Estimating patterns of leaf herbivory along an altitudinal transect in NE Queensland rainforests: might global warming increase leaf herbivory in tropical rainforests?

Climate change has been taking place at unprecedented rates over the past decades. These fast alterations caused by human activities are leading to a global warming of the planet. Warmer temperatures are going to have important effects on vegetation and especially on tropical forests. Insects as well will be affected by climate change. This study tested the hypothesis that higher temperatures lead to a higher insect pressure on vegetation. Visual estimations of leaf damage were recorded and used to assess the extent of herbivory in nine 0.1ha plots along an altitudinal gradient, and therefore a temperature gradient. These estimations were made at both a community level and a species level, on 2 target species. Leaf toughness tests were performed on samples from the target species from each plot. Results showed a strong evidence of increasing insect damage along increasing temperature, with no significant effect from the leaf toughness.

Agency cost of government ownership: a study of voluntary audit comitte formation in China

In this paper, we investigate the agency costs of government ownership and their impact on corporate governance and firm value. China is used as a laboratory because of the prevalent state shareholdings in exchange-listed firms. In this context, we specifically consider the trade-offs involved in the voluntary formation of an audit committee when the controlling shareholder is the state. The decision to improve corporate governance (in this case, introduce an audit committee) is shown to be value relevant and a function of existing agency relationships and non-trivial implementation costs. Our findings are robust to the level of pyramid groups, the ownership-control wedge, and financial leverage. The research adds to the debate regarding the effect of government shareholdings on corporate culture and performance - a topic that hastaken on renewed importance in recent times.

Prediction of the economic cost of individual long-term care in the Spanish population

Pensions together with savings and investments during active life are key elements of retirement planning. Motivation for personal choices about the standard of living, bequest and the replacement ratio of pension with respect to last salary income must be considered. This research contributes to the financial planning by helping to quantify long-term care economic needs. We estimate life expectancy from retirement age onwards. The economic cost of care per unit of service is linked to the expected time of needed care and the intensity of required services. The expected individual cost of long-term care from an onset of dependence is estimated separately for men and women. Assumptions on the mortality of the dependent people compared to the general population are introduced. Parameters defining eligibility for various forms of coverage by the universal public social care of the welfare system are addressed. The impact of the intensity of social services on individual predictions is assessed, and a partial coverage by standard private insurance products is also explored. Data were collected by the Spanish Institute of Statistics in two surveys conducted on the general Spanish population in 1999 and in 2008. Official mortality records and life table trends were used to create realistic scenarios for longevity. We find empirical evidence that the public long-term care system in Spain effectively mitigates the risk of incurring huge lifetime costs. We also find that the most vulnerable categories are citizens with moderate disabilities that do not qualify to obtain public social care support. In the Spanish case, the trends between 1999 and 2008 need to be further explored.

Implementation of IPM programs on European greenhouse tomato production areas: Tools and constraints

