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

Networks of people in specialty production: family firms in the iron and steel Wire industries in Spain (1870-2000)

Capital intensive industries in specialized niches of production have constituted solid ground for family firms in Spain , as evidenced by the experience of the iron and steel wire industries between 1870 and 2000. The embeddedness of these firms in their local and regional environments have allowed the creation of networks that, together with favourable institutional conditions, significantly explain the dominance of family entrepreneurship in iron and steel wire manufacturing in Spain, until the end of the 20 th century. Dominance of family firms at the regional level has not been not an obstacle for innovation in wire manufacturing in Spain, which has taken place even when institutional conditions blocked innovation and traditional networking. Therefore, economic theories about the difficulties dynastic family firms may have to perform appropriately in science-based industries must be questioned

Potencial de mercado y estructura espacial de los salarios en las regiones españolas, 1955-1995

En este artículo se examina la relación existente entre los salarios de las regiones españolas y su potencial de mercado en el período 1955-1995. Se prueba la existencia de una estructura espacial de los salarios, en la que los salarios disminuyen al alejarnos de las regiones de renta elevada. Este resultado refuerza la hipótesis de la existencia de una dinámica aglomerativa en España durante la segunda mitad del siglo XX. Sin embargo, el efecto del potencial de mercado sobre los salarios disminuye en la segunda parte del período (1975-1995). Este resultado es consistente con la apertura de una senda de dispersión en la localización de la actividad industrial a partir de mediados de los setenta

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.

Term structure of interest rates. European financial integration

In this paper we estimate, analyze and compare the term structures of interest rates in six different countries over the period 1992-2004. We apply the Nelson-Siegel model to obtain the term structures of interest rates at weekly intervals. A total of 4,038 curves are estimated and analyzed. Four European Monetary Union countries¿Spain, France, Germany and Italy¿are included. The UK is also included as a European non-member of the Monetary Union. Finally the US completes the analysis. The goal is to determine the differences in the shapes of the term structure of interest rates among these countries. Likewise, we can determine the most usual term structure shapes that appear for each country.*****

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

Una exploración completa de los costes de servicio de residuos sólidos

La literatura económica sobre los servicios municipales de residuos sólidos en España es muy escasa, aun cuando estos servicios han sido objeto d'intensas reformas organizativas y regulatorias. En esta investigación se estudia su estructura de costes con el objetivo de explicar la variabilidad entre los municipios de los costes soportados por el servicio. Se determina una función de costes y se estima de forma paramétrica. Los resultados del análisis empírico permiten estudiar la existencia de economías de escala con el output, y el efecto de algunos factores directamente asociados con el servicio como el grado de residuos selectivos, la frecuencia de recogida o la existencia de instalaciones de depósito en el municipio. Además, se analiza el impacto sobre los costes de otros factores como la densidad de población, los niveles salariales, la estacionalidad y la forma de producción, pública o privada.

Geographical determinants of the creation of manufacturing firms: The regions of Spain

La complexitat dels mecanismes que determinen l'entrada i la sortida de signatures augmenta quan diferències geogràfiques de l'estructura de producció, la capital humana i l'atur són considerades. Variacions interregionals en la tarifa de les noves de signatures dintre de cada activitat industrial persisteixen durant els períodes llargs de temps, una circumstància que indica que hi ha determinants no-conjunturals en la capacitat de regions per a crear nous projectes industrials. Aquest estudi està preocupat amb l'establiment d'influència variables geogràfiques sobre la fundació de nous establiments de la fabricació. Les indústries (NEIX la R 25) en les regions espanyoles (el BOIG 2) han estat preses com les unitats d'anàlisis per al període 1980-1992

Differences in diet between the two largest breeding colonies of Audouin's gulls: the effects of fishery activities

We analysed and compared the diet of Audouin´s gulls Larus audouinii between their two largest breeding sites in the world: the Ebro Delta and the Chafarinas Islands (western Mediterranean). These two localities showed marked differences in the features of the commercial fishing fleet: in the Ebro Delta area a large fishing fleet produced large amounts of discards, while in the Chafarinas the fleet discarded smaller amounts of fish and marine invertebrates, due to the smaller number of vessels. It is also likely that the percentage of discards from total catches is also lower around the Chafarinas than at the Ebro Delta. We distinguished two types of fishing to compare diet compositions: diurnal (only trawling activity) and diurnal and nocturnal (trawling and purse-seine activity, respectively). We also differentiated regurgitates from young nestlings (up to 20 days old) and from older nestlings or adult birds. At the two localities, fish was the main food of Audouin´s gulls, with epipelagic prey (mainly clupeoids) being more important when both diurnal and nocturnal fisheries were operating. This confirms that epipelagic prey either caught actively by the gulls or linked to fisheries was particularly important in the feeding habits of Audouin´s gulls. Nevertheless, differences between the two colonies appear mainly when only trawlers operated: while at the Ebro Delta gulls showed higher consumption of benthic-mesopelagic prey (probably linked to a higher trawler discard availability), gulls from the Chafarinas Islands consumed higher biomass of epipelagic prey probably caught actively at night. When both fleets operated around the two colonies, the average biomass of prey in a regurgitate of younger chicks was significantly higher at the Ebro Delta than at Chafarinas, and the opposite trend was recorded for older nestlings and adults. Niche width was broader in Chafarinas than in the Ebro Delta for both age classes and for any fishing fleet schedule, suggesting again that the exploitation of discards was higher at the Ebro Delta than at the Chafarinas, where gulls showed a more varied diet. Despite the fact that availability of discards was probably higher at the Ebro Delta than at Chafarinas, the per capita availability was not so different at both localities due to the increasing seabird community population at the Ebro Delta, which ca. doubled that at Chafarinas in the last decade.

Hexaclorobenceno: 1as jornadas nacionales : Barcelona, 23-24 de mayo de 1988: libro de actas

El volum recull les 20 comunicacions presentades durant la cel·lebració d'aquestes jornades.L'objectiu d'aquestes jornades era reunir en un fòrum comú tots els investigadors i grups que estudien a Espanya l'hexaclorobenzè des dels diferents punts de vista possibles.

Cirugía forense o Arte de hacer las relaciones chirúrgico-legales

L'obra consta de dues parts. La primera és un estudi previ fet pel doctor Jacint Corbella i que consisteix en una petita biografia del doctor Vidal i una anàlisi de la seva obra i la seva rellevància posterior en el desenvolupament de la medicina legal.La segona part és la pròpia obra de Vidal, datada del 1783 i que constitueix el primer llibre fet a Espanya dedicat estrictament a la medicina legal.

Don Martín Vallejo Lobón: el médico y el hombre

L'obra és una biografia completa i extensa del doctor Martín Vallejo Lobón, que fou catedràtic de Patologia Mèdica a la Universitat de Barcelona entre els anys 1902 i 1919.

Tratado de las declaraciones que han de hacer los cirujanos acerca de muchas enfermedades y muchas maneras de muertes que suceden

El doctor Jacint Corbella presenta l'obra a partir de la qual es pot considerar Fragoso com iniciador de la medicina legal a Espanya, ja al segle XVI.L'obra original va acompanyada d'una petita biografia i un estudi acurat de la seva obra, amb menció especial a l'obra cabdal de Fragoso, la "Cirugía Universal". El pròleg el signa Josep M. Calbet Camarasa.