A comparative long-memory Analysis between Spanish, Mexican and U.S. interest rates

Evidence exists that many natural facts are described better as a fractal. Although fractals are very useful for describing nature, it is also appropiate to review the concept of random fractal in finance. Due to the extraordinary importance of Brownian motion in physics, chemistry or biology, we will consider the generalization that supposes fractional Brownian motion introduced by Mandelbrot.The main goal of this work is to analyse the existence of long range dependence in instantaneous forward rates of different financial markets. Concretelly, we perform an empirical analysis on the Spanish, Mexican and U.S. interbanking interest rate. We work with three time series of daily data corresponding to 1 day operations from 28th March 1996 to 21st May 2002. From among all the existing tests on this matter we apply the methodology proposed in Taqqu, Teverovsky and Willinger (1995).

Price transmission and market power analysis in the Spanish seafood market chain

[cat] Espanya és un dels principals mercats de productes pesquers d’Europa i del món. El consum de productes pesquers ha estat tradicionalment molt important a Espanya, el 2005 es varen consumir 36,7 kg per persona (MAPA, diversos anys). Malgrat això, el mercat i cóm interactuen els diversos nivells de la cadena de comercialització han gaudit de poca atenció. En aquest estudi, utilitzant dades setmanals, s’analitza per als dotze principals productes pesquers, l’elasticitat en la transmissió de preus al llarg de la cadena de comercialització a Espanya (llotja, mercat central i detallista). Finalment s’investiga la presència d’assimetria en la transmissió de preus entre aquests nivells de mercat. Els resultats obtinguts tenen importants implicacions a l’hora d’analitzar la demanda, poder de mercat i marges al llarg del mercat per als productes pesquers.

Measuring conduct and cost parameters in the Spanish air transport market

This paper estimates a model of airline competition for the Spanish air transport market. I test the explanatory power of alternative oligopoly models with capacity constraints. In addition, I analyse the degree of density economies. Results show that Spanish airlines conduct follows a price-leadership scheme so that it is less competitive than the Cournot solution. I also find evidence that thin routes can be considered as natural monopolies

Industrial agglomerations and wage gradients: the Spanish economy in the interwar period

This paper gives new evidence on the relationship between integration and industrial agglomeration in the presence of scale economies, by testing directly one of the predictions that can be derived from Krugman (1991), that is, the existence of regional nominal wage gradients and its transformation following changes in trade regimes. Our case study analyzes the effects of the substitution of an open economy by a closed economy regime, exactly the opposite process studied by Hanson (1996, 1997). In Spain, during the interwar period, protectionist policies would have favored the loss of centrality of the coastal location (Barcelona) and the relative rise of central locations (such as Madrid). Our results indicate the existence of a wage gradient centered in Barcelona during the interwar period (1914-1930) and its weakening after 1925.

The geographical concentration of industry across Spanish Regions, 1856-1995

New economic geography models show that there may be a strong relationship between economic integration and the geographical concentration of industries. Nevertheless, this relationship is neither unique nor stable, and may follow a ?-shaped pattern in the long term. The aim of the present paper is to analyze the evolution of the geographical concentration of manufacturing across Spanish regions during the period 1856-1995. We construct several geographical concentration indices for different points in time over these 140 years. The analysis is carried out at two levels of aggregation, in regions corresponding to the NUTS-II and NUTS-III classifications. We confirm that the process of economic integration stimulated the geographical concentration of industrial activity. Nevertheless, the localization coefficients only started to fall after the beginning of the integration of the Spanish Economy into the international markets in the mid-70s, and this new path was not interrupted by Spain¿s entry in the European Union some years later

Beyond the Toledo agreement : the intergenerational impact of the spanish pension reform

The paper examines the intergenerational impact of the Spanish public pension system after the 1997 Pension Reform Act. Working within a Generational Accounting framework, we find that maintaining the new legal setting could leave future generations with liabilities as high as 176 percent of base year GDP. As the recent reform measures have been insufficient to achieve the sustainability of the current pension system, we also analyse the impact of alternative reform strategies. Within the current pay-as-you-go setting, a further improvement to tax-benefit linkage in line with the original spirit of the Toledo Agreement is shown to yield and intergenerationally more balanced outcome,than an increase in the retirement age or an expansion of public subsidies financed through indirect taxes. Finally, we examine the generational impact of a move toward a partially funded pension system which might restore theintergenerational balance

Were Spanish migrants attracted by industrial agglomerations?: an analysis for the interwar years in the light of the new economic geography

