Resumen:
El objetivo de este estudio empírico consiste en identificarlas principales características del tejido empresarial que se asocian con mayores niveles de dependencia funcional y de dependencia productiva. Para ello, se ha seleccionadoun conjunto de empresas representativas de las tres Comunidades Autónomas económicamente más desfavorecidas(Andalucía, Extremadura y Murcia) yde las tres más ricas (País Vasco, Navarra y Madrid). Los resultados, obtenidos a través de un análisis descriptivo, factorial ycluster, señalan que las empresas que presentan dependencia funcional y productiva se caracterizan por ubicarse en regiones con menor nivel de renta per cápita y elevado paro, por ser microempresas, constituidas a través de una Sociedad Limitada o Cooperativa, pertenecientes al sector de la construcción y por encontrarse en una fase de actividad incipiente.
Abstract:
Objective
The aim of this empirical studyis to identify the main characteristics of business in terms of functional dependence and productive dependence, carrying out in two groups of Spanish regions: a first group with high level of GDP per capita in comparison with the national average (Madrid, Basque Country and Navarre) and a second group of regions with low GDP per capita (Extremadura, Andalusia and Murcia). The analysisintends to obtain several clusters of companies, according to their degree of functional dependence and productive dependence, and to classify them by size, sector, legal form and firms’ stage of activity.
In this regard, a better understanding of the business type can lead to a policy-making of support for more selective and efficient SME, from the point of view of their contribution to economic development and employment generation (Romero and Fernandez, 2005).
The concept of functional dependence
The concept of functional dependence was first developed by Guzman, Cáceres and Ribeiro (2009). The article notes that this work analyzes the concept origin and destination of inputs and outputs of firms in a territory, differentiating various types of markets: local, regional, national and foreign.
Thus, a company showsextreme functional dependence when all its purchases are made abroad and all of its sales are conducted in the local market. On the contrary, a company that uses local inputs to produce goods and/or servicesand sells entirely abroad would not present functional dependencebut functional autonomy.
The concept of functional dependence also arises in the regional analysis and, in particular, in local development, since it focuses on the role that firms located in a territory can play in the growth and development of the region (Fernández- Serrano, 2012). In fact, this concept is based on the theoretical contributions of Hirschman (1958) by means of his analysis of backward and forward linkages and Porter (1990) and Gereffi (1999) throughout the value chains.
The concept of productive dependence
As far as the concept of productive dependence is concerned, it is refered to the concentration level that a company has on the number of suppliers and on the number of customers. Therefore and according to Cáceres and Guzman (2010b: 4) "it can be distinguished between purchase productive dependence and sale productive dependence. In the first case, its value will be maximized when all the inputs of the company are concentrated in a single source. However, in the second case, the production dependence on customers will be the highest when all sales are performed to a single customer".
In this regard, the quality and success of the business are conditioned by the degree of productive dependence of enterprises. So that when a business activity is concentrated in a few suppliers and/or a few customers, their bargaining power decreases and the development of its activity could be subject to decisions of others.
Research Methodology
The database used in this paper originates from the research project "Analysis of the quality of the business: implications from the point of view of economic development in the Autonomous Communities", awarded by the Junta de Andalucía to the University of Seville in 2010. The survey was aimed at employers of all Spanish companies and their local units in the country, with at least one employee.
The sample is composed of 1,596 companies from six different Spanish Autonomous Communities in terms of income per capita and unemployment. Madrid, Basque Country and Navarre are the most advanced economies (high income per capita and low unemployment rate) and Andalusia, Extremadura and Murcia are the least advanced regions (low income per capita and high unemployment rate) (Peña and Jimenez, 2013).
The reason why groups of autonomous regions with extreme levels of GDP per capita and unemployment rate have been selected is related to the assumption that disadvantaged regions tend to have higher levels of functional dependence and productive dependence, and vice versa (Fernández- Serrano and Romero, 2013 and Santos, Romero and Fernández- Serrano, 2012). Therefore, the characterization of Spanish companies in terms of productive and functional dependence could be appreciated more clearly among regions with wider economic differences.
In order to achieve the main goal of the empirical study, firstly, we used a descriptive analysis so as to find out in detail the behavior of the variables and the association among them. Percentages, test of independence and correlations are mainly used.
Secondly, a factor analysis with orthogonal rotation (Varimax)has been applied to build two synthetic indicators that summarizethe information (Hair et al., 1999),containing the variables related to functional dependenceand productive dependence. This technique does not weight the variables arbitrarily but provides a value of composite indicators for each of the companies used in the analysis (Nolan and Whelam, 1996).
Thirdly, a cluster analysis has been applied so as to differentiate firms according to their functional dependence and productive dependence. Consequently, it may be created severalgroupsof companies very homogenous within itself and very heterogeneous among themselves. To do this, the Squared Euclidean Distance method has been applied using the "within group" criterion (Hair et al., 1999). Once created clusters it will be interesting to know why they are different from them and what characteristics are identified with each cluster in terms of the Autonomous Community, the size of the company, the production sector, the social form and the age of the company.
Finally, an ANOVA has been used in order to test the differences among the clusters formed.
Main Results
1. More than 90% of the surveyed companies have some kind of dependence: functional (48.3%), productive (10.5%) or both simultaneously (32.9%). The rest 8.2% is consisted of companies with full functional and productiveautonomy.
2. It is observed that certain characteristics of business are associated with higher levels of dependence. These empirical results suggest that policy maker should not implement indiscriminately policies to support SMEs (LópezMartínez, 2008). Some SMEs can be very solvent and even highly profitable, but from a macroeconomic point of view, can provide, for example, a high functional dependence and therefore operating under a system of companies "market - maker". Those companies generate little employment and low added value to the region where they are located.
3. Businesses that simultaneously show functional dependence and productive dependence tend to have the following profile: they are located in areas of low incomeper capita and/or high unemployment rate such as Extremadura, Andalusia and Murcia; the company size is small, still common in the case of a micro-enterprise (less than 10 employees); it is oftento see companies in the sector of construction with this problem; social form taken is usually the Limited Partnership or Cooperative; and they arefrequently startups, poorly established in the market and with serious difficulties to diversify customers or suppliers.
4. Companies that show only productive dependence generally have a medium or large size(over 50 employees), belong to the industry sector and have a social form of Inc.Nonetheless, neither the incomeper capita of the region nor the age of the firm, seem to be associatedwith this type of dependence.
5. The problem of functional dependenceismore often in micro-enterprises that belong to the construction and service sectorand are in a nascent stage of activity. Likewise, fewer cases of FD can be seen in those companies formed as an Inc. In the end, there is no sufficient empirical evidence to state that the level of incomeper capita could be associated with higher functional dependence.
6. Companies that do not show any dependence are usually found in Madrid, Basque Country and Navarre. Hence, in this case, the GDP per capita is coupled with the functional and productive autonomy. Moreover, these firms tend to have a large size, belong to the industry sector, form anInc. and are in an established stage of activity. All these characteristics allow companies to diversify between the domestic market and abroad and among customers and suppliers Classification-JEL: R1 Keywords: Clusters de empresas, Dependencia funcional, Dependencia productiva, Companies clusters, Functional dependence, Productive dependence Pages: 135-162 Volume: 3 Year: 2014 File-URL: http://www.revistaestudiosregionales.com/documentos/articulos/pdf-articulo-2452.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Handle: RePEc:rer:articu:v:3:y:2014:p:135-162