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Currently, collaborative economy is an emerging concept which is open to debate, including different meanings depending on the model to provide services, the kind of participant or the use of shared information and communication platforms. However, a distinguishing feature of the collaborative economy is the use of new technologies by the various agents concerned in order to get a common goal such as in the financial sector or in the education sector. This new approach can be transferred to already consolidated organizations, which are noted for pursuing a social interest against the interest of the capital. These organizations seek social benefit and not the economic benefit, seeking a positive social impact that can change society. It is precisely the digital component and the use of the technologies of information the aspect that distinguishes these emerging activities that are developing in recent years. Besides, they are changing purchasing behaviour and ways of doing business. These changes are having significant impacts in economic and employment terms, conflicts with traditional companies that are disadvantaged, or breaches of tax duties. But, at the same time, it also encourages many actions of collective interest, to the extent that digital platforms can be an effective tool to track achievement of the multitude of actions in favour of the community. The aim of this paper is to analyse how platform cooperativism could be a suitable way to carry out the improvement of social welfare in vulnerable districts. In order to enhance the renovation and improvement of neighbourhoods it is necessary an active participation by citizens and public administrations. In fact, a key element to obtain an increase of the quality of life is the implication of residents, who often propose the changes and renovation in their districts, with significant deficiencies of habitability and power consumption, accessibility problems and lack of services. There is a need to recover the consolidated city through urban rehabilitation and urban renovation. The urban renewal has a strong impact on Europe's economy and also on its citizens' quality of life because promote their social welfare. The Spanish urban planning tradition has been based mainly on the production of new city, disregarding the regeneration of consolidated city. Nowadays, Spanish government is concerned about an environment with derelict areas and substandard housing, and a largely obsolete housing stock. Therefore, current urban regulation encourages the urban renewal, the restructuring of building industry and the compliance with European legal requirements regarding sustainable development. In Spain, there are around 6 millions of houses that were built over 50 years ago. Therefore, it is especially necessary and suitable the option of promoting urban renewal and regeneration at different levels. Urban renewal projects are fairly complex to make because many actors are involved in these processes and as well as the activities that should be carried out. Therefore, the use of the new technologies can attract many people to actively participate in the urban regeneration projects design. These projects will improve the quality of life and welfare of citizens who live in deprived neighbourhoods. In this context, we carry out a theoretical revision of platform cooperativism, as well as the urban development regulation focused on urban rehabilitation, studying the economic players involved in the urban regeneration projects such us: owners individually or associated in community of house owners, building corporations, co-operatives, and public administration, in order to analyse the role played by each of them in the platform cooperativism. The community of house owners play a leading role in the processes of urban rehabilitation, they are principal actors because these processes have a direct effect on their lifes; not only from an economic point of view (costs that must be paid by individual citizens) and from a social point of view (improvements in the building made directly affects their quality of life). In this respect, a digital platform could be very useful in order to serve as link between all owners or all those affected by the processes and should provide information about the identified problems that need to be solved by urban rehabilitation. One of the key elements in urban renewal is the implication of the residents, who take part in the changes and improvements of their district. The cooperative initiatives produce cohesive urban neighbourhoods and they are associated with participatory planning approaches and collective action. The cooperative society contributes to social cohesion; therefore this could be the economic organization more suitable in order to develop the urban renewal. The urban rehabilitation cooperative and the use of digital technologies helps to improve the level of quality of life and social well-being for citizens under the principles of democratic participation of all residents, providing more transparency into the process and the published information, allowing members of the cooperative the supervision of the information deposited in the network. In this business model the cooperative takes control of urban rehabilitation in a digital environment, resulting in a benefit to all members involved not only for the cooperative, establishing a commitment to access to different scenarios where conflicts of interest are likely to arise. This platform focuses on creating discussion for successful decision making. The construction companies and the public administration are also an essential part of the cooperative platform. They are the services suppliers, providing valuable information that must be communicated on the platform, allowing it to make effective decisions for residents for the duration of urban regeneration-development works. The platform cooperativism in the processes of urban rehabilitation would benefit all members and not just few as in the "commercial" digital economy. Thus, the main conclusion of the paper is that the cooperative platform should facilitate public participation of the different actors involved in the urban regeneration such as: cooperatives, residents or public administration. This platform should speed up the decision-making process in a democratic and transparent environment, pursuing a common goal