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The way business practice adjusts to the models proposed by financial theory has been under moderate yet constant scrutiny from the academic world. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to this line of research by showing CFOs’ perceptions of Spanish companies with regard to their capital structure decisions.

The empirical approach is examined using information gathered through a survey answered by 140 CFOs of Spanish companies during 2011. Results are obtained from mean difference tests and ordered probit estimations.

The results of the paper show that managers attach importance to establishing and monitoring a target debt ratio and the capacity to maintain additional debt in order to provide financial flexibility. In addition, CFOs prefer internal financing to external, using debt when internal funds do not allow investments to be funded.

On the whole, the results of this research show that trade-off and pecking order theories are not alternative views of the same problem, but represent complementary approaches of how companies define their capital structures.

El modo en que la práctica empresarial se ajusta a los modelos propuestos por la teoría financiera ha sido objeto de un tímido pero constante escrutinio por parte del mundo académico. En este trabajo, se contribuye a esta línea de investigación mediante la exploración de las percepciones que los directivos financieros de empresas españolas mantienen sobre sus decisiones de estructura de capital.

El análisis empírico explota las respuestas de 140 directores financieros de empresas españolas a una encuesta realizada en el año 2011. Los principales resultados son obtenidos de los tests de diferencias de medias y la estimación de modelos Probit ordenado.

Nuestros resultados muestran que los directivos financieros consideran importante el establecimiento y persecución de un objetivo de deuda objetivo y la flexibilidad financiera que otorga el mantenimiento de capacidad de endeudamiento adicional. Además los directores financieros prefieren utilizar los recursos generados internamente antes que la financiación externa, utilizando deuda cuando los fondos internos son insuficientes para financiar sus inversiones.

En conjunto, los resultados de nuestra investigación muestran que la teoría del trade-off y del pecking-order no son soluciones alternativas de un mismo problema, sino enfoques complementarios sobre las decisiones de estructura de capital adoptadas en la práctica.

Our aim is to analyze the type of lender and the debt maturity of Chilean firms as a function of their ownership structure and their growth opportunities. We perform the empirical analysis using an unbalanced panel data of 169 firms from 1990 to 2001. Our results show that Chilean firms with growth opportunities, ownership concentration, and a need for external funds issue short‐term bank debt to finance their new investments. This financing source is an efficient mechanism in Chile to alleviate agency and asymmetric information problems. The Chilean institutional environment influences firms’ decisions on banking debt.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of corporate governance on the performance of 37 commercial banks in Kenya over the period 2005‐2009.

The paper uses two measures of performance, i.e. return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE), and the dependent variables and three measures of governance – namely the board size, independent directors, and CEO duality – as the key independent variables. The study follows a panel econometrics technique to investigate the relationship between governance variables and bank performance.

The main findings are as follows: a large board size tends to impact performance negatively; the existence of independent board directors tends to enhance the performance of the banks; and there is no evidence that CEO duality or otherwise has impact on the performance of commercial banks in Kenya.

The study therefore recommends that for commercial banks in Kenya to register high performance they need to check the size of their board of directors and also increase the number of independent directors.

To the authors' best knowledge, this is the first study on Kenya that has used advanced panel data techniques.

The purpose of this paper is to determine whether bank debt‐maturity decisions are conditioned by growth opportunities, the firms’ ownership structure, or the institutional environment.

The empirical analysis is undertaken using an unbalanced panel data of Chilean and Spanish firms.

The results indicate that when banks are not allowed to become stockholders, managers use bank debt‐maturity as a corporate governance mechanism. When banks can participate in the ownership of the firms that they finance, short‐term bank debt can serve as a substitute for a governance mechanism.

The main contribution of this paper is the analysis of how differences in financial development among countries modify financial decisions by firms.

To address the challenges of the agricultural sector, innovation is necessary. This study aims to focus on knowledge circulation as a basis to facilitate innovation in viticulture in the context of climate change.

We have conducted interviews with viticulture stakeholders in Central Spain (Madrid region) on their perceptions and concerns about climate change, knowledge on practices to mitigate its effects on this crop and their relationship with each other for knowledge exchange. A map showing the knowledge nodes and their relationships with other stakeholders has been drawn based on the answers obtained.

Winegrowers have already noticed the effects of climate change, and they are changing some agricultural practices. Drip irrigation was the most frequently mentioned option to minimize these effects. The map of knowledge identifies the main nodes in the information flow. Results also highlight different approaches to climate change and interesting nuances in the maps of knowledge among winegrowers with and without winery.

This paper is focused on the Madrid region, a territory that is still consolidating its wine sector at the economic and marketing levels. We understand that regions with more consolidated or stronger sectors involve maps of knowledge more complex than that obtained in this study.

