RESUMO
Resumen La difusión del comercio electrónico constituye una gran oportunidad para las empresas como instrumento de competitividad. El uso de las redes sociales brinda una plataforma nueva para el desarrollo de las transacciones comerciales online. El objetivo de este trabajo consiste en analizar la relación entre el nivel de adopción del comercio electrónico y la valoración de las redes sociales en las empresas. Con este fin, se utiliza una muestra de 100 Microempresas, Pequeñas y Medianas firmas de la ciudad de Córdoba, Argentina. Sobre la base de un análisis de conglomerados de k medias, se obtienen tres grupos de empresas: empresas avanzadas en e-commerce empresas únicamente en redes sociales y empresas orientadas al e-commerce. Estos grupos presentan diferencias significativas por sector de actividad, pero no por tamaño de las empresas. Códigos JEL: D2, L86, O33.
Abstract E-commerce diffusion brings a great opportunity for the competitiveness of firms. The use of social networks offers a new platform for the development of online business transactions. The objective of this paper is analyzing the relationship between the e-commerce adoption level and the social networks value among firms. To achieve this goal, a sample of 100 Micro, Small and Medium firms from the city of Cordoba in Argentina is employed. Based on a k media conglomerates analysis, we obtained there groups of firms: firms advanced in e-commerce, firms just in social networks, and firms oriented to e-commerce. These groups differ in terms of their main economic activity but not in the size of their firms. Classification: D2, L86, O33.
Resumo A difusão do comércio eletrônico constitui uma grande oportunidade para as empresas como instrumento de competitividade. O uso de redes sociais fornece uma nova plataforma para o desenvolvimento de transações comerciais online. O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar a relação entre o nível de adoção do comércio eletrônico e a valorização das redes sociais nas empresas. Para isso, é utilizada uma amostra de 100 microempresas, pequenas e médias empresas da cidade de Córdoba, Argentina. Com base em uma análise de k-conglomerados médios, três grupos de empresas são obtidos: empresas avançadas em e-commerce; empresas somente em redes sociais e empresas voltadas ao e-commerce. Esses grupos apresentam diferenças significativas por setor de atividade, mas não pelo tamanho das empresas. Classificações JEL: D2, L86, O33.
RESUMO
The wildlife trade is a lucrative industry involving thousands of animal and plant species. The increasing use of the internet for both legal and illegal wildlife trade is well documented, but there is evidence that trade may be emerging on new online technologies such as social media. Using the orchid trade as a case study, we conducted the first systematic survey of wildlife trade on an international social-media website. We focused on themed forums (groups), where people with similar interests can interact by uploading images or text (posts) that are visible to other group members. We used social-network analysis to examine the ties between 150 of these orchid-themed groups to determine the structure of the network. We found 4 communities of closely linked groups based around shared language. Most trade occurred in a community that consisted of English-speaking and Southeast Asian groups. In addition to the network analysis, we randomly sampled 30 groups from the whole network to assess the prevalence of trade in cultivated and wild plants. Of 55,805 posts recorded over 12 weeks, 8.9% contained plants for sale, and 22-46% of these posts pertained to wild-collected orchids. Although total numbers of posts about trade were relatively small, the large proportion of posts advertising wild orchids for sale supports calls for better monitoring of social media for trade in wild-collected plants.
