This paper analyses empirical evidence of efforts to enable Spanish micro and small manufacturing companies to boost their labour productivity rates through the development of the main pillars of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies. This study aims to develop new approaches and sensibilities towards work from an ethical, values (virtues) and CSR perspective, showing how internal dimensions of CSR, such those related to relationships with employees and responsibility in processes and product quality, can improve labour performance and labour efficiency, thereby contributing to a better society. The results of a sample of 929 small businesses indicate that the social responsibility policies that most contributed to a short-term increase in labour productivity are those related to internal aspects of the company, in particular its involvement in the quality of processes and products, promotion of innovation and employee care. However, the impact on labour productivity of CSR policies related to external factors, such as relationship with stakeholders and environmental concern, could not be empirically proven in this paper.

Sustainability labels serve as crucial instruments facilitating the presentation of credible product attributes, enabling consumers to assess various aspects of sustainability in their purchasing decisions. This study aims to evaluate consumers’ preferences and willingness to pay for sustainable certifications, specifically Fairtrade and UTZ certification, within the coffee sector in Spain. Employing the choice experiment approach, an online survey involving 547 Spanish consumers was conducted, and a conditional logit model was estimated. The findings indicate that consumers exhibit positive utility towards both sustainability labels examined. Furthermore, the results reveal that consumers are willing to pay a premium of EUR 1.481 per 250 g for the Fairtrade label and EUR 1.379 per 250 g for the UTZ label. The proposed model offers an initial insight into willingness to pay for sustainable coffee in Spain. These results furnish valuable insights for the coffee sector in crafting effective marketing strategies to bolster initiatives promoting sustainable production practices and expanding market access for certified coffee products.

This paper aims to improve knowledge about the main factors influencing firm environmental commitment, by examining empirically the relationship between public support for R&D for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and their investment in environmental protection. The empirical analysis was developed using a sample of 1594 Spanish firms, and a binary logistic regression to evaluate the existence of dependency relationships between the analyzed variables. The results show that those companies receiving direct funding from local public entities and those collaborating with research centers and universities, invest more in environmental actions to protect the natural ecosystem. The paper contributes to the academic literature by analyzing the main factors that influence the SMEs environmental commitment. Moreover, showing practitioners and policy makers the effectiveness of different types of financial support depending on the origin of the funds and the form of action taken; showing managers the advantages of collaborating with public administrations, as well as with other research organizations, to obtain better ECSR results.

This study focuses on the factors that may influence Spanish family owned businesses to decide to export and move towards internationalization, posing their level of debt as a possible determining factor. To do so, a review of publications on the subject has been carried out, as well as an empirical study using a sample of 1,846 businesses, which include both family and non-family firms. The results seem to show that the debt level of businesses whose propriety and management are handled by a family differs from that of those that do not fit this characteristic, especially where the decision whether or not to export products abroad is concerned.

This paper analyzes the factors that affect the creation of job expectations of university students who pursue different degrees within the area of agri-food and biosystems in Spain. The objective is to establish a theoretical model that would allow for contrast analysis in future works. A review of previous literature on the topic, as well as a field study with a survey of 246 students, have been conducted to this end. The survey defined the different sociological, economic and motivational characteristics that could affect students` job expectations. A contrast of non-parametric statistics and Pearson's Chi-Square correlation test was applied to the analysis. The obtained results show that there are 5 main factors that affect the creation of job expectations of young university students: (1) economic stability, (2) characteristics of the job, (3) personal and formative maturity, (4) family influences, and (5) job satisfaction within the workplace.

Scholars have dedicated significant efforts to understanding the factors that influence the environmental strategy of a firm, in order to mitigate the negative impacts on the ecosystem. Learning more about the factors that encourage environmental behavior allows managers and policy makers to improve action and advance correctly in this direction. Despite this academic interest, the literature regarding family business has undertaken limited attention over the issue. Hence, our paper aims to advance in this line of research, by empirically examining the relationship between government support in family firms and their investment in environmental protection. Specifically, we intend to analyze whether the family nature, and the government financial support, influence their environmental strategy. The empirical analysis is developed with a sample of 1802 manufacturing firms in Spain, using a binary logistic regression to evaluate the existence of dependency relationships between the analyzed variables. The results show this dependency, confirming family nature and government support as significant factors for a proactive environmental strategy, funding the idea that family character positively affects environmental performance in line with the socio-emotional wealth approach, and these differences are greater if the company operates mainly in a local area. Likewise, family firms that receive state direct and indirect funding, invest more in environmental issues to mitigate negative external impacts. The practical implications of the results obtained are especially useful for managers of family businesses as well as for central governments and local institutions as a matter of reflection. To reduce administrative processes and costs for family firms in terms of direct and indirect support is of great importance, as an inadequate process may become a barrier to develop environmental strategies.