The First World War and coal trade geography in Latin America and the Caribbean (1890-1930)

This paper aims to illustrate the dynamics of coal trade between Latin America and its main trade partners, i.e. the USA, Great Britain and Germany, before and after the enormous disruption caused by the First World War. The coal trade was used as an indicator of modernization for Latin American countries, given that oil was at that time of secondary importance. Energy imports have determined the possibilities of each Latin American country in its process of development. Here we address this question and place special emphasis on supply channels, concluding that the trade link with main suppliers was of key significance. Although this was very clear by the end of the period, the process had started well before the First World War, at least for the majority of LA&C countries. These points are developed through a gravity model applied to the bilateral coal trade. The importance of the market supplier share is addressed through cluster methodologies.

Cotton manufacturers as bankers: the textile trade and credit in spain, 1840-1913

[cat] La historiografia ha assenyalat que en el segle XIX el crèdit que els fabricants cotoners catalans oferien als seus clients era de caràcter informal i, per tant, impossible de ser transferit al sistema bancari. Això hauria tingut un efecte negatiu en la rendibilitat de les empreses cotoneres. A partir de l’anàlisi de diversos arxius empresarials, així com de fonts judicials i notarials, aquest treball confirma aquesta descripció dels fets però proposa una interpretació més optimista. Els fabricants feien de banquers dels seus clients perquè eren els millor situats per a exercir aquesta funció. Havien construït una bona estructura d’informació, gestionaven eficientment el risc creditici i obtenien beneficis d’aquesta activitat.

European integration, FDI and the internal geography of trade : evidence from Western European border regions

In this paper we use a gravity model to study the trade performance of French and Spanishborder regions relatively to non-border regions, over the past two decades. We find that,controlling for their size, proximity and location characteristics, border regions trade onaverage between 62% and 193% more with their neighbouring country than other regions,and twice as much if they are endowed with good cross border transport infrastructures.Despite European integration, however, this trade outperformance has fallen for the mostperipheral regions within the EU. We show that this trend was linked in part to a shift in the propensity of foreign investors to move their affiliates from the regions near their home market to the regions bordering the EU core.

Financial Integration, Trade Openness and International Transmission

[cat] Com afecten l’obertura comercial i financera a la volatilitat macroeconòmica? La literatura existent, tant empírica com teòrica, no ha assolit encara un consens. Aquest article usa un model microfonamentat de dos països simètrics amb entrada endògena d’empreses per estudiar-ho. L’anàlisis es du a terme per tres règims econòmics diferents amb diferents nivells d’integració internacional: una economia tancada, una autarquia financera i una integració plena. Es consideren diversos nivells d’obertura comercial, en forma de biaix domèstic de la demanda i l’economia pot patir pertorbacions en la productivitat del treball i en innovació. El model conclou que la incertesa macroeconòmica, representada principalment per la volatilitat del consum, la producció i la relació real d’intercanvi internacional, depèn del grau d’obertura i del tipus de pertorbació.

Trade policy and regional inequalities

This paper aims to analyse the effects of trade policies in the pattern of regional inequalities within a country. Inspired firstly, by the debate concerning the role of protectionist policies in the settlement of a pattern of striking regional inequalities in the Spanish industrialisation process and secondly, by current evidence of an increase in these inequalities following the entry of Spain in the EU (1986), we set a model that shows that trade liberalisation increases regional inequalities.

Roman amphora trade across the Straits of Gibraltar: An ancient 'anti-economic practice'?

Summary. Olive oil and fish products from the south of Hispania and North Africa played an important role in the Roman economy. The authors call attention to the asymmetrical distribution of archaeological data available on this subject, in particular the location of amphora kilns, and try to give an explanation, based on the evolution of European archaeology in the twentieth century.

Fruit and seed morphology of Euphorbia aggr. flavicoma. Taxonomic implications

Capsula and seed morphology of W. European species of Euphorbia aggr. flavicoma has been studied. A total of 1500 seeds coming from 13 taxa have been investigated under light microscope, scanning electron microscope and binocular stereoscope. Data were processed by multivariate analysis and the corresponding dendrogram is presented. At de end of the paper, a key is presented allowing to the separation of taxa down to the species level.

Ursinia nana (Anthemideae, Asteraceae), and adventive from South Africa which is becoming naturalized in the Iberian Peninsula. Observations about its reproductive biology and fruit dispersal mechanism.

The presence of Ursinia nana, an Anthemideae of South-African origin which has been introduced into the NE Iberian Peninsula, is reported for the fi rst time in Europe. The data offered cover its precise location, morphology, chromosome number, ecology and a population census, as well as its life cycle, fl oral structure, reproductive biology and fruit dispersal mechanisms. Of special note are the clear predominance of autogamy (geitonogamy) over xenogamy as a reproductive system and the large number of fruits produced with high and immediate germinative capacity. These characteristics permit rapid colonization by the introduced species, which can become invasive. However, fruit predation by the ant Messor barbarus points to a natural mechanism that helps regulate population growth and makes biological control possible. Finally its possibilities of expansion in the colonized area and of naturalization in the NE Iberian Peninsula are assessed.

