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1 – 10 of over 3000The purpose of this article is to provide local authorities, consumers, retailers and vendors information about the consumer profile of shoppers at the organic farmers market that…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to provide local authorities, consumers, retailers and vendors information about the consumer profile of shoppers at the organic farmers market that could be used for devising strategies for local organic market development.
Design/methodology/approach
The survey included information about the socio‐demographic, product characteristics and motives to purchase the product by the organic consumer. The selection of persons to be surveyed was random. The location of the survey was “La Feria del Trueque”, the largest organic farmers market in Costa Rica. During February 2004, 280 surveys were conducted and in 2005, 200 surveys. A single database was developed on the outcomes of the analysis of variance conducted. In order to detect the variables influencing the money spent monthly on organic fresh fruits and vegetables products and rank their importance, an ordinal probit model was specified using a restricted procedure.
Findings
The organic consumer in Costa Rica appears to be largely of middle age, with high monthly family incomes, female the primary buyer and highly educated. With an average family size of four members, one third of its income is spent on food and between 12 and 20 percent on organic fruits and vegetables and there seems to be a limit of around 20 percent in relation to the premium they are willing to pay for organic products. The organic consumer in Costa Rica recognizing the “obvious” differences seems to be somewhat similar to the organic consumer in the USA, Canada and Europe.
Practical implications
The similarities detected are significant for those looking to import and sell fresh and processed organic products in Central America, because they can apply international information to open the “local markets”, while they develop their local market research information. Buyers and sellers can use the information of this study to better negotiate local purchasing conditions. At the same time it will help local producers to improve its negotiations capabilities with the new international retailers arriving in Costa Rica.
Originality/value
The central objectives of this study are to identify the consumer profile of Costa Rica of those buying organic products at the organic farmers markets, and to determine the key variables influencing the consumer expenditures for organic products at the farmers organic markets.
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Price becomes a main instrument for rationing pharmaceutical drugs in Central America as a consequence of pro‐market reforms implemented in the 1980s. Under market‐rationing…
Abstract
Purpose
Price becomes a main instrument for rationing pharmaceutical drugs in Central America as a consequence of pro‐market reforms implemented in the 1980s. Under market‐rationing conditions, people's access to branded drugs does depend on their purchasing power and on the vector of prices they face. The purpose of this paper is to study the regional pricing strategy followed by pharmaceutical firms across Central American countries. These countries differ in such economic factors as per capita income, income distribution, market size, and nature and extent of their social‐security system; thus, there are conditions that foster the implementation of price‐discrimination practices across the region.
Design/methodology/approach
The investigation takes advantage of a large database with information about prices of identical drugs sold across Central American countries and produced by 17 large pharmaceutical companies. Regression analyses are used to study whether price discrimination exists in Central American drug markets and what pricing strategies are followed by different pharmaceutical companies.
Findings
Results show that there are significant differences in the prices of identical drugs across the Central American countries, as well as that pharmaceutical companies follow different pricing strategies.
Originality/value
Cross‐country price comparisons are usually based on constructed price indices, which imply losing detailed information about the products being compared. This investigation uses prices of identical drugs, rather than constructed price indices, to study cross‐country price differences by pharmaceutical companies across the Central American region. The study of price discrimination is crucial to understanding how markets end up rationing such an essential product as pharmaceutical drugs.
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Developing new markets for small producers has been a major focus of research and development in many parts of the world. Too frequently, the ways in which existing production and…
Abstract
Developing new markets for small producers has been a major focus of research and development in many parts of the world. Too frequently, the ways in which existing production and market systems constrain producer possibilities has been ignored. This study examines how existing systems have affected coffee farmers in Costa Rica and Panama as they attempt to enter the elite coffee market, which promises higher prices for premium production. In the past 50 years, Costa Rica had created a system quite favorable to small producers in the world coffee market, while Panama had done little. Yet today, the Costa Rican system has proven to be a barrier to entering the highest levels of the coffee market, while the Panamanian system has produced coffees that are currently among the best in the world. The shifting ways in which production and marketing systems connect with world markets and elite taste suggest the necessity of greater sensitivity to how existing systems affect what farmers can and will decide to do.
Luis Diego Soto Kiewit and Bianca Vienni Baptista
This paper aims to analyse innovation models and interdisciplinarity in science, technology and innovation (STI) policy in Costa Rica between 2015 and 2021. The core focus is to…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyse innovation models and interdisciplinarity in science, technology and innovation (STI) policy in Costa Rica between 2015 and 2021. The core focus is to evaluate the public policy in light of the groundwork that sustains the designed and proposed actions.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors applied a qualitative approach to build a set of dimensions and conducted content-analysis of selected documents. The analysis encompasses all current STI public policy documents in Costa Rica, including the planning instruments of the Central Government and the National Policy on STI.
Findings
The main findings show that STI policy in Costa Rica is based on different innovation models, but the projects and instruments themselves show the predominance of the reductionist model. Innovation receives a residual role. In turn, interdisciplinarity is based on the concept of convergence, which limits disciplinary collaboration to the natural, physical and engineering sciences, minimising contributions from other fields of knowledge to an instrumental role in innovation processes.
