Incid��ncia de l���entorn educatiu, familiar i social en les actituds ling����stiques i identit��ries dels joves d���origen xin��s i llatinoameric�� a Catalunya

From an interdisciplinary perspective, the present investigation undertaken by the GREILI-UPF research group has expanded a previous study aiming at explaining how young secondary school students of Latin American and Chinese origin in Catalonia construct their linguistic and cultural identity. Here we analyze the relationship between these youngsters and their social environment in order to determine how these relationships and the socialization process that derives from them influence language attitudes and practices. We focus on two spaces of socialization: (1) the school, where youngsters from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds coexist and interact, and (2) the neighborhood, a geographic and symbolic space where social identity is constructed and, consequently, where young newcomers construct their perceptions regarding the host society, including its linguistic reality. We have collected several sets of data in three public secondary schools and three neighborhoods from Barcelona���s metropolitan area with a high index of immigrant population: (1) interviews with secondary school students, (2) interviews with teachers, (3) social discourses in newspapers that consolidate the social image of the neighborhood, (4) narratives from immigrant families in relation to their neighborhood, (5) participant observation in schools, and (5) observation in the neighborhood. The results of the thematic and, when appropriate, discursive analysis of the data allow us to reach conclusions regarding: (a) the social image of the neighborhoods, (b) the socialization of young newcomers in the schools and the neighborhoods, (c) the identity games, and (d) the language and cultural practices and attitudes of young people, in relation to their countries and languages of origin as well as the school and the neighborhood investigated.

An��lisi s��cio-demogr��fica del reagrupament familiar a Catalunya 2004-2010

Aquest treball parteix de l���an��lisi de les dades sobre informes d���adequaci�� de l���habitatge per a l���obtenci�� d���una autoritzaci�� de reagrupament familiar realitzats per l���Ajuntament de Barcelona des de 2005 fins 2009, i del registre administratiu de les sol���licituds de reagrupament familiar presentades a les quatre subdelegacions del Govern a Catalunya des de 2004 fins 2010. Per a procedir a la seva an��lisi s���ha hagut de fer un important treball de depuraci��, harmonitzaci�� i anonimitzaci�� d���unes dades procedents de registres administratius no pensades per la seva explotaci�� estad��stica. L���an��lisi demogr��fica ha posat en relleu la import��ncia dels rols de g��nere en les estrat��gies familiars que acabaran conformant el perfil sociodemogr��fic tant de les persones reagrupades com de les reagrupadores. Tamb�� s���ha pogut veure com no hi ha una relaci�� directa entre les persones estrangeres residents en cada municipi i les pautes de reagrupament familiar. La davallada del reagrupament familiar ��s deguda en bona part a la crisi econ��mica, no obstant per a entendre la seva evoluci�� en conjunt cal tenir en compte a m��s els factors legislatius (la Normalitzaci�� del 2005 que explica el creixement de 2006 i 2007, per�� tamb�� l���entrada dels romanesos a la UE en 2007), aix�� com la pr��pia din��mica familiar de la poblaci�� immigrada, amb un esgotament del potencial reagrupadors per a les nacionalitats que precisament protagonitzaren el boom migratori (llatinoamericans). La legislaci�� en mat��ria de reagrupament familiar s���ha basat en tres principis que han tingut un efecte indubtable i de vegades contrari a l���esperat: 1) la discriminaci�� entre raons econ��miques i familiars en les migracions; 2) La restricci�� del dret de reagrupar a la definici�� nuclear de la fam��lia; i, 3) L���assumpci�� de la formaci�� pre-migrat��ria de la fam��lia a reagrupar. Els resultats d���aquest informe aporten indicis que aquesta aproximaci�� aprior��stica ha tingut efectes perversos, comen��ant pel volum considerable de reagrupacions de facto.

La Fundaci��n Pere Tarr��s, una propuesta para el Tiempo libre familiar

La sociedad cada vez separa m��s a los padres de los hijos; m��s all�� de los problemas de estructuraci��n familiar y los nuevos modelos de familias, la realidad de trabajo del d��a a d��a, las jornadas largas de trabajo, el hecho de tener que hacer dos trabajos al mismo tiempo, pero tambi��n el concepto que tenemos de los valores y la ��tica que somos capaces de adquirir y creer, imposibilitan a menudo la convivencia entre padres e hijos. La Fundaci��n Pere Tarr��s hace unos a��os que desarrolla acciones y propuestas en este sentido, que se adapten a las nuevas realidades, y ofrece sus recursos y capital humano, para hacer posible unas vacaciones familiares en estos tiempos tan complejos que nos toca vivir

