Separated by a common currency? Evidence from the Euro changeover

We study the price convergence of goods and services in the euro area in 2001-2002. To measure the degree of convergence, we compare the prices of around 220 items in 32 European cities. The width of the border is the price di¤erence attributed to the fact that the two cities are in different countries. We find that the 2001 European borders are negative, which suggests that the markets were very integrated before the euro changeover. Moreover, we do not identify an integration effect attributable to the introduction of the euro. We then explore the determinants of the European borders. We find that different languages, wealth and population differences tend to split the markets. Historical inflation, though, tends to lead to price convergence.

Foreign ownership and productivity dynamics

In analyzing the distinctive contribution of foreign subsidiaries anddomestic firms to productivity growth in aggregate Belgian manufacturing,this paper shows that foreign ownership is an important source of firmheterogeneity affecting productivity dynamics. Foreign firms havecontributed disproportionately large to aggregate productivity growth,but more importantly reallocation processes differ significantly betweenthe groups of foreign subsidiaries and domestic firms.

Geographical deviations in foreign trade statistics: A study into European trade with Latin American Countries, 1925

We have analyzed the spatial accuracy of European foreign trade statistics compared to Latin American. We have also included USA s data because of the importance of this country in Latin American trade. We have developed a method for mapping discrepancies between exporters and importers, trying to isolate systematic spatial deviations. Although our results don t allow a unique explanation, they present some interesting clues to the distribution channels in the Latin American Continent as well as some spatial deviations for statistics in individual countries. Connecting our results with the literature specialized in the accuracy of foreign trade statistics; we can revisit Morgernstern (1963) as well as Federico and Tena (1991). Morgernstern had had a really pessimistic view on the reliability of this statistic source, but his main alert was focused on the trade balances, not in gross export or import values. Federico and Tena (1991) have demonstrated howaccuracy increases by aggregation, geographical and of product at the same time. But they still have a pessimistic view with relation to distribution questions, remarking that perhaps it will be more accurate to use import sources in this latest case. We have stated that the data set coming from foreign trade statistics for a sample in 1925, being it exporters or importers, it s a valuable tool for geography of trade patterns, although in some specific cases it needs some spatial adjustments.

The timing of foreign direct investment under uncertainty: Evidence from the Spanish banking sector

This paper investigates the timing of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the banking sector. The importance of this issue would arise from the existence of differential benefits associated to be the first entrant in a foreign location. Nevertheless, when uncertainty is considered, the existence of some Ownership-Location-Internalization (OLI) advantages can make FDI less reversible and/or more delayable and therefore it may be optimal for the firm to delay the investment until the uncertainty is resolved. In this paper, the nature of OLI advantages in the banking sector has been examined in order to propose a prognostic model of the timing of foreign direct investment. The model is then tested for the Spanish case using duration analysis.

Trade liberalization in Uruguay: Domestic and foreign firms

The reallocation of resources is one of the main impacts of tradeliberalization processes. In the case of manufacturing industries resourceswill be reallocated from import--competing sectors to export--orientedsectors. This paper studies the effects that a more open economic environmenthas had on the entry conditions for foreign and domestic firms in Uruguayanmanufacturing industries. We find significant differences in the behaviorof foreign and domestic firms, both when they are incumbents or when theyact as potential entrants. In general, foreign firms seem to be moresuccessful in applying entry deterring strategies, due to advantages inforeign markets, deeper financial resources or better technological capabilities.They also appear to be more responsive to entry conditions when theyface the prospects of entering a given industry.

Foreign direct investments and spillovers through workers' mobility

We analyze a model where a multinational firm can use its superiortechnology in a foreign subsidiary only after appropriate trainingof local managers. Technological spillovers from foreign directinvestment arise when such managers are later hired by a localfirm. Benefits for the host economy may also take the form of therent that trained managers receive by the foreign affiliate toprevent them from moving to local competitors. We study conditionsunder which technological spillovers occur. We also show that undercertain circumstances the multinational firm might find it optimalto resort to export instead of foreign direct investment, to avoiddissipation of its intangible assets.

The geophysical electromagnetic prospecting in the spatial location of the travertine deposits of the Banyoles Depression (Girona)

The results of the application of the geophysical electromagnetic prospection methods in the resolution of the problems of the spatial location of the travertine quaternary formations of the Banyoles depression are presented

Mid Holocene in Sant Julià de Boada (Baix Empordà, Girona): Stratigraphical sequence and paleoenvironmental records of the paludal deposits

Descripció de la seqüència estratigràfica i dels registres paleoambientals dels sediments holocens de Sant Julià de Boada

Returns to Foreign Language Skills in a Developing Country: The Case of Turkey

Foreign language skills represent a form of human capital that can be rewarded in the labor market. Drawing on data from the Adult Education Survey of 2007, this is the first study estimating returns to foreign language skills in Turkey. We contribute to the literature on the economic value of language knowledge, with a special focus on a country characterized by fast economic and social development. Although English is the most widely spoken foreign language in Turkey, we initially consider the economic value of different foreign languages among the employed males aged 25 to 65. We find positive and significant returns to proficiency in English and Russian, which increase with the level of competence. Knowledge of French and German also appears to be positively rewarded in the Turkish labor market, although their economic value seems mostly linked to an increased likelihood to hold specific occupations rather than increased earnings within occupations. Focusing on English, we also explore the heterogeneity in returns to different levels of proficiency by frequency of English use at work, birth-cohort, education, occupation and rural/urban location. The results are also robust to the endogenous specification of English language skills.

