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The present paper examines whether tax avoidance practices affect productivity in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This study also analyses whether this association is moderated by firm size, firm financial constraints, management control of cash flows, or information risk.

This study used a sample of Spanish SMEs for the period 2006–2020. Tax avoidance was measured as the difference between the statutory tax rate and the effective tax rate, and three proxies for productivity were used: overall productivity, capital productivity and labour productivity. Firm fixed effects regressions, propensity score matching and change regressions were used to address the potential sample selection bias and endogeneity between tax avoidance and productivity.

The results of the empirical analysis suggest that tax avoidance increases productivity in SMEs. This beneficial effect of tax avoidance was found to be higher in small firms than in medium-sized firms, but smaller in firms that faced financial constraints. Furthermore, the findings showed that the tax avoidance effect on productivity was stronger in firms where managers had less control over the cash flow –i.e. dividend-paying firms–, and weaker in firms with lower quality of financial information – i.e. firms with qualified audit reports.

This study contributes to the research on the economic consequences of tax avoidance by examining its impact on firm-level productivity in SMEs. From additional analyses, the findings of the study suggest that the positive effect of tax avoidance on firm productivity depends on firm size, the financial slack of the firm, and the costs of agency conflicts and information problems associated with tax avoidance.

The results of this study have implications for SMEs, suggesting that cash flows obtained through tax avoidance, if properly used, may increase firm productivity. In planning their tax avoidance practices, SME managers could take advantage of specific tax incentives designed for SMEs, which is particularly relevant given the low-productivity levels of these firms. The findings also highlight the importance of maintaining high-quality information and implementing mechanisms to mitigate the agency risks associated with tax avoidance to enhance the productivity of SMEs.

This study provides important insights to policymakers on SME tax policy, supporting the special tax rules for SMEs – in force in many OECD and EU countries – which aim to create an environment conducive to SME growth. The findings of the study also have macroeconomic implications, given the importance of firm productivity as a determinant of economic growth and the relevance of SMEs in most national economies.

This study provides novel empirical evidence on the effects of tax avoidance on firm-level productivity in SMEs. Despite the prevalence of SMEs as the predominant type of organization in most countries, no prior research has comprehensively examined this issue for this type of firm. This research question was addressed by considering proxies for overall, capital, and labour productivity and by examining how SME characteristics affect this relationship.

There is an increasing interest in the use of knowledge graphs to represent real-world knowledge and a common need to manage imprecise knowledge in many real-world applications. This paper aims to study approaches to solve flexible queries over knowledge graphs.

By introducing fuzzy logic in the query answering process, the authors are able to obtain a novel algorithm to solve flexible queries over knowledge graphs. This approach is implemented in the FUzzy Knowledge Graphs system, a software tool with an intuitive user-graphical interface.

This approach makes it possible to reuse semantic web standards (RDF, SPARQL and OWL 2) and builds a fuzzy layer on top of them. The application to a use case shows that the system can aggregate information in different ways by selecting different fusion operators and adapting to different user needs.

This approach is more general than similar previous works in the literature and provides a specific way to represent the flexible restrictions (using fuzzy OWL 2 datatypes).

This research aimed to conceptualize organizations as open and purposeful systems to study how organizational culture (OC) influences firms' Innovative Performance (IP). The authors proposed goal setting and internal integration/external adaptation paradox as central to explaining OC's mediating and suppressing effects on IP.

The authors collected data from 372 Costa Rican organizations and analyzed them with structural equations. This research used the Denison Model instead of the usual typology-based approaches.

The mission had a direct and high impact on IP. The mediated effect via adaptability was also elevated, as well as the suppressor effect through consistency. There was no effect on IP of involvement. According to these results, the Open and Rational Systems Framework emerge as the main theoretical explanatory concepts.

Disaggregating the OC through a performance-oriented dimensional model makes it possible to study the dynamics between the elements that compound it and facilitate integrating these findings with other research streams.

Distributed systems usually contain objects with heterogeneous security requirements that pose important challenges for the underlying security mechanisms and especially in access control systems. Access control in distributed systems often relies on centralised security administration. Existing solutions for distributed access control do not provide the flexibility and manageability required. This paper presents the XML‐based secure content distribution (XSCD) infrastructure, which is based on the production of protected software objects that convey contents (software or data) and can be distributed without further security measures because they embed the access control enforcement mechanism. It also provides means for integrating privilege management infrastructures (PMIs). Semantic information is used in the dynamic instantiation and semantic validation of policies. XSCD is scalable, facilitates the administration of the access control system, guarantees the secure distribution of the contents, enables semantic integration and interoperability of heterogeneous sources, provides persistent protection and allows actions (such as payment) to be bound to the access to objects.

This study investigates the relationship between the development of academic spin-offs (ASOs) and the type of financing involved, by considering three research questions: How do ASOs differ in terms of financing? To what extent and for what reasons do ASOs differ in their financing? How do business and growth models dictate the selection of different sorts of financing arrangement?

The study employs a grounded-theory, qualitative approach based on 39 Spanish ASOs.

There is a heterogeneity of ASO financing, and the selection of financial resources is related to the business and growth model of the ASO. Furthermore, there are some critical junctures for financing within each group of ASOs.

The study advances the understanding of the determinants of ASOs, specifically with respect to financing, business models and growth orientation. The Spanish context used here may not permit the global generalisation of the results; nevertheless, this study is a response to calls to consider the effect of regional context on ASOs.

Knowing the heterogeneity of ASOs in terms of financing and how business and growth models determines the selection of distinct financing sources help financial planning, investment decisions and the design of programmes and policies, which can be relevant for both ASOs and their stakeholders (investors, universities and governments).