Practical implications
The authors conclude that the interlinkage between open innovation models, the participation of diverse societal actors and the inclusion of an interdisciplinary perspective leads to inclusive and more democratic public policy, allowing more sectors and organisations to benefit from innovation processes. This would imply a greater reach and impact of the policy, conditions that translate into innovation achievements and a better return on public investment.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to current discussions on STI policy by studying the implications of the link among policies, innovation models and interdisciplinarity.
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This article describes initiatives at the University of Costa Rica, which, in combination with national programs, have strengthened the country’s commitment to sustainable…
Abstract
This article describes initiatives at the University of Costa Rica, which, in combination with national programs, have strengthened the country’s commitment to sustainable development over the past 15 years. It discusses the university’s role in defining a national perspective on sustainability starting in 1987, as well as the evolution of the university’s Programa Institucional de Sostenibilidad y Paz (PRINSOPAZ) from being university focused to joining with the Earth Council to promote the Earth Charter both nationally and internationally.
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Ricardo Monge-González, Juan Antonio Rodríguez-Alvarez and Juan Carlos Leiva
The purpose of this paper is to estimate the impact of one productive development program (PROPYME) in a developing nation like Costa Rica. This program seeks to increase the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to estimate the impact of one productive development program (PROPYME) in a developing nation like Costa Rica. This program seeks to increase the capacity of small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) to innovate.
Design/methodology/approach
Impacts have been estimated assuming that beneficiary firms are trying to maximize their profits and that PROPYME aims to increase these firms productivity. The impacts were measured in terms of three result variables real average wages employment demand and the probability of exporting. A combination of fixed effects and propensity score matching techniques was used in estimations to correct for any selection bias. The authors worked with panel data companies treated and untreated for the period 2001-2011.
Findings
PROPYME’s beneficiaries performed better than other firms in terms of labor demand and their probability of exporting. In addition, the dose and the duration of the effects of the treatment (timing effects) are important.
Originality/value
The authors study the impact in ways that go beyond the average treatment effects on the treated (ATT) usually estimated in the existing literature. Specifically, the research focusses on the identification of the timing or dynamic effects (i.e. how long should we wait to see results?) and treatment intensity (dosage effects).
Propósito
Se estima el impacto de un programa de desarrollo productivo (Propyme) en un país en vías de desarrollo como Costa Rica. El Propyme busca incrementar la capacidad innovadora de las pequeñas y medidas empresas (pymes) costarricenses.
Diseño/metodológico
el impacto se ha estimado y evaluado asumiendo que las pymes beneficiaras buscan maximizar sus beneficios y que Propyme se enfoca en incrementar la productividad de esas empresas. El impacto se valoró en función de tres variables: salarios reales medios, empleo demandado y la probabilidad de exportar. Se utilizó una combinación de técnicas de efectos fijos y emparejamiento en las estimaciones con el fin de prevenir sesgos de selección. Se trabajó con un panel de datos, incluyendo empresas tratadas (beneficiarias de Propyme) así como no tratadas para el periodo 2001-2011.
Hallazgos
los beneficiarios de Propyme tuvieron mejor desempeño que las restantes empresas en términos de empleo demandado y su posibilidad de exportar. Adicionalmente los efectos dinámicos (dosis y duración) de los tratamientos son importantes.
Originalidad y valor
este artículo evalúa el impacto de una forma que va más allá de lo usual en la literatura por medio de los efectos promedios de los tratamientos sobre los beneficiarios. Esto por cuanto se enfoca en efectos dinámicos como la duración así como la intensidad.
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COVID-19 impact.
Details
DOI: 10.1108/OXAN-DB252122
ISSN: 2633-304X
Keywords
Geographic
Topical
Precision and medical equipment has been the country’s largest export sector since 2017. It maintained that position in 2023, achieving 28% growth year-on-year and contributing…
Details
DOI: 10.1108/OXAN-DB285928
ISSN: 2633-304X
Keywords
Geographic
Topical
Tomás Vargas-Halabí, Ronald Mora-Esquivel and Berman Siles
Few models have attempted to explain intrapreneurial behavior from the perspective of competencies. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to contribute along this line by…
Abstract
Purpose
Few models have attempted to explain intrapreneurial behavior from the perspective of competencies. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to contribute along this line by developing and validating a scale to measure intrapreneurial competencies for a Costa Rican organizational context.
Design/methodology/approach
A three stage process was followed. The first stage considered literature review, expert judgment, cognitive interviews, and back-translation. In the second stage, the questionnaire was administered to a sample of 543 university professionals who worked mainly in private organizations in Costa Rica. The third stage led to evaluate of the proposed scale’s psychometric properties, including, exploratory factor analysis procedure performing by SPSS 19; confirmatory factor analysis procedures by means of structural equation modeling using EQS 6.2 version and finally, a linear regression model to obtain evidence of external criterion-related validity, performed by SPSS 19.
Findings
This study provides evidence of five sub-dimensions of employee attributes, i.e., “opportunity promoter”, “proactivity”, “flexibility”, “drive”, and “risk taking” that constitute a higher-level construct called intrapreneurial competencies. The scale provided evidence of convergent, discriminant, and criterion-related validity – the latter, using an employee innovative behavior scale.
Originality/value
The model offers a first step to continue studies that aim at developing a robust model of intrapreneurial competencies. This potential predictive capacity of an instrument of this nature would be useful for the business sector, particularly as a diagnostic instrument to strengthen processes of staff development in areas that promote the development of innovation and the creation of new businesses for the company.
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