jesús Álvarez, and Elisabeth Vilesde from the University of Navarra (Spain) and Manuel F. Suárez-Barraza, of the Monterrey Institute of Technology (Mexico) attempt to analyse whether the management and use of information is efficient in companies engaged in quality management and whether it depends on the quality management system adopted by the organisation. For the authors, the study contributes to obtaining more in-depth knowledge of the management efficient use of information as a source of competitive advantage for the organisation. The level of adoption of the practices that lead to management and efficient use of information is high at organisations engaged in quality management. Furthermore, differences have been detected that depend on the quality system adopted by said organisation.

In the following article, the professors José Ruiz-Navarro, Raúl Medina-Tamayo de la University of Cádiz (Spain) and Carmen Cabello-Medina of Pablo Olavide University (Spain) conduct an assessment of the law which supports entrepreneurs and their internationalisation, based on the information offered by the GEM observatory (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor), the contributions of the institutional theory and the opinion collected on panel of experts on the expected enforceability of the law. The law’s ambitions objectives, which seek “a change in the mind-set in which society places greater value on entrepreneurship and the assumption of risks”, justify the work, which offers ample material for reflection, and is useful for monitoring and designing entrepreneurship policies.

María de la O Barroso González of the University of Huelva (Spain), Mercedes Jiménez García and María del Carmen Pérez González University of Cádiz (Spain) analyse the dynamics in relation to the creating of TBC (technology-based companies) at different Andalusian universities (Spain), identifying their deficiencies, strong points, as well as a profile of the TBCs and their management. Using this as a starting point, the authors propose, on the one hand, a broad definition of these technology-based companies, including their regional dimensions and their structuring within the innovation systems; and on the other, the establishment of a conceptual framework that includes the set of characteristics and requirements that, in our opinion, make up the most important factors for strengthening the creation of TBCs in a territory. Lastly, the study establishes a proposal of improvement measures aimed at dynamisation in respect of the creation of these companies and their consolidation, such that they can contribute to the growth of competitiveness in regions.

In the second to last article, Jorge Luis Sanchez Arevalo, Leonardo Maso Nassar and Edgard Monforte Merlode of the University of São Paulo (Brazil) analyse the total exports of olives from Argentina and Peru to the Brazilian market. These two countries were chosen for the analysis due to the fact that they are the most important in South America as regards international olive trade and they are the largest on the Brazilian market. The term of the analysis began in 1999 and ended in 2013. The goal of the study was to determine earnings and/or losses in competitiveness on the Brazilian market, as well as identify the main sources of growth and/or decrease in exports. The second-level Constant Market Share (CMS) model was used. In the results, it was observed that Peru managed to increase its stake in the Brazilian olive market; however, Argentina suffered a slight decrease in its stake. It also observed that Argentina and Peru show increases in competitiveness in said market. As regards the volume of the exports, Argentina is larger by comparison to Peru.

Company acquisitions can create value through learning between an acquired and an acquiring company by transferring knowledge from one member of another or by creating new knowledge from their combination. The success of these acquisitions lies in ensuring that no knowledge held by the members is lost during the integration process. Consuelo Dolz and María Iborra de la University of Valencia (Spain) try to demonstrate the knowledge is a source for creating value in acquisitions and analysing how the acquisitions must be integrated in order to transfer and create knowledge. Specifically, we analyse three key decisions in the integration process: the level of autonomy, the level of socialisation, and formalisation. By studying 45 acquisitions in which Spanish companies have participated we demonstrate how transactions with a high degree of knowledge transfer create value and are integrated through socialisation, formalisation and centralisation. The creation of knowledge is also associated with the creation of value and, in the case at hand, the integrations processes must be based on socialisation.

Once again, we would like to thank everyone that makes it possible for the magazine to operate properly: the members of the Advisory Committee, the Editorial Committee, Editors and Associated area Editors, reviewers, authors and, above all, the readers