Intangible assets and firm efficiency. International analysis in the textile and apparel industry

240 Pages·2009·1.01 MB·English

by  Magdalena Maria Kapelko

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Departament d’Economia de l’Empresa

Ph.D. Dissertation

INTANGIBLE ASSETS AND FIRM EFFICIENCY.
INTERNATIONAL ANALYSIS IN THE
TEXTILE AND APPAREL INDUSTRY.

Magdalena Maria Kapelko

Supervisors: Prof. Diego Prior Jiménez

Prof. Josep Rialp Criado

Barcelona, March 2009

This thesis was undertaken under the Programa de Formació de Personal Investigador
de la Generalitat de Catalunya (Programme of Formation of Personal Investigator of
Generalitat de Catalunya) with financial support of Comissionat per a Universitats i
Recerca del Departament d’Innovació, Universitats i Empresa (Commission of
Universities and Investigation of Department of Innovation, Universities and
Enterprises) and European Social Fund.

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Publications and works presented / reviews in journals:
1) 2009 “Efficiency in the textile and clothing industry in Poland and Spain”, with
Rialp-Criado, J., Fibres and Textiles in Eastern Europe, 3 (Journal Citation Reports).

2) 2008 “Intangible assets and efficiency. International analysis in the textile and
apparel industry”, with Prior-Jiménez, D., Rialp-Criado, J., paper presented at:
• V Workshop on Efficiency and Productivity in Gijón, Spain, 23-24 September 2008;
• IV Convocatoria d’Ajuts a la Recerca de Associació Catalana de Comptabilitat i
Direcció (Research grant of Catalan Accounting and Business Association).

3) 2007 “Inderstanding the industrial district - contrasting conceptual images as a road
to insight”, with Johannisson, B., Centeno Caffarena, L.C., Discua Cruz, A.F., Epure,
M., Hormiga Pérez, E., Murdock, K., Nanka-Bruce, D., Olejárová, M., Sanchez Lopez,
A., Sekki, A., Stoian, M.C., Tötterman, H., Bisignano, A., Entrepreneurship and
Regional Development, 19: 527-554 (Journal Citation Reports).

4) 2006 “Evaluating efficiency in the framework of Resource-Based View of the Firm.
Evidence from Polish and Spanish textile and clothing industry”, with Prior-Jiménez,
D., Rialp-Criado, J., paper presented at:
• I Workshop on Efficiency and Productivity in León, Spain, 21-22 September 2006;
• 21st European Conference on Operational Research, Reykjavik, Iceland, 2-5 July
2006;
• 3rd EDP Workshop, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, April 2006 (Prize for the
best paper).

5) 2005 “Quality of health care and patient’s satisfaction. An exploratory investigation
of 5Qs model at some Egyptian and Jordanian medical clinics”, with Zineldin, M.,
proceedings of 6th International Conference Cooperation and Competition and Tempus
Health Care Management Training Programme, Växjo and Stockholm, Sweden, 22-28
September 2005.

6) 2006-present: reviews for European Journal of Operational Research.
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"Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood. Now is the time to
understand more, so that we may fear less”.

Maria Skłodowska-Curie

To My Parents and Brother

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Acknowledgements

The dissertation elaboration and writing is a long, a creative, and a challenging task.
Sometimes going smooth and with a lot of inspiration, sometimes hard, but always full
of surprises. When I go back in time and remind those five years spend in the
Departament d’Economia de l’Empresa, first two years in the European Doctoral
Program, I see how much I have learnt and grown up as a researcher and as a human-
being. During this process many people helped me and now it is time to acknowledge
them.
First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisors, Professors Diego Prior
Jiménez and Josep Rialp Criado, for insightful guidance, comments, opinions, patience,
experience, encouragement and support. It was my honour and good fortune to be their
student.
I would like to thank the director of the doctoral programme, Professor Joaquim Vergés
Jaime, for the cooperation during those years.
I am also grateful to an anonymous reviewer whose suggestions helped to improve this
dissertation.
I would also like to acknowledge Programa de Formació de Personal Investigador de
la Generalitat de Catalunya for the scholarship.
My thanks go also to the University of Växjö in Sweden for cooperation as a part of the
European Doctoral Program.
A special thank goes to my friends. Felix, for his encouragement to apply for a
scholarship, which allowed me to continue with doctoral studies. Malgorzata, for help
with managing the database. Joanna, for supporting me in difficult moments in life. My
office mates and doctoral friends from the Departament d’Economia de l’Empresa and
the European Doctoral Program: Angeles, Esther, Cristina, Douglas, Otilia, Esteban,
Marco, Mircea, Kurt, Henrik and Allan.
Finally, my deepest thanks go to my beloved family. I would not have made it without
their constant support and love. Thanks to my mother for her readiness to come with the
first flight to Barcelona if I need any help. Thanks to my father for believing in me. And
my brother for his encouragement in work progressing. This thesis belongs to them.
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