Studying the micro-angels approach to micro-investment decisions

Purpose: The paper analyzes the micro-angels investment behaviour, looking both to the criteria used in the selection of their investment projects and to the characteristics of their guidance role during the investment period. Design/Methodology/Approach: The paper focuses on a double bottom line movement of French micro-angels clubs that has been operating since 1983. Our primary source of data is an online survey carried out during March 2012, asking members of clubs all over France for different aspects of their procedures. Findings: Our findings suggest that micro-angels are interested in small, socially or environmentally friendly projects having the potential to contribute to the development of their neighbourhood. We find that women are even more interested than men in such projects. Educated micro-angels value entrepreneurial motivation and understanding of the project more than less-educated micro-angels. We also point out the factors that micro-angels consider important in accompanying enterprises. Here we find that gender makes little difference. However, retired micro-angels value financial diagnosis made conjointly with entrepreneurs, while both active micro-angels and educated micro-angels value more the use of their network to help micro-entrepreneurs. Practical/Social Implications: Given the potential benefits of micro-angels investing and guiding the development of micro-enterprises, a social micro-angel investment on a major scale in developing countries could help in tackling some of the problems faced by the development of microfinance, such as the over-indebtedness of micro-entrepreneurs. Practitioners and new initiatives would gain from understanding what adaptations need to be made. Originality/value: We expect to add to the venture capital theory to take into account non-economic motives.

Women's work histories in Italy: education as investment in reconciliation and legitimacy?

Within pre-enlargement Europe, Italy records one of the widest employment rate gaps between highly and poorly educated women, as well one of the largest differences in the share, among working women, of public sector employment. Building on these stylized facts and using the Longitudinal Survey of Italian Households (ILFI), we investigate the working trajectories of three cohorts of Italian women born between 1935 and 1964 and observed from their first job until they are in their forties. We use mainly, but not exclusively, event history analysis in order to identify the main factors that influence entry into and exit from paid work over the life course. Our results suggest that in the Italian context, where employment protection policies have also been used as surrogate measures to favour reconciliation between family and work, and where traditional gender norms still persist, education is so important for women's employment decisions because it represents an investment in 'reconciliation' and 'work legitimacy' over and above investment in human capital.

Children in the welfare state. A social investment approach

Children occupy centre-stage in any new welfare equilibrium. Failure to support families may produce either of two undesirable scenarios. We shall see a society without children if motherhood remains incompatible with work. A new family policy needs to recognize that children are a collective asset and that the cost of having children is rising. The double challenge is to eliminate the constraints on having children in the first place, and to ensure that the children we have are ensured optimal opportunities. The simple reason why a new social contract is called for is that fertility and child quality combine both private utility and societal gains. And like no other epoch in the past, the societal gains are mounting all-the-while that families��� ability to produce these social gains is weakening.In the following 1 analyze the twin challenges of fertility and child development. I then examine which kind of policy mix will ensure both the socially desired level of fertility and investment in our children? The task is to identify a Paretian optimum that will maximize efficiency gains and social equity simultaneously.

La continu��tat en l'empresa familiar

���L���empresa familiar, l���avi la crea, el fill la fa cr��ixer i el n��t se la fa petar�����s el net l�����nic responsable de l���alta taxa de mortalitat de les empreses familiars a Catalunya?Existeixen altres factors i causes que fan que la continu��tat sigui un dels majors mals de capdels empresaris?Est�� comprovat que el per��ode de la successi�� ��s per aquestes empreses el m��s conflictiu...No seria doncs m��s f��cil que exist��s una f��rmula miraculosa, que pogu��s garantir el pas degeneraci�� en generaci��?La resposta ��s la principal meta d���aquest estudi. Matem��ticament es pot sintetitzar amb unas��rie ordenada de factors:Continu��tat = previsi�� + (informaci��)2 + successor + mecanismes + instruments + (competitivitat)2 =��xit GarantitCal tenir en compte que cada empresa ��s un m��n, aix�� que cada factor adquireix un valordiferent en cada cas. Ser�� millor un bon successor o una bona organitzaci��? ��simprescindible elaborar un protocol familiar? ��s nom��s v��lid que els fills portin l���empresa ocabria la possibilitat de professionalitzar-la?De la mateixa manera que existeixen diferents causes que deriven a la mort d���una empresafamiliar hi ha diferents camins per sobreviure.

