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This paper aims to investigate the return links and volatility transmission between five major equity markets of the Latin American region and the USA over the period 1993-2012.

The authors employ a multivariate vector autoregressive moving average – generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (VAR-GARCH) methodology which allows for cross-market transmissions in both return and volatility. Moreover, we show how the obtained results can be used to design internationally diversified portfolios involving the Latin American assets and to analyze the effectiveness of hedging strategies.

The results point to the existence of substantial cross-market return and volatility spillovers and are thus crucial for international portfolio management in the Latin American region. However, the intensity of shock and volatility cross effects varies across the studied markets.

The optimal weights and hedging ratios that we compute from the observed return and volatility spillovers, suggest that adding the Latin American assets helps improve the risk-adjusted return of the internationally diversified portfolios as well as reduce their risk exposure. For policymakers and market authorities, an increase in the level of shock interactions and volatility transmission between the US and Latin American equity markets as well as among these Latin American markets implies that the stability of the financial system in one country can be deeply affected by the disturbances in another country.

The authors extend the previous works on Latin American emerging markets by examining the extent of shock and volatility transmission as well as portfolio design and management from the point of view of both the US (global) and Latin American investors.

The purpose of this paper is to present the progress and trends of the literature on art as an investment and to outline potential research lines to be developed.

This work gathers, analyses and critically discusses the attributes of investments in art in general, and in Latin American art in particular.

Most studies report that art (art in general, and Latin American in particular) has offered relatively low but positive real returns, which have tended to be below those offered by stocks and similar to those realized by bonds. Art has a low correlation with other investments.

The literature on the attributes of Latin American art as an investment is limited and new research would help to close the knowledge gap with respect to this segment of the art market as it continues to grow.

Similarly to the research carried out into other segments of the art market, studies on Latin American art suggest that the works of art are worth more, ceteris paribus: the more renowned the artist, the larger the work, whether they were executed in oil, and if they were auctioned at Sotheby’s or Christie’s. The paper also details a series of practical implications for those who participate in the art market.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first exhaustive review of the literature on the attributes of Latin American art as an investment. The findings of this study are useful for academics, art collectors, auction houses, gallerists and others who take part in the arts market.

Presentar los avances y las tendencias de la literatura sobre el arte como inversión, y delinear líneas de investigación a ser desarrolladas.

Este trabajo reúne, analiza y discute críticamente los atributos de inversión del arte, en general, y latinoamericano, en particular.

La mayoría de los estudios reportan que el arte (tanto el arte, en general, como el arte latinoamericano, en particular) ha ofrecido rendimientos reales positivos, aunque relativamente bajos, los cuales tienden a ser inferiores de los de las acciones y a ser similares a los de los bonos. El arte tiene una baja correlación con otras inversiones.

La literatura sobre los atributos del arte latinoamericano como inversión es limitada. Es de esperar que nuevas investigaciones permitan ir cerrando la brecha del conocimiento con respecto a esta parte del mercado del arte a la par que éste continúe creciendo.

Los estudios de arte latinoamericano sugieren, similar a las investigaciones sobre otros segmentos del mercado del arte, que las obras de arte valen más, ceteris paribus: cuando el artista es más reputado, a medida que el área de las obras es mayor, si han sido ejecutadas en óleo, y cuando son subastadas en las casas de subastas Sotheby’s o Christie’s. En el trabajo se detallan, además, una serie de implicaciones prácticas para los participantes del mercado de arte.

Hasta donde se ha podido comprobar, esta es la primera revisión exhaustiva acerca de los atributos del arte latinoamericano como inversión. Los resultados de esta investigación son de utilidad para: académicos, coleccionistas de arte, casas de subastas, galeristas, y demás participantes en el mercado del arte.

This paper explores the relationship between foreign direct investments and financial reporting changes via financial development in 12 Latin American countries during the period from 1997 to 2010.

In order to control the possible endogeneity problem, the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimation technique has been conducted using country-level panel data obtained from the World Development Indicators website.

