Judges' cognition and market order

We argue that during the crystallization of common and civil law in the 19th century, the optimal degree of discretion in judicial rulemaking, albeit influenced by the comparative advantages of both legislative and judicial rulemaking, was mainly determined by the anti-market biases of the judiciary. The different degrees of judicial discretion adopted in both legal traditions were thus optimally adapted to different circumstances, mainly rooted in the unique, market-friendly, evolutionary transition enjoyed by English common law as opposed to the revolutionary environment of the civil law. On the Continent, constraining judicial discretion was essential for enforcing freedom of contract and establishing a market economy. The ongoing debasement of pro-market fundamentals in both branches of the Western legal system is explained from this perspective as a consequence of increased perceptions of exogenous risks and changes in the political system, which favored the adoption of sharing solutions and removed the cognitive advantage of parliaments and political leaders.

Multinationals, technology networks and international takeovers

We formulate a knowlegde--based model of direct investment through mergers and acquisitions. M&As are realized to create comparative advantages by exploiting international synergies and appropriating local technology spillovers requiring geographical proximity, but can also represent a strategic response to the presence of a multinational rival. The takeover fee paid tends to increase with the strength of local spillovers which can thus work against multinationalization. Seller's bargaining power increases the takeover fee, but does not influence the investment decision. We characterize losers and winners from multinationalization, and show that foreign investment stimulates research but could result in a synergy trap reducing multinationals' profits.

The Spanish cadet in the European military context a comparative analysis of the professional socialisation

Research on the attitudes, motivations and social and political behavior of European cadets have been made throughout the last decade. Nowadays Spain also joins those surveys. Thru the analysis of polling data, we can consider the different attitudes of Spanish cadets in relation with the other European ones. The conclusion is that although the Spanish political transition to democracy has not ended already in the military teaching system, there are a lot of similarities among Spanish and European cadets.

Negotiation advantages of professional associations in health care

In several instances, third-party payers negotiate prices of health care services with providers. We show that a third-party payer may prefer to deal with a professional association than with the sub-set constituted by the more efficient providers, and then apply the same price to all providers. The reason for it is the increase in the bargaining position of providers. The more efficient providers are also the ones with higher profits in the event of negotiation failure. This allows them to ext act a higher surplus from the third-party payer.

Payments for environmental services in watersheds: insights from a comparative study of three cases in Central America

We have compared three cases of payments for water-related environmental services (PES) in Central America, in terms of socioeconomic background, opportunity costs of forest conservation and stakeholders’ perceptions on the conditions of water resources and other issues. We found that, in general, the foregone benefits from land uses alternative to forest cover are larger than the amount paid, which apparently contradicts the economic foundation of PES schemes. A number of possible explanations are explored. The results also suggest that trade-offs between different environmental and social goals are likely to emerge in PES schemes, posing some doubts on their ability to be multipurpose instruments for environmental improvement and rural development. We also found that PES schemes may work as a conflictresolution instrument, facilitating downstream -upstream problem solving, though at the same time they might introduce changes in social perceptions of property rights.

Toward a comparative analysis of coming and going verbs in Spanish, German, and Polish

This work deals with coming and going verbs in three typologically distinct languages: a Romance one (Spanish), a Germanic one (German) and a Slavic one (Polish) within Fillmore`s (1966, 1971, 1975, 1982, 1983) framework. On the grounds of data description it is shown that visible linguistic phenomena, such as deixis or Aktionsart related clearly to the coming and going verbs, can be transcended, resorting to the more abstract notion called by the author, following Winston (1987) and Speas and Tenny (2003), “viewpoint”.

Natural Capital's perception by Kodagu communities: a comparative study (Karnataka, India)

When we ask ourselves about a concrete definition of “Natural Capital” we can find a large and wide range of conceptions, which are attached to it. These can turn out to be confusing and contradictory in some cases. In theory, through books and different studies we know natural resources are composed by all the natural actives originated by the nature itself. Besides, these conform a patrimony for society as them are translated into a path towards economy: The Natural Capital. May not the Natural Capital be an easy conception to put in terms of economy it turns out to be an important capacitor for economy growth in most countries. In any case, we can clearly distinguish two ways as Natural Capital can be seen. One may elaborate a definition about it by reading what others have previously written, those who usually are quite far from the direct use of natural resources. On the other hand it would also be interesting to conform a definition of it by asking people who are constantly in contact with natural resources and consequently contribute to form the Natural Capital.

Les Partis de défense paysanne dans les pays de l’Europe germanique : étude politologique historique et comparative

Contribution à une meilleure connaissance des partis paysans des pays de l’Europe germanique, exposant sur un mode diachronique leur naissance et leur devenir historique, pour finir précisant, dans une optique comparatiste, quelles sont leurs spécificités communes et les déterminants causaux de leur émergence dans cette partie du continent européen.

The Peace Processes in the Basque Country and Northern Ireland (1994-2006): a Comparative Approach

The peace process in Northern Ireland demonstrates that new sovereignty formulas need to be explored in order to meet the demands of the populations and territories in conflict. The profound transformation of the classic symbolic elements of the nation-state within the context of the European Union has greatly contributed to the prospects for a resolution of this old conflict. Today’s discussions are focused on the search for instruments of shared sovereignty that are adapted to a complex and plural social reality. This new approach for finding a solution to the Irish conflict is particularly relevant to the Basque debate about formulating creative and modern solutions to similar conflicts over identity and sovereignty. The notion of shared sovereignty implemented in Northern Ireland –a formula for complex interdependent relations– is of significant relevance to the broader international community and is likely to become an increasingly potent and transcendent model for conflict resolution and peace building.

