Jordi Surroca

• Associate Professor
• University Carlos III de Madrid

In this study, we examine the existence and performance of cognitive groups. In accordance with the attention-based view of managerial cognition, cognitive groups are defined as groups of firms in which the CEOs focus their attention on similar strategic elements when seeking to maximize their firm's competitive advantage. We developed a panel data...

For agency theorists, managerial entrenchment is one of the costliest manifestations of agency problems. CEOs in their attempt to neutralize the discipline of corporate governance mechanisms cause substantive losses to firms’ shareholders. In this study, we broaden the concept of managerial entrenchment by considering the network of firms in which...

This paper shows that borrowers’ ethical behavior leads lending banks to loosen financing conditions when setting loan rates. We advance the banking literature by stressing that the previous financing loosening is enhanced when there is similarity of lenders and borrowers along their ethical domain given that such similarity brings about familiarit...

In this study, we explain how multinational enterprises (MNEs) respond to pressure to conform to their stakeholders' expectations for corporate social responsibility. We invoke the institutional theory to propose that mounting stakeholder pressure in their home country will lead MNEs to transfer the socially irresponsible practices of their headqua...

In this paper, we study the ability of organizations to enhance their legitimacy while minimizing risk that supporting audiences will not withdraw their adhesion. A central claim of this study is that symbolic actions related to the social responsible commitment of an organization (cheap social talk) may be effective in the short term but when thes...

In this article, we study the impact of implementing corporate social responsible (CSR) practices on firms’ inventory policy. We propose that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between firms’ CSR and their inventory levels. Two elements explain such a proposal. First, stakeholders have different interests regarding the outcome of the invent...

The purpose of this study is to illustrate the characteristics of the Spanish corporate governance system and especially describe the diffusion of each mechanism among listed firms, in comparison with other industrialized countries. In doing so, we identify idiosyncratic traits of the Spanish corporate governance model that points up how the dichot...

This study is aimed at analyzing the fit, or matching, between technological goals that lead a firm to choose a particular technological partner and the impact of that partner on the firm's innovation performance. We hypothesize that, when designing their alliance strategy, firms take into account exploration or exploitation motivations. An adequat...

This paper proposes an iterative process for determining what we define as a “reasonable frontier efficiency,” a concept that establishes future targets according to their current level of performance. Our “reasonable frontier” has the following properties: (1) it is underpinned on the efficiency framework, (2) it detects the presence of outliers a...

This paper examines the effects of a firm's intangible resources in mediating the relationship between corporate responsibility and financial performance. We hypothesize that previous empirical findings of a positive relationship between social and financial performance may be spurious because the researchers failed to account for the mediating eff...

We study the effect of social capital on financial capital. Specifically, we study how similarity (matching) of borrowers’ and lenders’ cohorts along their corporate social responsibility dimension affects the cost of debt financing. The main finding is that borrowers’ ethical posture alone is not enough for obtaining cheapest rates. Favorable loan...

This paper examines the effects of a firm's intangible resources in mediating the relationship between corporate responsibility and financial performance. We hypothesize that previous empirical findings of a positive relationship between social and financial performance may be spurious because the researchers failed to account for the mediating eff...

The article discusses the social responsibility of international business enterprises and the impact on stockholder pressures. Corporate social responsibility in multinational companies (MNCs) may be increased due to global and institutional pressure as well as decreased in their efforts to reduce costs. Research is conducted as to the impact of pr...

  We examine empirically the relationships amongst managerial entrenchment practices, social performance, and financial performance. We hypothesize that entrenched managers may collude with non-shareholder stakeholders in order to reinforce their entrenchment strategy; this is particularly so in firms that have efficient internal control mechanisms...

Spanish savings banks (SBs) are financial institutions with a wide mission that includes different stakeholders’ goals. Profit maximization is only one among several goals, and the widespread use of cost or profit efficiency as the only comparative performance measure may prove to be insufficient in this context. To overcome this problem, we build...

Manuscript Type: Empirical Research Question/Issue: This paper investigates the connection between earnings management and corporate social responsibility (CSR). We argue that earnings management practices damage the collective interests of stakeholders; hence, managers who manipulate earnings can deal with stakeholder activism and vigilance by res...

In this paper, we study the impact that financial institutions have on a firm’s earnings management, when acting as lenders or owners. Making use of a database of 2844 non-financial Spanish firms for the period 1996-2000, we find that when financial institutions are shareholders, they stimulate earnings management practices in participated firms, e...

En este trabajo, examinamos empíricamente el impacto de la cooperación tecnológica sobre los resultados empresariales. Basándonos en la literatura previa sobre el impacto tecnológico de las colaboraciones y en los trabajos que conectan las capacidades tecnológicas con la consecución de ventajas competitivas sostenibles, argumentamos que los acuerdo...