Showing the nodes of knowledge, as well as the weaknesses and strengths of the information circuit in the wine sector in the Madrid region, is very relevant to developing strategies aimed at supporting innovation in this sector. From a practical point of view, strategies for knowledge generation and circulation are only one part of the innovation process – policies for financial and technical support are key complementary measures.

Identification of key agents in the innovation process in the wine sector is essential to foster innovation processes. Ultimately, this will lead to more efficient adaptation to new challenges in the sector.

The Agriculture Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) approach has a consolidated theoretical framework that pays great attention to knowledge flows, but specific studies are needed to capture the reality of AKIS by sector and by region.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the impact of features of personality such as self-confidence and fear of failure on the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) of university students enrolled on entrepreneurial education courses.

Variables related to risk-taking, innovativeness, proactiveness, as well as those related to self-confidence and fear of failure, are taken into account. Using linear regression, the authors investigate how self-confidence and fear of failure affect the EO of university students.

As pointed out by results, both self-confidence and fear of failure are determinants of the EO of university students. Self-confidence has a positive and consistent effect on the three dimensions of EO, whereas fear of failure has a negative effect on EO.

It is not possible to assure that, in the medium and long term, individuals more prone to taking risks, innovating and proactivity will in fact become entrepreneurs. Also, even though it does not affect the relevance of the findings, it must be highlighted that this study has been carried out with a specific sample of students and results may vary in different contexts.

This study offers a new insight relating individual’s self-perceptions and their impact on EO. Equally important, the findings of this paper offer relevant information for the design of academic programs aimed at strengthening students’ personal aspects to promote self-confidence and tolerance to fear of failure as predictors of the EO in this collective.

Esta investigación tiene como objetivo identificar el impacto de las características propias de la personalidad tales como la autoconfianza y el miedo al fracaso en el constructo Orientación Emprendedora (OE) de los estudiantes universitarios matriculados en cursos de educación emprendedora.

A partir de la información obtenida a través de encuestas aplicadas en diferentes programas educativos en la ciudad de Medellín, se consideran variables relacionadas con la asunción al riesgo, la capacidad de innovación y la proactividad, así como variables relacionadas con la autoconfianza y el miedo al fracaso. Usando el modelo de regresión lineal, investigamos como la autoconfianza y el miedo al fracaso afectan la OE de los estudiantes universitarios.

Tomando en consideración nuestras hipótesis de investigación, los resultados indican que tanto la autoconfianza como el miedo al fracaso son determinantes de la OE de los estudiantes universitarios. La autoconfianza tiene un efecto positivo y consistente en las tres dimensiones de la OE, mientras el miedo al fracaso tiene un efecto negativo sobre la OE.

Este trabajo es un estudio exploratorio que investiga la relación de ciertas características de la personalidad con el desarrollo de la OE de estudiantes universitarios en el presente. Por lo tanto, no es posible asegurar que, en el mediano y largo plazo, los individuos más propensos a asumir riesgos, a innovar y a ser proactivos, se conviertan en empresarios. Por otro lado, se debe resaltar que este estudio se realiza con una muestra específica de estudiantes y los resultados pueden variar en diferentes contextos.

Este estudio ofrece una nueva visión que relaciona las autopercepciones individuales y su impacto en la OE. Por otro lado, destaca la necesidad de una mayor investigación que colabore en la comprensión del fenómeno emprendedor utilizando los hallazgos para crear un entorno que respalde la actividad emprendedora en las universidades. Adicionalmente, ofrece información relevante para el diseño de programas académicos orientados a fortalecer los aspectos personales de los estudiantes, con el objetivo de promover la autoconfianza y la tolerancia al miedo al fracaso como predictores de la OE de este colectivo.

The purpose of this paper is to present research on vulnerability and service life indexes applied to cultural heritage buildings. The construction and rehabilitation industry is concerned with the maintenance of monuments and reducing the economic costs of urgent interventions by taking preventive conservation action in historic cities. By applying a vulnerability index or analyzing the service life of buildings, it is possible to reduce risk and optimize the identification, evaluation and prioritization of urgent monument restoration tasks in a city or a region to establish preventive conservation policies.

This research sets out the concepts of vulnerability and service life, focusing on their methodologies in comparison with other techniques for building diagnosis, discussing the differences between indexes that measure the vulnerability and service life of buildings.

The vulnerability of three churches in Seville (Spain) was studied by means of their vulnerability index, based on Delphi analysis, and the service life of these buildings was also assessed, based on artificial intelligence tools. Delphi and artificial intelligence tools allow us to compare and dovetail different scenarios and expert opinions. The degree of each monument’s conservation is defined as its vulnerability index, which is an indirect function of deterioration levels. The service life of buildings, on the other hand, includes the assessment of vulnerability and hazards.