to improve the welfare of the citizens through the urban rehabilitation. Thus, cooperative platforms involve a technological, cultural, social and political changing that we have to explore, taking into account the physical condition of many buildings in Spain. Platform cooperativism could be the link between cooperative values and digital revolution, aimed at improving the social welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Blockchain is considered today a disruptive technology that has the capacity to transform the agri-food industry, since it promises to solve many problems related to the lack of trust in the product that consumers acquire. However, the parties involved in the agrifood supply chain are numerous and physically dispersed, which makes data and information management difficult. As a result, the production process is not transparent and trust is difficult to build. In the horticultural sector, technological innovation in traceability is crucial from a economical point of view. An increasing demand in society for greater information about food reflects the need for more transparency. At the same time, more and more fresh products are accompanied by a variety of certification schemes, with an increasing risk of fraud and adulteration. Within this context, cooperatives of fresh fruits and vegetables can gain additional benefits from the implementation of blockchain technology. This paper seeks to make an initial contribution to the emerging public debate on this issue by providing an overview of blockchain and its application in agriculture, examining implications for food transparency and identifying some potential challenges for agri-food cooperatives. Based on the above reasons, the main purpose of this article is to conceptualize, design and test a traceability system of the agri-food supply chain based on blockchain technology that helps agri-food cooperatives to improve transparency regarding the origin and the processes incorporated into the product. Methodology A new model that involves blockchain and a smart contract to coordinate the tracking of food in the agriculture supply chain is presented in this paper. The food supply chain involves many different actors such as farmers, manufacturers, logistics, wholesalers, resellers, retailers and supermarkets. This system is currently inefficient and unreliable. In the current situation, much of the data and information on compliance are recorded on paper or stored in a centralized database. Through the development of a Proof of Concept (PoC) in the field of agri-food supply chain traceability, the possible implications of the blockchain are explored. The PoC based on a case related to the berries of southern Spain is developed through the construction of a demonstrator that monitors the different nodes involved in the supply chain. The demonstrator is based on a previous analysis of the berries supply chain and the interactions between farmers, the cooperative, its certifiers, logistics providers, retailers and supermarkets, in order to allow a digital representation of a batch of berries to be associated with a unique and immutable digital certificate. To prove the origin and the traceability of the berries production and to be able to customize the roles of each actor in the supply chain with blockchain, the PoC concept was developed in a Spanish farmers cooperative with a permissioned ledger (hyperledger) and a smart contract. Results At the moment, few would question the relevance of blockchain to agri-food. The main question of adopting blockchain technology in the traceability of goods in the agri-food supply chain, is related to the added value compared to existing ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) solutions. This PoC has shown that it is feasible to incorporate basic information from the field and manufacturing processes, packaging and shipping into a chain of blocks with an authorized general ledger and a smart contract. Compared to traditional situations with centralized databases, the PoC demonstrator shows how blockchain can be used to ensure that different agents share the same level of information about the validity and provenance of inviolable certificates. This new supply chain architecture via blockchain can provide the relevant data to the participants, it can maintain confidentiality and can spread data effectively among the participants that use the blockchain technology. Therefore, the PoC pilot demonstrated that the blockchain technology could be used successfully in that context. Furthermore, given the experimentation carried out, it was shown that a medium-sized server (eg VPS in cloud) could function properly as a node for the purposes of this type of use case. There was also no need for special hardware, and the software infrastructure (eg Hyperledger Fabric) is open source and for free. During the development of the PoC, it was learned that it is important to maintain periodic dialogues between stakeholders in order to achieve a better understanding of the interests of each one and to identify common bases for the application of blockchain. The experience in this project shows that the meetings, in which different stakeholders presented and debated different use cases, are a good mechanism for expanding the agri-food blockchain ecosystem. Conclusions The advantage of this model over the centralized models is that all the products are tracked with blockchain and with this traceability it is possible to give confidence to the final consumers about the origin of the products because all the data and transactions carried out in the chain are recorded in the blockchain and managed through a smart contract. The PoC shows that this system is efficient, safe, transparent and avoids intermediaries, which results in lower costs while generating greater confidence in retailers, supermarkets and consumers, which is particularly beneficial for small farmers and cooperatives The research findings contribute to a better understanding of the blockchain technology for the various stakeholders in the fresh food chain, especially for cooperatives, being an opportunity for the improvement of reputation and competitiveness in a highly globalized economy. Several limitations were found for the PoC demonstrator. First, the amount of data and information that is shared is very limited. As with most PoC pilots, the project has not yet been able to demonstrate