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Unemployment has been a major economic, political and social problem in many countries over the past two decades, as it was also in the inter‐war years. One of the strengths of social and psychological research on unemployment in the 1930s was that findings became available from a range of countries throughout continental Europe as well as from English‐speaking countries, especially Britain and the United States. Evidence for this is contained in the well‐documented reviews by Eisenberg and Lazarsfeld (1938) and Garraty (1978).

It is difficult, both from a layman's point of view and from the perspective of work psychology and sociology, to provide a definition of the concept of work. Various factors contribute to this difficulty. The first problem lies in the use of employment and work as synonyms. Even though some authors have established distinct differences between these terms in the sense that employment implies remunerative work, thus excluding other types of work in which a contractual relationship of the definition of employment does not exist, the truth is that indiscriminate use is still a characteristic feature of the bibliography of work psychology and sociology (see Jahoda, 1987). In addition to this confusion, we have to confront the problems originating from the conceptual distinction between work in an abstract sense of the word and work considered as a category of subjective experience.

Should the unemployed be viewed as an underclass at the bottom of the stratification heap in modern societies? In the 1930s, the answer given by social scientists was unambiguously negative. The unemployed could not be considered as a social class; they were “a mass numerically not socially” who showed no group or class consciousness (Zawadsky and Lazarsfeld, 1935, p.2). The people who were unemployed at any one point in time, the argument ran, were a mixed collection of individuals who did not necessarily share a common view of society. The attitudes of the unemployed varied according to previous experience at work (Bakke, 1933) and individual and family financial situation (Jahoda, Lazarsfeld and Zeisel, 1932: 45). Similar arguments have been presented more recently: the responses of the unemployed to their condition depend critically on their previous political socialisation, for example, argues Bergere (1990).

The purpose of this study is to examine the mediating role of manufacturing flexibility in the relationship between knowledge creation, technological turbulence and performance. In an increasingly competitive and changing environment, firms need to boost their technological and management know-how to adequately develop manufacturing flexibility.

This study analyzes survey data collected from 370 manufacturing firms. Validity and reliability analyses were conducted using SPSS and Amos. The research hypotheses were tested using covariance-based structural equation modelling.

The main findings show that knowledge creation positively and significantly affects business and operational performances directly, and indirectly, through manufacturing flexibility. Moreover, technological turbulence has a positive and significant effect on it. This finding contributes to understanding why some firms get better outcomes from manufacturing flexibility than others, a disputed issue in the literature.

This study highlights the need for manufacturing firms to foster cultures of knowledge creation, to better educate and train employees and to develop other instruments of knowledge creation.

This study makes several contributions to manufacturing flexibility literature: (1) establishing a link between technological turbulence and knowledge creation to develop manufacturing flexibility; (2) add empirical evidence on the relation between manufacturing flexibility and performance and (3) contributes to consolidating the mediation role of manufacturing flexibility in the relations between knowledge creation and business performance, as studies focussing on such a role are scarce in the literature.

Shifting demand and ever-shorter production cycles pressure manufacturing flexibility. Although the literature has established the positive effect of the firm's absorptive capacity on manufacturing flexibility, the separate role of the innovation competencies of exploitation and exploration in such a relationship is still under-investigated. In this study, the authors examine how these competencies affect manufacturing flexibility.

The authors use survey data from 370 manufacturing firms and analyze them using covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB–SEM).

The results indicate that absorptive capacity has a strong, positive and direct effect on exploitative and exploratory innovation competencies, proactive and responsive market orientations, and manufacturing flexibility. The authors’ findings also demonstrate that the exploitative innovation competencies mediate the relation between responsive market orientation and manufacturing flexibility. Essentially, these exploitative innovation competencies produce a direct positive effect on manufacturing flexibility while simultaneously being a vehicle for absorptive capacity's indirect effects on it. An exploration innovation strategy does not significantly affect manufacturing flexibility.

This study contributes by combining key strategic features of firms with manufacturing flexibility, while providing new empirical evidence of the mediation of the exploitative innovation competencies in the relation between responsive market orientation and manufacturing flexibility.

The aim of this work is to explain the final negotiated prices for some of the most famous transfers of football players over the last twelve years (2007–2018).

The article analyses different values for forwards taken from the sports website Transfermarkt, developing a statistical model based on personal, performance, risk, environmental and popularity variables. From those values, the article finds an explanation for the final prices paid for 20 superstar players based on a combination of real option valuations, incorporating the players' life cycles and game theory.

