IE University

This research aims to analyse whether a sustainable strategy brings efficiency to the luxury sector in the fight against carbon footprint. Such an aim has been approached by establishing a relationship between the actions implemented in the sector, the carbon footprint as measured by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change methodology, and the market share of the main market operators. The results reveal which actions tend to be efficient in terms of carbon footprint fight, which actions do not, and how concentration or dispersion of main operators has impacted the global carbon footprint in the sector. Consequently, this work explores specific actions that luxury companies take to be economically efficient in their business strategy and to protect the environment. Finally, companies must be efficient and sustainable to contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals outlined in the 2030 Agenda.

Extensive research shows that atypical actors who defy established contextual standards and norms are subject to skepticism and face a higher risk of rejection. Indeed, atypical actors combine features, behaviors, or products in unconventional ways, thereby generating confusion and instilling doubts about their legitimacy. Nevertheless, atypicality is often viewed as a precursor to sociocultural innovation and a strategy to expand the capacity to deliver valued goods and services. Contextualizing the conditions under which atypicality is celebrated or punished has been a significant theoretical challenge for organizational scholars interested in reconciling this tension. Thus far, scholars have focused primarily on audience-related factors or actors’ characteristics (e.g., status and reputation). Here, we explore how atypical actors can leverage linguistic features of their narratives to counteract evaluative discounts by analyzing a unique collection of 78,758 narratives from crafters on Etsy, the largest digital marketplace for handmade items. Marrying processing fluency theory with linguistics literature and relying on a combination of topic modeling, automated textual analysis, and econometrics, we show that categorically atypical producers who make more use of abstraction, cohesive cues, and conventional topics in their narratives are more likely to overcome the evaluative discounts they would ordinarily experience.

In this work we introduce NeoCam , an open source hardware-software platform for video-based monitoring of preterms infants in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs). NeoCam includes an edge computing device that performs video acquisition and processing in real-time. Compared to other proposed solutions, it has the advantage of handling data more efficiently by performing most of the processing on the device, including proper anonymisation for better compliance with privacy regulations. In addition, it allows to perform various video analysis tasks of clinical interest in parallel at speeds of between 20 and 30 frames-per-second. We introduce algorithms to measure without contact the breathing rate, motor activity, body pose and emotional status of the infants. For breathing rate, our system shows good agreement with existing methods provided there is sufficient light and proper imaging conditions. Models for motor activity and stress detection are new to the best of our knowledge. NeoCam has been tested on preterms in the NICU of the University Hospital Puerta del Mar (Cádiz, Spain), and we report the lessons learned from this trial.

The political appointment of bureaucrats is typically seen as jeopardizing development by selecting worse types into the bureaucracy or by depressing bureaucratic effort. I argue that political appointments also affect outcomes through a third, less studied channel, namely, by changing how bureaucrats work. Patronage provides connections between bureaucrats and politicians, and thereby grants access to material and nonmaterial resources, enhances monitoring, facilitates the application of sanctions and rewards, aligns priorities and incentives, and increases mutual trust. Political appointments can thus enhance bureaucrats’ accountability and effectiveness, not just for rent‐seeking purposes but also, in certain conditions, for public service delivery. I test this theory using data on Brazilian municipal governments, leveraging two quasi‐experiments, two original surveys of bureaucrats and politicians, and in‐depth interviews. The findings highlight the countervailing effects of connections on bureaucratic governance in the developing world.

In developing countries, trade is increasingly associated with greater returns to high-skilled labor and rising inequality. These empirical patterns are at odds with canonical models of trade in the developing world. What does this mean for the political economy of trade in these countries? We argue that although developing countries have a comparative advantage in low-skill products, these are produced by workers that are relatively high-skilled compared to their peers. Trade and global production benefit relatively skilled workers, particularly those exposed to exports and inward foreign direct investment in manufacturing. Our argument offers insight into why relatively skilled workers are most supportive of free trade and why inequality is rising in developing countries. We examine micro- and macro-level implications of our argument using cross-national survey data on policy preferences and aggregate data on trade and inequality. The findings have important implications for the political economy of trade and global production in developing countries.