how the system would work when handling a large number of transactions. In addition, our demonstrator focused on a single smart contract. In practice, however, multiple smart contracts would need to be implemented for the different contractual relationships and to keep the transaction data visible only to the relevant subset of participants. Mistakes in the smart contract design have also shown that testing, validation and rigorous semantics are essential to avoiding significant damage to business relationships. Finally, to take full advantage of the power of blockchain, the adoption of this technology by several cooperatives is recommended. Most cooperatives are too small or have a lack of knowledge to invest in blockchain by themselves. In summary, blockchain is a promising technology for the competitiveness of cooperatives. The near future will show if blockchain technology will become a reliable and transparent way to provide a differential value for agri-food cooperatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is expected that this research will contribute to the economic literature on the importance of evaluating the impact of public policies in order to improve the allocation of financial resources as well as contribute to the productivity and efficiency of companies. For this, the REINDUS program has been taken as a reference, one of the most representative instruments of industrial policy in Spain, which grants, among others, soft loans to companies with the purpose of promoting industrial development through business improvement and efficiency of the productive sectors. The period analyzed includes calls between 2009 and 2014, based on 689 SMEs with required information. Therefore, the objective of this research is focused on advancing in the specification about the usefulness of soft loans, as an instrument of industrial policy, from the perspective of productivity and efficiency, in this way, it will be possible to contribute to the development of indicators and policies for monitoring and adapting the aid programs to companies, in order to optimize the allocation of these resources and generate the desired effects in the various public policies to support the development of the business fabric in Spain. To study the improvement of productivity through the total change of the Total Factor Productivity (TFP), the Malmquist Index, initially introduced in the context of the consumer theory by Malmquist (1953), and the decompositions of Färe, Grosskopf et al. (1989, 1994) that assumed constant returns to scale using data envelopment analysis techniques, DEA (Orea and Zofío, 2017). Following this decomposition, we can calculate: (i) the productivity behavior (malmquist), (ii) the change in efficiency (effch), (iii) the technological change (tech). Färe, Grosskopf et al. (1994), provided the decomposition of efficiency into scale efficiency (out / in-.scalech) and into pure efficiency change (pure.out / in.effch), finally, following Färe, Grifell-Tatjé et al. (1997), we can obtain the marginal rate of substitution (input-biased technical change -ibtech-) and the marginal rate of product transformation (output-biased technical change -obtech-) in presence of technological change and the magnitude of technical change -matech-. To perform the necessary matching for the proposed analysis and because we are facing a quasi-experimental design, a combination of techniques is proposed, such as the analysis of Differences in Differences and the Matching by Nearby Neighbors using Mahalanobis Distance, to try to reduce the risk of bias in the estimation, since simple matching cannot account for unobservable characteristics (Pérez and Moral, 2015). To match the control and treatment groups, a model is used in which the criteria of financial capacity prevail, widely recognized by the literature on credit risk as determining factors when establishing the financing capacity of companies. The analysis of the Total Factor Productivity (TFP) and its components in the study period, shows that the treated companies reduced their productivity on average, for example, the treated companies in the 2009 call shown a reduction in the TFP (malmquist) between 2012 and 2008 of 9%, while in the control companies the reduction was 7%. In the best case, call 2014, practically the same level of productivity was maintained among those treated (loss of 1% between 2013 and 2017). It was expected, therefore, that the investments made would have a positive effect on productivity, however, the results show the opposite, in fact, if technological change (tech) is observed, which implies a shift of the production frontier, presented a significant setback, it is striking, since it was the one that most contributed to the negative variation of the TFP in the analyzed period. The improvements came from positive changes in efficiency (effch), probably motivated by the reduction in wage costs after the crisis of 2007 and in line with the evolution of the labor market and the destruction of jobs in these years. Following the Färe decomposition, Grifell - Tatjé et al. (1997) we calculated the alternative directions of the bias of the inputs in the technological change. The STAF / FIAS input pair presented a bias towards the use fixed assets compared to savings in personnel expenses in the treated companies when technological change occurs, the same occurs with the treated companies in the FIAS / MATE relation, To the extent that this input is used, it generates savings in the production needed materials. In general, the impact of the program did not show a positive effect within the treated companies compared to the control companies, in fact, there were setbacks in productivity (malmquist), mainly due to the technological setback (tech-frontier shift), which was largely offset by change in efficiency (effch-catch up). This technological decrease supposes a deviation from the policy objectives on the results obtained, therefore, emphasis will have to be placed on carrying out an exhaustive analysis of possible agency conflicts within the companies, on adjustment costs not contemplated in the policy, the amount of the loans and the execution of the projects proposed in such a way that the disbursements are subject to milestones that guarantee their execution. It is proposed to design a monitoring strategy based on information technologies to facilitate and promote feedback on the objectives that