Award errors and permanent disability benefits in Spain

There is a controversial debate about the effects of permanent disability benefits on labormarket behavior. In this paper we estimate equations for deserving and receiving disabilitybenefits to evaluate the award error as the difference in the probability of receiving anddeserving using survey data from Spain. Our results indicate that individuals aged between55 and 59, self-employers or working in an agricultural sector have a probability of receiving a benefit without deserving it significantly higher than the rest of individuals. We also find evidence of gender discrimination since male have a significantly higher probability of receiving a benefit without deserving it. This seems to confirm that disability benefits are being used as an instrument for exiting the labor market for some individuals approaching the early retirement or those who do not have right to retire early. Taking into account that awarding process depends on Social Security Provincial Department, this means that some departments are applying loosely the disability requirements for granting disability benefits.

Work, risk and health: differences between immigrants and natives in Spain

We analyze the impact of working and contractual conditions, particularly exposure to job risks, on the probability of acquiring a disability. We postulate a model in which this impact is mediated by the choice of occupation, with a level of risk associated to it. We assume this choice is endogenous, and that it depends on preferences and opportunities in the labour market, both of which may differ between immigrants and natives. To test this hypothesis we use data from the Continuous Sample of Working Lives of the Spanish SS system. It contains individual, job and firm information of over a million workers, including a representative sample of immigrants. We find that risk exposure increases the probability of permanent disability by 5.3%; temporary employment also influences health. Migrant status -with differences among regions of origin- significantly affects both disability and the probability of being employed in a risky occupation. Most groups of immigrants work in riskier jobs, but have lower probability of becoming disabled. Nevertheless, our theoretical hypothesis that disability and risk are jointly determined is not valid for immigrants: i.e. for them working conditions is not a matter of choice in terms of health.

Disparities in work, risk and health between immigrants and native-born Spaniards

We analyse the impact of working and contractual conditions, particularly exposure to job risks, on the probability of acquiring a permanent disability, controlling for other personal and firm characteristics. We postulate a model in which this impact is mediated by the choice of occupation, with a level of risk associated with it. We assume this choice is endogenous, and that it depends on preferences and opportunities in the labour market, both of which may differ between immigrants and natives. To test this hypothesis we apply a bivariate probit model to data for 2006 from the Continuous Sample of Working Lives provided by the Spanish Social Security system, containing records for over a million workers. We find that risk exposure increases the probability of permanent disability arising from any cause - by almost 5%.

Determinants of the decision to appeal against motor bodily injury settlements awarded by Spanish trial courts

Automobile bodily injury disputes represent one of the main causes of litigation faced by Spanish Courts. In this paper a multinomial model is implemented to analyse which factors determine the decision to appeal against the verdicts of trial courts. Use of a dataset of motor insurance claims revealed differences between the determinants of a claimant’s decision to appeal and those of insurers. Among other results it is shown that discrepancies regarding the permanent disability sustained affect the insurer’s decision to appeal. In contrast, the claimant pays more attention to differences in the stated temporary disability. Conclusions are drawn regarding which factors could reduce the percentage of appealed cases.

Análisis de l'utilitat d'una plataforma digital sincrónica i de l'apropiació conceptual del professorat dels Camps d'Aprenentatge en el marc d'un curs de formació permanent

El projecte pretenia analitzar com l'ús de les noves tecnologies incideixen en un procés de formació permanent per afavorir la participació i l’apropiació de les noves mirades als fenòmens, la innovació en didàctica de les ciències experimentals i les ciències socials. El projecte ha tingut una durada d'un any i s'ha realitzat a Catalunya. En el projecte han intervingut tres formadors de la UAB i els Camps d'Aprenentatge depenents del Departament d'Educació. El desenvolupament del projecte ha tingut lloc en base als materials elaborats o transcrits durant diferents sessions virtuals, en les que s'ha utilitzat una plataforma sincrònica, i en diferents sessions presencials. Els resultats del projecte mostren que tot i que el canvi de les mirades sobre els fenòmens del món és un procés lent, l'us de la plataforma combinada amb sessions presencials, i l'anàlisi i la discussió dels resultats amb els formadors, afavoreix aquest procés de canvi.