We show five new results about small and medium‐sized real estate investors (SMREI) who participate through legal entities in U.S. housing markets. First, SMREI have the largest growth across all cities post Great Recession, in contrast to Wall Street Landlords who concentrate in superstar cities. Second, SMREI increase house price growth and price‐to‐income ratio, especially in the bottom price‐tier. Third, this effect is reversed as investors trigger a medium‐run supply response. Fourth, in areas with a high supply elasticity, SMREI affect rents more than prices. Finally, SMREI change the composition of the housing stock in favor of multi‐family units. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

In environments with impending regime shifts, previous research studies probability judgments of decision makers (DMs) regarding a regime shift and finds evidence for the system neglect hypothesis: In unstable environments with precise signals, DMs exhibit relatively more underreaction in their probability judgments, and in stable environments with noisy signals, they exhibit relatively more overreaction. In the present paper we focus on pricing decisions and study how risk attitudes, as well as probability judgments regarding a regime shift, affect these decisions. We develop a model that integrates prospect theory with the system neglect hypothesis and compare changes in empirical pricing decisions to those of a Bayesian risk-neutral agent. We find a pattern of under- and overreaction in pricing decisions that mimics the system neglect hypothesis in probability judgments only when the DM’s prior probability of a regime shift is low; the system neglect pattern vanishes when the DM’s prior probability of a regime shift is high. We argue that in the case of low priors, changes in risk attitude in reaction to signals indicative of a regime shift amplify system neglect in probability judgments. In the case of high priors, on the other hand, changes in risk attitude dampen the effect of system neglect. We test our model predictions in experimental insurance markets and offer various extensions to check for the robustness of our findings. Finally, we discuss implications for managerial practice in organizational contexts that are characterized by continuous change. This paper was accepted by Yuval Rottenstreich, behavioral economics and decision analysis. Funding: This work was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (UIDB/00124/2020, UIDP/00124/2020 and Social Sciences DataLab - PINFRA/22209/2016), POR Lisboa and POR Norte (Social Sciences DataLab, PINFRA/22209/2016). Furthermore, it was supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación España [10.13039/501100011033, Grants ECO2014-52925-P, PID2019-111512RB-I00-HMDM, and HDL-HS-280218]. Supplemental Material: The data files and online appendix are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4661 .

This paper proposes an analysis of the current regulatory framework for collective self-consumption in Spain. This regulatory framework proposes a model based on constant distribution coefficients for the allocation of self-consumed energy, as well as a constant distribution for the allocation of economic rights corresponding to surplus energy. The main advantage of this model is its simplicity and ease of implementation. Nonetheless, it has the disadvantage that part of the energy produced cannot be used (in economic terms) by the participants in the shared self-consumption system, which limits the economic potential of these facilities and therefore makes them less attractive to new investors. Therefore, this work proposes a techno-economic analysis of the influence of the current regulatory framework for collective self-consumption on the profitability of this type of projects. The analysis shows that, regardless of its simplicity of implementation, the existing scheme is not fully efficient, as part of the self-generated energy is not allocated to the community's consumption or surplus. This means that investors in the project obtain a profitability lower than the real potential of the installation. Furthermore, following the analysis carried out, an alternative distribution scheme is proposed that considerably improves the profitability of this type of projects.

This study presents novel evidence of gender differences in public sector audits. Auditors of public sector entities face lower litigation risks and lower market pressures than those of private entities. Thus, our analysis is more likely to capture gender differences in professional competence than in economic incentives. We test the study hypotheses regarding gender differences in 'qualifying' audit reports using a sample of Spanish public universities (2010-2020). We find that female and male auditors are equally likely to issue qualified opinions. However , their reasons for qualification differ, with women being more likely to qualify reports because of scope limitations. In joint audits, gender-diverse audit partners are more likely to increase scope limitations. These results suggest that women are more conservative than men are when assessing the impact of audit scope limitations , with no gender differences in responses to material misstatements.

Many consumers nowadays wish to reduce their smartphone usage in the hope of improving productivity and well-being. We conducted a pre-registered field experiment (N = 112) over a period of several weeks to test the effectiveness of two widely available digital strategies for screen time reduction. The effectiveness of a design friction intervention (i.e., activating grayscale mode) was compared with a goal-setting intervention (i.e., self-commitment to time limits) and a control condition (i.e., self-monitoring). The design friction intervention led to an immediate, significant reduction of objectively measured screen time compared with the control condition. Conversely, the goal-setting intervention led to a smaller and more gradual screen time reduction. In contrast to the popular belief that reducing screen time has broad benefits, we found no immediate causal effect of reducing usage on subjective well-being and academic performance.