The possibility of measuring and comparing sustainability performance is generally taken for granted in management studies and practices based on the evaluation, selection and ranking of the supposedly best companies in the field. The purpose of this article is to question this basic assumption by analyzing the comparability of sustainability perfo...

Using data from 3,638 Spanish firms between 1996 and 2000, this article studies the relationship between the presence of large shareholders in the ownership structure of firms and R&D investment. Consistent with our theoretical contention, our results indicate that the impact of large shareholders on the R&D investment is (1) negative when blockhol...

En este trabajo utilizamos una base de datos formada por 13247 empresas españolas para el periodo 1996-2000 y estudiamos el efecto de la presencia de instituciones financieras –bien sea como accionista o como acreedor- en las practicas de manipulación de beneficios (earnings management) de las empresas. Encontramos que las instituciones financieras...

In the framework of Cognitive Approach, this paper proposes a new method to identify strategic groups (SG) using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methods. Two assumptions are maintained in the SG literature: first, firms grouped together value inputs and outputs similarly, and, second, some degree of stability in those valuations should be identifie...

There exists research relating management concepts with productivity measurement methods that offers useful solutions for improving management control in the public sector. Within this sphere, we connect agency theory with efficiency analysis and describe how to define an incentives scheme that can be applied in the public sector to monitor the eff...

By drawing on stakeholder-agency theory and the earnings management framework, we hypothesize a positive connection between corporate social responsibility and earnings management. We argue that earnings management damages the interests of stakeholders. Hence, managers who manipulate earnings can deal with stakeholder activism and vigilance by reso...

This paper builds upon recent advances in the corporate governance framework to extend and complement the economic literature on producer cooperatives. We argue that the problem of governance in a cooperative is twofold and consists in designing mechanisms and setting up institutions that (1) encourage workers to define a goal that maximizes worker...

This paper uses Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to identify strategic groups (SGs) in the Spanish banking industry. The concept of SG relies on the fact that firms grouped together value inputs and outputs in the same way. As such, they take identical direction when, due to external influences, changes are required. Weights obtained from DEA are ex...

En este trabajo, examinamos emp�ricamente el impacto de la cooperaci�n tecnol�gica sobre los resultados empresariales. Bas�ndonos en la literatura previa sobre el impacto tecnol�gico de las colaboraciones y en los trabajos que conectan las capacidades tecnol�gicas con la consecuci�n de ventajas competitivas sostenibles, argumentamos que el establec...

We propose a theory that hypothesizes the non-existence of a direct causal relationship between financial and corporate social performance and only an indirect one that relies exclusively on their mutual connection with a firm's intangible investment. We find empirical support for this contention making use of a unique international dataset that pr...

This article studies the relationship between the presence of large shareholders in the ownership structure of firms and R and D investment. In our analysis, we consider the influence of three types of blockholders: banks, non-financial corporations, and individuals. Moreover, we incorporate an additional feature largely ignored in previous researc...

Definir el papel que juega el sistema financiero en general, y los bancos en particular, a la hora de facilitar las inversiones y crecimiento de las empresas, impulsar la adopc i�n de innovaciones tecnol�gicas y las mejoras en la productividad, o en la mejor supervisi�n de la actuaci�n de los directivos ha sido siempre un tema que ha generado encen...

El objetivo del presente trabajo consiste en identificar el socio más adecuado para llevar a cabo una cooperación tecnológica. Con esta finalidad, proponemos un modelo empírico que interrelaciona las motivaciones para cooperar, la elección del socio tecnológico y el impacto que éste tiene sobre las actividades de innovación tecnológica. Para la est...

La administración sanitaria, como la mayoría de organismos del sector público, suele encontrar dificultades para lograr consenso respecto a la correcta definición de objetivos, y también cuando define sistemas de control para observar hasta qué punto se consiguen estos objetivos. Con el fin de mejorar la gestión pública, existen trabajos de investi...

Este trabajo explora la formación de grupos estratégicos en el Sector Bancario Español, a partir de una definición alternativa de grupo estratégico (GE). Un GE se define como un conjunto de empresas capaces de responder del mismo modo a perturbaciones. La capacidad de respuesta, o capacidad de adaptar la estrategia competitiva, se define a partir d...

En este trabajo elaboramos un índice de la eficiencia global alcanzada por una organización cuando su actuación se dirige a la maximización de una misión con fines diversos que pueden responder a diferentes colectivos. La ventaja de este índice es que permite la agregación de fines expresados en unidades heterogéneas y sobre los que no existen prec...

In this paper, we argue that managerial entrenchment may be positive when there is excessive external pressure from financial markets. In these situations, managers have more freedom to implement value-enhancing strategies, such those related to corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. This is a good-type of entrenchment. On the other hand...