This study analyzes the spatial dynamics in productivity growth and its components for a sample of agri‐food companies in Murcia (Spain) over the period 2005–2014. We find that productivity growth of a company is related to productivity growth of neighboring companies, in both the short and long term. The marginal effects of the different factors on productivity growth are stronger in the short run rather than in the long run. Land characteristics and economic territorial conditions have the largest marginal effect on productivity growth and its components. This study contributes to the existing literature by including spatial interactions in the analysis of productivity growth.

A partial adjustment model was formulated to compare financial ratios between cooperatives and investor‐owned firms from a dynamic perspective. Empirical results from a sample of Spanish fruit and vegetable firms for the period between 2009 and 2012 reveal different adjustment processes of current, debt, and return on assets ratios between cooperatives and IOFs. We find significant differences between these firms, with slower adjustment rates for current and debt ratios in cooperatives. These findings may arise from the weakness associated with ownership structure in cooperatives, which reduces their adjustment processes compared to those of IOFs. The identification of differences in adjustment processes between cooperatives and IOFs may provide us with additional information regarding the specific management characteristics of these agri‐food firms, thus identifying those firms that are most dependent on external market conditions. [EconLit citations: C33, G30, Q13].

The growing global need for social cohesion and sustainable development gives visibility to cooperatives because their principles help to achieve these objectives and the adoption of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Among them, gender equality policies are in the forefront. This paper explains how cooperatives contribute to women’s professional opportunities and to balancing the presence of women in management positions. It analyzes the predominant leadership styles and gender differences in cooperatives with a sample of 114 cooperative firms. The results show that: (a) Both transformational and transactional leadership styles are widely used; (b) no significant differences in leadership styles between men and women exist; and (c) the composition of management teams results in significant leadership style differences. The transformational style is less often used in mixed teams with a male majority and a woman president, and most often used in homogeneous teams (made up of only men or only women). Transactional leadership is more frequently implemented in teams made up only of women than in mixed masculine teams with a female president. These findings identify women’s leadership styles in cooperatives, pointing out their difficulties and introducing innovative proposals for contributing to their success and the achievement of SDGs in cooperatives.

This study analyses the effect of the spatial factor, location, and interaction effects among peer companies, on the productivity growth of agri-food companies in Spain. With this aim, we build a productivity growth index and apply a multiequational Seemingly Unrelated Regression on a sample of 344 Spanish cooperatives and investor-owned firms for the period 2010-2012. Our findings show that agri-food firms are influenced by spatial factors finding interesting differences between cooperatives and investor-owned firms. With regard to the geographical location, cooperatives in the western of Spain show higher productivity growth rates, whereas investor-owned firms in the northeast of Spain present better results. The interaction effect among closer peer companies is also a relevant factor to determine the productivity growth in agri-food companies. This factor is more relevant for cooperatives than for investor-owned firms.JEL classifications: D24, Q13, C31, R11, D22, P13

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all walks of life, including education. Universities have been forced to teach in a blended or online environment, which has led professors to adapt their traditional teaching–learning methodologies. The professors of Mathematics of Financial Operations at the University of Almeria (Spain) have created video tutorials so that students can autonomously prepare the theoretical part of the subject, leaving the face-to-face classes for practical exercises. This article aims to analyze the effectiveness of video tutorials and the autonomy finally achieved by students in their learning. For this purpose, a questionnaire was carried out in which, through 21 questions, the constructs Autonomy, Effectiveness, Depth, Format, Challenge, and Use were assessed. Based on these six latent variables, the proposed model using the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) methodology revealed that students considered the Format and Depth of the video tutorials crucial for genuinely effective performance learning and promoting their autonomy. On the other hand, the variables Challenge and Use were poorly rated. This article presents an original valuation model, which has the virtue of achieving a prediction of 78.6% and, in addition, has high predictive power.