Law and the practise of principle in diverse societies

Projecte de recerca elaborat a partir d’una estada a la London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom, entre 2007 i 2009. L’objecte principal del projecte ha estat analitzar les implicacions jurídico-polítiques i institucionals d’una teoria de la justícia i la igualtat liberals aplicada a societats multiculturals amb un marcat predomini de la diversitat cultural. L’anàlisi desenvolupa una línia d'investigació interdisciplinar - entre el dret i la teoria política - iniciada en una tesis doctoral sobre multiculturalisme i drets de les minories culturals (UPF, 2000) que va culminar en la publicació de Group Rights as Human Rights (Springer, 2006). La recerca adopta com a punt de partida les conclusions de l'esmentada obra, en especial, la rellevància del reconeixement de drets col•lectius; tanmateix, el tipus de qüestions plantejades, l’enfoc i la metodologia emprades són substancialment diferents. En concret, s'adrecen preguntes específiques sobre el model i aspiracions del constitucionalisme democràtic i el paper del dret en contextos multiculturals. També s’atorga un pes central a la dimensió institucional dels models de gestió de la diversitat que s’analitzen, prioritzant un enfocament comparatiu a partir de l’estudi de controvèrsies concretes. L’objectiu és superar algunes limitacions importants de la literatura actual, com ara la tendència a examinar en abstracte la compatibilitat de determinades demandes amb el constitucionalisme democràtic, sense abordar el funcionament d'estratègies de gestió de la diversitat cultural emprades en contextos concrets. Els treballs producte d'aquest projecte articulen les línies bàsiques d’un model pluralista, basat en principis més que en regles, que desafia els plantejaments dominants actualment. Aquest model es caracteritza pel compromís amb la legitimitat i igualtat comparatives, rebutjant el paternalisme i les visions liberals típiques sobre el paper de la regulació. La presumpció de l’“standing” moral dels grups identitaris és fonamental per tal de considerar-los interlocutors vàlids amb interessos genuïns. També s’argumenta que la integració social en contextos multiculturals no depèn tant de l’eliminació del conflicte sinó, sobre tot, d’una gestió eficient que eviti abusos de poder sistemàtics. El model defensa el rol del dret en la institucionalització del diàleg intercultural, però admet que el diàleg no necessàriament condueix a l’acord o a una estructura reguladora coherent i uniforme. Les aspiracions del ordre jurídic pluralista són més modestes: afavorir la negociació i resolució en cada conflicte, malgrat la persistència de la fragmentació i la provisionalitat dels acords. La manca d'un marc regulador comú esdevé una virtut en la mesura que permet la interacció de diferents subordres; una interacció governada per una multiplicitat de regles no necessàriament harmòniques. Els avantatges i problemes d’aquest model s'analitzen a partir de l'anàlisi de l’estructura fragmentària de l'ordre jurídic internacional i del règim Europeu de drets humans.

An overview of the advantages and constraints of coded pattern projection techniques for autonomous navigation

The absolute necessity of obtaining 3D information of structured and unknown environments in autonomous navigation reduce considerably the set of sensors that can be used. The necessity to know, at each time, the position of the mobile robot with respect to the scene is indispensable. Furthermore, this information must be obtained in the least computing time. Stereo vision is an attractive and widely used method, but, it is rather limited to make fast 3D surface maps, due to the correspondence problem. The spatial and temporal correspondence among images can be alleviated using a method based on structured light. This relationship can be directly found codifying the projected light; then each imaged region of the projected pattern carries the needed information to solve the correspondence problem. We present the most significant techniques, used in recent years, concerning the coded structured light method

Behavioural Flexibility: evolutionary past and its role in a changing world

A través de la historia de la vida, gran parte de los organismos han desarrollado estrategias para responder a un mundo en constante cambio. Hoy en día, las actividades humanas producen cambios ambientales a una velocidad sin precedentes, lo cual se traduce en grandes desafíos para la persistencia de biodiversidad. Esta investigación evalúa las respuesta de los animales a los cambios ambientales enfocándose en la flexibilidad del comportamiento como estrategia adaptativa. En una primera aproximación a una escala evolutiva, se otorgan evidencias del vínculo hasta ahora tenue entre la cognición e historias de vida, entregando un claro apoyo a la relación entre longevidad, vida reproductiva y el tamaño del cerebro en mamíferos. La longevidad es el centro de muchas hipótesis respecto a las ventajas de desarrollar un cerebro grande, como por ejemplo en la hipótesis del buffer cognitivo y las respuestas flexibles frente a nuevos ambientes. En un segundo nivel, se abordan factores extrínsecos e intrínsecos que podrían explicar las diferencias individuales en innovación, un componente clave en la flexibilidad del comportamiento. Por medio de una aproximación experimental, se evalúan potenciales escenarios que podrían conducir a consistentes diferencias individuales en uno de los principales factores subyacentes a la innovación (i.e. la motivación), y el potencial control endocrino sobre estos escenarios. Posteriormente, con el objetivo de evaluar la respuesta de los animales frente a los cambios ambientales actuales, se explora la respuesta de los animales frente a una de las actividades humanas mas disruptivas sobre los ecosistemas, la urbanización. Por medio de un analisis filogenetico comparativo a nivel global en aves se abordan los mecanismos implicados en la perdida de biodiversidad observada en ambientes urbanos. Los resultados entregan evidencias sobre la importancia de procesos de dispersión local junto con el papel clave de los rasgos de historia de vida, pero en un sentido diferente al clasicamente pensado. Finalmente por medio de una revisión bibliográfica se entregan evidencias teóricas y empíricas que respaldan el rol clave de la flexibilidad del comportamiento en confrontar los desafíos de una vida urbana. La integración de estos resultados muestra cómo el pasado evolutivo contribuye a hacer frente a los retos ambientales actuales, y pone de relieve posibles consecuencias ante un planeta más cambiante que nunca.