The empirical analyses provide evidence that international accounting standards have a significant effect on foreign direct investments. However, financial development associated with such standards reduces this positive effect. This is an important finding, suggesting that investors are likely to prefer portfolio to direct investments in Latin American financial markets that require or permit the use of international accounting standards.

The conclusions that have been drawn from this study are important for investors, creditors, and regulators. Although international accounting standards appear to affect foreign investments, there could be a lack of adaptation of these standards to specific economic environments due to cultural, educational, and economic factors. Therefore, firms, regulators, professional organizations, and accounting firms should make necessary arrangements so that the benefits of using these standards increase their costs.

The study contributes to the international accounting literature by examining the effects of international accounting standards and financial development on foreign direct investments in Latin America.

The Latin American merger and acquisition (M&A) market offers enormous opportunities. M&A activity in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Venezuela is examined and compared with M&A activity in the United States. Characteristics examined include the industries and form of ownership of the target firms, the types of transactions, and the home countries of the acquiring firms. Differences are found between characteristics of M&A activity in the Latin American countries and the United States. Differences are also found among the characteristics of M&A activity in the various Latin American countries. Implications for managers and areas in need of additional research are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of increasing trade and investment relations between China and Latin American economies. The paper focuses on the threats and opportunities that permeate this relationship.

The paper surveys existing literature and secondary data in Spanish, Portuguese, and in English to investigate the different ramifications of this dynamic relationship between China and Latin American economies.

After analyzing trade and investment trends and data, it is clear that Latin American economies must make changes to increase their participation in the Chinese market. Direct involvement with China is inherently risky, however, the opportunities obviously make the alliance necessary. Latin American economies are under increasing pressure to revamp their business environments and to implement long‐term strategies in order to compete more efficiently with China, domestically and in third‐markets. China has showed Latin American economies that investments in education, R&D, innovation, infrastructure, and friendly business policies, both facilitate and foster the creation of new competitive advantages.

This paper highlights and contributes to a better understanding of the ongoing challenges and opportunities permeating the Chinese Latin America's trade and investment relationship, as well as a indicating a number of areas for further study.

This study aims to draw researchers’ attention to the need to differentiate within the emerging market multinational companies (EMNCs) category. This study focuses on international business in Latin America to argue that the region’s specific institutional characteristics have consequences for within-firm decision-making regarding internationalization strategies. Additionally, the study suggests that to develop a more specific understanding of international business in emerging markets, it is important to consider how decision-makers define value and how they can capture such value.

The approach used in this study draws on the bathtub analogy used in micro-foundations research in international business. It proposes a multilevel analysis in which micro-level variation in within-firm decision-making is considered, while accounting for the conditioning effects of macro-level contextual factors.

The study identifies characteristics of the Latin American institutional context that are relevant to international business strategies and that potentially differ from other emerging market contexts. These include the pendular shifts to and from pro-market economic reform, fragmented government intervention in business, underdeveloped capital markets, low competition among firms and polarized labor markets. The study explains how these characteristics shape the definition of value and firm strategies to capture value in international markets, and provides examples from firms in different industries.

This study applies a value creation and capture perspective to international business in Latin America, allowing for the simultaneous consideration of macrolevel institutional characteristics and microlevel variation in decision-making regarding internationalization strategies. This perspective not only helps to distinguish Latin American EMNCs from companies from other emerging market contexts, but also explains the considerable variation in the internationalization strategies of firms within the region.

Extant research posits that host country investors value geographical proximity and familiarity. American investors are likely to be more familiar with business, legal and economic conditions of Latin America compared to distant emerging market countries. Furthermore, the trading time of Latin American stock markets overlap significantly with that of U.S. markets. Therefore, we expect Latin American ADRs to enjoy better liquidity than ADRs from other emerging markets. Consistent with our expectations, we find weak evidence that ADRs from Latin America have lower effective spreads and adverse selection component of spreads compared to ADRs from other emerging markets.

