Promoting rule compliance in daily-life: Evidence from a randomized field experiment in the public libraries of Barcelona

We study how to promote compliance with rules in everyday situations. Having access to unique data on the universe of users of all public libraries inBarcelona, we test the effect of sending email messages with dierent contents.We find that users return their items earlier if asked to do so in a simple email.Emails reminding users of the penalties associated with late returns are more effective than emails with only a generic reminder. We find differential treatmenteffects by user types. The characteristics we analyze are previous compliance,gender, age, and nationality.

Radial measures of public services deficit for regional allocation of public funds

The goal of this paper is to present an optimal resource allocation model for the regional allocation of public service inputs. Theproposed solution leads to maximise the relative public service availability in regions located below the best availability frontier, subject to exogenous budget restrictions and equality ofaccess for equal need criteria (equity-based notion of regional needs). The construction of non-parametric deficit indicators is proposed for public service availability by a novel application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models, whose results offer advantages for the evaluation and improvement of decentralised public resource allocation systems. The method introduced in this paper has relevance as a resource allocation guide for the majority of services centrally funded by the public sector in a given country, such as health care, basic and higher education, citizen safety, justice, transportation, environmental protection, leisure, culture, housing and city planning, etc.

Reverse logistics in the editorial sector: An exploratory study

Nowadays, the Reverse Logistics field is becoming very important. On one hand, laws areimposing companies to be responsible for the contamination made by their products. On theother hand, companies have discovered the profits derived from a good Reverse Logisticsprocess. This paper is the result of the work done by a group of companies from the SpanishEditorial sector to understand and improve their Reverse Logistics process. The paperdescribes the characteristics of the Reverse Logistics process in this sector and theimprovements identified by the work group .

Private borrowing during the financial revolution: Hoare’s Bank and its customers, 1702-1724

The financial revolution improved the British government s ability to borrow, andthus its ability to wage war. North andWeingast argued that it also permitted privateparties to borrow more cheaply and widely.We test these inferences with evidencefrom a London bank.We confirm that private bank credit was cheap in the earlyeighteenth century, but we argue that it was not available widely. Importantly, thegovernment reduced the usury rate in 1714, sharply reducing the circle of privateclients that could be served profitably.

Worksharing and access discounts in the postal sector with asymmetrics information

This paper analyses the optimal worksharing discount granted to mailers and entrants in a liberalized sector when there is asymmetric information about the Post Office's cost. When the regulator is unable to ascertain which part of total cost of sorting has to be attributed to each sorting facility, the optimal 'accesss discount' given to the entrants is set in a pro-competitive way, thus facilitating the entry of firms that are less afficient than the Post Office. Howerver, with the same asymmetry of information, the optimal 'worksharing discount' given to the mailers is set to favor the Post Office, even when it is less efficient than the mailers in providing the sorting.

Particle and string fluid interpretation for the scalar sector of Kaluza-Klein theories

The scalar sector of the effective low-energy six-dimensional Kaluza-Klein theory is seen to represent an anisotropic fluid composed of two perfect fluids if the extra space metric has a Euclidean signature, or a perfect fluid of geometric strings if it has an indefinite signature. The Einstein field equations with such fluids can be explicitly integrated when the four-dimensional space-time has two commuting Killing vectors.

Worksharing and access discounts in the postal sector with asymmetrics information

This paper analyses the optimal worksharing discount granted to mailers and entrants in a liberalized sector when there is asymmetric information about the Post Office's cost. When the regulator is unable to ascertain which part of total cost of sorting has to be attributed to each sorting facility, the optimal 'accesss discount' given to the entrants is set in a pro-competitive way, thus facilitating the entry of firms that are less afficient than the Post Office. Howerver, with the same asymmetry of information, the optimal 'worksharing discount' given to the mailers is set to favor the Post Office, even when it is less efficient than the mailers in providing the sorting.