The authors find that in a large percentage (70%) of the analysed cases, the price paid was higher than the intrinsic market value resulting from Transfermarkt, implying the existence of monopolistic rents, paid as “growth options” on prices from different negotiating conditions. On occasions, the final prices also exceed the value of the growth option, calculated under neutral bargaining conditions, highlighting the lack of economic viability of important transfers, leading to financial difficulties for the clubs involved.

The algorithm provides more flexibility and realism than previous proposals, based on the life cycle of football players, introducing the uncertainty and volatility of projections through Monte Carlo simulation, the capacity of clubs to bargain a price at any point of the contract and finally, the buyer's ability to transfer the player if his subsequent performance is not as expected.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the differential effects that institutions have on country IPO activity.

With a sample of 64 countries over a 15-year period (2000-2014), the authors test the variables rule of law, uncertainty avoidance and masculinity on subsamples of developed (27) and emerging (37) countries to explore their influence on domestic IPO activity level.

For developed countries, only uncertainty avoidance and masculinity are significant. Within emerging countries, it is uncertainty avoidance and rule of law that are significant.

Using different country classification frameworks could yield more detailed and focused results on the influence that country-level variables have on IPO activity.

Multinational firms could use these findings for decisions related to their potential subsidiary IPOs.

This is a novel empirical work relating institutions to IPO activity, using emerging and developed country subsamples. It also focuses on IPO activity instead of IPO underpricing/performance and contributes to extend the scope of the IPO literature to global non-Anglo contexts.

Analizar los efectos diferenciales que las instituciones tienen en OPIs (ofertas públicas iniciales) a nivel país.

En una muestra de 64 países en un periodo de 15 anos (2000-14) probamos las variables: estado de derecho, aversión a la incertidumbre y masculinidad en submuestras de países: desarrollados (27) y emergentes (37) para explorar su influencia en el número de OPIs a nivel país.

En países desarrollados la aversión a la incertidumbre y masculinidad son significativas. Dentro de países emergentes, la aversión a incertidumbre y estado de derecho son significativas.

Usar diferentes métodos para clasificar países podría resultar en resultados mas detallados y enfocadas para entender la influencia que variables a nivel país tienen en el nivel de OPIs.

Empresas multinacionales podrían usar estos resultados para decisiones relacionadas a sus subsidiarias potenciales.

Este es un trabajo novedoso que relaciona a las instituciones con la actividad OPI usando submuestras de países desarrollados y emergentes. También se enfoca en actividad OPI en lugar de subvaluación/desempeño OPI y contribuye a extender la literatura OPI a contextos no anglo sajones.

Este artículo se pudo hacer gracias al apoyo parcial de la Asociación Mexicana de Cultura A.C.

OPIs, Emergentes, Desarrollados, Instituciones and Cultura

Analisar os efeitos diferenciais que as instituições têm na atividade de IPO (Oferta pública inicial en inglés) dos países.

Em uma amostra de 64 países em um período de 15 anos (2000-14). Testamos as variáveis: estado de direito, evitação de incerteza e masculinidade em subamostras de países desenvolvidos (27) e, emergentes (37) para explorar sua influência no nível de atividade doméstico do IPO.

Para os países desenvolvidos, apenas a evitação de incertezas e a masculinidade são significativas. Nos países emergentes, a evitação de incertezas e o estado de direito são significativos.

O uso de diferentes estruturas de classificação de países poderia produzir resultados mais detalhados e focados na influência que as variáveis de nível de país têm na atividade de IPO.

As empresas multinacionais poderiam usar essas descobertas para decisões relacionadas a seus possíveis IPOs subsidiários.

Este é um novo trabalho empírico que relaciona instituições à atividade de IPO usando subamostras de países emergentes e desenvolvidos. Também se concentra na atividade de IPO, em vez da infravaloración/performance do IPO, e contribui para estender a literatura do âmbito IPO para os contextos globais não-anglo.

IPOs, Emergentes, Desenvolvidos, Instituições, Cultura

This chapter is about an analysis and reflection on the actions, programs, and regulatory frameworks of the Mexican government for the promotion of entrepreneurial activity during the twentieth century. A documentary review is presented based mainly on the presidential reports available in the virtual legal library of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the Center for Documentation, Information, and Analysis of the Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados), and various publications of experts on economic history, considering the twentieth century: from the year 1900 with the end of the Porfiriato until the six-year term of Ernesto Zedillo that ended in 2000. The public policies of these 100 years were reviewed and based on this, was analyzed the importance assigned to the creation, development, and consolidation of companies and their importance in public policies. Special emphasis is given to instruments for the creation of new businesses or the development and strengthening of small- and medium-sized enterprises.