This paper aims to examine perceived barriers and paths to success for Latin American immigrant professionals in the Canadian job market.

Findings are based on 20 semi‐structured interviews with Latin American graduates of Canadian MBA programs. Interviews were analyzed for emergent categories and common themes.

Despite their strong educational backgrounds, participants perceived several challenges to their success in the Canadian workplace, specifically, language barriers, lack of networks, cultural differences and discrimination. They also identified factors that influenced their professional success in Canada, such as homophilious networks and their Latin American background.

By investigating stories of Latin American immigrant professionals, the study explores subjective views of immigration experiences and discrimination in this unique and rarely examined group. A larger sample will increase the confidence of the study's findings and future studies should examine dynamics of these issues over time.

This paper presents insight onto the labor market experiences and coping mechanisms of the currently understudied group of Latin American immigrant professionals in Canada. The study's qualitative approach enabled the examination of challenges experienced by immigrant professionals beyond those typically studied in this literature (e.g. devaluation of foreign credentials) and led to the finding that being Latin American can act both as a disadvantage in the form of discrimination and as an advantage as it differentiates immigrant professionals from other job seekers.

This study aims to enhance the knowledge that managers and scholars have on franchising expansion. In this sense, it is worth mentioning that although the body of literature on international management focusing on emerging markets is growing, the attention paid to the Latin American context continues to be limited. This is surprising given the substantive economic importance of the region with a population over 590 million, and a gross domestic product of approximately US$5 trillion. To cover this gap, the present study examines how a number of market conditions may drive diffusion of franchising into Latin America: geographical distance, cultural distance, political stability and economic development. The authors also controlled for the host country’s market potential, transparency, unemployment rate and efficiency of contract enforcement.

This study uses a quantitative approach applied to a sample of 77 Spanish franchisors operating through 4,064 franchisee outlets across 21 Latin American countries in late 2012. They are: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Results conclude that geographical distance between the host and home countries, as well as the level of host country’s political stability, economic development, market potential and transparency are able to drive the spread of international franchising across Latin American nations.

This study provides readers with a general overview of the current state of global franchising diffusion overseas. Results obtained in this study are useful for understanding and predicting the demand for franchising in Latin American countries.

Economics reports argue that by 2050, the largest economies in the world will be China, the USA, India, Brazil and Mexico. This fact highlights the substantive importance of Latin America for foreign investors willing to expand their business abroad. In an attempt to give insights from the Latin American context, the present paper develops and tests a model that can be useful to franchisors willing to establish new outlets in the region. In addition, our findings offer guidance to firm managers seeking to target their franchises in Latin America. Franchisors may then use the results of this study as a starting point for identifying such regions whose characteristics best meet their needs of expansion.

This paper explores how market conditions may drive international diffusion of franchising into Latin American markets. The scant theoretical or empirical attention given to this topic has usually been examined from the USA and British base and focused on developed markets. To fill this gap, the present study analyzes the international spread of the Spanish franchise system into Latin America as a market for franchising expansion.

This study aims to extend the existing base of knowledge of proactive and reactive market orientation and innovation capability by testing their impact on the export performance of emerging-market small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in a Latin American context.

This paper is a replication study, and its data were collected through a survey answered by general, marketing, sales or export managers at 155 Mexican SMEs. The research model was tested using partial least squares.

The study results indicate that innovation capability and reactive market orientation are drivers of export performance in Latin American SMEs. Moreover, proactive market orientation has been found to have an indirect effect on export results.

This study highlights to managers of Latin American SMEs the importance of capability development and deployment to improve export performance.

SMEs enabled by strategic and technological innovation based on current and latent customer needs can advantageously perform in foreign markets and can drive economic growth and social and human development in Latin America.

Recent studies have focused on emerging-market enterprises and the necessity of developing dynamic capabilities to achieve internationalisation. This study extends previous research by assessing the robustness and generalizability of drivers in export performance for manufacturing SMEs in Latin America. In particular, it provides empirical insights on the capabilities to develop by Latin American SMEs to achieve better export performance.