Projective modules over the Gerasimov-Sakhaev counterexample

We investigate the structure of the so-called Gerasimov- Sakhaev counterexample, which is a particular example of a universal localization, and classify (both finitely and infinitely generated) projective modules over it.

Regional value added in Italy over the long run (1891-2001): linking indirect estimates with official figures, and implications

This paper presents value added estimates for the Italian regions, in benchmark years from 1891 until 1951, which are linked to those from official figures available from 1971 in order to offer a long-term picture. Sources and methodology are documented and discussed, whilst regional activity rates and productivity are also presented and compared. Thus some questions are briefly reconsidered: the origins and extent of the north-south divide, the role of migration and regional policy in shaping the pattern of regional inequality, the importance of social capital, and the positioning of Italy in the international debate on regional convergence, where it stands out for the long run persistence of its disparities.

On [summation of 1 raised to the power 1] equivalence relations over the natural numbers

"Vegeu el resum a l'inici del document del fitxer adjunt"

Consumption heterogenity over the business cycle

We study consumption heterogeneity over the business cycle. Using household panel data from 1984 to 2010 in the US we find that the welfare cost of the business cycle is non-negligible, once agents heterogeneity is taken into account, and sums to about 1% of yearly consumption. This is due to the structure of comovements between the different parts of the consumption distribution, in particular the tails are highly volatile and negatively related to each other. We also find that business cycle fluctuations originating from exogenous financial shocks only hit the top end of the consumption distribution and therefore reduce consumption inequality.

Kuranishi type Moduli Spaces for proper CR submersions fibering over the circle

Kuranishi's fundamental result (1962) associates to any compact complex manifold X&sub&0&/sub& a finite-dimensional analytic space which has to be thought of as a local moduli space of complex structures close to X&sub&0&/sub&. In this paper, we give an analogous statement for Levi-flat CR manifolds fibering properly over the circle by describing explicitely an infinite-dimensional Kuranishi type local moduli space of Levi-flat CR structures. We interpret this result in terms of Kodaira-Spencer deformation theory making clear the likenesses as well as the differences with the classical case. The article ends with applications and examples.

Value and depreciation of mineral resources over the very long run: An empirical contrast of different methods

The paper contrasts empirically the results of alternative methods for estimating thevalue and the depreciation of mineral resources. The historical data of Mexico andVenezuela, covering the period 1920s-1980s, is used to contrast the results of severalmethods. These are the present value, the net price method, the user cost method andthe imputed income method. The paper establishes that the net price and the user costare not competing methods as such, but alternative adjustments to different scenariosof closed and open economies. The results prove that the biases of the methods, ascommonly described in the theoretical literature, only hold under the most restrictedscenario of constant rents over time. It is argued that the difference between what isexpected to happen and what actually did happen is for the most part due to a missingvariable, namely technological change. This is an important caveat to therecommendations made based on these models.

Inequality over the business cycle: Estimating income risk using micro-data on consumption

We use CEX repeated cross-section data on consumption and income, to evaluate the nature of increased income inequality in the 1980s and 90s. We decompose unexpected changes in family income into transitory and permanent, and idiosyncratic and aggregate components, and estimate the contribution of each component to total inequality. The model we use is a linearized incomplete markets model, enriched to incorporate risk-sharing while maintaining tractability. Our estimates suggest that taking risk sharing into account is important for the model fit; that the increase in inequality in the 1980s was mainly permanent; and that inequality is driven almost entirely by idiosyncratic income risk. In addition we find no evidence for cyclical behavior of consumption risk, casting doubt on Constantinides and Duffie s (1995) explanation for the equity premium puzzle.

Top income shares in Portugal over the twentieth century

[cat] L’objectiu d’aquest article és presentar nova evidència estadística sobre l’evolució de les desigualtats econòmiques a Portugal a llarg termini. L’explotació de les fonts fiscals portugueses ha permès l’estimació annual de les top income shares des de 1936. La construcció d’aquesta nova sèrie s’ha fet seguint la metodologia emprada per Piketty (2001). Aquesta nova sèrie revela una caiguda de les top income shares durant la Segona Guerra Mundial, seguida d’una recuperació fins a principis dels anys cinquanta. Des de mitjans dels cinquanta fins a principis dels anys vuitanta hi ha una caiguda dràstica de les top income shares. Per acabar, durant els anys noranta les top income shares tornen a augmentar. Aquesta pauta és molt similar a la viscuda en altres països: la reducció de les top income shares durant l’època daurada és compartida per tots els països estudiats i el seu increment als anys noranta sembla que alinea Portugal amb la pauta seguida pels països Anglosaxons.

Top income shares in Portugal over the twentieth century

[cat] L’objectiu d’aquest article és presentar nova evidència estadística sobre l’evolució de les desigualtats econòmiques a Portugal a llarg termini. L’explotació de les fonts fiscals portugueses ha permès l’estimació annual de les top income shares des de 1936. La construcció d’aquesta nova sèrie s’ha fet seguint la metodologia emprada per Piketty (2001). Aquesta nova sèrie revela una caiguda de les top income shares durant la Segona Guerra Mundial, seguida d’una recuperació fins a principis dels anys cinquanta. Des de mitjans dels cinquanta fins a principis dels anys vuitanta hi ha una caiguda dràstica de les top income shares. Per acabar, durant els anys noranta les top income shares tornen a augmentar. Aquesta pauta és molt similar a la viscuda en altres països: la reducció de les top income shares durant l’època daurada és compartida per tots els països estudiats i el seu increment als anys noranta sembla que alinea Portugal amb la pauta seguida pels països Anglosaxons.

GDP and life expectancy in Italy and Spain over the long-run (1861-2008): insights from a timeseries approach

The article presents and discusses long-run series of per capita GDP and life expectancy for Italy and Spain (1861-2008). After refining the available estimates in order to make them comparable and with the avail of the most up-to-date researches, the main changes in the international economy and in technological and sociobiological regimes are used as analytical frameworks to re-assess the performances of the two countries; then structural breaks are searched for and Granger causality between the two variables is investigated. The long-run convergence notwithstanding, significant cyclical differences between the two countries can be detected: Spain began to modernize later in GDP, with higher volatility in life expectancy until recent decades; by contrast, Italy showed a more stable pattern of life expectancy, following early breaks in per capita GDP, but also a negative GDP break in the last decades. Our series confirm that, whereas at the early stages of development differences in GDP tend to mirror those in life expectancy, this is no longer true at later stages of development, when, if any, there seems to be a negative correlation between GDP and life expectancy: this finding is in line with the thesis of a non-monotonic relation between life expectancy and GDP and is supported by tests of Granger causality.

La actividad productiva de la fábrica de harinas “La Montserrat” (Girona) en el año agrícola de 1903-1904 = The Production Activities at the Company Harinera “La Montserrat” (Girona) over the Agricultural Year 1903-1904

Harinera La Montserrat, S.A, a company involved in the manufacturing and trading of cereals and flour, was founded in Girona in 1898 by José Ensesa y Cía., Sociedad en Comandita. With the objective to determine how the product activity of this business was structured, we have studied in detail the operations that were carried out over the agricultural year 1903-1904. We have focused on three main aspects. Firstly, the purchasing of wheat (origin, transportation, prices); secondly, the production of flour (using internal and external wheat, profits); and thirdly, its distribution (customers, destination). Finally, we have analyzed the profit and loos account for this period in order to find out if this business was profitable