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The purpose of this paper is to consider the two main existing text input techniques based on “eye gestures” – namely EyeWrite and Eye-S – and compare them to each other and to the traditional “virtual keyboard” approach.

The study primarily aims to assess user performance at the very beginning of the learning process. However, a partial longitudinal evaluation is also provided. Two kinds of experiments have been implemented involving 14 testers.

Results show that while the virtual keyboard is faster, EyeWrite and Eye-S are also appreciated and can be viable alternatives (after a proper training period).

Writing methods based on eye gestures deserve special attention, as they require less screen space and need limited tracking precision. This study highlights the fact that gesture-based techniques imply a greater initial effort, and require proper training not only to gain knowledge of eye interaction per se, but also for learning the gesture alphabet. The author thinks that the investigation can drive the designers of gaze-controlled writing techniques based on gestures to put more consideration on the intuitiveness of gestures themselves, as they may greatly influence user performance in the first stages of the learning process.

This is the first study comparing EyeWrite and Eye-S. Moreover, unlike other analyses, the investigation is mainly aimed at assessing user performance with the three text entry methods at the inception of the learning procedure.

The purpose of this paper is to study the possible influence of congruity on the way ad banners are watched and remembered in online newspapers.

The effects of the thematic connection between banner subject and article content are examined at the level of gaze behaviour using eye tracking technology, while questionnaires are exploited to assess both free and helped recall. Two “kinds of reading” are also considered, namely “imposed” (where the tester has to read a specific article) and “free” (where the tester can choose the article's topic from a set).

Results indicate that congruity matters for the way banners are looked at, although it seems to have a limited influence on memory. Moreover, the kind of reading is significant in a few cases.

The design of ad banners for web content is very critical, due to the so‐called “banner blindness” phenomenon. At the same time, ad banners are crucial for online newspapers, which rely on them as the main source of revenues. Understanding the potential of congruity is therefore an essential point.

Results to date obtained from previous research about congruity between online content and ad banners are contrasting, and further investigations are thus necessary. Moreover, in the context of online newspapers, congruity has been considered in extremely few cases and, to the best of the authors' knowledge, without using eye tracking technology. The outcomes of this study can be exploited to drive further research in the field.

An important wave of anti-austerity protests has swept across Western Europe in recent years. We can thus distinguish between three different types of protest occurring in Western Europe recently: “old” issue protests, relating to the trade union and labor movement; “new” issue protests, relating to culture and identity issues; anti-austerity protests, emerging directly in reaction to austerity measures and cuts enacted in the current period. Following previous literature, we hypothesize that anti-austerity protests have attracted a new constituency to the streets and that they will be different from both “old” and “new” protests in terms of their social composition, value orientations, and action repertoires. We expect anti-austerity protesters to be on the whole younger, and in more precarious working conditions, to be more concerned with economic over social issues, but also to be considerably less institutionalized and embedded in organizational networks, and to have fewer experiences of previous extra-institutional participation. We test these hypotheses by analyzing a unique and novel dataset containing data from over 10,000 protestors from 72 demonstrations (2009–2013). Our results lend broad support to our hypotheses with the exception of the idea that “precarity” forms a new social base for anti-austerity protests.

Opening the special issue on global protest and democracy since 2011, this article surveys the key dimensions of the debate. It provides a critical overview of significant protest events in the post-2011 period and explores a range of the analytical tools that may be used to understand them, before proceeding to identify, disaggregate, and draw into question some of the major claims that have emerged in literature on the post-2011 mobilizations. The articles contained within this volume are then outlined, revealing the novel and nuanced insights provided by the contributors with respect to the post-2011 protests’ composition, mobilization forms, frames, democratic practices, and interrelationships with other actors in pursuit of democratic reform. The article concludes with a discussion of the opportunities for further research into protest and democracy.

There are currently two issues that generate growing interest among specialized scholars within the family business field: technological innovation (TI) and socioemotional wealth (SEW). While it is true that both topics are highly popular among researchers, the joint study of both perspectives is scarce. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to analyse the interrelationships between TI and SEW in the context of family firms.

This literature review systematically analyses the findings of 25 journal articles focusing on TI and SEW, published between 2012 and 2018.

The findings reveal an integrative approach, identifying different variables that relate TI and SEW. A conceptual framework is built in which these variables are incorporated into four categories (SEW, TI, moderating effects and performance). New lines of research emerge with the development of a conceptual model and the formulation of six propositions.

The conceptual framework can be useful as integrative summary of the factors that family business managers and directors should take into account to be successful in implementing innovative projects and strategies.

The study of TI from the SEW approach has emerged as a fruitful field of research in recent years, but the current knowledge of the role that SEW plays in family firms’ TI is still scarce. This paper contributes to the family business literature by offering a conceptual framework of the SEW–TI relationship and new research avenues that will provide a better comprehension for scholars and specialists for future investigations in the field.