El marmor de Tarraco. Explotació, utilització i comercialització de la pedra de Santa Tecla en època romana Tarraco marmor. The Quarrying, Use and Trade of Santa Tecla Stone in Roman Times

Aquest és el llibre més complet que hi ha sobre la pedra de Santa Tecla i el llisós, dos materials procedents de Tarragona i molt utilitzats en època romana. Els autors, arqueòlegs i geòlegs, caracteritzen aquestes dues varietats i presenten el panorama de les seves aplicacions, i també donen pautes per identificar-les i diferenciar-les d’altres pedres que s’hi podrien confondre, com la “portasanta” o la pedra de Buixcarró.

The global welfare impact of China: Trade integration and technological change

This paper evaluates the global welfare impact of China's trade integration and technological change in a multi-country quantitative Ricardian-Heckscher-Ohlin model.We simulate two alternative growth scenarios: a "balanced" one in which China's productivity grows at the same rate in each sector, and an "unbalanced" one in whichChina's comparative disadvantage sectors catch up disproportionately faster to theworld productivity frontier. Contrary to a well-known conjecture (Samuelson 2004),the large majority of countries experience significantly larger welfare gains whenChina's productivity growth is biased towards its comparative disadvantage sectors.This finding is driven by the inherently multilateral nature of world trade.

Evaluation of an electronic nose to assess fruit ripeness

The main goal of our study was to see whether an artificial olfactory system can be used as a nondestructive instrument to measure fruit maturity. In order to make an objective comparison, samples measured with our electronic nose prototype were later characterized using fruit quality techniques. The cultivars chosen for the study were peaches, nectarines, apples, and pears. With peaches and nectarines, a PCA analysis on the electronic nose measurements helped to guess optimal harvest dates that were in good agreement with the ones obtained with fruit quality techniques. A good correlation between sensor signals and some fruit quality indicators was also found. With pears, the study addressed the possibility of classifying samples regarding their ripeness state after different cold storage and shelf-life periods. A PCA analysis showed good separation between samples measured after a shelf-life period of seven days and samples with four or less days. Finally, the electronic nose monitored the shelf-life ripening of apples. A good correlation between electronic nose signals and firmness, starch index, and acidity parameters was found. These results prove that electronic noses have the potential of becoming a reliable instrument to assess fruit ripeness.

Innovative LIDAR 3D dynamic measurement system to estimate fruit-tree leaf area

In this work, a LIDAR-based 3D Dynamic Measurement System is presented and evaluated for the geometric characterization of tree crops. Using this measurement system, trees were scanned from two opposing sides to obtain two three-dimensional point clouds. After registration of the point clouds, a simple and easily obtainable parameter is the number of impacts received by the scanned vegetation. The work in this study is based on the hypothesis of the existence of a linear relationship between the number of impacts of the LIDAR sensor laser beam on the vegetation and the tree leaf area. Tests performed under laboratory conditions using an ornamental tree and, subsequently, in a pear tree orchard demonstrate the correct operation of the measurement system presented in this paper. The results from both the laboratory and field tests confirm the initial hypothesis and the 3D Dynamic Measurement System is validated in field operation. This opens the door to new lines of research centred on the geometric characterization of tree crops in the field of agriculture and, more specifically, in precision fruit growing.

Optimal capital structure: a trade-off model and its empirical testing

In the present research we have set forth a new, simple, Trade-Off model that would allow us to calculate how much debt and, by default, how much equity a company should have, using easily available information and calculating the cost of debt dynamically on the basis of the effect that the capital structure of the company has on the risk of bankruptcy; in an attempt to answer this question. The proposed model has been applied to the companies that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) in 2007. We have used consolidated financial data from 1996 to 2006, published by Bloomberg. We have used simplex optimization method to find the debt level that maximizes firm value. Then, we compare the estimated debt with real debt of companies using statistical nonparametric Mann-Whitney. The results indicate that 63% of companies do not show a statistically significant difference between the real and the estimated debt.

The First World War and Coal Trade Geography in Latin America and the Caribbean, 1890-1930

This paper aims to illustrate the dynamics of coal trade between Latin America and its main trade partners, i.e., the USA, Great Britain, and Germany, before and after the enormous disruption caused by the First World War. The coal trade was used as an indicator of modernization for Latin American countries, given that oil was at that time of secondary importance. Energy imports have determined the possibilities of each Latin American country in its process of development. Here, we address this question and place special emphasis on supply channels, concluding that the trade link with main suppliers was of key significance. Although this was very clear by the end of the period, the process had started well before the First World War, at least for the majority of LA&C countries. These points are developed through a gravity model applied to the bilateral coal trade. The importance of the market supplier share is addressed through cluster methodologies.