In this paper we examine whether access to markets had a significant influence onmigration choices of Spanish internal migrants in the inter-war years. We perform astructural contrast of a New Economic Geography model that focus on the forwardlinkage that links workers location choice with the geography of industrial production,one of the centripetal forces that drive agglomeration in the NEG models. The resultshighlight the presence of this forward linkage in the Spanish economy of the inter-warperiod. That is, we prove the existence of a direct relation between workers¿ localizationdecisions and the market potential of the host regions. In addition, the direct estimationof the values associated with key parameters in the NEG model allows us to simulatethe migratory flows derived from different scenarios of the relative size of regions andthe distances between them. We show that in Spain the power of attraction of theagglomerations grew as they increased in size, but the high elasticity estimated for themigration costs reduced the intensity of the migratory flows. This could help to explainthe apparently low intensity of internal migrations in Spain until its upsurge during the1920s. This also explains the geography of migrations in Spain during this period,which hardly affected the regions furthest from the large industrial agglomerations (i.e.,regions such as Andalusia, Estremadura and Castile-La Mancha) but had an intenseeffect on the provinces nearest to the principal centres of industrial development.

Agglomeration and labour productivity in Spanish industry: a long-term analysis

This paper analyzes the relationship between spatial density of economic activity and interregional differences in the productivity of industrial labour in Spain during the period 1860-1999. In the spirit of Ciccone and Hall (1996) and Ciccone (2002), we analyze the evolution of this relationship over the long term in Spain. Using data on the period 1860-1999 we show the existence of an agglomeration effect linking the density of economic activity with labour productivity in the industry. This effect was present since the beginning of the industrialization process in the middle of the 19th century but has been decreasing over time. The estimated elasticity of labour productivity with respect to employment density was close to 8% in the subperiod 1860-1900, reduces to a value of around 7% in the subperiod 1914-1930, to 4% in the subperiod 1965-1979 and becomes insignificant in the final subperiod 1985-1999. At the end of the period analyzed there is no evidence of the existence of net agglomeration effects in the industry. This result could be explained by an important increase in the congestion effects in large industrial metropolitan areas that would have compensated the centripetal or agglomeration forces at work. Furthermore, this result is also consistent with the evidence of a dispersion of industrial activity in Spain during the last decades.

Embodied pollution in Spanish household consumption: a disaggregate analysis

[spa] En este artículo aplicamos un modelo input-output ampliado medioambientalmente para analizar un aspecto específico de la hipótesis de la curva de Kuznets ambiental. El propósito del estudio es analizar si las estructuras de consumo de los hogares con una mejor ‘posición económica’ pueden tener un efecto positivo para reducir las presiones medioambientales. Para ello combinamos información de diferentes bases de datos para analizar el impacto de la contaminación atmosférica del consumo de diferentes hogares españoles en el año 2000. Consideramos nueve gases, i.e. los seis gases de efecto invernadero (CO2, CH4, N2O, SF6, HFCs, y PFCs) y otros tres gases (SO2, NOx, y NH3). Clasificamos los hogares en quintiles de gasto per capita y quintiles de gasto equivalente. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que hay una relación positiva y elevada entre el nivel de gasto y las emisiones directas e indirectas generadas por el consumo de los hogares; sin embargo, las intensidades de emisión tienden a disminuir con el nivel de gasto para los diferentes gases, con la excepción de SF6, HFCs, y PFCs.

Structure and spatial variability of Pinus uncinata Ram. growth forms at two contrasting treeline ecotones in the Spanish Pyrenees.

Describimos la distribución espacial de individuos de Pinus uncinata clasificados según su forma de crecimiento y tamaño en dos ecotonos poco perturbados del límite altitudinal del árbol situados en los Pirineos Centrales españoles (Ordesa, O; Tessó, T). En cada sitio situamos una parcela rectangular (30 140 m), que incluía los límites del árbol y del bosque, y cuyo lado mayor seguía el gradiente altitudinal. En ambos sitios, los individuos vivos eran más grandes y tenían un mayor número de cohortes de acículas pendiente abajo. La distribución de las clases de individuos según su forma de crecimiento y tamaño en el sitio O seguía una secuencia de mayor tamaño pendiente abajo, desde abundantes individuos policórmicos arbustivos (krummholz) con pocas cohortes de acículas (1-3) hasta individuos arbóreos mayores unicórmicos con varias cohortes de acículas (4-12). Por el contrario, los cambios estructurales en el ecotono del sitio T fueron graduales y no siguieron de forma tan clara dicha secuencia