Sempre connectats: les biblioteques en un món de connectivitat permanent

La comunicació mòbil és la tecnologia que ha estat adoptada d'una forma més àmplia i ràpida que cap altra. (Castells et al., 2007). Representa la difusió de les comunicacions i de la capacitat computacional en una part cada cop més gran de les activitats socials, d'investigació i aprenentatge. Ha trobat eco en el comportament emergent de la joventut, donant recolzament als models característics d'interacció social i formació de grups, ús de la informació i expressió personal. La creació de xarxes difuses canvia la manera de coordinar els nostres recursos per aconseguir objectius. Per exemple, canvia l'ús del temps i l'espai. La pausa en directe és una rutina perquè els estudiants puguin escoltar o mirar conferències en el gimnàs o en el tren. L'ús de l'espai per promoure cites “ad hoc” i l'aprenentatge social està guanyant importància. A mesura que la xarxa s'estén, tenim múltiples punts de connexió que ens ofereixen diferents graus d'experiència (l'escriptori, el telèfon mòbil, l'xBox o la Wii, el sistema GPS, els telèfons intel·ligents, ordinadors ultraportàtils, etc.). Malgrat coincidir en diversos espectes, també estan optimitzats per diferents propòsits. Un acompanyament natural a aquesta xarxa de punts de connexió és el trasllat de molts serveis cap al núvol, que es troba disponible a la xarxa a través dels diferents dispositius i entorns. Això significa que cada cop és més parcial centrar-se exclusivament en el lloc web institucional com a principal mecanisme de distribució i en el navegador com a principal entorn de consum. Els estudiants estan orientats als resultats i valoren la comoditat. Aquest èmfasi, juntament a les restriccions de disseny d’alguns dispositius promou la necessitat d’arribar ràpidament a la rellevància. La socialització, la personalització i la consciència de la localització cobren més importància. Les biblioteques han estat treballant per desenvolupar serveis preparats per la xarxa. La comunicació mòbil intensifica aquesta activitat i hi afegeix nous reptes mentre s'estudia què vol dir estar preparat per la xarxa. Això té implicacions en l'organització des del moment que l'èmfasi es desplaça cap a la integració del procés de treball al voltant de l'estudiant o investigador i crea noves relacions amb altres organitzacions de serveis del campus. També té conseqüències en la manera d'utilitzar l'espai, en les habilitats de la biblioteca i en com es desenvolupen les col·leccions. Podem observar l'impacte de la comunicació mòbil en els serveis de dues maneres. En primer lloc, els serveis es poden convertir en aptes per ser mòbils, com és el cas de les interfícies mòbils per als serveis de les biblioteques, els serveis d'alerta, etc. En segon lloc, la mobilització continua la reestructuració dels serveis, les organitzacions i l'atenció produïda per la xarxa. Penseu aquí la manera de socialitzar i personalitzar els serveis; en com adaptar l'ús de la col·lecció i el servei que s'estén a l'entorn institucional, personal i de núvol; en com posicionar i promoure la marca de la biblioteca a mesura que els serveis s'atomitzen i es fan menys visibles a la xarxa; i altres qüestions més complexes com què és millor fer localment i què s'ha de fer amb acords de col·laboració o terceres parts.

La formació permanent en el context de l'Espai Europeu de la Formació Permanent

La importància de la formació permanent és indiscutible en qualsevol context laboral i molt especialment en les actuals circumstàncies de crisi econòmica mundial. Però en l'actual espai europeu d'educació superior (EEES), les tendències i els plans de formació contínua adquireixen una dimensió global, que supera o, millor dit, hauria de superar els plantejaments reduccionistes. Per això, la construcció i el desenvolupament de l'espai europeu de formació permanent, EEFP (Comissió de les Comunitats Europees, 2001a), ha d'entendre's com un procés que està immers en un teixit més ampli. Es tracta d'una acció en xarxa on és necessària la implicació de molts agents actius professionals i on la convergència, el reconeixement i la cohesió han de ser els seus màxims elements qualitatius

