Social spending and demographics: The role of public policies in the intergenerational redistribution of income. Empirical evidence from Spain and Catalonia

The demographic shift underway in Southern Europe requires a revision of some of thefundamental principles of the traditional welfare state. We analyze the evolution of several aspects of welfare and social expenditure over the last two decades. We find that in the context of the present demographic changes and real estate boom current social and pension policy leads to a new distribution of benefits and burdens which is highly intergenerationally unequal. We argue for a revised definition of public policy based on Musgrave's proposition as a possible rule for an intergenerationally fair distribution.

Extending the Kuznets Curve

[cat] Les darreres dècades s’han caracteritzat per un intens augment de les desigualtats salarials a nivell mundial. Aquest article allarga la hipòtesi clàssica de la Corba de Kuznets per cobrir les economies post-industrials i tractar d’explicar aquest fenomen. Segons la hipòtesi de la Corba de Kuznets Allargada, les desigualtats salarials podrien evolucionar segons una corba en forma d’N. La U-inverida d’aquesta corba seria deguda al procés de canvi estructural que acompanya a un procés de industrialització. I l’extrem dret de la mateixa, associada al creixement explosiu de la formació de capital humà en les economies modernes i post-industrials. En aquest sentit, els principals candidats per explicar el recent augment de les desigualtats: el canvi tècnic esbiaixat a favor del treball qualificat, la globalització (comerç i migracions) i els factors institucionals, estarien ja incorporats en l’evolució de la composició de la força de treball en termes de qualificacions. La limitada evidència empírica sobre aquest tema, tendeix a donar suport a la Corba de Kuznets Allargada.

Extending the Kuznets Curve

[cat] Les darreres dècades s’han caracteritzat per un intens augment de les desigualtats salarials a nivell mundial. Aquest article allarga la hipòtesi clàssica de la Corba de Kuznets per cobrir les economies post-industrials i tractar d’explicar aquest fenomen. Segons la hipòtesi de la Corba de Kuznets Allargada, les desigualtats salarials podrien evolucionar segons una corba en forma d’N. La U-inverida d’aquesta corba seria deguda al procés de canvi estructural que acompanya a un procés de industrialització. I l’extrem dret de la mateixa, associada al creixement explosiu de la formació de capital humà en les economies modernes i post-industrials. En aquest sentit, els principals candidats per explicar el recent augment de les desigualtats: el canvi tècnic esbiaixat a favor del treball qualificat, la globalització (comerç i migracions) i els factors institucionals, estarien ja incorporats en l’evolució de la composició de la força de treball en termes de qualificacions. La limitada evidència empírica sobre aquest tema, tendeix a donar suport a la Corba de Kuznets Allargada.

La literatura infantil i juvenil: presentació

Temps d'Educació ha volgut dedicar un monogràfic a la literatura infantil i juvenil. Aquesta excel·lent iniciativa arriba en un moment extraordinariament oportú. Precisem ara les línies que justifiquen aquesta oportunitat. D'una banda, assistim a una estabilització del boom editorial deis anys 80. Efectivament, des de mitjan anys 70 la producció de Ilibres per a infants i joves ha experimentat, aquí i arreu, un creixement espectacular. A més de permetre'ns disposar d'una oferta numericament extraordinària i d'una possibilitat de tria molt interessant, ha representat la familiarització amb llibres, corrents literaris, autors i estils molt diversos. Això, especialment a casa nostra, suposa un bon pas cap a la normalització del sector i l'abandó d'un cert pionerisme. I també la consolidació d'una literatura que ja ningú no pot anomenar residual o minoritaria, aïllada deis habituals sistemes de producció o imposició en el mercat. Ha arribat el moment de reflexionar-hi, de destriar, de crear les eines crítiques sobre tot aquest fenomen.

Poverty and living arrangements among youth in Spain, 1980-2005

One of the most relevant demographic events in Spain from a recent historical perspective was the baby boom of the 1960s and 1970s. The “adapting to circumstances” of these generations of youth and their families through delayed emancipation and childbearing has been key in preventing a decline in their economic status. The results show that the reduction of the poverty risk among non-emancipated youth for the period 1980-2005 is explained by the fact that an increasing number of young Spaniards live with two employed parents. Thus, emancipation delay is found most in those families that can best afford it. Furthermore, the salaries of young workers remaining in the parental home have become an important factor in reducing their family poverty risk. On the other hand, fertility decline is readily explained by the economic difficulties young couples encounter in sustaining their offspring

Formats radifònics "tot-notícies" a l'Estat Espanyol : naixement i consolidació de "Catalunya Informacio"(1992-1997)

Fa 20 anys que la ràdio española gaudeix de la libertad informativa que li va ser negada durant la dictadura. En aquests 20 anys, l’evolució del macro-gènere información ens ha portat des de l’anomenat “boom de la ràdio informativa” fins al naixement, al nostre país, de les primeres emissores dedicades íntegrament a la información, en primer lloc, Catalunya Informació, i més tard, Radio 5 Todo Noticias. El que pretenem amb aquest estudié s tractar del naixement i la consolidació del primer format radiofònic informatiu, un format sobre el qual no hi ha encara gaires referències bibliogràfiques.