This study provides a comprehensive view of ASO financing, confirming a heterogeneity, not only in terms of financing but also in some critical junctures that presage a change from one type of financing to another.

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how the creativity technique SCAMPER and generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen-AI) are linked in the formative process for the solution of business problems by groups of students from low socio-economic levels of a public university in the city of San José de Cucuta, Colombia.

An analysis of the contributions of generative artificial intelligence was developed and the knowledge gaps related to advanced artificial intelligence-based linguistic models in the education sector were mentioned. Subsequently, views on the Colombian context of science, technology and innovation were developed. Finally, the experience in the application of teaching-learning strategies through the use of Open AI’s creativity technique and ChatGPT was highlighted.

The findings highlight the complementarity of generative artificial intelligence and the SCAMPER creativity technique in the development of innovation capabilities. While human creativity highlights emotional aspects. Artificial intelligence consolidates procedural aspects and ideas focused on the primary activities of the value chain.

The implementation of the hybrid model in the classroom can lead to the development of new capabilities by marginalized groups immersed in the educational system. The potential positive impact of Gen-AI and human creativity will be reflected in the optimization of response times and the search for solutions to problems in different environments.

This opinion article highlights the implementation of AI in a Higher Education Institution located in the frontier zone of San José de Cucuta, Colombia. In addition, it involves actors of the educational system whose economic income is low. Finally, it highlights the positive impact of the integration of creativity techniques and the use of generative artificial intelligence in the classroom, highlighting the use of hybrid models (Man-Machine).

This study aims to determine which factors underlie the store attributes that contribute to a particular food store image. Furthermore, heightened recent attention to private labels in the food retailing industry creates the need to assess whether the factors vary, depending on customers' brand proneness and their impact on key marketing performance variables (satisfaction, attitudinal loyalty, behavioural loyalty).

The proposed analysis features 211 questionnaires out of a sample of 391 consumers surveys gathered in four different store formats; 137 of which were completed by consumers who admitting being private label prone, and 74 pertaining to consumers who considered themselves national brand prone. The underlying food store factors were identified using factorial analysis of principal components, and their influence on consumers' satisfaction and loyalty was evaluated with linear parametric regression models.

Store attributes related to providing sufficiently convenient purchasing experiences and a special atmosphere are most important for private label brand-prone consumers and enhance their satisfaction, attitudinal loyalty and behavioural loyalty. For national brand-prone consumers, attributes related to quality are more important for enhancing marketing performance variables.

The results enable a clear identification of food store factors that vary with the consumer segment being considered (private label prone consumers vs. national brand prone), as well as their differential impacts on key marketing performance variables.

To appeal to private label-prone consumers, food retailers should put particular emphasis on the attributes of the store itself, especially those that enhance convenience and the pleasantness of the store atmosphere. To attract national brand-prone consumers, they primarily need to highlight aspects related to quality.

This research emphasises the importance of building competitive strategies in food retailing based on: an increased knowledge about the attributes and factors that food consumers value more highly; and brand type preferences.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the unexplored part of the historical evolution of travel agencies in Spain, from the end of the 20th century to the 21st century. When examining promotion strategies, the study focuses on the change in marketing and public relations strategies based on the incorporation of information and communication technologies and, in particular, the use of the internet.

This study draws on a qualitative analysis of the different strategies used by traditional agencies and online agencies in Spain from the mid-19th century to the present. This analysis shows how traditional communication strategies survived at the beginning of the 21st century, together with other more innovative ones, while some disappeared, being eliminated by the new online travel agencies, which created a particular conception of marketing and communication. This paper is divided into the following parts: the introduction; the beginnings of travel agency promotion in the 20th century; the evolution of promotion in travel agencies since the late 20th century; communication innovation at the beginning of the 21st century; online travel agencies; and conclusions.

This study shows that although online agencies did not manage to position themselves with a large turnover, they generated advantages and sharpened their imagination to create a new, more economical advertising model, eliminating the costs of public relations and advertising campaigns. In addition, they allowed clients to have greater independence when making their reservations, while enabling them to monitor the tastes of potential and real clients and add blogs so that consumers could express their degree of satisfaction with the product or services provided by the agency.

The focus of attention is the travel agency sector in Spain and, more specifically, communication. Studies on travel agencies and their marketing have been very scarce and partial, impeding professionals in the tourism sector from having a broad vision to direct their promotional and public relations actions. The originality of this article lies in its making a comparison between two different visions of tourism marketing and, specifically, of travel agencies, that is, the traditional vision and the innovative one. It thus helps all professionals in the sector to value and improve their marketing and communication strategies.

Brand love is a notion where feelings are developed towards a specific brand. This notion is more than just a preference, it is an emotional attachment with the consumed product and the brand that represents it. In tourism, destination marketing will increase the relationship between tourists and places using certain kind of messages and images whose goal is to stimulate their senses and feelings. In crisis management situations, it acts as a mediator, by assessing tourists' risk and safety perceptions, and helps mitigate lasting negative effects.

However, can destination brand love be promoted during these pandemic times? To get an in-deep understanding of the connections that exist between love and safety in tourism, this study explores two concepts through an extended literature review and a qualitative methodological approach using content analysis procedures that will focus on international marketing strategies during the ongoing pandemic crisis.

The qualitative approach was conducted through a survey composed of a set of open-ended questions (N = 31) where respondents were asked to identify their feelings after viewing the promotional tourism campaigns released after the significant increase in cases of COVID-19 worldwide.

The main results demonstrate the existence of brand love antecedents – brand trust and a sense of community, and an overall positive reaction to the images and messages promoted. Also, the existence of brand love antecedents demonstrates the brands' capacity to adapt to crisis events and its ability to outline the kind of paths that have to be defined for tourists to remain passionate about destinations.