Discrete time Non-homogeneous Semi-Markov Processes applied to Models for Disability Insurance

In this paper, we present a stochastic model for disability insurance contracts. The model is based on a discrete time non-homogeneous semi-Markov process (DTNHSMP) to which the backward recurrence time process is introduced. This permits a more exhaustive study of disability evolution and a more efficient approach to the duration problem. The use of semi-Markov reward processes facilitates the possibility of deriving equations of the prospective and retrospective mathematical reserves. The model is applied to a sample of contracts drawn at random from a mutual insurance company.

Sunk costs, extensive R&D subsidies and permanent inducement effects

We study whether there is scope for using subsidies to smooth out barriers to R&D performance and expand the share of R&D firms in Spain. We consider a dynamic model with sunk entry costs in which firms’ optimal participation strategy is defined in terms of two subsidy thresholds that characterise entry and continuation. We compute the subsidy thresholds from the estimates of a dynamic panel data type-2 tobit model for an unbalanced panel of about 2,000 Spanish manufacturing firms. The results suggest that “extensive” subsidies are a feasible and efficient tool for expanding the share of R&D firms.

Darrera de la màscara de Comediants. L'imaginari d'un grup de teatre català : Creació d'una exposició permanent per a museu Comediants

TFC que segueix l'esquema d'un projecte cultural. D'una banda, s'analitzen els factors interns i externs de l'organització que poden influir en l'execució d'aquest projecte. El clímax és la creació d'una exposició permanent per a un museu Comediants. Interpretant el discurs de Comediants es proposa un discurs expositiu. Interessant elecció de missatges i divertits recursos expositius. Des del començament s'ha volgut fugir de la idea d'elaborar un TFC on solament se sintetitzessin dades i informació. Tanmateix, aquest TFC és un treball de recerca i, com a tal, la major part és la síntesi de dades i informacions obtingudes mitjançant investigació. No obstant això, hi ha una altra part molt important amb aportacions personals on s'ha posat a prova la pròpia creativitat i la capacitat de proporcionar aspectes innovadors, els quals, al cap i a la fi, han sorgit arran del treball en grup.

Formació Permanent del professorat a la xarxa : una experiència de treball cooperatiu

Aquest projecte s'insereix en l'àmbit de les TIC. La participació en aquest entorn virtual cooperatiu s'ofereix com a complement a les reunions presencials de formació per a donar continuïtat al treball elaborat. La intervenció psicopedagògica es centra en dos objectius: a) dinamitzar l'entorn virtual per a afavorir el treball cooperatiu entre docents en xarxa oferint-los els medis per a participar-hi; b) dissenyar un entorn de participació que faciliti l'intercanvi i la cooperació entre docents i que, alhora, ajudi els professors a assumir una actitud positiva davant les TIC.

Transition probabilities and duration analysis among disability states: Some evidence from Spanish data

In this paper we study the disability transition probabilities (as well as the mortalityprobabilities) due to concurrent factors to age such as income, gender and education. Althoughit is well known that ageing and socioeconomic status influence the probability ofcausing functional disorders, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the combined effectof those factors along the individuals' life and how this affects the transition from one degreeof disability to another. The assumption that tomorrow's disability state is only a functionof the today's state is very strong, since disability is a complex variable that depends onseveral other elements than time. This paper contributes into the field in two ways: (1) byattending the distinction between the initial disability level and the process that leads tohis course (2) by addressing whether and how education, age and income differentially affectthe disability transitions. Using a Markov chain discrete model and a survival analysis, weestimate the probability by year and individual characteristics that changes the state of disabilityand the duration that it takes its progression in each case. We find that people withan initial state of disability have a higher propensity to change and take less time to transitfrom different stages. Men do that more frequently than women. Education and incomehave negative effects on transition. Moreover, we consider the disability benefits associatedto those changes along different stages of disability and therefore we offer some clues onthe potential savings of preventive actions that may delay or avoid those transitions. Onpure cost considerations, preventive programs for improvement show higher benefits thanthose for preventing deterioration, and in general terms, those focussing individuals below65 should go first. Finally the trend of disability in Spain seems not to change among yearsand regional differences are not found.