Actualmente existen dos temas que generan un creciente interés entre los académicos especializados en el campo de estudio de la empresa familiar: la innovación tecnológica y la riqueza socioemocional. Si bien es cierto que ambos temas son muy populares entre los investigadores, el estudio conjunto de ambas perspectivas es escaso. Así, el objetivo de este trabajo es analizar las interrelaciones entre la innovación tecnológica (IT) y la riqueza socioemocional (SEW) en el contexto de las empresas familiares.

Esta revisión de la literatura analiza sistemáticamente los hallazgos de 25 artículos de revistas que se centran en la IT y el SEW, publicados entre 2012 y 2018.

Los hallazgos revelan un enfoque integrador, identificando diferentes variables que relacionan la IT y el SEW. Así pues, se construye un marco conceptual en el que estas variables son incorporadas en cuatro categorías (SEW, IT, efectos moderadores y rendimiento). Nuevas líneas de investigación surgen con el desarrollo de un modelo conceptual y la formulación de seis proposiciones.

El marco conceptual puede ser útil como resumen exhaustivo de los factores que los gerentes y directores de empresas familiares deben tener en cuenta para tener éxito en la implementación de proyectos y estrategias innovadoras.

El estudio de la IT desde el enfoque del SEW ha surgido como un campo de investigación fructífero en los últimos años, pero el conocimiento actual del rol que juega el SEW en la IT de las empresas familiares es todavía escaso. Este trabajo contribuye a la literatura de la empresa familiar ofreciendo un marco conceptual de la relación SEW-IT y nuevas vías de investigación que proporcionarán una mejor comprensión a académicos y especialistas para futuras investigaciones en este campo de estudio.

Innovación tecnológica, Riqueza socioemocional, Empresas familiares, Revisión de literature

Revisión general

Actualmente existem dois temas que geram um crescente interesse entre os acadêmicos especializados no campo de estudo da empresa familiar: inovação tecnológica e riqueza sócio-emocional. Conquanto é verdadeiro que ambos temas são muito populares entre os investigadores, o estudo conjunto de ambas perspectivas é escasso. Assim, o objectivo deste trabalho é analisar as inter-relações entre inovação tecnológica (IT) e riqueza socioemocional (SEW) no contexto das empresas familiares.

Esta revisão da literatura analisa sistematicamente os achados de 25 artigos de revistas que se centram na IT e o SEW, publicados entre 2012 e 2018.

Os achados revelam um enfoque integrador, identificando diferentes variáveis que relacionam a IT e o SEW. Constrói-se um marco conceptual no qual estas variáveis são incorporadas em quatro categorias (SEW, TI, efeitos moderadores e rendimento). Novas linhas de investigação surgem com o desenvolvimento de um modelo conceptual e a formulação de seis proposições.

O marco conceptual pode ser útil como resumo exhaustivo dos factores que os gerentes e diretores de empresas familiares devem ter em conta para ter sucesso na implementação de projectos e estratégias inovadoras.

O estudo da IT desde o enfoque do SEW tem surgido como um campo de investigação frutífero nos últimos anos, mas o conhecimento atual do papel que joga o SEW na IT das empresas familiares é ainda escasso. Este trabalho contribui à literatura da empresa familiar oferecendo um marco conceptual da relação SEW-TI e novas vias de investigação que proporcionarão um melhor entendimento a académicos e especialistas para futuras investigações neste campo de estudo.

Inovação tecnológica, Riqueza sócio-emocional, Empresas familiares, Revisão da literatura

Revisão geral

This paper uses the case of the English East India Company to consider the impact of colonialization on patterns of trade. The East India Company went through a commercial and a colonial period in Asia and therefore provides a rare case in which fixed national effects are held constant while the degree of colonialism varies. We use this variation to consider the impact of colonial institutions on the degree of concentration in overseas trade. We find that the onset of colonialism is linked to increasing inequality in the distribution of traffic across ports. This finding is significant because of the relationship between overseas trade and the potential for long-term economic development: the development trajectories of the individual ports were likely to have been affected by these different rates of trade. Our findings also highlight how the negotiation between political and commercial goals in early modern trade and imperialism produced different macro-structural outcomes for global trade patterns.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between the ownership structure and the investment in research and development (R&D) for a sample of listed Spanish companies.

Following the agency theory and the socioemotional wealth (SEW) perspective, the authors propose that R&D investment is affected by ownership structure, specifically by the identity of the controlling owner (family firms and firms with an institutional investor) and the level of contestability by other shareholders. In order to test these hypotheses, the authors build an original database identifying, at a 10% threshold, the ultimate shareholders of a sample of 96 Spanish firms listed during 2008–2018 (1,002 obs).

The results show that there is no significant relationship between the ownership concentration and the R&D investment. Only when the authors consider the nature of the main shareholder, the authors find that in family firms there is an inverted U relationship between ownership and R&D, so that at low levels of ownership, the R&D increases, while at high levels of ownership (that we compute around 54%) the R&D decreases. Also, when the main shareholder is an institutional investor, the greater its ownership, the higher the R&D investment. Finally, the authors test that, contrary to what mainstream suggests, contestability in family firms is higher when ownership in the hands of other family shareholders increases.