allows managers to have up-to-date, quality, and robust information, recognizing that such responsibility also falls on the beneficiaries of the policy, since it is a public instrument on which companies must be accountable to society, making it a fundamental requirement to provide periodic information by the beneficiary to monitor the progress of the investments contemplated in the investment projects contributed in the time of application. Likewise, greater involvement is required from the managing entity in the realization of the business plans, mainly in the actions immediately after the disbursement, as carried out by private investment funds. This work contributes to the economic literature a detailed analysis about the impact of the soft loans of the REINDUS program on the productivity and efficiency of the companies in the period 2009 to 2014, identifying the sources of the observed change on which the policy objectives can be adjusted to maximize its effectiveness, there is no previous work in this regard. The main limitation of this work was presented in the information available for the realization of the paper. The aid Managing Administration (Dirección General de Industria y de la Pyme in 2017) refers to the Boletín Oficial del Estado where the results of the respective calls are published as the only source of information available to third parties, with the limitation that this implies. It was not until the results of the 2016 call that the rejected companies began to be published and in 2018 the scores obtained by the companies benefited exclusively, which indicates that there is a path to consolidate the institutionalization of the impact evaluation of public policies within of the Public Administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyses, from the perspective of public economics, the Demographic Supplement for Motherhood (CDM) introduced in the Spanish Social Security System in 2016. This measure is a supplement added to the contributory pension received on retirement, widowhood or disability for women who began to receive a pension and who have had two or more children. It was introduced with two objectives in mind: to reduce the gender gap in pensions and to socially recognise the contribution of motherhood to the pension system. In this paper, a socioeconomic analysis of this measure is carried out. The objectives and issues of this measure are reviewed and its distributional effects are analysed. The main source of information are data provided by the Ministry of Employment and Social Security, in particular the Continuous Sample of Working History (MCVL). This is a new approach, with the focus being on public economics rather than on legal aspects and use of the MCVL data which, for the first time, includes measurements related to the CDM. The main objectives of this study are: 1) to estimate the impact that the CDM has had on the pension system during the first year of application; 2) to analyse the differences in treatment it generates; and, 3) to assess its distributional effects on the gender gap in pensions and on inequality among women. The study finishes with an analysis of other equality policies and puts forward the main conclusions reached and proposals for alternative measures. The results show that the CDM has affected 58.4% of new female pensioners. The women who have benefitted most from this measure are those who receive a widow's pension (50.9%), followed by retirement pension (39.8%) and disability pension (9.2%). Their sociodemographic characteristics show that 53.4% of the supplement is paid to mothers with 2 children, while women not receiving CDM tend to have higher educational levels than those who are in receipt of the supplement. It also shows that self-employed workers tend to have more than one child and, therefore, receive the CDM in a greater proportion (62.5%) than employed workers (57.5%). The estimated cost of this measure amounted to 64 million euros in 2016 (approximately 0.05% of the expenditure on contributory pensions), a figure that will increase considerably as the supplement is extended to future female pensioners. Among the main criticisms highlighted by this study is the difference in treatment this measure generates. It purports to be a measure which acknowledges the value of motherhood yet it discriminates against many mothers by excluding women who were pensioners before 2016 and who are the most affected, historically, by more unfavourable family and work structures. In addition, other categories excluded are mothers with only one child, women who took voluntary retirement, women who receive non-contributory pensions and women who do not receive any pension. Finally, the measure works against the principle of equality between men and women, promulgated by the European Union, because it discriminates against fathers. Another criticism is that the amount of the CDM increases as the pension rises and continues to be paid even when the maximum pension is reached. This means that those women with higher pensions benefit more from the supplement, which is contrary to measures applied in other countries. One suggestion to improve the equality of this measure is that the supplement should have an upper limit. Furthermore, its effect on reducing inequality has been insignificant. As a measure of equality between men and women, the CDM has reduced the gender gap between new pensioners (2.2%) but its effect on the whole system is very poor (0.22%). The pension gap between men and women in Spain is still very wide at a rate of 29.3% and much more work needs to be done to reduce this gap. Finally, a pension system that gives women greater rights for raising children can reinforce traditional roles, discouraging mothers from entering the formal labour market and fathers from taking a break from their professional careers. This is why these measures are being questioned by the Court of Justice of the European Union in terms of equal treatment between mothers and fathers. The CDM does not address the causes of the problem of gender discrimination. It does not address discrimination in employment nor does it offer the support required in the workplace for reconciling maternity and paternity leave. It is ineffective as a stimulus to change labour behaviour of women because its effect is in the long term and it is an outdated measure that can be counterproductive. In light of these problems, the priority for the government would be to establish authentic equality policies which create opportunities for both men and women to develop their full potential. 