Análisis del ECPN y del EFE en el sector público

El nuevo Plan General de Contabilidad Pública (Orden EHA/ 1037/2010) de 13 de abril dispone la elaboración de dos nuevos documentos contables: el Estado de cambios en el patrimonio neto y el Estado de flujos de efectivo. En este trabajo se detallan la estructura, función y utilidad de esos documentos en el ámbito del sector público para conseguir una información consistente y comparable entre las diferentes entidades en sintonía con la normativa internacional. Este estudio finaliza con una interpretación de los dos documentos analizados.

Gestió dels residus alimentaris municipals procedents de les activitats comercials del municipi de Montmeló per tal de reduir, reutilitzar i reciclar-los

En el present treball es proposa com lluitar contra el malbaratament alimentari que es genera al llarg de tota la cadena alimentària, sent aquest degut a causa d'una planificació poc adequada. L'objectiu principal és planificar i implantar un sistema de gestió per tal de recuperar l'excedent alimentari que es genera als comerços i les indústries del municipi de Montmeló, elaborant així un protocol per tal de poder redistribuir aquest aliment als sectors de la població en situacions econòmiques més precàries. Com a objectius secundaris, es pretén conscienciar, fomentar i potenciar el treball en xarxa entre els diferents agents implicats, com ara: la ciutadania, les entitats socials (Càritas Parroquial Montmeló), sector privat (establiments alimentaris del municipi, mercat municipal, indústries del sector alimentari) i el sector públic (departament de serveis socials, medi ambient, comerç i brigada municipal). A l'hora de planificar i implantar un sistema de gestió per tal de recuperar l'excedent alimentari, s'ha analitzat i valorat el camí que hi realitza, des d'on es genera fins al beneficiari final. Aquest s'ha gestionat per etapes, en les que s'han identificat els generadors, el tipus i quantitat d'aliment que malbaraten. S'ha proposat un nou sistema de recollida d'informació i les pautes que han de seguir per garantir el bon estat de l'aliment com: una taula de conservació, un protocol de funcionament, un document d'entrega i una fitxa de control de les condicions d'higiene. Per tal d'assolir una bona coordinació entre totes les parts, s'han realitzat reunions conjuntes entre els generadors, serveis socials i Càritas on s'ha acabat signant un acord de col·laboració. Entre les conclusions més rellevants cal destacar que ha servit per establir un precedent d'aprofitament alimentari al municipi de Montmeló, aconseguint alimentar a un gran nombre de famílies amb greus problemes econòmics. A més s'ha arribat a disminuir la quantitat de residus generats, amb el conseqüent estalvi de recursos econòmics i materials on s'ha recuperat un total de 5.760 Kg d'aliments aptes pel consum.

The role of the tourism sector in economic development. Lessons from the Spanish experience

Tourism is one of the most important sectors in the global economy and is considered an efficient tool with which to promote economic growth. The case of Spain¿s economy is well known in this respect; in fact, widespread consensus exists on the part played by tourism in enhancing the industrialisation process in Spain and the part played by foreign currency receipts from tourism in financing the imports of capital goods, which made the expansion of manufacturing possible. This paper aims to assess the real role of foreign currency receipts from tourism in Spain¿s economy from 1960 to the present. The results of Spain¿s experience may well help to guide policy decisions in developing countries in similar circumstances.

The role of the tourism sector in economic development. Lessons from the Spanish experience

Tourism is one of the most important sectors in the global economy and is considered an efficient tool with which to promote economic growth. The case of Spain¿s economy is well known in this respect; in fact, widespread consensus exists on the part played by tourism in enhancing the industrialisation process in Spain and the part played by foreign currency receipts from tourism in financing the imports of capital goods, which made the expansion of manufacturing possible. This paper aims to assess the real role of foreign currency receipts from tourism in Spain¿s economy from 1960 to the present. The results of Spain¿s experience may well help to guide policy decisions in developing countries in similar circumstances.