Foreign migrations and new couples in Spain. Nuptiality and Gender Imbalance in the new century

Nuptiality is not a central item in Migration Research now. In the past, especially for American countries, many scholars were really interested in marriages of immigrants, specially knowing the exchanges between different communities; that is, mixed marriages. Here is the Spanish case in nuptiality between foreign and local people.

The Hercynian ore deposits from the Catalonian Coastal Ranges

Many mineralizations, showings and geochemical anomalies have been found in the Hercynian of the Catalonian Coastal Ranges during the last ten years. Many of them are enclosed in the Paleozoic sediments and volcanics and display pre-metamorphic syngenetic characteristics. The lower carboniferous manganese and base meta1 deposits appear to be formed from hydrothermal fluids springing up in the sea floor through active fractures controlling the filling of the basins in a extensional geotectonic setting. Although less evidence and more controversy is available, similar ore forming processes could have taken place in older Paleozoic times. The deformation and metamorphism have not played an important remobilization role, and most epigenetic deposits of Hercynian age are related to the hydrothermal cells induced by the post-metamorphic granitic intrusives.

Foreign trade traps in the european periphery: Spain, 1870-1913

In this article we research into the difficulties that foreign trade imposed onSpanish process of integration into the international economy in the years priorto the First World War. We start out by examining some features of the foreigntrade structure of the country. By means of an econometric analysis of importand export series, it is possible to observe the presence of a trend towards tradedeficit, which was in force when Spain grew at a rate similar to that of itstrading partners. We also check that, in the absence of these compensatorymechanisms, adjustment in foreign payments could be reached by means ofprotective measures and the exchange rate.

Magnetostratigraphy of the Miocene continental deposits of the Montes de Castejón (central Ebro basin, Spain): geochronological and paleoenvironmental implications

A detailed magnetostratigraphic study has been carried out in the early to middle Miocene distal alluvial and lacustrine sediments of the Montes de Castejón (central Ebro Basin). The study was based on the analysis of 196 magnetostratigraphic sites sampled along a stratigraphic interval of about 240 meters. Local magnetostratigraphy yielded a sequence of 12 magnetozones (6 normal and 6 reverse) which could be correlated with the Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale (GPTS) interval C5Cr to C5AD (between 17 and 14.3 Ma.). The sampled sedimentary sequences include the boundary between two tectosedimentary units (TSU, T5 and T6) already defined in the Ebro Basin. The magnetostratigraphy of the Montes de Castejón allows to date the T5/T6 TSU boundary at 16.14 Ma, within chron C5Cn.1n. This magnetostratigraphy also allows us to analyse in detail as well as to discuss the variations in sedimentation rates through space and time between different lacustrine environments: Outer carbonate lacustrine fringes and distal alluvial plains (Montes de Castejón sections) show higher sedimentation rates than offshore lacustrine areas (San Caprasio section, 50 km east of Montes de Castejón).

An inventory of the marine and transitional Middle/Upper Eocene deposits of the Southeastern Pyrenean Foreland Basin (NE Spain)

In the southeastern Ebro Foreland Basin, the marine deposits of Lutetian and Bartonian age show excellent outcrop conditions, with a great lateral and horizontal continuity of lithostratigraphic units. In addition, the rich fossil record -mainly larger foraminifers-, provides biostratigraphic data of regional relevance for the whole Paleogene Pyrenean Basin, that can be used for the Middle Eocene biocorrelation of the western Tethys. This contribution is a sedimentary and biostratigraphic synthesis of the basic outcrops and sections of the Lutetian andBartonian marine and transitional deposits in the southeastern sector of the Ebro Foreland Basin.

Foreign trade traps in the european periphery: Spain, 1870-1913

In this article we research into the difficulties that foreign trade imposed onSpanish process of integration into the international economy in the years priorto the First World War. We start out by examining some features of the foreigntrade structure of the country. By means of an econometric analysis of importand export series, it is possible to observe the presence of a trend towards tradedeficit, which was in force when Spain grew at a rate similar to that of itstrading partners. We also check that, in the absence of these compensatorymechanisms, adjustment in foreign payments could be reached by means ofprotective measures and the exchange rate.