Employment consequences of restrictive permanent contracts: Evidence from Spanish labor market reforms

Temporary employment contracts allowing unrestricted dismissals wereintroduced in Spain in 1984 and quickly came to account for most new jobs.As a result, temporary employment increased from around 10% in themid-eighties to more than 30% in the early nineties. In 1997, however,the Spanish government attempted to reduce the incidence of temporaryemployment by reducing payroll taxes and dismissal costs for permanentcontracts. In this paper, we use individual data from the Spanish LaborForce Survey to estimate the effects of reduced payroll taxes anddismissal costs on the distribution of employment and worker flows. Weexploit the fact that recent reforms apply only to certain demographicgroups to set up a natural experiment research design that can be usedto study the effects of contract regulations. Our results show that thereduction of payroll taxes and dismissal costs increased the employmentof young workers on permanent contracts, although the effects for youngwomen are not always significant. Results for older workers showinsignificant effects. The results suggest a moderately elastic responseof permanent employment to non-wage labor costs for young men. We alsofind positive effects on the transitions from unemployment and temporaryemployment into permanent employment for young and older workers, althoughthe effects for older workers are not always significant. On the otherhand, transitions from permanent employment to non-employment increasedonly for older men, suggesting that the reform had little effect ondismissals.

Disability, capacity for work and the business cycle: An international perspective

An important policy issue in recent years concerns the number of people claimingdisability benefits for reasons of incapacity for work. We distinguish between workdisability , which may have its roots in economic and social circumstances, and healthdisability which arises from clear diagnosed medical conditions. Although there is a linkbetween work and health disability, economic conditions, and in particular the businesscycle and variations in the risk of unemployment over time and across localities, mayplay an important part in explaining both the stock of disability benefit claimants andinflows to and outflow from that stock. We employ a variety of cross?country andcountry?specific household panel data sets, as well as administrative data, to testwhether disability benefit claims rise when unemployment is higher, and also toinvestigate the impact of unemployment rates on flows on and off the benefit rolls. Wefind strong evidence that local variations in unemployment have an importantexplanatory role for disability benefit receipt, with higher total enrolments, loweroutflows from rolls and, often, higher inflows into disability rolls in regions and periodsof above?average unemployment. Although general subjective measures of selfreporteddisability and longstanding illness are also positively associated withunemployment rates, inclusion of self?reported health measures does not eliminate thestatistical relationship between unemployment rates and disability benefit receipt;indeed including general measures of health often strengthens that underlyingrelationship. Intriguingly, we also find some evidence from the United Kingdom and theUnited States that the prevalence of self?reported objective specific indicators ofdisability are often pro?cyclical that is, the incidence of specific forms of disability arepro?cyclical whereas claims for disability benefits given specific health conditions arecounter?cyclical. Overall, the analysis suggests that, for a range of countries and datasets, levels of claims for disability benefits are not simply related to changes in theincidence of health disability in the population and are strongly influenced by prevailingeconomic conditions. We discuss the policy implications of these various findings.

How binding are legal limits? Transitions from temporary to permanent work in Spain

This paper studies the duration pattern of xed-term contracts and the determinantsof their conversion into permanent ones in Spain, where the share of xed-termemployment is the highest in Europe. We estimate a duration model for temporaryemployment, with competing risks of terminating into permanent employment versusalternative states, and exible duration dependence. We nd that conversion rates aregenerally below 10%. Our estimated conversion rates roughly increase with tenure,with a pronounced spike at the legal limit, when there is no legal way to retain theworker on a temporary contract. We argue that estimated di¤erences in conversionrates across categories of workers can stem from di¤erences in worker outside optionsand thus the power to credibly threat to quit temporary jobs.