1) labour market policies that eliminate gender differences (access to employment, wages and job promotion at work), improving the flexibility and the rationale of the working day, and 2) reconciliation policies related to family and work life, aimed at all workers, that recognise fathers and mothers as having co-responsibility for childcare. The following measures are proposed to reduce the gender gap in pensions: a) Replace the current CDM with an additional contribution period per child or a fixed amount supplement, in recognition of the period of time dedicated to bringing up children. If contribution years were added for accessing the pension, the number of women with contributory pensions would increase. To avoid the same negative aspects already highlighted, it should be implemented in a way that covers all kind of pensions and gives greater support to mothers of children with disabilities. b) Improve non-contributory (universal) pensions, which are those of lesser value. This measure would increase the number of women with pensions in their own right, thereby reducing the coverage gap and the pension gap of the total population (including non-pensioners). This extension is vital to stop the pension system being a welfare system (low coverage) and being outdated and out of touch (excessively linked to family relationships). Our further studies will be centred on these proposals with data provided by the MCVL in future years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Socially and environmentally responsible firms make great efforts to obtain the labels that certify their social and environmental standards. To differentiate them from their competitors, the so-called 'socially responsible' labels are considered the best way to inform consumers of their social and environmental performance. However, previous studies have concluded that most consumers do not recognize, do not understand or do not trust labels. Whereas previous studies have examined the influence of attitudes on the purchase of labelled products, this study analyses the influence of understanding and of variables associated with motivation to purchase such products. On interviewing 289 consumers in Madrid, it was found that knowledge of the label is a key precursor to CSR purchasing. The paper concludes by suggesting that organizations and marketing professionals with an interest in the CSR-labelled market should invest in building up familiarity with the label. Avenues for academic research are also proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problems of the members within the cooperative society and their relation to Stakeholder Theory are the focus of this paper. Considering not only the members' democratic participation but also their potential role in different economic functions, we address the need for proper management of member-cooperative relations. To help create or maintain these relations, we suggest using social disclosure, particularly sustainability reports prepared according to the specific GRI guidelines for the Social Economy. They are easy to apply and the benefits associated with their use would appear to more than offset the costs of implementation, justifying this proposal. In conclusion, we can state that sustainability reporting is a powerful tool for cooperatives to improve their relations with their members, although we have found few social disclosure initiatives in this type of company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current situation, the social economy has a very important role to play because of its capacity to create employment and to energise sectors or collectives with particular economic development problems. For this reason, the ability to measure the real scope - both direct and indirect - of its impact on economic activity and employment is a matter of great interest. This paper proposes the use of multi-sector models, based on social accounting matrices, to measure the total impact of the social economy. Combining these models with the available statistical data on social economy enterprises in Spain will also make it possible to obtain information to quantify this impact in particular sectors of interest. Additionally, in this way the capacity of the social economy to contribute to economic recovery can also be assessed. The results show that social economy enterprises have a greater capacity for job creation than other companies in Spain, particularly in service sectors. This is augmented by the considerable ability of these sectors (essentially services) to multiply impacts and by their high employment ratio, which is still greater in the case of the social economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of the internationalization of social economy companies generates balanced profit and loss accounts (triple bottom line) and spreads still further a way of doing business which focuses on a socially sustainable production economy, at a great distance from the speculative economy. Previous evidence of the differential and strategic fact of social economy companies and their need to internationalize in order to guarantee their sustainability triggered this investigation. Its aim was to generate knowledge about the international orientation of cooperative companies and worker-owned companies in Andalusia and to link this to their economic results and the outcome of their innovations. Confirming the Uppsala Model through the international orientation status of social economy companies in Andalusia, this paper shows how a series of specific factors, in addition to the relationship with increasing commercial innovation, have an impact on this orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For cooperative oil mills, exporting has become essential for growth and competitiveness, owing to oversupply on the home market. In this research paper we examine some of the factors that have traditionally been related to the possibility of companies selling part of their output on international markets. The results show that the manager's training, company size and the use of information and communication technology (CIT) have a favourable influence on the export activity of Andalusian olive oil cooperatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]