Most of Business Excellence – Total Quality models provide a static view and processing of Total Quality issues. This paper proposes a system of Business Excellence taking into consideration: current European practices of Total Quality and competitiveness, a modular, open architecture like...

This paper analyzes entry deterrence strategies at sequential multi-unit Englishtype repeated auctions, motivated by entry deterrence observed at a series of yearly auctions of fishing rights occurring since the early 1990s in the Chilean Sea Bass industrial fishery. It analyzes parametric...

The formulas of cost and allocative efficiencies of decision making units (DMUs) with positive data cannot be used for DMUs with negative data. On the other hand, these formulas are needed to analyze the productivity and performance of DMUs with negative data. To this end, this study introduces...

Deriving a functional form for a series of prices over time is difficult. It is common to assume some linearly estimable form for prediction purposes. While this can produce accurate short run forecasts it fails to identify longer trends and patterns that may exist in financial data....

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effects of economic integration among countries on firms investment decisions when such decisions are taken strategically. It is shown that, in this context, the traditional "tariff jumping" argument is not always applicable and that localisation...

This paper investigates the effects of Greece's European Union (EU) accession and European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) entry, as well as R&D intensity and industry concentration on job creation and job destruction in the Greek manufacturing sector. The study is based on firm-level economic...

This paper studies long-term trends of self-employment in Chile. Self-employment is associated with poor job conditions, vulnerability, and instability or informal labor market. Contrary to what is expected, self- employment level does not respond to macroeconomic variables. Using forty-one...

This paper develops and tests a mechanism by which job security affects the age-composition of employment. This mechanism is based on the relative costs of dismissing young versus older workers resulting from job security provisions that are related to tenure. Using 39 consecutive annual...

Die unternehmerische Selbständigkeit hat in Deutschland in den letzten 20 Jahren einen starken Aufschwung erfahren. Die Zahl der Selbständigen ist zwischen 1991 und 2009 um 40 Prozent gestiegen. Verantwortlich für diese Entwicklung sind die Nachholprozesse in Ostdeutschland, der...

Die Klagen über einen alsbald eintretenden Mangel an Ingenieuren in Deutschland ebben nicht ab. Jüngst hat der Verein Deutscher Ingenieure (VDI) erklärt, dass wegen des hohen Durchschnittsalters der in Deutschland tätigen Ingenieure (50 bis 51 Jahre) ein enormer Ersatzbedarf entstehen werde....