Whiteflies and whitefly-transmitted viruses are some of the major constraints on European tomato production. The main objectives of this study were to: identify where and why whiteflies are a major limitation on tomato crops; collect information about whiteflies and associated viruses; determine the available management tools; and identify key knowledge gaps and research priorities. This study was conducted within the framework of ENDURE (European Network for Durable Exploitation of Crop Protection Strategies). Two whitefly species are the main pests of tomato in Europe: Bemisia tabaci and Trialeurodes vaporariorum. Trialeurodes vaporariorum is widespread to all areas where greenhouse industry is present, and B. tabaci has invaded, since the early 1990’s, all the subtropical and tropical areas. Biotypes B and Q of B. tabaci are widespread and especially problematic. Other key tomato pests are Aculops lycopersici, Helicoverpa armigera, Frankliniella occidentalis, and leaf miners. Tomato crops are particularly susceptible to viruses causingTomato yellow leaf curl disease (TYLCD). High incidences of this disease are associated to high pressure of its vector, B. tabaci. The ranked importance of B. tabaci established in this study correlates with the levels of insecticide use, showing B. tabaci as one of the principal drivers behind chemical control. Confirmed cases of resistance to almost all insecticides have been reported. Integrated Pest Management based on biological control (IPM-BC) is applied in all the surveyed regions and identified as the strategy using fewer insecticides. Other IPM components include greenhouse netting and TYLCD-tolerant tomato cultivars. Sampling techniques differ between regions, where decisions are generally based upon whitefly densities and do not relate to control strategies or growing cycles. For population monitoring and control, whitefly species are always identified. In Europe IPM-BC is the recommended strategy for a sustainable tomato production. The IPM-BC approach is mainly based on inoculative releases of the parasitoids Eretmocerus mundus and Encarsia formosa and/or the polyphagous predators Macrolophus caliginosus and Nesidiocoris tenuis. However, some limitations for a wider implementation have been identified: lack of biological solutions for some pests, costs of beneficials, low farmer confidence, costs of technical advice, and low pest injury thresholds. Research priorities to promote and improve IPM-BC are proposed on the following domains: (i) emergence and invasion of new whitefly-transmitted viruses; (ii) relevance of B. tabaci biotypes regarding insecticide resistance; (iii) biochemistry and genetics of plant resistance; (iv) economic thresholds and sampling techniques of whiteflies for decision making; and (v) conservation and management of native whitefly natural enemies and improvement of biological control of other tomato pests.

The Complementarity between segment disclosure and earnings quality, and its effect on cost of capital

We investigate the role of earnings quality in determining the levels of segment disclosure, and whether and how better quality earnings and segment disclosure influences cost of capital. Using a large US sample for the period 2001-2006, we find a positive relation between earnings quality and levels of segment disclosures. We also find that firms providing better quality segment information, contingent upon good earnings quality, enjoy lower cost of capital. We base our empirical tests on a self created index of segment disclosure. Our results contribute to a better understanding of (1) the incentives for providing segment disclosures, and (2) how accounting quality (quality of segment information and earnings quality) is related to the cost of capital.

Anàlisi dels fluxos d'aigua, energia i mobilitat a cinc nuclis turístics de Menorca

Menorca és una illa del Mediterrani occidental i una important destinació turística. El turisme estival és un pilar de l’economia de l’illa i té implicacions en tots els aspectes d’aquesta. Una bona part dels turistes es concentren en nuclis turístics costaners dedicats a una única activitat (l’allotjament de turistes). En aquest projecte s’estudien els consums i els potencials de captació d’aigua i energia de cinc nuclis turístics menorquins i alguns dels seus establiments turístics i se n’avalua el potencial d’autosuficiència. També es fa un estudi de mobilitat dels turistes, a partir del qual es quantifica el cost energètic de la mobilitat i les emissions de CO2 que se’n deriven. Les eines utilitzades han estat enquestes i Sistemes d’Informació Geogràfica. Els resultats mostren que el consum hídric per persona és molt variable (de 98 a 466 litres diaris). El consum elèctric per persona és més homogeni que el d’aigua (entre 5 i 10 kWh·persona-1·dia-1 a nivell de nucli turístic) i presenta valors superiors en allotjaments del tipus hotel que del tipus apartaments. Els trajectes d’anada i tornada a l’illa amb avió o vaixell representen més del 80% del cost energètic total de les vacances a Menorca (aprox. 1 MWh per estada) i de les emissions de CO2 associades. Els turistes espanyols recorren un 180% més de distància en desplaçaments a l’interior de l’illa que els d’altres nacionalitats. L’aprofitament d’aigües pluvials podria cobrir menys del 25% de les necessitats hídriques de la majoria d’allotjaments turístics i entre el 28 i el 36% de les necessitats hídriques totals dels nuclis turístics, mantenint-se els nivells actuals de consum. La captació d’energia solar fotovoltaica in situ podria arribar a suplir entre el 50 i el 90% del consum d’energia elèctrica en els nuclis turístics i fins al 100% del mateix en alguns allotjaments turístics.

