Conference Agenda

This article analyzes whether innovation enablers, digitalization, R&D effort, financial deepening, and advanced human capital are associated with Total Factor Productivity (TFP) growth in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador during 2000–2022. An annual panel is constructed using the Penn World Table (TFP is measured as a logarithmic annual change) and World Development Indicators (internet users, private credit, tertiary enrollment, and R&D where available). The base model is a country-fixed effects model with robust standard errors and robustness tests (lags and exclusion of pandemic years). The results are consistent with a significant negative association of private credit with TFP growth, suggesting potential problems in the allocation of financing. In contrast, digitalization, tertiary enrollment, and R&D show positive signs but less statistical robustness, consistent with an “adoption without absorption” dynamic. Policy implications for improving credit quality, strengthening university-industry linkages, and developing complementary organizational capacities are discussed.

Sustainable coastal destinations offer a wide range of activities related to nature and culture. This study pursues the following objectives: (a) to identify the motivational dimensions of demand in a coastal destination; (b) to determine the relationship between sociodemographic variables and the motivational factors influencing demand in a coastal destination; and (c) to analyze the relationship between sociodemographic variables and loyalty in coastal destinations. The research was conducted in Montañita, a surf-oriented coastal town in Ecuador characterized by its sustainability and water-based sports. A quantitative approach was adopted, using a sample of 380 valid questionnaires collected in situ. Data analysis was performed using Factor Analysis and Multiple Regression techniques. The results reveal five motivational dimensions in sustainable coastal destinations. Furthermore, visitors’ age significantly influences motivations related to culture and nature, sports activities, and return intentions. Younger tourists show stronger motivations toward nature and cultural experiences, as well as coastal sports, and they also exhibit a higher intention to revisit the destination. These findings contribute to the academic literature on coastal destinations and provide practical management guidelines for companies involved in the development, commercialization, and promotion of tourism products and services

The study aimed to analyze the influence of entrepreneurial education and self-motivation on entrepreneurial intention among university students in Loja (Ecuador), incorporating entrepreneurial self-efficacy as a mediating variable. The methodology was developed through structural equation modeling (SEM) using a cross-sectional design and a Likert-type questionnaire applied in January 2026 to a refined sample of 379 students. The measurement model was properly evaluated; in the structural model, entrepreneurial education did not exhibit a significant direct effect on intention (β=0.061; p=0.297), whereas self-motivation showed a relevant direct effect (β=0.437; p<0.001). Significant mediating effects of self-efficacy were confirmed both between education and intention (β_ind=0.081; p=0.002) and between self-motivation and intention (β_ind=0.309; p<0.001), the latter representing the strongest pathway. It was concluded that entrepreneurial intention was mainly explained by a psychological pathway in which self-motivation fostered self-efficacy, which in turn translated educational and self-regulatory resources into entrepreneurial disposition.

countries is manifested in the limited generation of formal employment, forcing university graduates to seek alternative employment opportunities in highly competitive and globalized contexts. In this scenario, entrepreneurship emerges as a strategic option, especially when strengthened through higher education with interdisciplinary approaches that integrate creativity, innovation, and business management. However, gaps remain in our understanding of how this training influences students' entrepreneurial intentions.

The objective of this study is to analyze entrepreneurial intention among students in the Gastronomy Bachelor's program at the Central American Technological University (Honduras) and the Business Management Bachelor's program at the University of Guanajuato (Mexico), highlighting the role of interdisciplinarity as a link between creative and entrepreneurial training. The research was conducted using a quantitative approach, with a cross-sectional and comparative design. Data collection was carried out using a structured questionnaire, adapted from the Entrepreneurial Intention Questionnaire (EIQ) by Liñán and Chen, and adjusted to the sociocultural and educational characteristics of both countries.

The instrument assessed sociodemographic variables, attitudes toward entrepreneurship, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, entrepreneurial intention, and perceptions of the interdisciplinary approach, using Likert-type scales. The results reveal distinct patterns between the two populations studied and suggest that the integration of interdisciplinary approaches is positively associated with higher levels of entrepreneurial intention, reaffirming the role of higher education in training entrepreneurs with economic and social impact.

This study explores the influence of personal values on export success, focusing on SMEs. Under a qualitative methodology of analysis of five cases of SME companies, it is possible to analyze, through the perception of those in charge of exports, the relationship between managers' personality and their export performance. It was identified that in the studied companies, there is a positive association between the increase in exports and the expansion or maintenance of the destination markets, within personal values, ambition is selected as one of the most important, and it is also identified that for the success of the internationalization processes the most influential values are responsibility, honesty, and good manners.

SMEs are central to employment and productivity, yet they exhibit highly uneven performance trajectories. This paper proposes a comparative conceptual framework, grounded in a configurational perspective, that interprets success and lagging performance as coherent (or misaligned) combinations of internal factors—leadership, adaptation, innovation, learning, and financial sustainability—and external factors—institutions, financing, competition, technological environment, and macroeconomic conditions—based on academic and institutional evidence. The comparison across developed economies, Latin America, and emerging Asia reveals distinct regional configurations and supports a four-archetype typology: systemic champions, resilient strugglers, local comfort, and chronic laggards.