Partial correlation : Network analysis

The final year project came to us as an opportunity to get involved in a topic which has appeared to be attractive during the learning process of majoring in economics: statistics and its application to the analysis of economic data, i.e. econometrics.Moreover, the combination of econometrics and computer science is a very hot topic nowadays, given the Information Technologies boom in the last decades and the consequent exponential increase in the amount of data collected and stored day by day. Data analysts able to deal with Big Data and to find useful results from it are verydemanded in these days and, according to our understanding, the work they do, although sometimes controversial in terms of ethics, is a clear source of value added both for private corporations and the public sector. For these reasons, the essence of this project is the study of a statistical instrument valid for the analysis of large datasets which is directly related to computer science: Partial Correlation Networks.The structure of the project has been determined by our objectives through the development of it. At first, the characteristics of the studied instrument are explained, from the basic ideas up to the features of the model behind it, with the final goal of presenting SPACE model as a tool for estimating interconnections in between elements in large data sets. Afterwards, an illustrated simulation is performed in order to show the power and efficiency of the model presented. And at last, the model is put into practice by analyzing a relatively large data set of real world data, with the objective of assessing whether the proposed statistical instrument is valid and useful when applied to a real multivariate time series. In short, our main goals are to present the model and evaluate if Partial Correlation Network Analysis is an effective, useful instrument and allows finding valuable results from Big Data.As a result, the findings all along this project suggest the Partial Correlation Estimation by Joint Sparse Regression Models approach presented by Peng et al. (2009) to work well under the assumption of sparsity of data. Moreover, partial correlation networks are shown to be a very valid tool to represent cross-sectional interconnections in between elements in large data sets.The scope of this project is however limited, as there are some sections in which deeper analysis would have been appropriate. Considering intertemporal connections in between elements, the choice of the tuning parameter lambda, or a deeper analysis of the results in the real data application are examples of aspects in which this project could be completed.To sum up, the analyzed statistical tool has been proved to be a very useful instrument to find relationships that connect the elements present in a large data set. And after all, partial correlation networks allow the owner of this set to observe and analyze the existing linkages that could have been omitted otherwise.

Nuevas profesiones periodísticas digitales

El present treball final de carrera té com a objecte analitzar el perfil i les condicions laborals de les noves professions periodístiques digitals, i fer una comparació d’aquestes amb les de les professions tradicionals en mitjans de comunicació i en comunicació corporativa mitjançant la realització d’enquestes a treballadors d’aquestes tres àrees. La finalitat es saber quin panorama es trobaran els llicenciats en periodisme en el futur, veure com han canviat aquestes feines respecte fa alguns anys en que el boom de les noves tecnologies i xarxes socials no era tan patent com és ara, i també veure com ha influït el context de crisi que travessa el país.

Distribuição volumétrica e espectro de gotas de pontas de pulverização de baixa deriva

Objetivou-se neste trabalho avaliar a distribuição volumétrica e o espectro de gotas das pontas de pulverização de baixa deriva TTI110015, AI110015 e AVI11001 sob diferentes condições operacionais. A distribuição volumétrica foi determinada em bancada de ensaios padronizada analisando o coeficiente de variação (CV%) de uma barra simulada em computador, utilizando pressões de 200, 300 e 400 kPa, altura de 30, 40 e 50 cm em relação à bancada e espaçamento entre pontas de 40 a 100 cm. O espectro de gotas foi produzido utilizando-se apenas água como calda em um analisador de partículas em meio aquoso, nas pressões de 200, 300 e 400 kPa. Foram avaliados o DMV, a porcentagem de gotas com diâmetro inferior a 100 µm (%100 µm) e a amplitude relativa (AR). As pontas proporcionaram perfil descontínuo nas pressões de 300 e 400 kPa e uniforme a 200 kPa. Na pressão de 200 kPa, as pontas foram adequadas apenas para aplicação em faixa, e a 300 e 400 kPa, apenas para área total. Ocorreu menor CV (abaixo de 7%) com a maior pressão de trabalho e menor espaçamento entre pontas. À medida que se aumentou a pressão de trabalho, reduziu-se o DMV. As pontas TTI110015 e AI110015 em todas as pressões e a ponta AVI11001 na pressão de 200 kPa produziram gotas extremamente grossas e gotas grossas nas pressões de 300 e 400 kPa apenas para a ponta AVI11001. As pontas proporcionaram baixos valores de amplitude relativa (AR) e gotas de tamanho uniforme, bem como produziram baixa porcentagem de gotas menores que 100 µm, principalmente TTI110015 e AI110015, com menor risco de deriva.

Comparative genomics of Hedgehog loci in chordates and the origin of Shh regulatory novelties

The origin and evolution of the complex regulatory landscapes of some vertebrate developmental genes, often spanning hundreds of Kbp and including neighboring genes, remain poorly understood. The Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) genomic regulatory block (GRB) is one of the best functionally characterized examples, with several discrete enhancers reported within its introns, vast upstream gene-free region and neighboring genes (Lmbr1 and Rnf32). To investigate the origin and evolution of this GRB, we sequenced and characterized the Hedgehog (Hh) loci from three invertebrate chordate amphioxus species, which share several early expression domains with Shh. Using phylogenetic footprinting within and between chordate lineages, and reporter assays in zebrafish probing >30 Kbp of amphioxus Hh, we report large sequence and functional divergence between both groups. In addition, we show that the linkage of Shh to Lmbr1 and Rnf32, necessary for the unique gnatostomate-specific Shh limb expression, is a vertebrate novelty occurred between the two whole-genome duplications.