Chemical composition of the small coastal lagoons of the Mediterranean Spanish littoral

About sixty small water bodies (coastal lagoons, marshes, salt pans, channels, springs, etc.) of the Spanish Mediterranean coast were sampled seasonally for one year (1979-1980), in order to study different aspects of their chemical composition. The concentrations of major ions (alkalinity, Cl-, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, and K+), nutrients (N.NO-3, N.NO2-, TRP and Si), oxygen and pH were determined for this purpose. The salt concentrations measured range between 0.4 and 361.3 g l-1. The samples have been divided into four classes of salinity (in g l-1): Cl, S < 5; C2, 5 40. Within these classes, the pattern of ionic dominance recorded is remarkably constant and similar to that found in most coastal lagoons (Cl- > So42- > Alk., for the anions, and Na+ > Mg2+ > Ca2+ > K+, for the cations), although other models occur especially in the first class. The dominance of Na+ and Cl-, as well as the molar ratios Mg2+/Ca2+ and Cl- / SO42- ,clearly increase from class Cl to class C4. The hyperhaline waters include different subtypes of the major brine type"c",, of EUGSTER & HARDIE (1978), the Na+ - (Mg2+) - Cl- - (SO42-) being the most frequent. Nutrient concentrations fall within a wide range (N.NO3 from 0.1 to 1100 mg-at 1-1; PRT from 0.01 to 23.56 mg-at l-1 and Si from 1.0 to 502.0 mg-at l-1). The oxygen values are very variable too, ranging between 0 and 14.4 ml l-1. Four different patterns of nutrient distribution have been distinguished based on the mean concentrations of N.NO3-, and TRP (mean values in mg-at l-1): A, N.NO3- < 10, TRP > l ; B, N.NO3- > 100, TRP < 1; C, 10 < N.NO3- < 100, TRP < 1; C, D, N.NO3- < 10, TRP < 1. As a rule, lagoons of low salinity (C1 and C2 classes) display the nutrient pattern C, and lagoons of high salinity (C3 and C4) show the nutrient pattern D. Model A only appears in waters of very low salinity, whereas model B does not seem to be related to salinity.

Singing and dancing the rhythm of life : oral poetry in the Abanyole community of Kenya

A statement presented at the oral defence of a Dr. Phil. dissertation on Saturday 26th October 2002, University of Helsinki

Psychometric evaluation of the IWQOL-Lite (Spanish version) when applied to a sample of obese patients awaiting bariatric surgery

Background Obesity may have an impact on key aspects of health-related quality of life (HRQOL). In this context, the Impact of Weight Quality of Life (IWQOL) questionnaire was the first scale designed to assess HRQOL. The aim of the present study was twofold: to assess HRQOL in a sample of Spanish patients awaiting bariatric surgery and to determine the psychometric properties of the IWQOL-Lite and its sensitivity to detect differences in HRQOL across groups. Methods Participants were 109 obese adult patients (BMI¿ 35 kg/m2) from Barcelona, to whom the following measurement instruments were applied: IWQOL-Lite, Depression Anxiety Stress Scales, Brief Symptom Inventory, and self-perception items. Results Descriptive data regarding the IWQOL-Lite scores obtained by these patients are reported. Principal components analysis revealed a five-factor model accounting for 72.05% of the total variance, with factor loadings being adequate for all items. Corrected itemtotal correlations were acceptable for all items. Cronbach"s alpha coefficients were excellent both for the subscales (0.880.93) and the total scale (0.95). The relationship between the IWQOLLite and other variables supports the construct validity of the scale. Finally, sensitivity analysis revealed large effect sizes when comparing scores obtained by extreme BMI groups. Conclusions This is the first study to report the application of the IWQOL-Lite to a sample of Spanish patients awaiting bariatric surgery and to confirm that the Spanish version of the instrument has adequate psychometric properties.

How are Spanish academics coping with changes? Responses from a life histories research.

[eng] This report is part of the research project, The effects of social changes in work and professional life of Spanish academics, partially financed by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (SEJ2006-01876), that has explored change in legislation, organisation, research schemes and so on, in the last thirty years. The main aim of this project is deepening our understanding of the impact of undergoing economic, social, cultural, technological and labour change in Spanish universities in the life and professional identity of the teaching and research staff, taking into account the national and european context. This paper gathers part of the results gained from the project, being its primary objective to contribute to an improved knowledge-base on professional knowledge and work experience in higher education institutions in Spain and, as a consequence, to understand how Spanish academics are coping with current changes.