An empirical analysis of a merger between a network and low-cost airlines

We use a difference-in-difference estimator to examine the effects of a merger involving three airlines. The novelty lies in the examination of this operation in two distinct scenarios: (1) on routes where two low-cost carriers and (2) on routes where a network and one of the low-cost airlines had previously been competing. We report a reduction in frequencies but no substantial effect on prices in the first scenario, while in the second we report an increase in prices but no substantial effect on frequencies. These results may be attributed to the differences in passenger types flying on these routes.

The Political cost of reforms

This paper formalizes in a fully-rational model the popular idea that politicians perceive an electoral cost in adopting costly reforms with future benefits and reconciles it with the evidence that reformist governments are not punished by voters. To do so, it proposes a model of elections where political ability is ex-ante unknown and investment in reforms is unobservable. On the one hand, elections improve accountability and allow to keep well-performing incumbents. On the other, politicians make too little reforms in an attempt to signal high ability and increase their reappointment probability. Although in a rational expectation equilibrium voters cannot be fooled and hence reelection does not depend on reforms, the strategy of underinvesting in reforms is nonetheless sustained by out-of-equilibrium beliefs. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, uncertainty makes reforms more politically viable and may, under some conditions, increase social welfare. The model is then used to study how political rewards can be set so as to maximize social welfare and the desirability of imposing a one-term limit to governments. The predictions of this theory are consistent with a number of empirical regularities on the determinants of reforms and reelection. They are also consistent with a new stylized fact documented in this paper: economic uncertainty is associated to more reforms in a panel of 20 OECD countries.

A logistic regression approach to estimating customer profit loss due to lapses in insurance

This article focuses on business risk management in the insurance industry. A methodology for estimating the profit loss caused by each customer in the portfolio due to policy cancellation is proposed. Using data from a European insurance company, customer behaviour over time is analyzed in order to estimate the probability of policy cancelation and the resulting potential profit loss due to cancellation. Customers may have up to two different lines of business contracts: motor insurance and other diverse insurance (such as, home contents, life or accident insurance). Implications for understanding customer cancellation behaviour as the core of business risk management are outlined.

Air services on thin routes: Regional versus low-cost airlines

An examination of the impact in the US and EU markets of two major innovations in the provision of air services on thin routes - regional jet technology and the low-cost business model - reveals significant differences. In the US, regional airlines monopolize a high proportion of thin routes, whereas low-cost carriers are dominant on these routes in Europe. Our results have different implications for business and leisure travelers, given that regional services provide a higher frequency of flights (at the expense of higher fares), while low-cost services offer lower fares (at the expense of lower flight frequencies). Keywords: air transportation; regional jet technology; low-cost business model; thin markets. JEL Classification Numbers: L13; L2; L93.

Geo Tools Android : eines geogràfiques per Android

En aquest treball es fa un anàlisi de l'aplicació OSMDroid i d'altres aplicacions i llibreries SIG rellevants per al sistema operatiu Android.

Construcció d¿un cercador de viatges low cost utilitzant tècniques de web scraping

Cercador web de viatges utilitzant tècniques de web scraping.

Gestió de factures electròniques amb .NET (Visual Studio Tools for Office)

Creació d¿un software de gestió de factures electròniques desenvolupat en aquesta plataforma tecnològica, amb indicació expressa d¿utilització de les eines VSTO (Visual Studio Tools for Office) en la seva última versió.

Implantación de una Plataforma GNU/Linux en la gestión del hogar digital focalizada a la domótica,multimedia-ocio y las TICs.

In the near future, access to data and home automation systems in the home supported by the implementation of GNU-Linux operating systems in our homes, a reality of the first order for the implementation of real homes and automated digital awarding a cost reduction by the intensive use of the resources provided directly by the Open Software Community. The future possibilities seem almost endless: telecommuting, centralized household accounts, software distributed online training for young people in the house, multimedia at all levels, design and artistic creation (particularly through electronic digital displays are spreading rapidly in our homes), targeted towards home automation automated digital, integrated control of home security, digital entertainment ... and with free applications at no additional cost that can be easily downloaded from the usual repositories, ensuring the online update of these tools. In short, new ways of understanding in the home automation, telecommuting and digital entertainment within the broader framework of our Information Society.