The work uses an original database to test a nonlinear relationship between ownership and R&D investment in family firms. Also, the study addresses a topic hardly ever discussed in the literature about R&D as it is the role of the contestability by other controlling shareholders.

El objetivo del presente trabajo es analizar la relación existente entre la estructura de propiedad y la innovación corporativa para una muestra de empresas cotizadas españolas.

Utilizando los planteamientos de la teoría de la agencia y de la perspectiva de la riqueza socioemocional proponemos que la I+D empresarial está relacionada con la estructura de propiedad, específicamente con la naturaleza del accionista de control (empresas familiares y empresas con un inversor institucional como principal accionista) y con el grado de contestabilidad por parte de otros accionistas significativos. A fin de testar nuestras hipótesis, construimos ad hoc una base de datos de propiedad original en la que identificamos, al umbral del 10% de propiedad, a los accionistas últimos de una muestra de 96 empresas cotizadas españolas para el periodo 2008–2018 (1.002 obs).

Nuestros resultados muestran que no existe relación significativa entre la concentración de propiedad y la inversión en I + D. Solo cuando consideramos la naturaleza del principal accionista encontramos que en las empresas familiares la relación entre la propiedad de la familia y la innovación corporativa adopta una forma de U invertida, tal que a bajos niveles de propiedad la I + D crece, mientras que a altos niveles de propiedad (que computamos en torno al 54% de propiedad) la inversión en I + D decrece. Asimismo, en las empresas con un inversor institucional como principal accionista, cuanto mayor es la propiedad de este inversor institucional, mayor es la I + D de la empresa. Finalmente testamos que, en contra de la corriente dominante, en las empresas familiares la propiedad en manos de otras familias incrementa el grado de contestabilidad a la familia controladora respecto a su inversión en I + D.

El trabajo utiliza una base de datos de propiedad original para testar una relación no lineal entre concentración de propiedad e innovación corporativa en las empresas familiares. Asimismo, el estudio aborda un tema apenas analizado en la literatura de I + D como es el papel de la contestabilidad al accionista de control.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of firm-, industry- and country-level determinants on real annual sales growth in the context of a cross-classified multilevel perspective.

The authors studied 11,381 firms from 17 industries in six Latin American countries based on the data collected up to 2015. Since the data are nested in two levels (level 1: firms; level 2: cross-classification of industries and countries), the authors use a cross-classified multilevel model. The significant variability in all levels of analysis confirms the option for the multilevel model.

Differences in industries account for the largest proportion of variance (77.2 percent). This finding indicates that industry-level characteristics should be explored in the sales growth literature (it seems to the authors that they were neglected). This finding also calls attention to the roles of policy-makers in facilitating firm growth. The final model indicates that the considered variables explain approximately 55 percent of the differences in real annual sales growth in the same industry and country after having accounted for the impacts of the differences in firms. After accounting for the impacts of the differences in firms’ and countries’ characteristics, 43 percent of the variation in average real annual sales growth is due to differences in industries. The obtained results indicate that while firms from countries with higher GDP growth and more effective corporate boards present higher real annual sales growth, firms that operate in commodity producer industries have worse performance in this indicator. With respect to firm’s characteristics, larger firms (contradicting Gibrat’s law) and exporters grew less. Some results could be explained by the decrease in commodities’ prices and global purchases between 2012 and 2015.

The paper fills some gaps in the firm growth literature by testing Gibrat’s law in non-developed countries (not yet done, to the best of the authors’ knowledge) and exploring variables other than size in the explanation of firm growth (rarely used, to the best of the authors’ knowledge). Moreover, the adopted model correctly estimated the origin of the variability in firm growth in its natural cross-classified distinct levels.

The purpose of this study is to extend existing knowledge on the determinants of sustainability report (SR) assurance practices. Four different theories – stakeholder theory, institutional theory, signaling theory and legitimacy theory – are used to formulate several hypotheses regarding the main factors that can influence a company’s decision to assure its SRs.

Using a sample of 417 listed organizations based in different European countries over five years, the effects of stakeholder commitment, country orientation toward sustainability, firm environmental performance and business ethics controversies on the decision to assure SRs are assessed.

The results show that a company’s decision to assure its SRs is motivated by the need to maintain good relations with its stakeholders (which is in line with stakeholder theory and legitimacy theory), as well as by the willingness to signal their sustainability performance (which is in line with signaling theory) and to gain legitimacy. On the contrary, business ethics controversies do not seem to be relevant to a company’s assurance practices.

This paper provides new insights into the influence that social, environmental and institutional factors have on assurance strategies. New factors that previous research does not investigate – environmental performance, business ethics controversies and corporate governance – are tested. Factors that are already investigated in the literature are considered from an original perspective of introducing alternative measures (e.g. for the scope of national sustainability policies).