Financing Constraints, Irreversibility, and Investment Dynamics

We develop a model of an industry with many heterogeneous firms that face both financing constraints and irreversibility constraints. The financing constraint implies that firms cannot borrow unless the debt is secured by collateral; the irreversibility constraint that they can only sell their fixed capital by selling their business. We use this model to examine the cyclical behavior of aggregate fixed investment, variable capital investment, and output in the presence of persistent idiosyncratic and aggregate shocks. Our model yields three main results. First, the effect of the irreversibility constraint on fixed capital investment is reinforced by the financing constraint. Second, the effect of the financing constraint on variable capital investment is reinforced by the irreversibility constraint. Finally, the interaction between the two constraints is key for explaining why input inventories and material deliveries of US manufacturing firms are so volatile and procyclical, and also why they are highly asymmetrical over the business cycle.

Firm-Specific Investment, Sticky Prices, and the Taylor Principle

According to the Taylor principle a central bank should adjust the nominal interest rate by more than one-for-one in response to changes in current inflation. Most of the existing literature supports the view that by following this simple recommendation a central bank can avoid being a source of unnecessary fluctuations in economic activity. The present paper shows that this conclusion is not robust with respect to the modelling of capital accumulation. We use our insights to discuss the desirability of alternative interest rate rules. Our results suggest a reinterpretation of monetary policy under Volcker and Greenspan: The empirically plausible characterization of monetary policy can explain the stabilization of macroeconomic outcomes observed in the early eighties for the US economy. The Taylor principle in itself cannot.

Credit Constraints, Firms' Precautionary Investment, and the Business Cycle

This paper studies the macroeconomic implications of firms' precautionary investment behavior in response to the anticipation of future financing constraints. Firms increase their demand for liquid and safe investments in order to alleviate future borrowing constraints and decrease the probability of having to forego future profitable investment opportunities. This results in an increase in the share of short-term projects that produces a temporary increase in output, at the expense of lower long-run investment and future output. I show in a calibrated model that this behavior is at the source of a novel and powerful channel of shock transmission of productivity shocks that produces short-run dampening and long-run propagation. Furthermore, it can account for the observed business cycle patterns of the aggregate and firm-level composition of investment.

A Model of Collateral, Investment, and Adverse Selection

This paper characterizes the relationship between entrepreneurial wealth and aggregate investment under adverse selection. Its main finding is that such a relationship need not be monotonic. In particular, three results emerge from the analysis: (i) pooling equilibria, in which investment is independent of entrepreneurial wealth, are more likely to arise when entrepreneurial wealth is relatively low; (ii) separating equilibria, in which investment is increasing in entrepreneurial wealth, are most likely to arise when entrepreneurial wealth is relatively high and; (iii) for a given interest rate, an increase in entrepreneurial wealth may generate a discontinuous fall in investment.

The impact of investment in education on economic development: Spain in comparative perspective (1860-2000)

Throughout the 19th century and until the mid-20th century, in terms of long-terminvestment in human capital and, above all, in education, Spain lagged far behind theinternational standards and, more specifically, the levels attained by its neighbours inEurope. In 1900, only 55% of the population could read; in 1950, the figure was 93%.This no doubt contributed to a pattern of slower economic growth in which thephysical strength required for agricultural work, measured here through height, had alarger impact than education on economic growth. It was not until the 1970s, with thearrival of democracy, that the Spanish education system was modernized and theinfluence of education on economic growth increased.

Insider Trading and Real Investment

In this paper I analyze the effects of insider trading on real investmentand the insurance role of financial markets. There is a single entrepreneurwho, at a first stage, chooses the level of investment in a risky business.At the second stage, an asset with random payoff is issued and then the entrepreneurreceives some privileged information on the likely realization of productionreturn. At the third stage, trading occurs on the asset market, where theentrepreneur faces the aggregate demand coming from a continuum of rationaluniformed traders and some noise traders. I compare the equilibrium withinsider trading (when the entrepreneur trades on her inside information in theasset market) with the equilibrium in the same market without insider trading. Ifind that permitting insider trading tends to decrease the level of realinvestment. Moreover, the asset market is thinner and the entrepreneur's netsupply of the asset and the hedge ratio are lower, although the asset priceis more informative and volatile.

Economic growth and investment in the Arab world

This paper analyses the economic growth performance in the Arab world overthe last forty years. The Arab world has managed to reduce povertyperformance despite its relatively disappointing growth performance. Werelate this poor performance of both oil and non-oil producers toinvestment. Contrary to widespread belief, we do not find evidence that lowquantity of investment is the main of low growth. The decline in theinvestment rate followed rather than preceded the reduction in the aggregategrowth rate. We conclude that the low quality of investment projects is thekey determinant of growth. The excessive reliance on public investment, thelow quality of financial institutions, the bad business environment (due topolitical and social instability and to excessive public intervention andoverregulation) and the low quality of human capital are importantdeterminants of systematically unproductive investment decisions and, thus,low economic growth.