This study is useful for stakeholders, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and policymakers, as an important reference on diagnosis, including updated, inexpensive and sustainable methodologies to manage the conservation of monuments, which are easy to implement in developed and developing countries. The application of vulnerability and/or service life indicators is crucial to ensuring the sustainability and improvement of maintenance carried out on cultural heritage buildings.

This study details new approaches based on artificial intelligence and Delphi analysis to prioritize preventive conservation actions in a city or region.

The aim of this research is to propose a quantitative approach to evaluating the quality of services provided, helping organizations to make strategic decisions by better understanding the characteristics that satisfy consumers.

The approach was based on the integration of the Kano model with SERVQUAL, adapted by the satisfaction equations of Albuquerque et al. (2022) and fuzzy systems theory. Through this, it was possible to infer which attributes influence customer satisfaction, identifying the ranges of satisfaction and, with the help of fuzzy, reducing the imprecision of customer perceptions.

A total of 42% of the attributes were classified as unidimensional, with attribute 11 (Reliability) and attribute 9 (Courtesy) having the highest satisfaction values. Attractive attributes accounted for 38% of the sample, with attribute 29 (Variety of products) and attribute 7 (Location) having the greatest impact on satisfaction. On the other hand, attribute 30 (Order Delay) and attribute 31 (Waiting for payment) caused more dissatisfaction among consumers (ranges −0.6, −0.71, respectively). In addition, Variety of products was the most satisfactory, while Order Delay generated the most dissatisfaction among users.

The originality of this research lies in its contribution to organizations in relation to the services offered by investigating a gap in the studies that use the Kano model, integrated with SERVQUAL, which do not include reverse attributes in their equations and analyses. With the help of fuzzy sets, the subjectivity of the individual can be translated into data for greater clarity of information.

The purpose of this research is to examine the effect of ability, motivation and opportunity (AMO) practices on organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB), in medical staff working in specialized units. In addition, we check the mediating role of work-related well-being, understood as engagement, trust and exhaustion, in the relationship between AMO practices and OCB. Furthermore, the moderating role of service leadership is analysed in the relationship between AMO practices and work-related well-being.

Using the AMO framework under the job demands-resources (JD-R) model, and based on a sample of 214 employees from public healthcare, a time-lagged moderation-mediation model was performed.

Results provide evidence that AMO practices have a positive effect on OCB. Further, work-related well-being mediated the effect of AMO practices on OCB. In addition, service leadership exerted a moderating role between AMO practices and work-related well-being.

Building on recent research which has emphasized the knowledge gap regarding how human resource practices might positively affect both employees and organizations, this is the first study that indicates that said practices positively affect both employee well-being and OCBs in the public healthcare context.

The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the efficiency of secondary education schools in Chile. Since the early 1980s, several educational reforms have been passed with the main objective of improving the quality, equity and efficiency of the Chilean education system. This has initiated a debate about the efficient use of public educational resources. In response, this study provides insights into identifying the most efficient types of schools based on a set of different inputs and outputs.

This quantitative research study used data envelopment analysis (DEA), which estimates a single index of efficiency to identify schools performing at superior levels compared to other schools with similar characteristics. Two sets of models are created for evaluating efficiency. The first set of analyses provides a longitudinal efficiency comparison based on student performance on two national standardized tests as outputs, and the second model incorporates socioeconomic characteristics of students attending different schools as inputs in the efficiency estimation.

Based on the longitudinal models, it was found that private schools are more efficient and more consistent in maintaining their efficiency over time than other types of schools. In addition, when accounting for socioeconomic factors, publicly subsidized schools were more efficient than public schools.

The Chilean parliament is currently discussing new educational reforms that focus on more efficient use of educational resources to improve educational quality and equity. The results provided in this study generate useful evidence for policymakers and other stakeholders regarding school efficiency and the appropriate allocation of public resources to support diverse students served by different types of secondary educational institutions.

Education is a key factor affecting social mobility and socioeconomic improvement of societies. Schools are called upon to improve their performance to promote these social goals. Accordingly, more novel forms of research on efficiency are necessary to assess how well schools are transforming their inputs into performance outputs.

This study provides a longitudinal analysis of educational efficiency using DEA with a national data set of Chilean schools to evaluate how consistent the schools are in maintaining their levels of efficiency over time. In addition, one DEA model accounts for a social “vulnerability” index at the student level to better understand how efficiently secondary schools use their resources. The insights gained provide data-driven answers to support more informed educational decision-making and policy processes in Chile.