Interest in Bourdieu’s field theory has been steadily growing within the field of journalism studies. Today the application of this theory is not limited to the Global North; journalism studies scholars employ it—rather unreservedly—to study news practices even in the Global South. This leads to the fundamental question whether “Western” media theories have universal relevance. Contributing to this longstanding debate, this article demonstrates one possible way in which journalism studies scholars can “provincialize” or translate Western theories for contexts outside the occidental world: by opening them up to critical ideas from and interdisciplinary scholarship on the Global South. The article operationalizes this approach by using field theory to analyze non-Western journalism cultures. It examines the range of negotiations that Indian journalists in the Middle East undertake to produce vernacular news, revealing the need to not only interrogate conventional media practices but also scholarly lenses that often guide our understanding of mediated processes.

This book is aimed at guiding current and future designers of organizations to approach questions of design and governance from the perspective of efficiency. The ultimate goal is efficiency of the sustainable kind: eliminating the excess, not the essential; nurturing cooperation, not jeopardizing it; mutual value creation, not unmitigated self-interest. In building an efficient organization, the designer’s principal task is to ensure that the organization establishes credibility and secures cooperation of all its key constituencies, particularly those who are asked to put something at stake by striking a relationship with the organization. This book seeks to lay the foundation for efficient cooperation by incorporating the key insights from nearly a hundred years of economic research on organizations.

Despite a proliferation of research on legitimacy, the ‘grey area’ that lies between legitimacy and illegitimacy remains undertheorized. Responding to calls for further research, we clarify the construct of legitimacy and extend legitimacy theory by providing a conceptual framework for analyzing the legitimacy‐illegitimacy continuum. First, we propose three novel legitimacy states between legitimacy and illegitimacy – conditional legitimacy, unknown legitimacy, and conditional illegitimacy – and elaborate on the distinct qualitative characteristics of the five legitimacy states. Second, we offer a model of the dynamics of legitimacy state change and the (in)stability of the issue‐specific reference framework that is used to judge them. Third, we explain how our legitimacy states bridge the research streams on legitimacy judgment formation and legitimation strategies. By doing so, we integrate these research streams and enumerate discursive strategies for each state. Our paper contributes to a more robust understanding of both how legitimacy states can be conceptualized and analyzed in future research, and how they can be dealt with in managerial practice.

In this article, we develop a gendered analysis of the expectations of venture growth by nascent entrepreneurs. Male entrepreneurs are notably overrepresented in the small cohort of firms that attain growth; to explore this phenomenon, we draw upon expectation theory during the nascency period to analyse the antecedents of growth outcomes. To refine this analysis, we factor in risk propensity, measuring the impact of the 2008 financial crisis on fundraising plans. Using UK data gathered between 2002 and 2020 from 5490 nascent entrepreneurs to test our hypotheses, we found that those with the greatest levels of start-up capital and high levels of risk tolerance had the highest expectations of growth and were likely to be male. This small cohort of growth-oriented entrepreneurs was termed ‘deviant men’ given their outlier status. Women became more cautious after the crisis, so even those with similar access to start-up capital as the deviant men had lower expectations of growth. We conclude by noting that at the nascency stage, expectations of growth are a critical influence upon future outcomes; a small cohort of deviant men has the highest expectations of growth, with women disadvantaged by gendered risk adversity.

We find evidence that markets anticipate the potential loss of firm value in the event of the CEO falling sick and eventually dying of COVID-19 in a sample of almost 3000 listed firms from across 137 regions in 10 European countries. First, we use soccer games as “super-spreader” events. The instrumented number of infected cases per capita in the region where company headquarters are located predicts a significant drop in stock returns during March and April 2020 for firms managed by CEOs with a higher probability of dying from COVID-19. Second, we show that the stock price of these firms increases significantly the day on which positive news on the development of COVID-19 vaccines are released in the market.

