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on Cultural Economics |
| By: | Margaretha Breil (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei); Silvio Giove (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice); Paolo Rosato (University of Trieste) |
| Abstract: | The paper presents a multiple criteria model for the evaluation of the sustainability of projects for the economic re-use of historical buildings in Venice. The model utilises the relevant parameters for the appraisal of sustainability, aggregated into three macro-indicators: intrinsic sustainability, context sustainability and economic-financial feasibility. The model has been calibrated by a panel of experts and tested on two reuse hypotheses of the Old Arsenal in Venice. The tests have proven the model to be a useful support in the early stages of evaluation of re-use projects, where economic improvements are to be combined with conservation, as it supports the identification of critical points and the selection of projects, thus providing not only a check-list of variables to be considered, but an appraisal of trade-offs between economic uses and requirements of conservation. |
| Keywords: | Economic Reuse, Historical Building Conservation |
| JEL: | Z1 R52 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2008.91&r=cul |
| By: | Denise Tsang (School of Management, University of Reading) |
| Abstract: | This paper reports on qualitative research that investigates the culture of survival among entrepreneurial UK games software development firms within the interactive entertainment industry. The survival culture depicts a culture where firms strive for cost efficiency in order to maximize their chance of continued operation. In-depth interviews with 12 managers illustrated a framework for understanding the cost advantages of surviving firms. It was found it was based on focusing on human relations, building critical inter-firm relationships and acknowledging the importance of cash flow, which were in turn supported by innovative product orientation. The analysis highlights that competitiveness within the interactive entertainment industry could be attained within market constraint and pressure. |
| Keywords: | Firm culture, competition and the interactive entertainment industry |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rdg:emxxdp:em-dp2008-68&r=cul |
| By: | Juan Miguel Benito-Ostolaza (Departamento de Economía-UPNA); Salvador Barrios (Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission) |
| Abstract: | We examine the way in which differences in language and culture may affect direct investment decisions. We use a discrete choice approach to model the location decisions of multinationals in which cultural links, language differences, distance and market access are accounted for. This model is used to study the determinants of the location decisions of Spanish multinationals over the period 1988-1997. Cultural ties, including language, are found significantly to affect the location decisions of Spanish firms abroad. These ties, also explain the leading position of Spanish multinationals in Latin American countries compared to more advanced home countries such as the US, Germany and the UK. The specific advantage of Spanish multinationals together with the rapid economic development of the Spanish economy, which has traditionally been a large FDI-recipient, tend to corroborate the view that intangible assets such as culture and language proximity do matter in understanding net outward investment patterns. |
| Keywords: | Foreign Direct Investment, multinational companies, Spain, Culture, language |
| JEL: | A13 D21 F23 M21 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nav:ecupna:0804&r=cul |