Prices versus exams as strategic instruments for competing universities

In this paper we investigate the optimal choice of prices and/or exams by universities in the presence of credit constraints. We first compare the optimal behavior of a public, welfare maximizing, monopoly and a private, profit maximizing, monopoly. Then we model competition between a public and a private institution and investigate the new role of exams/prices in this environment. We find that, under certain circumstances, the public university may have an interest to raise tuition fees from minimum levels if it cares for global welfare. This will be the case provided that (i) the private institution has higher quality and uses only prices to select applicants, or (ii) the private institution has lower quality and uses also exams to select students. When this is the case, there are efficiency grounds for raising public prices

Social network measures for "nosduocentered" networks, their predictive power on performance

Our purpose in this article is to define a network structure which is based on two egos instead of the egocentered (one ego) or the complete network (n egos). We describe the characteristics and properties for this kind of network which we call “nosduocentered network”, comparing it with complete and egocentered networks. The key point for this kind of network is that relations exist between the two main egos and all alters, but relations among others are not observed. After that, we use new social network measures adapted to the nosduocentered network, some of which are based on measures for complete networks such as degree, betweenness, closeness centrality or density, while some others are tailormade for nosduocentered networks. We specify three regression models to predict research performance of PhD students based on these social network measures for different networks such as advice, collaboration, emotional support and trust. Data used are from Slovenian PhD students and their s

European employment strategy and spanish labour market policies

The paper aim is to analyse the influence of the European Employment Strategy (EES)in the implementation of the Spanish labour market policies. The first part of the paper describes the evolution and content of the EES. In the second one, the definition of activation is also explained. In addition to that, the ways how the EES develops and promotes active labour market policies are examined. The evolution of labour market policies in Spain and the current configuration of both active and passive policies are studied in the next three chapters. In these parts, the paper investigates to which extent the provisions of the EES have been implemented in Spain. The paper shows that: i) activation has been rising in the European countries since the implementation of the EES; ii) this fact has also happened in relative terms (comparing the evolution of active to passive policies); iii) Spain has been one of the countries which has led these processes; iv) the EES seems to have been influencing

Innovation strategies in the presence of technology markets: evidence from spanish innovative firms

The development of markets for technology has eased the acquisition of technology and reshaped the innovation strategies of firms that we classify as producers of innovations or as imitators. Innovative activities of firms include research, acquisition of technology and downstream activities. Within an industry, firms producing innovations tend to conduct more research and downstream activities than those imitating innovations. Acquisition of technology is equally important for both. To implement innovation strategies, firms producing innovations require both the capability to scan the external environment for technology and the capability to integrate new technology. Firms producing innovations require both, while firms imitating innovations require scan capabilities only

Does it pay to be socially responsible? Evidence from spanish retail banking sector

This paper presents a theoretical and empirical analysis of strategic competition in retail banking when some of the financial firms are non-profit organisations that invest in social activities. Banking literature about competition is fairly large, but the strategic interaction between profit maximizing and non profit maximizers has not been extensively analysed except for Purroy and Salas (1999). In this paper, a completely different approach is taken. An adaptation of Hotelling’s two stage model of spatial competition is developed to take into account consumer perceptions respect to the two different types of financial institutions. The empirical analysis confirms that consumers take into account other features different from the price, such as social contribution or closer service to make a deposit or mortgage decision. These conclusions are of interest in the debate about a firm’s social or ethical activities. It is shown that if consumers value social activities, firms can improv

Lecture Notes on Compositional Data Analysis

These notes have been prepared as support to a short course on compositional data analysis. Their aim is to transmit the basic concepts and skills for simple applications, thus setting the premises for more advanced projects

Statistical modeling on (α, +∞)

Observations in daily practice are sometimes registered as positive values larger then a given threshold α. The sample space is in this case the interval (α,+∞), α > 0, which can be structured as a real Euclidean space in different ways. This fact opens the door to alternative statistical models depending not only on the assumed distribution function, but also on the metric which is considered as appropriate, i.e. the way differences are measured, and thus variability

Editorial. Engegar el debat

Editorial d'Engega sobre el paper de la revista com a territori neutral obert al debat

La Mirada geogràfica des del planeta SIGTE

El Servei de Sistemes d'Informació Geogràfica i Teledetecció de la Universitat de Girona, el SIGTE, el planeta SIGTE, especialitzat en el tractament de la informació geogràfica, està situat a l'òrbita més alta del Campus del Barri Vell

Temps era temps d'imaginació i justícia

John Rawls va revolucionar la filosofia política normativa fent un plantejament de la problemàtica social imaginatiu i simple: el plantejament de dir que una societat serà justa solament si tots els membres que en formen part podrien estar d'acord amb la distribució que la societat fa d'allò que tots volem

Per què avui la identitat està de moda?

La identitat, la definició de qui som en funció de qui hem estat i qui volem ser, és víctima d'una doble desorientació, que s'observa en l'àmbit personal i social

Els Catàlegs de paisatge de Catalunya

Els catàlegs de paisatge de Catalunya, creats per la Llei del paisatge, determinen la tipologia dels paisatges de Catalunya, els seus valors i estat de conservació, els objectius de qualitat que han de complir i les mesures per assolir-los

El Paisatge des de la perspectiva geogràfica

El paisatge és un dels objectes d'estudi més antics de la geografia i té les seves arrels científiqe s en els geògrafs i naturalistes de finals del selge XIX (...)

La Comunicació de la justícia, a debat

La revista Engega va organitzar, el dia 13 de desembre de 2007, una taula rodona per presentar la relació que els mitjans de comunicació i l'Administració de justícia mantenen a Girona. Periodistes i magistrats han defensat les seves posicions en un acte que demostra que la Universitat de Girona resulta ser un territori neutral molt adient per dur a terme experiències com aquesta

Definir una llengua, construir una cultura. Un discurs d'avui?

"Definir una llengua, construir una cultura" ha estat el lema de la jornada d'estudi que la Facultat de Lletres de la Universitat de Girona va organitzar el 12 de desembre de 2007. L'excusa, el centenari del I Congrés Internacional de la Llengua Catalana i de la fundació de l'Institut d'Estudis Catalans