Research on persuasion has shown that for attitudes to change people need to take into consideration not only the thoughts message recipients generate in response to proposals but also how people think about their own thoughts (metacognition). In the present research, we introduce a new perspective for improving outgroup attitudes focused on the distinction between cognition and metacognition but this time applied to the perceptions of others’ minds. Specifically, we examined to what extent thinking about the mental processes of outgroup members influences attitudes towards those outgroups. We compared the impact of thinking about how others think (perceived primary cognition) with how others think about their own thoughts (perceived secondary cognition or metacognition). In the primary cognition treatment, participants answered questions about the thinking processes of outgroup members. In the secondary cognition treatment, participants answered questions that required them to consider how outgroup members think about their own thoughts (i.e., metacognition). Compared to controls, these treatments were capable of improving attitudes of Spanish citizens towards Syrian refugees, South American immigrants, and Roma people. A third study used a minimal group paradigm in which a fictitious outgroup was described as having primary (vs. secondary) cognition. A final study also tested the implications of assuming that groups have one type of cognition or another. The effects of the two treatments varied depending on the type of outgroup.

The efficiency of communication campaigns that seek to boost a circular economy, leaving behind the traditional linear economy model, and corresponding behavior change is uncertain, although significant resources are being invested by the European Union and other organizations and institutions around the world. This study aims to identify barriers and enablers faced by the current communication model to generate a series of recommendations, targeted at communication practitioners, that ameliorate communication actions related to social behaviors change. A Grounded Theory process was used to analyze transcripts obtained through focus groups and semi-structured interviews with 22 biotechnology researchers and communication professionals. As a result, the identification of barriers and enablers that prevent or permit different actors to develop sustainable behaviors allowed us to conclude four recommendations aimed at improving the efficacy of communication actions that seek to boost a circular economy and sustainable behavior change: (1) raise awareness among politicians to reduce the barriers that prevent consumers from developing sustainable behavior, (2) involve companies in communication campaign actions as a point of leverage, (3) prioritize long-term interaction over short-term actions, and (4) take advantage of young students (and teachers), who are powerful transmission vectors for promoting sustainable habits among their elders.

Firms are increasingly adopting different sales channels to reach new potential buyers. Yet, extant research has mainly focused on B2C online and offline posted price channels. B2B multichannel and, especially, systems with multiple pricing mechanisms are largely underexplored. This paper investigates the strategic behaviors of B2B buyers in a unique system where an online posted price channel is incorporated into a Dutch auction market. We follow buyers’ purchasing paths and examine conditions under which B2B buyers will use one or both channels. We incorporate learning and experience and demonstrate how buyers’ behaviors evolve. Our results, using an extensive data set from the world’s largest flower market, reveal that different from B2C buyers who purchase in small quantities with fewer strategic decisions involved, B2B buyers strategically choose and combine different price mechanisms based on not only their demand but also product portfolio diversity and experiences. Moreover, different from preoccupied concerns, the integration of an online posted price channel into a Dutch auction system can bring benefits to sellers without market disruptions.

Network diffusion processes or how information spreads through networks have been widely examined in numerous disciplines such as epidemiology, physics, sociology, politics, or computer science. In this paper, we extend previous developments by considering a generalization of the diffusion by considering the possibility of differences in the speed of diffusion and reduction depending on the forces’ directions. In this situation, the differential speed of diffusion produces deviations from the standard solution around the average of the initial conditions in the network. In fact, this asymmetry gives rise to non-linear dynamics in which, contrary to the symmetric case, the final solution depends on the topology of the graph as well as on the distribution of the initial values. Counter-intuitively, less central nodes in the network are able to exert a higher influence on the final solution. This behavior applies also for different simulated networks such as random, small-world, and scale-free. We show an example of this kind of asymmetric diffusion process in a real case. To do so, we use a network of US Boards of Directors, where boards are the nodes and the directors working for more than one board, are the links. Changes in the proportion of women serving on each board are influenced by the gradient between adjacent boards. We also show that there is an asymmetry: the gradient is reduced at a slower (faster) rhythm if the board has less (more) women than neighboring boards. We are able to quantify the accumulated effect of this asymmetry from 2000 to 2015 in the overall proportion of women on boards, in a 4.7 percentage points (the proportion should have been an 14.61% instead of the observed 9.93% in 2015).